Variety (June 1933)

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46 VARIETY VAUDE HOUSE REVIEWS Tuesday, June 6» 1933 ItAJAH RABOID (3) Wlind Reading! Hypnotism 38 Mins.; One and Full (Special) AcadeniYf N. V..:' Aajah Rabpid has been around for some time., but not so - much ' in yaude around New Tork. He has offered a full . evening's show on several occasions hot so' iw back In one of the Times S.qu&rb theatres. -Fbr Tpresent. purposes he has" a' 3$- mlhute . act,. split between a miiid- readlnef portipn, in- which he ah-r swers . audiehcei; questions atid a demonstration ot mind .over mat- tet* on thp stage. There's nbthine ,.. very bailing about Rabold'a performance. It is often; toa obvious',; ais some folks in' ■the audieilce,. when caught here Satyrdd.y, remarked. This occurred In that part of . the mind'-reading ..interlude when the Rajah guesses questions on which fans are concen- tmting» with the fan, thinking otit lotid, .signifying, he's, right. When the Rajah rem&rked there was someone on ^and . who' wanted to know if they'd get that divPrce, a man said yes,.and'Rabbid..spoke 6f- ^ 'the lady who would have> trouble getting .it because her husband was very jealous of her find would make it tough.' . V' -As—t-he-^ttet—oipensr-a,—gfrl—passei?' along 6he aisle getting questions, Raboid guessing what they are. Ail question-^givers answer "in "the af-- flrihativQ.' Second half deals with what Ra- boid calls magnetism* his ability to - make a-man- weak '0.r' strong;. A total of 11 m^t^gi^'fr-om the^ a^ the. subpects in this and the .dem- onstration, partly for laughs, in which Raboid gets the imagination •to. imagine things not existing. In this case, it's white mice, with 3>lants reacting as. though they see thP mice and go after them,. Anally ;holdihg their p6sturei9, most of them 'awkward^ In hdpes of laughs. It's aU strlctlr ami^liltpwn, but in the poorer c1eii3s nabes' around New. Tork'should selL Char. W.OdD and Q'CONNQR (i) Sohgttr Banjo 12 .Mine.; . in One AeadiBiny^ N. —Cuci&U9.-biUing~that-the-diminu^ tive fellow of this twosdme, Munuy "WPodj gives himself. None other than that of ^radio's miniature fash- ion plate,' He pi^obably believes television is just .slrou^d the comer -and in anticipation of the advent has staked his claim to the title. , That he makes a natty appearance In. a white palm beach double- breasted, plus prangCF tie there i^ gainsaying. Also' personable is hid partner, Giles > O'Connor, but^ in neither case ca,h the hattv descrip-. ition apply , to the depotitment of their pinging voices; • WoPd carries thie load of the la- rynx exercising, with a mike to ab- sorb his juvenile pip^ings that oc■^. caisionally give' wiay to falsetto flourishes. These transitiond are anything but snippth. O'Connor takes the opening and ^ third spot for some pop warbling by himself to self-accompaniment, oh a banjo. His qhances of , clicking would b6 all to his favor if he devoted him-> self exclusively to strumming. It's not a smooth routine as the act's now framed. ■ It would impress bettet from scratch if the pair moved themselves back to one and a half and With the parting of the travelers had the little fellow feed ing a fast one to. the mike, to lii.<i ■ partner's banjo accompaniment After that a ballad by Wood, and then, if it must be, the solo by the other member of the team. That carrying out of the chailp by O'Con nor for his solo openihg has a parlor air about it. Odec. GERTUDE NIE8EN (1) Songs 12 Mi Three State . Gretrude Nieseh went from the hite club floors to radio, : She's pjre sented in vaudeville by CBS, with the hetwork taking a mention .in : the opening ahnouncement. Radia has taught her one;, biad, habit, but also several-good-bhes, so the bad is. .dis- counted^ . Miss Niesen is a' good looking ;girl on a .stage, ahd she.cai^ sing a song. As a single with a fair-enough air rep she belongs. Since last' around in the clubs and in vaude with a band ftct or twe Miss Niesen has improved consider ably ks a song saleswoman.. The improvement is iiot so much in the singing, as her voice and style are Unchanged; but in the little tricks that must have been picked up around the broadcasting studies. Her arrangemients, remindful of those Miss Niesen does on the iaiir with the Andre Kastelanetz orches tra, are very good. The bad habit is the mike habit which afflicts ,a lot of artists now- adays.. The'mike i^ a blessing for vocalists -who couldn't register above a whisper in a tunnel, but: for' strong pipes -.such /as Miss Niesen's it's not only useless, but jiiu!mful.