Variety (Sep 1935)

62 VARIETY MUSIC-NITE CLUBS ^ITednesday, September 25, 1935 Night Club Reviews Small's Paradise tt*EW YORK) —■ Ed Small's Paradise club, at 135th and. Seventh avenue, an established institution up Harleni' way, has launched its new fall revue titled 'That's Harlem; Appealing to a considerable extent to." residents of this neighborhood, in the last eight or . 10' years it also has built up a steady cUentle of folks from down- town. Mas an expansive seating capacity, large enough to permit comfortable dancing and now bbastf ■ fi"66ttipi6te" bar land restaiirant.- New floor show, with many old faves of this spot, consists of ■ enough varied entertainment to ap- peal to every type. Hits a fast gait with plenty of sparkling hoofing. Charlie Johnson, whose band-plays for the revue and guest dancing, takes the bow for music of show while Edgar .Dowell and Arthur Porter are credited with wordage. Production, which is considerably more elaborate than recent Para- dise shows, has a real Arid In the dance team of Palmlre and Valez, wjio do hotcha South American terpslng With a touch of adagio thrown in. Their Carioca stepping wowed 'em at the premiere Thurs- day (19).. One of slickest dance duos seen around In weeks.' Chunk Robinson and Ollle Potters In comedy skit offer only slightly blue thing in piece, and it's not out-- ahd-put rough stuff. Show boasts two excellent fern steppers in Al- fredo and Arn^tte. Latter promises to build judging from initial effort. Alfreda is a fast tappier who's been seen in previous Paradise floor shows. Doubles later into sizzling routine in front of tables. . Speedy dancing trio work is done by Three Blink Boys. Two pleasing ballads handled by Amos Bonds and Marion Halrston. Real shout- ing number, however, went best here as done by Ollie Potters. A chorus of eight comely brownsklns sacrlflce. customary cooch grind for lightning-fast stepping. It's only when show tries to go too artistic that it slows down. £^rank Giitbs, headwaiter and manager at Small's for years, con- tinues as aiffable host Tariff com- paratively light; no cover, small minimum. Wear. L'OPERA (NEW YORK) Probably the nicest room of Its type, the Cafe de I'Opera on East 57th, nee the old Embtissy Club, is patterned to cater to the haute monde, with a proportionate tariff, not too stiff but steep enough to keep it from getting a 'popular' type crowd. Jimniy Thompson and Gil Boag are reunited In this venture, which harks back to the good ole pre-war days of the Salvln enter- prises, such as the Palais Royale, Tho Tent, Balmoral, Rendezvous, et al., with Thompson having put in about $65,000 to redecorate the new rooms. And it looks it. Not gaudy but class; all divaned, vir- gin-white leatherette In its com- fortableness, air-cooled, a cascades scenic effect, Joe Panl In the kitchen, and Guy Lombardo's orchestra on the rostruoi. Don Alberto's tango ensemble for "alternate. . "'"LonTbar'ao" f or". ■tfie"Tiboir" Panl"TOr the palate and the Thompson-Boag aegis for the hospitality are all that's intended to provide the draw. Whether the limited 225 capacity, as against the overhead, will achieve that Is up to fate, Menu strictly a la carte; supper oouvert ?1.5'o and $2 on Satufdays and holiday eves, which isn't steep; The food and vintage scales are is- the Park avenue brackets, but con- sidering that "the Rainbow Room atop Radio City Is content to do okay "tflT 'a " f4.64"%" average" check (table d'iiote dinner Is $3.50); and the French Casino, with its stagger- ing overhead, can do okay on a ?4 avtrage check, the only element against I'Opera is the limited ca- pacity. . If jammed up enough ses- sions, of course, it's something else a^aln. There's also a nice bar vp iEront for the stand-up trade, cock- tall sessions, etc. It-has all. the elements favorable to box oftice; from the Xombardo dandapation, novelty and newness of environment to the Thoriipson-Boag- Pani auspices. Ahek BILL'S GAY 90'S (NEW YORK) Bill Hardey's Gay Nineties oasis on .East 54th has a nlterj', novelty In the form of a minstrel show which should jam 'em in. Done in orthodox fashion, not too kiddlngly, which makes it more effective, a real minstrel troupe provides foi- genuine novelty divertissement. Pro- duced-by Prank A. Buchanan and Wm. Hamilton Hardey (alias Bill Hardey), Gus "Wicke,. interlocutor, and Mike Bernard at the ivories, as musical conductor—and still a champ piano tickler—head a show including