Variety (Mar 1937)

58 VAlOETr VARIBtT HOUSE BEVOEWS Wcdo<»Sflft7» March 31» I937 FRIARS FROLIC After a coimparativeiy mild fli^ section^ the Friars lauded the au-, dience into a good time at the Frolic iield Sunday (28) ait the Alvin, N.Y. If was a straight vaudeville sh0v^ lacking in some of the expected Aatnes which were unable to show up for one reason or another. With- out program advs the club did rather well, grossing $4,50& at a $10 and $5 top, profit belhg around |3,000. That included a gift of $500 from I. J. Fox Who usually ^nsors the Frolic shows on the radib but no time was available on the local stations, it was said. ■-' Abbot-Col. Jay C. Flippen was .m.c. for the first part,, with that London sojourner, Lou Holtz, tak- ing over the job for the last half. In the all-male bill: there were standouts who were dusted off with nifty introductions, while Holtz i>ro- vided 14ie 'stupendous' finale by do- ing his strip number. That's OK oBly^ for a club show' with a feinme ..■contingeiit out front, no so good. Holtz in ♦odticed Eddie Davis as the 'kin^ of 52nd street.'. The song- ster had his Leon & Eddie"^ band behind him. Ddvis trotted out quite a routine, also .figuriiig the custom- ers wanted some, spice, but some of his 'tidbits were wisely kept for Ihe liight spot Ham Fisher and Ken Kling wanted to hoof but had to j^esort to cartooning. Fisher drew a profllie. of, Davis' schnozsdle, while Kling ' messed tip his kisser' with daarcoal. Kling flnaled by juvihg a racing fipr^Irond Bouni^ at Bowie, April 6-^Nvin win, maybe.' Benny Fields came over from the Hollywood Where he is repeating :an:d :came. near stopping the show, at least two of the-acfs are slated lor Hollywood for RKO's rNew Faces'—4he hoofing Kondas Bros^ and the 7 Lauriasi. Latter is a jlivenile Mexican band iippearing mostly in. benefits, local }aw bar- iiag them from pro aq^peaiances. Flippeii added durmg one introduc- tion that he had met one act that ^asa't joing into *New Faces.' .The Rooneys, Pat and Pat, were on late and scored a^ alwws. Piit, 1^., introduced Adrian nollini. aikd nis xylophone swingo; It is a.-three- piece ensemble, Rollihi being as- sisted by a guitar and bass viol, trio being mostly known for disc recordr ings.. Bert Lahr and Reglioald Gard- . Her- gave: the income tax skit from ^e Show Is On,^ for laughs, Gard- ner made a second contribution, with one of his hut monologs. Vincent Lo^ brought his blind whistler, Fred Lowry, Buster West, Bob Hope and the Swifts werie among. those present. Eddie .Miller <^ned with the Friars song, and siAgled. later with the aria from Tagliacci.' ' The 'sxirprise guest' apparently didn't show. Vaude had given many feature people to radio and it'was expected that something special from the studios would be in evidence, But they , were not Ibee. in the way line puts song numbers across. Voices are okay and, most remarkable of aU. girls make the words of some of their patter num- bers intelligible; One in particular in which different gals step from line, supposed to represent Ziegfeld Girts, George White Girts, Carroll Girls, and deliver brief verses, is way 'above average foi: a vaude re- vue.- Gals haive fouir or five changes: of costume, idl clean and fresh and inake five or more aippearances. Their; unison tapping is up to aver- age. Productioh is in six , scenes, all handsome and riot too garidi. Of the various acts, Mitchell and Durant headline. Their first appear- ance is a- burlesidiue of Cinderella with Mitchell as that character and Durant as the Prince. Clever and fairly funny, but deceived rather tepidly. If uised ain encore material after the boys do their familiar knock-about biz,-audience, thea. be- ing in the spirit, would probably warm to. it much more. A girl tells the story into the mike as the Jtwp corhics offer their cljown versioh,. Their next (and only other ap- peararice) * the old rough-house routine, trimmed a Jittle for time; but 35 funriy as ever. Mitchell wows them when he goes through the pan- tomimic motions of sinking a femme hotcha song number, only to stOp