Variety (June 1942)

22 HOUSE REVIEWS Wednesday, Jane 10, 1942 lahr-Joe E Lewis-Wheeler 2-A-Dayer J fhams In Tryout; Set for Chicago Ron Grand Rapids, Mich., June 5. Al Bloomingdale and Nat Karson present 'Headliners of '42', headlin- ing Bert Lohr, Joe E. Lewis, Bert WheeZer; features Mary Raye & Nal- di, Romo Vincent, Frances Faye, Lynn,^Royce & Vanya, Biltmorettes (3), Pegleg Bates, Paul Sydell and Spotty, Hank Ladd and Francetta Malloy. David Mordecai, (fonductor; $2.20 top; opened in tryout at Keith's, Grand Rapids, Mich. This three-day stand is break-In for 'two-a-day vaude show which opens In the Grand Opera House, Chicago, on Wednesday (10). Why EO much break-in should be neces- sary for a straight vaudeville show is not quite understandable, hut here it is. There are only two small talk- ing bits which are not part of stand- ard vaude acts. As a vaude show It Is composed of standard turns which have always made good in the varieties. Chicago knows 'em all and Hkes 'em alL The only question in Chicago is go- ing to be whether the public wants a straight vaudeville show at $2.20, when they can get vaudeville plus pictures at the Chicago qp Oriental In the loop for 35c. The N. Y. situa- tion, however, indicates that two-a- day vaude can be successful despite picture house competition. Joe E. Lewis ra.cjs and does a fine )ob of this long, tough assignment. He' fives each of the turns a nifty buildup and works with them when- called upon'. He even' stooges for Frances Faye in one bit along with Bert Wheeler and Romo Vincent On his own at the closing IjCwIs score» heftily with his regular turn of nov- el^ songs. His numbers, such as Toor Little February' and 'Sound by Western Electric,' have already be- come show business classics. Though not a well-known performer in this town, Lenris was a sure&re showman who held this audience in his hand throu^out. On name value Bert Lahr rates as the topper on the, shovf, and he comes through with two numbers, a sketch called Taxes' with Hank Ladd and, later, his classic "Wood- chopper's Song.' Lahr handles com- edy" lines with terrific clown skill, end when he Is given the material i there Is none better as a comedian. ' He should be given iiior&. to do on this' show afor his iiame value Is powerful and the audience wants «nore of him, Bert Wheeler is dynamite with ah act full of showmanship. Wheeler and Hank Xadd, assisted by Fran- isetta Malloy, have been doing this turn now for several years and they have gotten) it. to a laugh eminence. £ach gag is pointed beautifully, each piece of business perfect. Mary Raye and Naldi had just a liHle diflicultr with the music, at the first show, but that failed to dim the excellence of this ballroom, team. ' Vh'ey add class to any stage. , Biltmorettes open and are a fine Choice for this tough spot. Three girls are fine acrobatic dancers and ' get the show off to a fast pace with ttieir"'great tumbling. Climaxing the turn Is some tumbling while skipping tope.. Pegleg Bates has been stand- era In vaude for years now and re- mains a surefire novelty dance show- man. This colored hoofer with a wooden leg, can teach plenty of dancers with two legs a lot of things. ~)'He's on in deuce. Opening the second half Is Paul ' Sydell and his well-trained acro- batic dogs. Sydell mixes the laughs In with the stunts, smart^. Lynn, Royce and Vanya are in the closing portion of the show with their bur- lesque ballroom adagio. This type of act Is well-known these days, but the trio has brought it a new high point of success. They do much with the routine and get a-constant stream of laughs with their comedy-falls. Romo Vincent, turns in a solid job of comedy singing, going over par- ticularly weU with his travesty on •Last Round-Up.' Building from his comedy appearance, Vincent scores sharply with excellent showmanship Frances Faye is the vocal power- house on the boogie beat. Stomping out the tempo at the piano. Miss Faye clicks off three sharp tunes to .the jive tempo, and scores particu- larly with her own new tune, 'Shut My Mouth,' 'I Ain't Talkin,' which ' Is used as the feature song of the show. Loop. ORIENTAL, CHI , , _ Chieigo, June 5. ■• ^^yCanova. Jackie Miles, Jimmy. .