Jos. E. Howard, Bert Sworj. Billy Beard, Nate Biisby, Tex Hendrix (a 'beautiful' female im- personator under tan cork), Jerry White (one of the original Radio Franks), Jim Doherty and Paul Davin. Swor, Beard and Busby are end- men. Their minsttelsy antecedents date back to Al Fields, Neil O'Brien, Al Barnes, J. J. Coburn and Lou Dockstadter's shows, besides sub- sequent Broadway revue work. Joe Howard, long a Bill's Gay 90's fave with his own songalogs, goals .'em with a medley of some of the hits he write In yesteryear. '"What's the Use of. Dreaming' particularly proved a show-stopper. Ethel Gil- bert does entra'acts specialties. Bill Hardey has done • wiell with an idea Which he's capitalized to the fullest. The Gay 90's as result is one of those fortunate spots to which the Jaded nocturnal wander- er niay always, wander, knowing that something'll be doing at all times. That's the secret of Leon and Eddie's. The same feverish, al fresco spirit obtains in both spots. Room Is never dull; always alert and alive. There may be ritzier haunts but the migratory night owls win automatically veer to such spots that they 'know are surefire for some divertissement. Just squat- ting and drinking is no longer a novelty. With this setup, if the show is paced right and the time staggered Judiciously-^an aspect which Har- dey is well versed in—ishould do okay for the house. Only thing is that, service Is nil during the show —a right idea, but not enough of a break for the establishment. A smartly phrased card on the table, ofwelT-schooIeas^filKiraaB'fttmi-tlie- walterlng staff, without suspiclon- ing like it's a buildup for the gross, could bffsist aiai-by •-JTgtnaf- ordeFB a few minutes before the curtains part. There's a miniature stage with prantica?. ourtaiDfl.. scenery... and. lighting effects, and it works out very effectively. Ahel. CLUB ViCTpfe (Seattle') " "■ "■ 'Seattie, ■ Sept 19." ' Giving its patrons a parade of leading bands, engagements gen- erally running four or five weeks. Club Victor holds its place as the towh's ace night club. Bands played this year included Hal Grayson, Or- vllle Knapp, Jack Mills, Del Court- ney Jay Whldden arid Ray Herbeck. Jabkle Senders la current. Floor show is not elaborate, usually cpn- sisting in two or three acts, with occasional line of gals. The dance, along with okay cui- sine, is headlined. Covert charge is 76c. except Saturdays, when It is upped to a buck, with tax additional. Club has capacity of 600, and week- ends always finds its capacity taxed to the limit Only beer and wine is legal l.i this state, despite efforts to pttt over legalized mixed drinks; The latter would doubtless double the take. As it is, the spot Mas -been doing nicely during its two years exist- ence. "Vic Meyers, himself a band leader of parts, and on the side, Lieutenant Governor of the .State, Is owner. The Gov. Is generally busy galla- varitlng about the state or U. S. A., with his side issue politics. , So he has Bob Larson as manager.' Spot gets the class trade of the burg, while there are scores of lesser beer clubs that angle for the dimes. Bid Is made "for university patrona.ge> Wednesdays and Fridays, special couvert to those holding cards cut to 4Dc. Jackie Spuders' band, locally or- ganized, dispenses syncopation that the dance mob likes. Senders is emcee, too, and peps things along. George and Shirley is a kiddle dance team that is clever and cute enough, now in fourth week. The kiddies alternate with solo numbers and doubles, coming on for the 11:30 show and again for the 1 a.m. finale Hacker and SIddell are the only other act currently used. This team Is recently from Japanese tour, and from Tavern at Reno. Dave Hacker and June SIddell are known to vaxjde, and give variety act, with some straight, steps, and some com edy. with plenty of tumbles ahd roughneck antics. A little dialog 1& interspersed With their 'moods of the dance,' and a travesty imitation of the .De Marcos. Some of their dl cult roughing is better adapted to stage than club floor, but both acts are liked. Trepp, St. REGIS ROOF, (NEW YORK) One of the smartest enclosed roofs' amoiig the metropolitan hos- telrles Is the St; Regis, an Urban- de.slgned interior, luxurious and 'class'' "lii" Yt¥""cKaract»jr ' arid" "yet roomy and comfortable. In such dl.stlnsuiaHed. amXQWndlngs, the en- tertainment tri Ings are usually equally ultra. l'5<':ith .Johnnj' .Creea'a departure for the Coast, Jules Landie