-^_Besides_aislhg-4t^:prDlifl^^ cally; . Miss Niesen hides behind it, and doesn't step out , until the fin- ish. .And at the : State she picked thiii bigjgest microphone evbr seeh to hide behind. ' Two straight liiiihbers, one a sweet arrangement of 'Now That I; Know,? start -thpr turn.'pffy and twp imitations- complete, the- repertoire. The takeoffs use Liipe Yeleis ahd Lyd4 Robertl. fpr .subjects. The Velez included a. riot so pOllte cooch which Miss Niesen doesn't need and shouldn't dot and the Roberti, as standard for this slrig:er, Tet her dpwii. .Mah at the piano. Bige. Jay MILLS and Gortrude GREEN Coinedy and DAneing 12-Mini.; Iri One Orpheum, N. Turn is reminiscent of other sim- ilar formatlpnp with the man open- ing ^ith a -violin. solo which- he hevet plays. As" he starts to play, the girl comes up out of the audi- -ence-and-across-^he-stage.—StPpped- at the opposite end and explains she wanted to change her seat. Back in a mpmeht and halted for. talk, mostly about a play she's writing. Not particularly bright, and not new,' But it collects. She-does a rather faky dance, and the man back for a song, then • a double dance, neatly done, and through. Could have encored. Holding down trey here, hut safer in the two-spot. Chic. FAY LIN and HUG1HE8 ^" Comedy 10 Miiis',; One Downtown, L. A. Franl^ Faylln and. Kay Hughes have-a nut type of-act that-is -dis- tinctively different. Faylin works semi'-straight. with, most of the comedy provided by his attractive partner. Early pprtlon^ of act is a cpn8ta.ht run of patter,; with . Faylln doing comedy biz, j^nd gabbing with girl who is stagestruck and .dumb in characterization. Pair work with precision and time their gags nicely. Act needs a little tightening up, after which it should be ready for average vaude audi- ences. Eclwa. ' TOMMY TORRES' Jaz^ dors (8) With .Armanda Chirot^ Lujse and Rudy Orchestra. Singing, Danci 12 Mins.; Full . Downtown, L> A..: Hastily whipped into shape for the Downtown date, 'this musical dancing combo pf" 11 persons was revealed as . a fast-moving, -well balanced and routined act .which after a few' more break-in shows ^ ought to step out handily. Entire personnel is Mexican, with the eight band boys, displaying a versatility of instrumerttatipn that stamps them_as finlishe d m u sicia ns. "°Miss "CKlrpt;;ha;sTa^mezz^ voice that shows every evidence of pareful training, beldes which she exudes personality. Lupe and Rudy devote their efforts to native danc ing, that fits in nicely with' the ma slcal and vocal, numbers. .Orchestra plays mainly Mex airs, with a hot jazz finish that cannot help but click. Act-works In front of yellow dtapes,;- with tapestries and hanging lamps for added at mosphere. All, with the. exception of the. dancers, wear American Barb. Edwa Pver some fine rhythmical stepping, especially to be commended as a few hours before the show he had sprained his ankle. Billy Russell, attired as a British workingman, in some comedy about the Labor Ex- change and politics, did not impress royalty, and at some of the stuff they even looked resentful. ' Geraldo audi His Tftngo Orches tra from the Savpy hptel came In as a breathing spell, and were wel- come. Ciifdlni'a suave and polished prestidigitation amazed the house, with the comedy interlude by Eddie Gray, coming oh to pick up a bit of lighted cigftret, totally unnecesr sary. . ■■ . The big sock In the first half was the G-anjoU' Brothers and Juanlta Richards in 'A Romisince in Porce- lain,' with a storm of applause at the finish, the entire royal family joining in. The best laugh also came in the first half through d genuine bit Pf burlesque. Outstandihg hits in the second part were shared by two Americans land one English act. The Ameri- cans were Wilson, Keppel and. Betty, and Williahi and Joe Mandel, and thie English ofterlng was Billy Bennetts Bennett came on at the crucial moment, when the audience was utterly, tired of two hours -of 'dumb', comedy, and everything ho uttered wfts a. howl. The big scehe of the evening wais 'Dreams,' a Palladium presentation, starring Evelyn I^aye, Roy Fox band and Jack. Hobbs. This was a short musical scene with an old time- Cinderellai' fliayor, "ivritteh by Guy Boltpn> with nnusic by Martin Broones. Set is understood to have cost^—around—,$B;OOOr^nd—wiM—spe'-^ Pially built for the occasioh. Fox and band lookdd ahd played well, :but the whole thing seemed timid and out of place. Seems like the PaUadiuin management have an idea of bringing thli; presentation' back .as a-special'flash when they rd^ume their ^vaudeville 'policy in; the middle of June; It 1q probably ah idea, and. might prove good box- ofRce. jShow; as a. .'whole was not well- balanced,. lacking comedy. House was not capacity, with plenty of %15 seats to be had at a third of the price. MOLLYWOOD, L. A. Hollywood, June 2. Six diversified vaude acts,- pre- sented, in. a strictly picture-house atmosphere, fail to make much:of an impression here currently,, aside from delivering their ihiaterial in presentation style. Lavish use of- -plush- drapes,^ancyr-set-pieces-and- lighting prove detrimental,' rather than enhance, atmospherically, straight variety turns, and this is what the acts .