abruptly and have the voice con- tinue from back-stage. Audience goes into a storm of applause and the boys can take all the encores they want,, Harry King and the Sinclair "Twins (femmes) offer good dance act, mostly taps both in unison and solo, each one of the three taking a whack at (me of the solos. They are on three times, all fairly short and Okay in routine. Helen Miller tOii^-songs a cotijple at numbers including 'The Night Is Young.!' Carlton Enuny and his VMad ■Wags/^ canine act. well known here, clicks as usual with Comedy again a dominating note of the tricks done by the pups. All in all, a good com- bo for entertainment and should please Earle patrons.: fVaters. HIPP, BALTIMORE Baltimore, March 26. Hipp brings, back an old time vaudeville show this week and to good i-eturns. Coming after a siege of name bands, units and presenta^ lions, five-act bill afforded a whale of varfety and plenty of entertatiA' ihent. Customers, opening show, and Good Friday too-, liked every minute of-thi^ 52-ihinute session.' " Opener,- James Evans arid Co., send riiatters off to a good start with his socko routine of foot juggling, starting with gilded balls and using a. table,, .bed arid colorful maltese cross in fast order. Everything smooth and well sold. Henriy Youngmah, on here^as m.C. with a short scission' of ' fflp gagging and introduction Of next act Bob Eastr man and Odette. Crossfire between man and femme midget okaiy. Have to beg off with speech. Yourigniari then back with more talk and build up for Frances Arms on next. Miss Arms has been' here before arid always scores. Piresen't layout well knit and biiilt on solid ^how' -irianship. Takes a goodly number of curtains at finish: Youngman re- 1urns,.this time doing his act winding up with bit on fiddle -capably sold and icely :pacedi Audience liked him: , a: lot snd flaish of annunciator card ' on first appearance brought, an audible hand, proving effectiveriiess of radio build-up via Kate Smith program. .Show closes.with Sylvia Manon arid Co., ain. okay /flash and id(BaI chaser for this bill. Full stage lay^ put . pf porcelain, clock and. candle- sticks, peopled by characters in guise of dolls, pretty picture and adagio work of Miss Manon and thre3i men to vocal accompaniment Of two femriie voices^ 'Quality Street' (RKO). Burm. MUSIC HAli, N. Y. Easter ofid spring serve as the cues for this wieek's ,stage doings. Practically all "the pmnp and sceniC' Investiture goes into tbe celebration of the holiday event, this item be- ing a repeat of last year's 'The Glory of Easter.' It is still an eye-ftUer of the fiirst order* The regulation stage show, tagged 'l^rihgtupe,' Is given over to glorifying, the blosr som pened Of the famous Japariese cherry trees of Washington, D.' C. On the screen thei'e's 'Seventh Heaven' (20th), a Silly Symphony, 'More Kittens,' and some newsclips< 'The Glory' of-Easter' set; projects the altar of a cathedratl against a series of beiautifully lighted stained glass wiridpws. .'The .'sOloist arid mixed chotus, clad as choristers, are ranged along the berried boxes On either side of the auditorium arid as . the house balletists, laden with Easter. lilies; move about the stage with appropriate solemriity a Te Deum, -Praise to God,' is rritoned. Marion Raber lends a fine contralto to the majesty arid cdlorfulness of this riiemorable Stage concept. . A> Robins, the riiiisicaldown,vvcith the endless, supply bt . bananas, gets an inning, all to himself during the 'Spririgtimie' sessiori. He tops off his pulling 'em out of here and there by stringing his trunk sec- tions together arid by a quick switch of panels, converting the ensemble into a set of moving trains. "The cherry blossorii episode gives Jain Peerce the splO vocalizing as- signment, plies the corp die ballet in a neat , concept merit and trots, for a fast and precision taps, f .rhyUimic move- ut the Rbckettes ippy riuxture of Odec. \ EARLE, PHILLY Philadelphia, March 27. Vaude shOw'at the Earle this week topped by , Mitchell and 'Durant is f&.st-movlng and decorativ e. P ic is Her