and his smart dansapators have been moved to the roof to supplement their Uaual IiJncheori and cocktail sessions with dinner and supper dansants. riU"s«»«iHl> Root are the . fes-tlMwd dance jjalrj now more or leas starid- ard""ar6und~ the''better' New" York hotels, with their smooth terps. They're a nice looking pair and well fltled to the character of the room. Also good production bets. Lande Is a violin virtuoso who. batons a - sprightly dance conibo. But he does get his atrlng oppor- tunities over In a 'Canary' specialty, an original composition, and other- wise puts his 12 men. through their dance paces in effective fashion. His is the Continental style of danr sapatlon which should also sound well over the air. It's already had Its. ether opportunities. Abel. AMERICA' 8 SENSATIONAL SONGSTERS T R I P L 1 N G ! AT THE VIGNES de FRANCEI The FRENCH CASINO Cline Blows DaDas Is NINFS (NEW YORK) Ninl's Faubourg-Montmartre another of those midtown bal mu- settes in the Times square sector, which essays to bring a cross-sec- tion of bourgeoise Parisian nite life to the natives. It's nothing as pre- tentiously French as the French Ca- slrip; more Intlme with the econo- mies of a bistre, and yet a little more than a drinking place, for it also serves a t)able d'hote. The 75c dinner Is so ridic that it Inspires a reasonable tap on the winei card, although the scales are unlfor ly modest. Show, such as it is, is one of those things. Best attraction it holds is a snappy rumba combo that gives out Latin rhythms in fetching style, considering the general standard of this West 48th street one-flight-up. There's also an accordionist, who varies the rumba-tangos with char acteristic Parisian .marches and quick-step waltzes, ' An m. c, Pat Whelan, Who frankly kids himself as a Jeari Malln; % whiz of ' a femme planiste, a singing waiter or two—and. If the hour's late enough, this holds some laiffs as a novelty. Dallas, Sept 24. .General shakeup at Centennial expo started Monday (23) by bankop - directors -of-^aip-«*te?-"Wal-> -- ter Clin^, managing director, said he will resign, effective Oct 1. Cllne said supiervlaory committee wanted to spilt executive jobs, and pay hlirt $l6iO00. 'is . "salavy i». 125,000 yearly. dlne's habit of following advice of J. Franklin Bell insticad of com-- mittee's was blamed for tlie schism. Bell, who special .assistant^ r.e3igned:Friday..;C2Q)., ._. Otto Herold named acting man- agier. and special conimlttee began ferreting out alleged overemploy- ment Aihateurs Alel. Political Shows (Continued from page 1) Direction i^. PAUL SMALL Palace X)i«ati« Bldg. KEW YORK V'. MINOR X ROOT ST. REGIS HOTEL, NEW YORK Management C.B.S. ARTIST BUREAU BLOSSOM HEATH (DETROIT) Detroit Sept 19 Helen Morgan, here for a two weeks' run, ' is making Blossom Heath, Detroit's swankiest road house, forget all about its big draw Ing cards of the past year. La Mor gan means tops in these parts as far as nite club entertainment goesi There are two shows nightly, "af 10' arid midnight, each lasting, about a halt hour. Usually a little longer now because the crowd brings Miss Morgan back for . seyeral encores. She consumes two-thirds of. the time with her songs, leaving about 10. or 15 minutes for a few numbers by Lischeron. and Adams, ..dance team, and some imitations by the mc, Benny Strong. In tlie opening act, Lischeron sings Willie his partner, does a solo dance. Their routine is excellent, especially a Continental, aithougli the lighting effects detract some- what from the dance. Team comes back for an .extra bit with the whirling flnish. Strong, versatile m.c. follows the dancers and provides nifty enter- tainment with his takeoffs. He con- cludes with a nice arrangement por- traying the evolution of the tap dance. Besides these. Strong keeps the crowd In a happy "frame of mind while doing his m.c. task. Miss Morgan. Is accompanied by her secretary-pianist, Lou Brlnp;. She accedes to the requests of .the patroris three times, and sings 'My Bill,' -.'When I Grow Too Old to Dream' (standing up) and 'Only Make Believe.' Providing the dance music is Gene Regis' • nine-piece orchestra, which has a following In this territory be- causie, of broadcasts' over local sta^ tloris ■ and the Michigan network His numbers have been clicking with the cln.<i3 clientele all .