-comprising this week's, bill are up against: First there Is the spectacle of Harrlisbn ahd Elmo, vet blackface pair, doing their really funny crap game in front of a rich- red plush. Likewise, Ryan and Noblette, with a comedy patter and song act, while garbed in street clothes, similarly' spotted in froht of cretonish drapes. PALLADIUM, LONDON . London,: May 23. Annual perforrhance in aid of the Variety Artistes' Benevolent. Fund and Institution,-which is always at- tended by the King and Queen, took plt^ce on May 22. .This is hot actu ally .command performance, as these are .generally held either at Buckingham Palace, or one of the royal residences.. It Is more in the nature Pf,.- a. royal .perfPrihance Further .distinction wsu» added to this .show by attendance of. the Duke and. Duchess of York, who Qccupied the same box with - the King iahd Queen. Program had a larger aggrega tibn.. of. American, talent than ever before. No less than, six Amierlcan standards were iiicluded. Show was mainly a string of scenes from the 'Crazy Seadon,' currently at the Palladium, with the situiEitlons specially edited for the occasion. This made most of the *gang' ' self-conkclous, always trylng^to_keep the. party-cleari^. Bu% there .were' occasIonarTSp'sesT ,.as when Charlie Naugh ton suddenly found his pants slipping, having to rush behind the curtain to do some adjustments. Most of the rough house scenes, throwing palls of water at feiich, other, or the hun dred arid one prattfalls, were looked upon by the Qiieen as a;n'Integral part 6f rnodern vaudeville, in which she did not care to'take part, but had no objection to other peopl? enjoying this kind of rough and tumble. Omar, .early on the program, pul; And Harry Fpster Welch, one-man band, doing' his ;mu8icar. impersona- tions before a flaming red plush, when his type of offering , is sP ad- mir?.bly suited for a,n olio drop. Of" the" three full-stage sets,' Jaclf and Betty Ca'Vanaugh, who open with their cuq^Qn^ary roping, -knife- throwing and comedy of the plains, work in .an elaborate, picture-house setting, with light effectEf that miight do justice to a pretentious spec- tacle, but which is entirely out-of place for a turn of this kind Duel de Kerekjarto, violinist^ Is spotted in surroundings which fit his mpderated tempo style of de livery. As a matter of fact, JCerek jarto's program, as presented at^thls house, is entirely too dragery and much top 'highbrow' for an average vaude .audienc^. ' For a e^^ mob it could be classed -as excellent. Here his- technique and talent seem Wasted. The plush, drapes served satisfac torily for . the Chacalots, rlsley trio, who. close, revealing unusual feats of strength, dexterously executed. .With thel exception of the ChaCa lot's, all acts have recently been on View hereabouts, and there was no noticeable change in routines or niaiteriah Harry Foster Welch has the deuce spot, with Ryan and Nob- lette third, fpllowed by Kerekjarto and~ then Harrison and Elnio (with Elmo's brother for a little hoofing) in the next-to-shttt position. ■ - . Overture by the Max Fipher pit orchestra Is more suited for a pres entatlon idea than as a prelude to straight vaude, though no fault is td: be found with their musical rendi tion; it just puts what should be a straight variety show ofE the wrong foot. For the dyed-in-the-wool iraude devotees, the Hollywpod bill offers "Utile in the* way "pf encPurag^ih^ht for a speedy comebiack of vairiety And for the picture-house fan it's just so much stage fare thrown in as an adjunct to Ruth Chatterton and George Brent in 'Lily Turner. News, Warlng's Pennsylvanians in a musical short, and cartoon complete screen fare, with Gaylor Carter presiding at the organ for his customary singing school, and apparently doing all the singing. Biz not so hot Friday mat, with lower floor less than half filled. .. Edwd. STATE, N. Y. It's Buck and Bubbles direct from the Capitol instead of Ray Bolger direct from the Paramount at Loew's State this week. Bolger and the rest of last week's show are holding over at the Paramount cur- rently, so the dancing comedian who has Played all but one! deluxer In Times Square in the past couplp of riionths couldn't make it unanimous by opening at the State Friday. But he'll make it 100% next week, be^ cause the odds are. pretty much agaihst the Par show holding over for a third; Buck and. Bubbles are a good- enough substitute.. They guarantee breaking Up any show and will folr. low any thing.