Variety (April 1932)

34 Variett NEW ACTS Tuesday, April 5, I932 MARY BRIAN (4) . Comedy, Song, Danco 16 Mins.; One and ThrM Palace, N. Y. Mary Brian and Ken Murray arc booked as a team, -with the latter doing his usual m. c. and solo spe- callty, besides a:ppearln&; In the pic- ture girl's act and patently author- ing . . and producing everything about It. Former Par player Is.. as Syln-- some a, stage personality as on the screen. Seemingly Murray's desire has been to makft her impress with lines and numbers beyond the aver- age personal appearance but she's still lightweight, although accept- able enough. ' Budy Rudd, Jack ISlUson and Buddy Van Fleet are "billed In sup- port, two of them doing a hoofing niimber with Miss Brian, announced aa a routine out of 'Paramount on Parade,' screen revue of two years ago. Nothing outstanding nor was the fllm of enoiigh importance to substantiate the dance number ex- ceptlngr that it's probably the most substantial thing oh which to hinge that sort of a specialty. Rest of the act, aside from Mur- ray's clowning, .was a boudoir trl- angte slclt of familiar pattern. As a personality, she holds the same general sweetness which has characterized h$r screen portrayals. With the Murray hookup at $4,000 the Brian-Murray team is okay va.udeville. Alone she'd be some-* thing else again, and doubtlessly both have, been the first td recog- nizie this. For name valuie -alone she's worth quite a bit. Abel. MAXINE LEWIS (2) Songa ■ 12-Mina.; Thraa ' iStata ■ Hard to understand, why a girl iWbo knows so much about singing should know, so little about songs. Mlsis Lewis has been on the verge of vaude prominence for some time. Previously in -flash acts mostly, principally Harry CarroU's,' Miss Lewis is now put ott her own with a pair of piano accompahlstd. - Only a better selection of material is needed'. She has m^ost everything Ise.- ■' , ■■■■ After' steadily building and gain- ing strength: on a diet of specially arranged pops, Miss. liewls reverses herself wlthr"'MinnI© the 'Moocher.' It's "a, novifeliy lyric by a girt who should ^tecr clear-of novelties, par- ticularly the .lyripa.1 type, "and stick to music. ' An immediate) ' letdown waS: noticeable, with the. sihgev never recovering the loss. To make 'Minnie' worse the State pit musir clans Sunday afternoon weren't very liberal with thelt responsive 'ho-de-hos.', ■ ' Miss Lewis looks as well as she sings. She. might perfnlCthe .piano te^im to slip in a; nuifiber, which would allow for a costume change that , couldn't . hurt Elimination of that graceless gesture of hanging the. hands on thejiips, a habit that Gloria Grafton also unfortunately possesses, would also help. But a change in material should be flrst on. Miss Lewis' repair list. After that she'll be well on her way. Bige. PAT LANE and HARRY WEBB (2) Comedy 10 Minsi; One Hippodrome Pat Lane, iCormerly a single, and Harry - Webb, who headed an or- chestra group, teamed u^ in a mild hoke turn, despite all the stooges. Lane starts off alone and is inter- fupted by orte stooge, playing souse, staggering out to the center of the spotlight and going through a few acrobatics. Next Interruption comes from .the audience, where Webb en- gages in d few moments of crossfire with Land and then walks up on the stage in his usual comedy, get-up, chalk face- and loose-fltting clothes. Third stooge'ls a itemiile in comedy garb, who; after ridding herself of a few lines, hds hqthlng more to do of any Imjpbrta&ce. Webb here has nothing to do but looks funny, with the exception of one brief bit. Entire .a,bt; is a. hodgeiiodge of in-i terruptioris, .with nothing accom- plished, arid the act closing before it even gets underway, according to appearances. .Both -Lane and Webb a,re vet comics who should be able to round out a~ turn much more sat^ isfylng than thjs, . . THREE ST. JOHN BROS. Acrobats. 7 Mihs.; Two . Youthful and clean-cut men, enough dUke to be twins, in a spic and spaii display of equilibrisin. Work fast *ahd clean,' never resort- ing to the.dellberate muff for build- ups but selling.each trlclc on its merits. Suitable foV any vaude bill or the presentations. Finishing stunt Is difCcrent and-a peach. They start all square on the floor and by simple application of leverage they eventually get three-high, upright. Seml-^final twist Is very much Rube Goldberg, Men wca/tan eport suits, remov- ing their coats for the heavy work. A small bounding table with at- tached perch, used for one brief trick, Is the only apparatus carried, Bige. NANETTE GUILFORD (1) Songa . 