Husband's Secretairy' (WB). Biz started slowly with Lent still on, but should pick . up. Flesh part of bill is headed by 'Oreenwich Village Scandials,' but there are several extra acts woven into this unit show.' Highlight is the chorus of 16 gals, easy to look upon, nicely; outfitted and excellent not. Only. in dance routiries but also STANLEY, PITTS. Pittsburgh. March 26, To4>flight Easter week show needs only a bit riiore feinme appeal to miake it a real standout A line of gals would have worked wonders, but even as tMngs stand,.it's sock e>n- tertainriient. . Items are Roger. Pry or and his College Inn show and Little Jackie Heller, just back from Lon- don, as an added attraction. . Routining waisn't so forte at open- irig piurformances- due to Pryor's in- sistence that his end be presented intact. That put Heller in a spot since he has to follow Varsity Eight n^ale octet, but in spite of that dis- advantage, he comes through in .fine fashion. Pryor's Inn revue can Use some iadded s.a., but that's its single fault Turns are all rijght up an audience alley arid .they're paced smartly and presided over with a nice self-efface-. ment by the reformed cinema lead- ing man. Last tiriie here Piyor was doing a single and going t'* °Ough the usual Hollywood routine. There isn't even a single mention of his movie work, and he stands entirely now as a maestro and m.c., and gets by iri A-1 fashion. Steps out cold after the ork's air signature, and plO.wS rights in with a showriianly barid number. That"s followed by Howard Nichols, hoop- spinning juggler with a bag of tricks that jnakes for a swell flash. Next is Red Hodgeson; One of Pryor's toot- ers, who steps down from the stand for a comedy number, relating in song and on the trumpet the experi- ences of a farm bOy who buys a horn and goes successively from the village band to a circus outfit and then the radio. It's good for laughs and in addition Hodgeson gets in some hot trurnpet licks. Edhai Sedgwick, - formerly' with- Ted Lewis, an attractive hpOfer, gives the show its first arid vir- tually orily leg display with a tap bolero and caps it up With a riiusical comedy routine. : .Only Other femme is the bantarii-clOwri iri a(^t of Ariles arid ArriO, but she hardly comes un- der heading of lure; Male/member of team steps out with clarinet, os- tensibly for a solo, but before he giets in a Couple of toots, the. dame's on and turn develops into a hilarious knockabout. Rough-house dance- stuff is down to a science and it's wow low coriiedy with just a touch of the customiiry adagio thrills. They had a tough, time getting off, but it was either that Or collapse. Varsity Eight keeps the ball: roll- ing. Octet is, smartly outfitted in skin tiights and fiowing, colorful capes and would make, a great flash if they couldn't sing a note. They can, however,. and piit over. five nimibers with zest, winding up with a sock medley of tunes frOm 'Stu- dent Prihce.' Following them, ori was probably the , toughest assignmerit Heller's ever been handed, but he smacked four pop ballads across the platter just the Sariie and had 'erifi crying for more. I'or a finish, Pryor conies ori with a nice^ modest bow in song and Curtain closes in on him slowly. Picture, 'A Family Affair' (Metro) and biz for Good Friday impressive. Cohen. PARAMOUNT, N, Y. The pit barid policy at the Para- mount is now in its second. cyc^e and is playing r^eats Of' orchestras that helped establish the success Of the idea, when it was first given trial. Eddy Duchin and his crew are in for a second whirl, bracing at the b.o. 