- Ifs easier thl^^ week at the State than last week at the Capitol for theht, for here there's losd to follow* Joe Smith and Chalrlle Dale; with the singing teain ot Mario and La- zarlh* to complete the Avon <?omedy Pour, are lii the middle of the flve^ act bill. In this veterain comedy team can be found the Whole story of vaudeville as It is today. Under- different condltlohs there wouldn't be much reason fOr the continued use Of. *Dr; Kronkhelt,' a piece of literature that's antedated by only ope other-r-the Bible. But Smith ihd Dale, like every other act of merit, are called on but seldp* nowadays, and for that :week .here and there ahd now and.then a hew. act wouldn't be worth the trouble; There can bei no solution as things stand. Smith and ]>ale arei gppd comer dians in anything they do. And they-dar;*Dr.: Kronkheit^-especially- well. A few people In the audience didn't seete to re(iognize it. The majority, familiar with goings-ion, waited for a .new line to laUgh. The total laiighs gairnered by the team was high enough to get them over laa.jhodercLte.way,.and..they-cleane<L up with the singUig quartet finish, George F'rentice.'s PUnchi and Judy show is the opener. They haven't aeexi one of these things around much in the last several .yOa;r8j so the'novelty is likely to Interest the adiults. For kidd It's sure thing, and. for general, opening spot purposes.it fills the order. Gertrude Niesen, who graduated from the nlte club to radio. Is No. 2 trith a,plano player and a mike, and uilder New 'Acts. They liked ° her (quite a lot, but would have! liked her more had-she refrained froiia hiding behind the . mike. Buck and Bubbles are heixt to closing, and Bernlce and-Emily, the flhishers. To the girls' own danc- ing has been added some male com- pany^-supporti-^An^-eccentrlo—tioy- stepper who takes some wicked falls in a stew dance, opening the act, is good support, but the other boy; a song-and-dance juve, is ordinary. Their tricks are daiidng school standards, and ais fiar as- style is concerned,"they're still in line at tho Oriental. But this team's routine, which looks BP alhiple and which. It seems, most, any other two-girl team .couid cop, hasn't been :copx>ed. yet. Which Is probably the answer, so perhaps looks are deceiving. They closed ;^the State bill tWW ^Whlte Sister* (Metro) is the pic- ture. At the supper show Friday It looked like everybody was out to ■upper. : - ' Bige. - PALACE, CHICAGO Chicago, June '2. If the Palace here is supposed to be one of two or three RKO vaude dates to survive through the sum ^ mer, business the last couple of weeks doesn't encourage that view from a Randolph . street closeup. House sagged to a deplorable |ip,- 000 one week and has been around $13,000-$l4,000, which means red; most of May. Right now the ■World's Fair is di- rect ahd 'harmful bjpposltlbn.^ Take these attendance figures at the expo for what they're worth: Saturday; 186,106; Sunday, 64,921;. Monday, -41,245,'^ Tuesday, 103,570. It costd 50c to get into the expo grounds, and 26c; Is average for each cortces'- sion. Of course, the optimistic . s'Cance at present is to believe that in .a week or two the natives will ha'ire gottien their fill of the fair. and. wiU return to more nbrm8»,l shpw-golng habits,, and that, secondly, as soon as schools are out, the town will get an influx of yokels, a percentage of whom will patrohlze the theatres. Prevailing bill is aVeragely good vaudeville, it starts with Mulroy. . McNeece and Ridge, speedy roller- skators. It ends with Adelaide Hall's revue. In between there's Jack Pepper*s two stooges, Tom Patrlcola and Ann Seymour.. All standard and accounting for them* selves in professional style. On the screen there's Wheeler and Woolsey In ,'Dlplomaniac3!_(Radlo). . -1 Miss Hall's , turn needs, a bit pf re^routlnlng, but otherwise Is a meaty and snappy colored turn. Hy Clark's orchestra jglves out sweetly, notably on the fiddle, and impresses as more muslcianly than the colored average. Taps Miller looking like a World's Fair building in flamihg orange vestments, Ted Pearson with more patches than fabric showing on his trousers, and Peg-Leg Bates in spiffy tails brought rhythm and song via the specialty route. Miss Hall wowed across a pale of ballads, .Biz light. Xand, .' PALACE, K Y. The Palace la not to shut after all. . Business thiaTaLt**^ weeks has Improved and thV T mous theatre is expected along, under the curtailed h,./J2 plan used since it reopened^^'* dombinatibn house. Sunnv Si.S^ * afternoon *aw fairly eool S7 ance, especially bn the lowe^ fl^?"