15 Mins.; One Palace, N. Y. Wliether any Metropolitan opera diva is worth $2)600 at the JPalace or any other vaude house may be open to debate, but ^hls, the young- est Met star, is good vaudeville re- gardless and especially favorable for tlie Palace. The economic worth only Is based on the matter of vaude b. b; as it's doubtful whether many varietiy fans have ever been inside the Met much less are familiar with the . Met's singlner personnel unless it's an especially Illustrious . name.. Miss Guilford by her youth' alone hash!t experienced that fame usually associated with a march of time. However, as k vaude ehtty, the Gus Edwards 'presents' billing Is the obvious answer to her favorable va- riety ai)peal on her vaudeville debut. Said debut Incidentally Is further attended by another distinction as it's the flrst time ah active member of the Met has also appeared &t the Pa,iace. . Obviously youthful in appearance, even though ,of that same physical build aissoclated with all opera singers, it's now accepted that a so- prano can't keep her flgure and her vocal chords in trim at one and the same time. The flg, usually takes the sacrlflce. , However, she makes a nice apr pearance a;nd furthermore is vocally well fortified. She opens with an aria which' holds 'them and then goes info, an English-French num- bier In hybrid language which pro- gressed her into a couple of-Victor Herbert's which landed her for ah encore. She registers In to.to as a vaude- ville entry, , ; . AheL LESTER COLE (16) SongS'. • • 16 Mina.; Threer—Full (Special) Hippodrome Lester Cole is of operetta experi- ence, who more lately has been making, a small reputation for him- self on radio, singing mostly over the indie stations in New Tork. Re- cently he was in a radio act which Nick Kenny, radio columnist New York 'Mirror,' rounded up and which played one week for Loew at the Metropolitan, Brooklyn. Cole himself is new to vaudeville after a fashion. At this house he Is fea- tured and given a radio billing. Cole wpear^ to have, gone to some pains In prod clng this,act. It s.hapes up as quite expensive,' in- asmuch as the male chorus of 16 have three different sets of cos- tumes and with the scenery, being changed as often. All the. costume and scenic: changes are a great help in putting the act across. The male chorus of 16 is well trained and is used for harmonic effects all through the act Cole is the only member who solos with the exception of a high tenor during the opening number. Act opens with a desert scene, all in Arab garb. Three " selections from the 'Desert Song* are then used, with Cole featured in front.of the chorus as the 'Red Shadow,' the leading character in the operetta. A spiritual aiTangement of 'River Stay 'Way from My -Door,' with the backdrop shifting to a plantation scene, stage darkened, and the chorus, in drak rigs, follows. This is followed by the stage go- ing to full, tavern scene, chorus in military uniforms and singing the 'Drinking Song' from the 'Stiident Prince' and 'Song of the Flame.' Act closed to a big hand and en- cored with the pop 'Two Lives,' a German Importation. It was a mis- take to use this ballad for an encore for the preceding numbers were of stliTlng quality tliat left the audi- ence k6yed up Just right. Thie en- core song was Just an ordinary tune that offset the effects of the preced- ing songs. A good act for vaudeville and of big-time quality. R EIL LV a nd COM FO RT Songs 8 Mins.; PSt Roxy, N. y.. Two man harmony team who could easily do a high grade vaude turn. At the big Roxy peculiar staging arid placing for this type of act precluded chances for clear Il- lustration of how the men might look in regular vaudeville surround- ings; But no mistaking the vocal quality present. In this picture house the men, one at the piano, rose out of the orches- tra pit on a small platform. Neither did they use microphones, but the cho-sni surrounding them and seemed to shade their work. Both have exceptionally high pitched pipds and frequently play toss with the lead while harmoniz- ing, but the dizziest heights are lo- cated by the non-pland playing member.. He has the kind of vpice that promotes betting that the liext note won't be reached, .though he gets there. It's the turn's chief sales Item but at