Variety (September 1908)

VARIETY 25 \A/ HEN IN O M I C A O O Stop at the theatrical hotel headquarters • J. K. SEEBREE President R. S. SEEBREE Mir. Hotel W. H. MORRIS Mf r. Rest. CHICAGO Musical entertainment while dining in our beautiful restaurants. Service and food the best. WHITE RATS OF AMERICA HEADQUARTERS MEETING EVERY FRIDAY EVENING near Randolph, will be ready for occupancy In about a year. Ground will be broken next May. SAIN PRAISGieGO W. ALFRED WIL80M, Representative. VARIETY'S San Francisco Office, 1115 Van Neaa Are. NATIONAL (Sid. Grauman, mgr.).—Week 13: Bill Papke, the newly crowned middle-weight champion, the drawing card, and packed 'em In. Manager Grauman'a Impersonation of Eddie Granejr added something to the number. The Harry Kraton Co., In "Scenes In Hoopland," novel and Interesting exhibition. Tbey display remarkable skill in handling, and their number entertained Immensely. Alice Robinson, soprano, did quite well with serious selections; ber effort to shine as a comedienne at ber finish was a "scream" on the wrong side of the ledger. Fagan and Byron, with a rather crudely-constructed sketch, eared by the dancing of Fagan. Fred Morten won share of approval with a whistling and paper-tearing exhibition. , The Florence Modena Co., In "Bar- gain Mad," some laughs. Jamea Prior, in "Cap- tain Barnacle's Courtship," completed. WIGWAM (Sam Harris, mgr.).—"A Vision of Salome" was offered for the first time in San Francisco, under the direction of Edwin T. Emery, with Jessica Orr In the role. It was heavily fea- tured and proved a sensational drawing card. The Bottomley Troupe, strong novelty feature, with one of the best casting acts ever seen here. The Manuel Bomaln Company, In "Down Music Row," had choice place and went through In good form. Tom GUlen found a most re- xponsive audience, and not one of the "Flnnegan" talea got past them. The Mosarts, with novelty scenic singing and dancing, well received, their footwork on snowsboes going particularly strong. Cadieux offered a taking routine on the bounding wire. Louise Auber and "The Fall of 64" com- pleted. EMPIRE (W. H. Tiffany, mgr.).—Line-up was one of the strongest of the season, with Winnie St. Clair aa "The Girl from Missouri" taking first honors. A quaint and eccentric fun-maker, she scored heavily. The "Four English Belles" furnished a creditable "pony" number. Valonl, the juggler, introduced a troupe of trained pigeons in an effective manner. Leon a and Dale, vocal number, costumed In regulation Carmen fashion. The man has a good baritone and the act went well despite the girl's habit of singing off the key. Polk and Polk had a good-graded spring-board acrobatic act. Ted Lenore, with a singing and talking offering in "one" made a favorable Impression. E. Lorlng Kelley and Com- pany had some bright lines and pleasing situa- tions in the sketch, "The Lawyer and the Judge." DENVER By CHAR, LONDONER, VARIETY'S Denver Office, 1765 Cnrtia 8treet. (Special Wire to VARIETY.) ORPHEUM (Martin Beck, gen. mgr.).—Finely balanced bill. Mlllman Trio on the wire with pretty Bird Mlllman the big hit. Henry Horton and Co. in "Uncle Lem's Dilemma" brought to the surface two strong points—that Mr. Horton Is a capable character actor and that the Idea of his aketch la very antiquated. World and King- ston, well liked; Raymond and Caverly handed oat both old and new "Dutch" stuff, very good In all; and Martlnette and Sylvester brought out screams of laughter and admiration for their par- ticularly fine comedy acrobatics. Fentelle and Carr In "Out Loud Junction" are breeiy. The Musical Craigs ordinary. CRYSTAL (Wm. Weston, mgr.).—Ziska and King are fair. The Shannons, the same; "Elec- tro" la a novelty and appealed for that reason; lime. Techow's Cats, excellent; Flo Saunders, soprano, good; Rlcbsrd Burton sang "TIpperary" among his other Illustrated numbers. NOTES.—Odd Fellows' Convention here this week brought good attendance at all houses.—The Bijou, formerly a So. m. p. house on Curtis St., (opposite the Crystal), Is being remodelled and newly outfitted for a 10c. vaudeville house. The booking, It la rumored, will be made by S.-C.'s Denver representatives. Will open 27. Ferra, "the Iron Man," Is booked by the W. S. V. A. to play to the Coast. Later engagement following with Sells Floto show. Ferra Is the man that the ARTISTS, when in PITTSBURG, PA., stop at Jungblut's New Terminal Hotel, Fernet Three Blocks from ALL Theatres. Fine Rooms and a ST. REGIS Table at Childs' Prices. "That's all." PRICES, $8 to $IO F>EW WEEK THE HOME OF THE PROFESSION. AND WHITE RATS IN PITT8BURQ. American, also European, If desired. FURNISHED FLATS 4-5 Rooms and Bath—Hot Water, eto., 99 to 112.00 per Week. 606 8th AVE., NEAR 89th ST. 764 8th AVE., NEAR 46th ST. 768 8th AVE., NEAR 47th IT. One Block to Times Sq. HEW YORK CITY. Rational Rotcl EUROPEAN PLAN. 8. E. Cor. Van Burea and Wabash Ave. CHICAGO la Vicinity of all Theatres. THEATRICAL HEADQUARTERS. ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^D^A^pOOLEY^Prop. Arilmtm Coming I e> LOMDOM Can be accommodated with first class room and board at reasonable terms at Mrs. ViMon's Up-to-date Boarding House for the Profession at 20 T0RRIN8T0N SQUARE Russell Square, London, W. 0. all principal theatres and depots. • EST PLACE TO ATOP AT NEW YORK CITY "88 Seconds from Broadway." THE ST. KILDA 163 WEST 34th STREET Furnished Rooms only. Baths—Telephone— Electrio Light. ('Phone 8448—88th St) Terms Reasonable. Best place to stop when in New York. MRS. CHAMPION 211 East 14th St. Housekeeping Rooms, Large and Small. SPECIAL RATES TO ARTISTS. NEWLY FURNISHED ROOMS Near Times Square, Broadway, New York. 948 WEST 48d STREET. MRS. FAUST. auto runs over.—The Orpheum reports better busi- ness than la usual at the opening of the sesson. ST. LOUIS By RICHARD SPAMER. COLUMBIA (Mlddleton A Tate, mgrs.).—It's now celled the New Columbia and because aev- erel tens of tbousanda of needed lmprovementa were made. Good bill opened 21. Bmmett Cor- rlgan and Co. in "His Last Performance," enter- taining, well-acted bit; Alice Lyndon Doll, dra- matic soprano; Imro Fox, deserving Illusionist; Clsudius and Scarlet, banjolsts of merit; Four Harveys, very good; Hawtborn and Burt, comed- ians; Minor, Coleman and Satterlee in a sketch, end the Lincoln Quartet, who really slog four- psrt songs effectively. AMERICAN (Oppenhelmer Bros., mgrs.).— Oeorge Primrose and hla Minstrel boys top this week with Edna Aug a close second for the honors. "The Eight Berlin Madcaps" hold atten- tion; Chesterfield's horse, Innovstlon; Emerln Campbell and Co., Caron snd Fsrnum, Brsdley and Leooa and a quartet secure recognition. STANDARD (Leo Relchenbacb, mgr.).—"Cham- pagne Oirls," one of the best bills in some time. "At Oay Coney Island" proves to be a continuous performsnee of gayety and music In which the girls work hsrd and the boys are not one whit be- hind. Prominent are Charles Nichols, Marie Croix, Marie Fischer and Goff Phillips. Olio op- to-the-moment sketches by Wells snd Sells, Charles Nichols and Co., Burton and Vass, rapid- fire conversstlonallsts; Nichols' plsylet called "Western Style," Is elaborately stsged; "On the Frontier," another set piece, brings out the en- tire orgsulsstlon. The bill bsd a profitable stsrt on 8unday aud has since been on velvet. Relcben- bsch so deposes snd he's s veracious chronicler of box office accretions. GAYETY (O. T. Crswford, mgr.).—"The Hsst- Ings Show" bsstened hither to the Gayety Sun- dsy sfternoon snd bis since sdvsntsgeously shown. "A Frolicsome Frolic" stsrts snd Harry Hsstlngs, Viola Sheldon, Tom Coyne and a large chorus manage to keep things s-humming. Miss Shel- don's vocallsms. truly s bit too good for the burlesque of two-a-day commerce, and much ad- mired and Viola Is so willing with her encores, M> willing! Campbell and Brady, Jugglers and dancers; Howard and Lewis, Mile. Alda, In poses "bronslques" (a new one); Mildred Flora, comedienne, and Vardon, Perry and Wilbur, in "A Summer Night," are single turns snd tesms distinctly worth while. PHILADELPHIA By OEOROE M. YOUNG. KEITH'S (H. T. Jordan, mgr.).—The bill this week Is really so big It Is unwieldy. A bit more of the real variety would help a lot. "The Patriot" and Mullen and Corel!I are under New Acts, snd furnish the featured of the show. The most llksble number from s comedy viewpoint Is Cameron and Flanagan. It still remains one of the best of Its kind in vaudeville. Adelslde and the "Four Dainty Dancera" offered a somewbst showy dsnclng set which Buffered principally through poor arrangement. There Is a long wait before Adelaide does s "Spring Song." The time could be filled by the four girls In "one." Adelslde won her usual honors for some splendid toe dsnclng. WInsor McCay, the cartoonist, waa well liked; a change in his act would have made It more so. Msttle Lockett, billed as "Imper- sonator," was a surprise. When last seen tbla young miss wss burled among the tbree-a-days, but she hss "arrived" and put over one of the best acts of Its kind shown here In some time. The program announcement does ber an Injustice. She does not Impersonate, but bss two or three songs with lots of point, scoring psrtlculsrly through being well fitted to the chsrscter repre- sented. At the flnlKh she did some dsnclng, not particularly strengthening to the act until some excellent eccentric steps were given at the close, which took her off In a whirl of deserved sppre- clatlon and brought her back two or three times tr acknowledge the hands. She bss a fine act. Viola I»c Costa and Co. presented "In the Latin Quarter." Miss Do Costa showed some pretty gowns which was her chief contribution, snd one of the four men hss s good voice. "The Order of the Bath," a comedy sketch, plessed. 