'Waikiki Wedding' (Par), On the screen^ Orchestra (15) delivers a smooth- flowing, and nicely-assorted selec- tion of pops, given. lustre by the arrangements which keep to the fore the pacing pianology of the leader. Diichiri. has a pleasing personality which easily commuriicates itself to an audience arid adds greatly to the general musical impression ^he band makes. His deft keyboard work, both able and bravura, is a lofty high- light when getting in his solo licks. Sprinkling of specialists banked arOund the band iricludes Neila Goodelle, Calgary Brbs., arid a rhythm tapstress, Mildred Law (New Act),;. Miss Goodelle scores resoundingly.. Her excellent enunciation is hot the least piece of equipment she has, and an attribute so- riiariy. warblers of today lack. Her looks and general appeararice, plus r personality and voice make her one of the standout warblers around. Selectiori of songs is thoughtful, opening with zippy 'Love and Learn,' then softening into 'Trust In Me,' arid following with 'Ain't Got Rhythm,' cleverly ar- ranged iri that special . lyrics mask the song, at start, by disguising it as a tear-tearing torch ballad. She encored with This -Year's Kisses' and it is only with difficulty that she effects an exit Calgary BrOs;, European comedy act in which duo deals mainly with pantomime, are on a shade too long, and would have benefit had some of the minutes just after act's start beeri scissored. Strength lies in the closing capers, and it would be Wise to clip the dead wood-doings and con- centrate on the weighty riiaterial. Lqu Sherwood, long-tenure meni- ber of Duchin outfit, doubles off his trumpet once during baind's. opening medley to vocalize refrain of 'Little Old Lady.' Final perforriiaince on opening night found 'em stranded on their stilts up; down and ori the niezz. Bert. Rogers film dancei^ Is good but its too much dancing ftorii one team in one spot,. A fifth routing though ok'aiy, makes everything look all uie more superfluous,, but that's .the Roxy's manrier of piling things on tin they hiurt Wyse's session with his aierobatic femme assist Is good fOr several laughs, the vaude stand- ard practicaltar murdering' hiinscilt via terrific falls. ' Gae. Foster girls arie presented in a tricky imicycle routine this , week, "nrhieh is supposed to be a; toi^per for last year's bicycle bit.' Line can't control the. vehicles as well in this one^ which kills some of the effect though setting thiri^s partially right by- having one of the enseriible. dare, any of the aiidience to come on the stage and do better;. It's a play for syriipiathy which draws both iap» plause and . laughs. , Biz Friday was okay upstairs arid down. Scho. ROXY, N. Y. Roxy'5 Stage arid screeir combina- tion is a bargain buy currently ait 55c. top. Uriiversal's musical 'Top of the Town' is "augmented by a quan- tity stage show, whiGh - here, and there flashes some quality as well, and, plus newsreel and. a short, the' melange totals more than three hours, of eritertainment.^ The time element is important- to the Roxy's now steady clientele. They coTae here expecting a long sit- down session, and they get it. Stage show is topped by Louise Massey and The Westerners, latter a string and vOcal quartet which augments or blehds with Miss Mas- sey's singing. Act hails from radio, getting a p.a. introduction a.s star.<; of Maxwell House Showboat and the Log Cabin (syrUp) Dude Ranch pro^- grams on the NlBC networks, and de-i livers nicely on the stage, though quietly. .. Show's outside acts this week also include Ross Wyse, Jr., knockabout and dancing comic, assisted by June Marin; Rob Ripa, excellent Japane.<:e ball and club juggler, and Nadine and Kirk, mixed pop-ballroom dance tearii. Latter's technique in four routines, based oft Astaire-Giriger CdLdNIAL, DET. Detroit, March 25, Bangup show here currently, con- sisting of foiir acts plus several sax solos by Boyd Senter, m^ c. and ork leader, sandwiched riudway in 40- riunute performance. Couple of turns would dp justice to 'Class A' spots. House, recently redecorated inside, has completely altered its stage drops aindr .settings, to very ..advan- :tageous effect iSenter's six-piece band shapes up nicely in background as a result,, and turns are given berie- flt of . surroundings arid better , light- irig effects.. With zingier .m. c'ing by Senter, show flows smoothly. Mildred and Gaines provide house with best class act it's witriessed in riioons. Ballroom duo garbed neat- ly, and has poise. For an encore they offer a faster nuriiber. Neat, but not tip to staridard Of first effort. Spotted next>t6-closing,'arid deiserve it plenty. . Maikiacal stuff furnished by the Three Hyrons hits solidly.