present It's beirig over^ sold. More diversity in selections and some c.imngc of pace in the harmony seeri)cfl needed here despite the brief time allotted. . Just good .enough to aUggost they can be better. Bige, MYRT and MARGE (8) Dialog Skit 13 Mint., Three (Special) Palace, Chicago Old gag of distance lending en- chantment, goes double here. Myrt and Marge, ducking behind mikes in a soundproof studio, couldn't possi- bly be as bad as they looked out in the open on. the Palace stage; It would have been- ihuch better for this skit to remain uni^een; even at the risk of being thought bad, than parade It out before. an audience and remove all doubt. ■ ' Myrt and Marge (Myrtle Vail and Dohna Da.merel) is the Wrigley gum account over CBS, broadcasting five nights a week from local outlet, WBBM. > Oh .the air it's a'serial skit of a couple bf chorus gals and the usual backstage characters, includ- ing even a pansy in the form of Clarence Tlfllngtufler, a costume de- signer. All of which might be in- teresting to thode who care for it, with a'radio audience at liberty to turn the dials at will, but why drag out something on the istage that Isn't even entertainment? 'What kind of a local angle can this be? It's true that the Palace was stuck for a name this week, but whjr book a cat In the ba^? Giv- ing RKO Credit for better Judgment, It's safe to say this act would never, have played the Palace had it been seen beforehand. . • ' What plans, if any, either Colum- bia or RKO had to present this ra- dio turn in'some, style at least, must have, gone awry, because It -lobked far from anything presentable on the Palace stage. Act.broke In at the .Kedzle, neighborhood showing spot, the night before, and that's where the axe felL Instead of un- usual settings,-lighting effects, etc.,' tiirn reverted to just another one of those things. Silhouetted scenes on both ends of the stage, showing a: couple arguing over the radio on one slde .alnd the announcer on the other, faded into the center for a dressing roiom; where Myrt and Marge and their cohorts held sway^ For 12 minutes the a.udlence was treated to a parade of gams ancf undies, with' the dialog evidently Just filling in. . Uninteresting prattle among the four gala in the scene was only di- verted momentarily by the entrance of the pansy character, played by Ray Hedge. After that It -was only' a qu^stloh of when it would.be over.; Another not so bright idea was pull-'. Ing Pat Flanagan, WBBM's baseball spieler, out for bow. Bad ehbugh to have: had Flanagan stooging as the announcer in the act, which ieinyone could have done, but why embarrass the fellow, by making him.'take a bow?' Flanagan, introduced by Myrt, was pointed out by the latter as heeding no introductlonr -with not a ripple following. With Myrt and Marge in the skit are Patricia Ann Miahners, doing'a dumb Dorai and Eleanor - Rella; playing, a hardboiled Jane. Latter must ■ have been so engrossed she failed to tie the robe around her when taking her bow, revealing a neat pair of shimmies, ^luch .to the delight of the front rowers. Columbia probably figured the Palace as a break-in for the act, which Is right, with Myrt and Mairge drawing down a meagre $950, that left them practically zero after payr ing off the coriipany of ^Ight.' WILLIAMS and CRYOR Talk, Songs 15 Mins.; Two' Hippodrome Familiar type of colored turn as far as the patter is concerned with the act's best bet resting in their warbling and piano work. Chatter Is of the style used by the majority Qf colored ' and blackface '..turns, where, one; u^es polysyllabic words and the other iplays dumb. . Opens with one of thei duo at the uke and both warbling. After some lukewarm crossfire, .tall boy takes to the Ivories while the;other warms; up his., tonsils. Singer has a . fair tenor with a flair for .tricky tonal work at the ends of'the lyrical lines. No hoofing at all Is Included in this turn,. making . this one of thei few Negro acts .ln vaudeville, minus dancing. . Boys get over, mildly now but should get better as they go along. Running time could: be effectively cut a-few minutes. JOHNNY PERKINS (6) Song's and Talk 20 Mi'ns.; in Three 86th St.,-N. Y. , Johnny Perkins, who has been do- ing nicely as a single in vaude iand picture houses, has gotten himself a production. Makes a* good flash but he went over about as well oh his own. Opens in one fdr a brief talk rou- tine and then the olio