8teely snd Edwards had an entertaining musical act on early. The dialogue Is not as good aa they make it. With better material tbey ought to have a big laughing act. The music Is good enough to hold it up, though they have some very mock- worn selections. The Sterlings did well enough In sn opening position snd the La Belles, Mortimer Bsssett and the Goyt Trio filled In. rORBI'AUOH'S (Miller A Kaufman, mgrs.).— With a bill hardly up to the class of the first week's offering, Improvement waa shown in the attendance this week, the house being filled Mon- day nlgbt. The Austral I sn Foresters furnished the feature. This act Is bound to Interest aa a novelty. James J. Morton got slong swimmingly with his pstter snd songs. Probst deserved a lliteral share of the chief honors of the show. He whistles and Imitates birds In a truly natural manner, the tones being remarkably pure and sweet. Stage presence Is the only drawback. Kelly and Adams offered a good ainglng turn. There Is Just enough tslk mixed In to give the orcbestrs s chance to cbsnge the music sheets. Lswreuce and Harrington has not been seen along tbls way In some time and their act Is not nesr ss good as It was when last seen, being poorly put togetber snd not well done. The tslk la flimsy. The tough dsnee st the finish saves It. Josephine Alnsley was given s rsther difficult task to follow Immediately after Kelly and Adams with s straight singing turn, but did very nicely. The "picks" continue to pull Gertie Le Clair tbrougb in good shape. Three of the young blacks are clever youngsters snd all four work hard. The one supposed to be a comedian is chesting most of the time. Fisher snd Fisher opened with a comedy bicycle act. Both attempt comedy, whlcb gives the appearance of a contest for laughs snd It is hard to pick a winner at the finish with nothing to fight over. There la ample room for Improvement. Tbe moving pictures, closing tbe show, were Interesting. CA8INO (Ellss & Koenlg, mgrs.).—Rice A Bsr- ton'a "Big Gslety Compsny" with Charles Bsr- ton ss principal comedian pleased this week. Jack Magee is proving excellent support snd there Is a well balanced company. GAYETY (Edward 8hayne, mgr.).—Crowded houses welcomed "Brosdwsy Burlesquers." The coatum'n^ Is rich and there Is a capsble com- psny headed by Ben Janscn and Lillian Held. Livelier numbers snd more of them snd not so much dialogue would Improve the show. TROCADERO (Charles Cromwell, mgr.).— "Ideals" to fair business. ATbAINTlc CITY By BIO. YOUNGS PIER THEATRE (Ben Hsrrls, mgr.). —Csrrie I)e Msr heads, big hit; Mlddleton and Spelllnger and Co., In "A Texas Wooing," sen sutIon here; James Francis Donley and Corlnae Sales, songs. Immense; Fred Duprca, aonga and parodies, knockout; Four Luclers, musical, great; Three Coles, bounding wire, flue; A. D. Allan and Co.. black art. good. YOUNO'8 MILLION DOLLAR PIBR (John L. Young, mgr.).—Herr Schmidt and Co., cycle whirl, sensstlon; Three Esrnests, bar act, fine; Golden and Hughes, blackface, repeated last week's success; Carlyle's Dogs and Ponlea, big hit; Ell A. Smith's mallmutb dogs, fine. SAVOY (Hsrry Brown, mgr.).—M. p. snd Eddie Casssdy. blackface, great; Marie Simons, songs, fine; William Fagln. songs, good; Carle Cook, colored comedian, good. STEEL PIER (J. Botbwell, mgr.).—M. p.; Haley's Band; rake walks. STEEPLECHASE TIER (Wm. Fernan, mgr.). —M. p. m A . NOTES.—George Mlddleton. the last of tbe summer crowd, has gone to New York—Joe Max- well's set Is underlined here for next week. ATLANTA, OA. ORPIIET'M (lien Kalin. mgr.) -Irene I^itour and dog. contortionist, opened nicely; Jennings and Renfrew, parodists: (aritnell and Harris, dancing skit, big hit; Ilolden's Msnnlkens, head- line: Lewis McCord and Co.. sketch, scored heavily: I/>tta Cladst.me, comedienne, went big; Brothers Damrn, athlete*. • x. 'client. LYCEUM (J. J. Weiss. nurr.K l'"i» Alto Troupe, casting act excellent, l.ueiilc Sn\n>. sourbreAW, hit; Harold Shnw ml o... "The Hour of Man." an ovation: Item iiurton Brothers, much applause; TanakM'M .lupines--, good closing number. BIJOU (FT. L. Beglve. mgr.).—Fred Irwin's Big When an$werinc *dverti*ement$ kindly mention Variety.