<!unin>r. amusement sugar. It's patterned a la 'March of Time,' consisting of about five minutes of music and 10 minutes of dramatic episodes which. contrast the glorious past with the tragic present (i.e., as the Republicans see it). But subtler stuff than the frothy blah of most old guard speechmakers. Possibility that this is only the first of a number of such shows being engineered in the Republican dugout is .viSwed as a certainty in radio circles. "Thomas Sabln, G.O.P. publicity chief, is under- stood to be scouting around for ?2,000,000 and plans to plunk plenty of that onto the ether. President Roosevelt and .his fireside chatter- ing .apparc.itl'y has taught the Re- publicans a lesson, Upton Sinclair Case G. O. P.'s have another example; anyway, of the effectiveness of radio entertainment Thev used It in Cali- fornia last fall. After Upton Sinclair went through the primaries like a whirlwind, the Republicans engaged the services of Lord & Thomas, advertising agiency, and i-aked their cause out of the fire to win on election day. A new use of radio was one of the publicity^ measures suggeisted by the L, & T. brain trust and re- sultantly three major programs flowered in the Golden State. Two were diamatic sltetches subtly, arid sometimes humorbuslj', deplctr. Ing what would happen to Cali- fornia if Sinclair won. Third was a home sketch in the manner of fire side chatter. Spot radio also came in for plenty. Sabln is not expected to overlook that fruitful campaigning when, the president 1 race gets started, arid the audition of lest Friday ap- pears to clap Vierlflcatlon on the. earlier Speculating. No advertising agency has been engaged as yet, the auditioning being a direct proposi- tion. Democratic plans not given out and no auditioning or time-buying repotted from thf>t'r!'"; •.•tor to ditp. (Continued from palge 1) had on a large section of the .youth of the country. Theatrical ambi- tions are strong In many kids and cannot be easily discouraged. Once> a kid .w;lris an 'amateur' contest in a theatre or broadcasting studio the ambition stops being an urge and becomes, a mania. Cases of youngsters quitting good jobs arid comfbrtable homes because a local 'contost' victory steamed them up are innumerable. After the local success, a puree winner must. run through the gantlet of exploitation In which they're kicked around by unscrupulous racket guys posing as showmen, and that pro- cess generally licks even the most, talented amateurs. Meanwhile, since they're so cheap- ly bought and are more easily sold, even if of poor quality, because aii* dlences don't expect too.much from .'amateurs,' the tyros are replacing professional actors all over the country. It adds to the unemploy- ment ranks both ways. Because of the uncurbed exploit- ing of participants, present day amateur shoWs are not considered as likely to produce the future tal- ent that the tyro performances of years ago uncovered. The 200,000 to 3 odds attest to that. And the total for the past five years In- creases the odds. Only known ama- teur to outgrow the lower ranks and get anywhere In that period, prior to the trio who crashed Broadway in the past year, was Artie Auer- bachv A photographer for the New York Mirror, Auerbach was one of the early winners of the original radio amateur program on WHN, New York. Since then he hais been a minor but regular radio pla.yer, arid last season had a spot on the Phil Baker program. Joe Caridullo slated for the Rain- bow Grill, N. Y.; Ruby Newman, from Boston follows in early De- cembeh ROBBINS'CHATS Hot tip, Everybody every- where will soon be dancInK to, singlni;, whistling and playlnff "Broadway Rhythm" from MGSI'H "liROADWAT MELODY OF 1030." And while we're on the HUhJect, don't overlook tliese tunes from the Hame protlucttont "You Aro My Lucky SUr" "I've Got a Feelln' You're' Foolln' "On a Sunday Afternoon" "Sing Before Breakfast" P.S.—Also boor In mind onr other cnrrent tuncH: "Tender It the Night" . "Roll Along, Prairie Mooii". "I'm In the Mooil for Love" "You're All I Need" ROB B I N si MUSIC CORPORATION ■19.9 SEVLN7H AVl NUL-Nf.W YORK MANYA AND D R I G O Now at RpoNevclt Hotel .New Orleano, T.o. "Manya and' DrlROi one 6f the simart-- eat dance teams over acen In the BJue Room. (nooaeveU Hotel,. New-.Or- leans). The beayty of Manya adds greatly to the effect, .prlgo Is equally strlUlntr In .-b.ppearance. As a team they 'brine to New Orleivns d. dance treat that Is ae rare as It. Is en- tranclnfr.'"—Mel Washburn In the "Morning Tribune." nooklngA ThroiiKh MAt'RICE nOLDKN ISOO. Itrondway, New York City