*- the gate being better tharon tS previoua Sabbath. N They liked the show, aithouirH ti... bill was anything but Velghty ^? seemed that, a new geperation' ^•"^^fi**;,,-"® 80 familiap Jig vaudeville aa, was. That was iffi cated from the way the TomSfc went across, In the five acts^J the feature Him, 'Adorable' (Fmt\ there was variety and every turt S?.VJ*J°'^'* ?J audience generosSK With Harry Burns and the DonateU las winding up the bill, it wm rather Italian-American. • Sylvia Froos had the middle tfodL Two of her numbers are out of new musical pictures, 'Waterfront' and 'Gold Diggers.' She announced the dollar number as the hit of the lat- ter, whereas there are two other songs which top it in popularity Miss Frops is using a microphone but it did not seem needed. .Amnll- flcatloh was hot noticed and in a house like the Palace, it's question- able If the radio Implement is the right idea. Burns ahd his four-person hodge^ ppdge had little trouble winning laughter and. the-way they ireni for the balloon bit ('I think you touch') was plehty reason for its retention.' Bur ns was the only jLeprfisentatlve— of the old Palace: days on the bilL The Dpnatellas and Carmen, in the closing spot, made^ ia flash Of it. They have been Used in the opeh'^ Ing spot elsewhere, but being a va* rlety act, goes for either pbsltloh. Act takes on flash proportions just when It looked' iiVerj father and mother of the muisltal- acrobats coming on and making it a five- person turn. Bob Ripa'started the'show excel- lently. He Is Denmark's jentrant for juggling honors. Remindful of the late Enrico RastelU, Ripa Ish^t' as adroit with the Japanese sticks, but the rubber ball manipulation'is about oh a par, the Dane having some of hia own feats that, topped ofl the routine to ho little success. On second were Pettet and Doug- las, the midget member making, the grade for the team, by clicking with the feminine onlookers - who made up. most of, the house. Ibfie. Los Angeles, June .1. Fairly well-balanced vaude show* with tWo of the acts breaking la and getting over nicely. Of t^e other three,' t^b are old standbys, the Aierial. Bartletts and king, KlhiG; and King, hoofers. , Bartletts have tlie opening spbt and click nicely with their ewingiher ladder and maneuvers on. the rings and trapeze, pair are seasoned yeta and can fit In almost any bill. —In—4^e^-deue^-spot^Edison—and— Louise Present a novelty musical and comedy rbutlAe that is full of surprises.' They produce music cut of various appliances, such aa stuffed dpgs, rubber, balls,, etc.,. and. :wlth plenty of hoke. injected had no trouble getting over nicely. Tonimy- Torres' Jazz Troubadour* with Armanda Chlrot (New Acts), fill the trey spot nicely with a rep* ertolre consisting mostly of Span* ish and Mexican selections. Be- sides the sUperb singing of Miss Chlrot, Lupe and RUdy favor with Mexican dances that lend color. ' Faylln and Hughes (New Acts) prove an Entertaining pair, with their offering falling. just a little short of being an exceptional turn. Closing spot has King, King and -King in. some ■ of the - best danding that bas been seen hereabouts i.i a long time. Boys dress alike and- step in perfect Unison. Their open- ing number has all three chalned. tbgether at the ankles, but this is no handicap, ahd they register froni the start. On screen 'Lily Turner' (WB). 'Fifl,* musical short; cartoon and news. Secphd show ' opening day had lower floor about half filled. academy; n. y. This week's stage layPut projects Itself for probable box-office, atten- tion through Rajah Raboid, nilnd- reader-mentallst. fPhe sort' of tlilnBf Kabbld does, should prove of mbre draft down in this section than it probably Would elsewhere. House enjbyed a hlce business Saturday afternoon; better than customary on Saturdays,' particularly when the weather outside strikes at the b.o. Feature is 'Bedtime Story' (Par). F6OTt^gmh-str§etWr:b6lWg"the-type= probably that didn't go uptown to Rlvoli or Palace to see Chev's latest, film should be attracting above average; Raboid (New Acts) doubt- less second on draft. . Raboid has a mlndreading-hyp-. notlsm turn that is no great shakes, but gets by with the boob element despite that much of it is obvious. The Rajah, who's rather theatrical on the stage, hangs around 38 min- utes, pretty long, but the average fan seems not to mind it, judging (Continued on page 48)