up to disclose special draperies in 'three,' -with two of the Neal Sister:^ ait a pair of grand pianos, effectively spotted from the wings and dressing, the act nicely. Ruth Petty, niezzo contralto is oh for a. sbng with Perkins and an- other as. solo. .With the;rlght selec-^ tidh. of ' songs,.., rowdy shouts,' she should click, but the numbers picked do not give lier ia ^lill chance. .. Perkins goes itorch with a 'River- side Drive', recitative which Isn't so hot and a close in to 'one', ifor the entrance of a small Negro boy, who looks like - Just another, of those stooges, but who. turns put to be a singer with * fair voice, but a per- ceptible break, between his natural head tones and his falsetto for the high notes—not tha,t the audience cared about that.' Finish is the three Neal sisters and the other sihger d'oing 'Harvest Moon' and hitting it up for an ef- fective finish, with Perkins on and with one comedy break between choruses. Act gets over, but could be greatly improved through use of better song selections. Songa' 18 Mine.;- Ona Palace, N. Y. Yacht Club Boys, early 1932 edi- tion, now comprise Charles: Adler, George Kelly, Jimmy Kern ahd Billy Mtmn/ Mann is . of the original combo and Kelly wag in and out, if memory serves, with the other two new completely. Chick Endor, for- mer mainstay of the novelty quartet, is currently in Florida. This act has a supplementary plalnlst on a port- able platform, 'with the boys draped unconventionally all over it,- except- ing Mann who is . further distin- guished by a white waistcoat. It ends there. Actually Adler seems top m&n oh delivery. Boys double from the Simplon club, class speak, and have a rep- ertoire of Intimate material which they do at the. Joint, but which Is dubious for vaudeville. Sbhie. of it is quite good, but on the whole it lacks piunch, despite, the crlsphess of the lines.. Still, It's no more than to be expected-^they do 'want some- thing .more on a stage in front of a cold -sober, audience than pansy ref- erence and bits. They did it twice running In two successive vocal numbers. . - In . Justice, the Yachters 'were a sudden booking, as was the rest of the bill in the main, but they need much ■ more Ifor vaude than . some sophisticated speakeasy lyrics, an unconventional pseudo-Intimacy or that post-session at Intermission in the' lobby. . Abel, OLGA ABATI . Pisino 6 Mins.; One . Academy. Olga Abati, child prodigy, looking about 10 years, has recently attract- ed some notice in music circles. Slic was booked in here as a special for three days to demonstrate her pre- cocity at the keys, A novel attrac- tion certain to get by anywhere. The child plays one Beethtiven number, consuming her entire run nlng time of six minutes. For'vaude purposes, if little Miss Abati is to play elsewhere, it would be ad- visable that she split this up, .pos sibly playing some Beethoven arid offsetting It . with a lighter piano favorite. The tough customers down hero, nonetheless were there with a hand, when caught. Char. LORRAINE and DIGBY Comedy 10 Mina.; One Hippodrome Mixed' couple in a rough hoke act that misses fire by a wide mar- gin. ■ Crossfire Is tres weak. Com- edy dances are the feature of this turn, but are not handled properly for the desired effect. Act opens with the boys mauling the girl. Latter is supposed to have got out of the former's car because of hand trouble. After some inef- fective chatter, wherein the girl overdoes the 'tough' stuff, " the couple go-into a comedy dance fol- lowed by a burlesque adagio. Girl Is a natural for the latter type of dance, but the routines are bad. Entire turn needs revision. AS Is, plenty tepid., JIM COGLIN (2) Comedy Skit 15 Mins.; Special Drops 86th St., N. Y. : Souse comedian with an eft'ective feeder in. Earl Gilbert, working a new ;ahgle; on the haunted, house idea .with some prop gags -^vhlch date back to the Hanlons and Ra- vels,, but which seem to be new to' a younger generation. Old idea but play'ed for a fresh angle. Opens in 'one' with a special drop showing a cottage which a rum run- ner is-using for a storage plant. The souse Stumbles in, explaining that hfe has come to look at the property. The legger tries to scare him with a story of a dozen murders and as many ghosts, but the souse Insists on entering and Is blackjacked. . Blackout to the' interior, with the legger acting as the ghost and an- other blackout to 'one' as the stew