-. In tails, riiale trio knows how to sell antics. Knodcabout stuff includes some well- executed acrobatics. OS to rocking applause, and return for each to drolly tell a Scofch Joke. Oke. Opening spot is filled by RusseU, Christine and Co., including male and female .plus well-trained canines. Turn has good possibilities. Included are instnnrienf playing, lariat num- bers, hoofing, juggling and unicycling, and tricks by dogs. I^r appears well and handles various .assignments nicely, but'act is too cluttered up. Harry Jordan, deuced, can r^dly whistle but improper xise of his hands' causes work to be a little awkward. After aping various birds, he gets a deserved good.haind for his effort on'Poet and Peasant.' In his turn midway in show, Seriter Scores: wiOi inedley on sax. House-almost jammed at late show caught, at 25c. top. Picture is 'Gold Diggers of 1937.' Pete. ORPHEUM, MPLS. MinrieapOlis, March 28. This week's stage, entertainment here consists entirely of Benny Mer- off and his band, plus several spe- cialty numbers presented. in front of the musicians. In the last analysis, it's mostly, the clever -and versatile Meroff hiriiself who dominates the proceedings, and is the only standout performer. Meroff returns to Minneapolis for the theatre date, after a long and successful Nicollet hotel. Minnesota room engagement. For a full stage show running 55 minutes there, per- haps, is a littlej too: much Meroff— good as he is. As ,a result, in the aggregate, show doesn't quite meas- ure up to the best Orpheum Stand- ards. Meroff works alritost every rriinute, ULc'ing, leading the orchestra, downing, performing individually and aiding some of the other artists. He Plays a half, dozen instruments, .gags, juggles, draws with, colored crayons, sings and daricies. He's a one-man vaude show in a spcko band, riumber that, burlesques the old-time variety bills. With the band far back stage, Meroff wisely holds forth on a. platform well out ovei: the or- chestra pit, thus bringing ,an inti- mate touch to the proceedings in^ this large house. The band of 14 pieces devotes it- sielf entirely, to swing and hot music and clowning: It plays its riumbers in snappy and effective fashion. Boys themselv^ also .do a bit of singing arid dancing. Personnel includes Larry Apollo, a laughmaker who stodges for, Meroff, but Jack 'Mar- shall,' also an aee. funster who. was one of the Nicollet erigagenient's stars, is missing.. Best of the band numbers is a burlesque on the riewsreels that afr fords Meroff gpd the bOys oppor- tunity for hilarious antics. Talent on display during the show includes Florence Gast, singing comedienne; who does a pretty rough singing arid daricing riumber with Meroff; Miss Sonia, good-looking blonde, whose pipes are fuUy equal to such pop numbers as 'Good Night My Love'; Ruby Barnes, petite miiis who coritributes a succession Of (difficult and unusual tap steps that evoke fi-equent applause,, and Ray peMar, • dancing xylophonist, who also plays a selection on empty Whisky bottles. r Feature picture is 'Love Is NeVyfe' (2qth)i Near-capacity house ait the Saturday midnight performanite, Jteea, STATE^ N. Y. Right, tii^t, bri^t five-act layout •t the No. 1 vaudfilmer of the town this week. -. Helen WorgjEin tops and dshins and Lessy are runners-up, the latter markinf their; stage debi£ Show paces w^, opening with Lew Duthers; with Jean and Joan in hoofology, rurining the gamut Of the tapster styles, and changing off- nicely in cbstumirig (despite its sameness) as well as terp routiries. However, their 10 minutes is a bit too long and pruning would help. Jean, and Joan are in trousered habiliment throughouit, which might, stand a change of pace irito some^ thing really feminine while Dufhers is doing his solo. The girls might .open in frocks and go into the sailor-l>arits for the challenge dance sequence, Qshrris arid Lessy are from the niteries . by way of 52d St., N. Y., where they're .doubling firom the Club