cdmes, out of his trance, the Infer- once being that he dreamed the In- terval while unconscious. Gives a modern t-ivist which helps much. Much of the talk Is a chat be- tween the Intruder and the' supposed spectre with an amiable discussion of the ghost business and the reve- lation that even the ghosts are suf- fering from unemployment these days. Shrewdly written, perhaps a little tQo good for some audiences, but. those who do not catclv the dry humor will enjoy the mechanical effects. Ooglin plays the stew smoothly arid • williout overacting and gets goot!''support from Gilmore. THREE COSSACKS Roller Skatinti 6 Mins.; Two (Special) Audubon ■ A .very effective skating onen<«!. in that the trio works on a Hf' cumscrlbed raised . platform. nhK more than eight feet across. Tha small space on which the trlb exe" cutes intricate Swinging, and twirlv ing routines is what sells this act on both novelty and audience ah, peal. Two of the Cossacks formerlV did a double, known "as Byron anS Gaynor. . - ' Mostly the men . work singles oir doubles on the platform, biit for th* close the heftiest qf the trio does a pirouette carrying ;both his riart, ners. This brought what amounts to a very good hand for an bpene? in this class, when caught Fridav night. -. ■, . ■ ■:; • •. • .; Char/ Mf^re Atnbish (Continued trom page i) ; Ing on. We're doubling at the Hollywood restaurant and do three shows a; night there, and one here. On Wednesdays we do three at the Hollywood and two here, while on Saturdays we do four at the Holly, wood land two alt the theatre. Sun- day is a; day of rest; We h'aV^ only two shd'ws at the Hollywood. That' gives , us little tirrie to play around . since the six. oiE us are together most of the time hopping cabs b^- tween the Hollywood, the theatre and home,' Grace Moore, another chorister, said that she didn't' miss the stage door Johns and that she supple- mented her weekly Income from isiegfeld by commercial posing and that about a dozen other girls in the show were doing the same. In : fact she said she's making more right now than most of the boys she knows. Mary Alice Rice spoke along similar lines. . Other Effec|l;s The scarcity of musical shows using large ensembles has had i marked effect on those tosS* Ing a. hip in 'Ho£.^Cha.V Ac- cording . to backstage attaches at ho time in the past teh years have the girls been so a,menab1e to dis- cipline. Most of them report foif the night show long before eiglif o'clock aind never squawk about haying to break a date when or- dered to show up for extra reheiar- sals by the stage manager. Never before, they clalrn, have the girls , shown such a, spirit of co-operation and 0.. desire to keep the show run- ning smoothly through the summer. That goes for principals In the show too. Outbursts of temperr ment on the part of stars and fea-. ture players these days are as rare as a Zlegfeld show without ponlesj. donkeys, horses or cows. A curbstone check at the Stage door of the Zlegfeld theatre dis- closed but three cars waiting to take stars and principals away af- ter the show. A Rolls Royce car- ried two girls, the stage manager and the assistant stage manager to play a private party engagement A Lincoln called for Velez and Yolanda, who are doubling at^ the St. Regis hotel, and Bert Lahr drove away In a Ford. About a dozen of the principals and chorines left in cabs, three girls were met by boy friends and the rest of the girls walked away. Back in the good old days of, 1D28, practically every girl in the show had a car waiting for her and If it was anything Jess than a Buick she usually considered. her . glorification by Zlegfeld a wasted career. Gridders in Films (Continued frorii page 1) Johes sit. Film will have a game betwisen tlie two teams; U Is also after all available names on an all- time a,ll-Amerlcan list recently picked. Studio has been negotiating through Chrl.9ty Walsh, who acted as contact in getting grid names for 'Spirit of Notre Dame.' Many play- ers have already been tied up for * summer turnout at U. F. & Jtf's St. Xouis Starter ' Los Angeles,. April 4. , Gae Foster left iicrc Sunday (3) to open the F-M 'Oh tlie Riviera' Idea at thei Fox, St Louis, April 8. Unit Will then be routed east, pin/ the sox^th and return Avest. St. Louts opening for thiy ."lio^^ is to fill in dates occasioned lJ>' route switching with : recent au- rtltlon.s of Publix houses playln.cr tl'« F. & M, shows.