Caliente. Team's, style of comedy is one of the freshest things in funsteririg that's come along in years. ..Their dialectic double-talk, the Russian , Cab Cabolowidi^ the Chisese Bing Crosby, the Stuff Rachmaniribfl ('Nagasaki') nonsense, and the like, is Wholly . original in concept and delivery. Team has been a sirigle-handed. attraction at the Caliente, which gave 'em their start, and they've developed , into a sock draw. A bit riew to the ros- trum, they'll ease up arid adapt themiselves with .time. .Oshin^' travesty .of a Broadway m.c. is a devasting burlesque of :.the Oster- nian school of coiuerencieringj Their encore, Toreigri, Legionaires'^ num- ber is an expurgated version of the family audiences but V likewise clicked. Hal Sherman', in the . trey, was wfaammo witti bis studiously casual hoofing. He's developed a fine sense of ccmiedy patter, too, 'which shoidd carry him far. And his exaggerated . caricaturing of the; various; dancie styles takes hirii oS strongly. Helen Morgan, nexf-^to-sliut, glori- fies the American songs by Jerome Kern. Hers is an exclusively Kerri- Harrimerstein cycle, opening with 'Why Was I Bom?' from 'Sweet Adeline,' aiid thence into tibree irom the fertile 'Show Boat' score—<'Make Believe,' 'My Bill' and 'Why Do I Love You?' Confessedly .nervous, the sittin'-on-the-piano songstress now is escoiised sittin' oif a bau:h, whieta - is perched on the rUnway over ..the pit. sO that not only does she project her jsbrigs well, into the audience, but she prdiects her .wiri- some-as-ever personality to full re- sults. Miss Morgan did - a .complete switch-about with her song .cycle. The opening show she essayed a repertoire of new and unfamilicir tun.es, and more or less omeletted. It was an entirely new arid much, more effective story from the second show on, opening day, after Manager Al Rosen (now laboring under a Broadway columnist's superlative enC<Mnium as one of the Broadway greats-behind-the-lights) and Book- ing CHiief Sidney Piermont decided that Miss MOrgan had better revert to' type. That she, can sell her oldies for the- same values, and lend them constant nuance, is. ol comrse, of' prime credit to her art . She's been away with 'Scandals^ en tour for some time, this marking a Broad- way return. Bliss Morgan, of course, is a cinch for a nitery right after the State. Looks as well as ever and heeds only Kern's tunes for her repertoire. Seasonal Easteir booking accounts for the very clever Salici's. Puppets be.lng rebooked so goon. They were in for the New Year's show at the State, for similar seasonal reasons, but it's embellished to even top its previously high standards. 'You Live Only Once' (UA) on screen. Abel. Embassy Newsreel, N. Y. Not much in the Way of hotiiews ; and the recent developments in the | Detroit auto-strike situation is all that saves the Eriibassy from leading off . with a rehash of the Supreme Court ruckus. As it is,- court is \pul- ri) otored for the second feature in default of anything more imjf>ortarit, but the -strike gets the bill off Wiih a little excitement, some of the ciis-. tonierS applauding Lewis, while other demionstrate approval Of denuri- CiatiOn of the; sit-down tactics. Fox, Pathe arid Paramount all contribute to this Sector, Metro (Hearst) .supplies the open "er for the court issue, with Para- mount building up with LaFollette. With the exception of some - <3 em- onstrations of crack bowling, Metro's only other contribution to the pro- gram is a series of four snap;5hots, the best of which is the destructi of condenmed autoriiobiles by, tum-f bling them off a cliff, others show Cossacks in feats of .horsemanship, baby ballet dancers . " Italy and stamp collectors, notlii outstand- ing. Fox leads on sports with the Per- ry-Tilden tennis match, well photo- graphed, an Australian (|iver, girts playing baseball and some smart boxing by sailors. As .a separate clip Fox shows socialites playing base-, ball, while P .ramount hangs around the Yankee training grounds. Urii- viersal clicks with boy pushmobilers coasting 'down a steep Arizona hill.