& Mildred Mulcay, Llovd & Willis, JioUywood Canine Mimics, Ray Lang Bond (U), 'Sleepvtime Got' .(R«P). Curent attraction echoes back to days of standard vaudevlUe turns. Judv Canova heads the bill. Show Is well balanced with each act con- . tributlng strongly, ^Ray Lang's house Orchestra, up on •tage again thiq week, backs up the show nicely In a summertime set- ting. Jackie Miles 'emcees and col- lects a goodly lot of laughs. For his own bit Miles does a takeoff on some song titles much the same as Frank Fays radio stunt. Miles also takes a poke at some of the daytime radio shows and transcriptions to register big. Lloyd and Willis, neat hoofers, start things off. Their high spots are rhythm tap work to Strauss waltzes, finale buck and wing by Lloyd and ballet tap by the femme. They're both smart looking, young and show plenty of personal!^; George Cor- tello's Hollywood Canine Mimics have been schooled expertly and costumed accordingly. A smash per- formance. Jimmy and Mildred Mul- cay sell solidly with twin harmonica work. Miss Canova, appearing both on screen and stage, has plenty of op- portunity to exhibit her talents and does. With her characteristic coun- try getup, she sings ~ a couple of novelty songs, topped with a sock arrangement of 'I Ain't Got Nobody.' With sister Ann at piano, Miss Canova combines for two-piano ar- rangement of 'Dark Eyes,' with Judy throwing In her comedy stuff along the line. Encores with .'Some Of These Days.' Miss Canova has good showmanship and keeps the audi- ence amused. Loop. APOLLO, N. Y. Infcspots (4), Doc Wheeler's Sun- set Royal Orch (16); Cholly and Dotty, Tyler, Thome and Post, 'Snofcehips* Davis,'Batte and Tuffy; 'Black Dragon' (.Mono), There's an overabundance of danc- ing In this 70-minuter, shorter-than- usual show for this colored house. But the session, dominated by the Inkspots, is ,< good entertainment for this neighborhood since It's made up. of the ^e of fare in demand here. That's, with the exception of the Tyler, Thome and Post turn, which means little. On last, the Inkspots hit the jack- pot of audience reaction. Their repertoire is identical with their de- livery at a recent Paramount thea- tre, Neyr York, stand. Begiiming with-a new rhythm bit, 'Josephine,' solidly sold by Deke Watson, they course through 'Well Meet Again,' 'Apple Tree,' 'Do I Worry' and a new war tune. This Is Worth Fighting For.' Last two are encores. Quartet paces Itself neatly with but one ex- ception, the last war tune; another' rhythm number is called for at that juncture. Doc Wheeler's Sunset Royal outfit usually accompanies the Spots on one-nighters and on. dates such as this. It's a. better than average colored band composed of four sax, three trumpets, three trombones and four rhjrthm. It follows the usual piercing brass, jiunp-rh3rthm groove followed by most Negro bands and lacks only arrangements to lift it but of its current class. Only one o£ the arrangements of- fered here really does 'a job, and that upset the house when caught. Titleil 'How . 'Bout That Mess,' recently recorded, for Bluebird, the number sharply stands out from the remain- der of the band's work and can be taken as an example of what the out- fit could do. with better arrange- ments. It's a killer. Wheeler, the group's arranger when It was known only as the Sunset Royal orchestra, does a fair job up front and occa- sionally plays trbmbone. Band works weU' behind acts, though too loudly at times. Cholly and Dottie, dance-comedy team, are- fair dancers, solo or duo. Thiey split routines with a too-long session of tired comedy. Few of the gags they pulled found hearty re- sponse. Leg-work needs routiniptf. Tyler, Thorne and Post, white, offer a slapstick drunk act that's painful at times. There's little in the turn for this spot, let alone higher-priced time. Two men In tails and girl In evening gown go through a routined series of pratt-falls and slow-motion tricks. 'Snakehlps' Davis clicked solidly in a dance routine aptly described by his handle. Rubbery legs and torso, coupled to an unusual trick of picking up lhairs and tables with his teeth, and dancing with them, earned him hearty audience reaction. Finale finds him lifting, with jaw-strength alone, a fair-sized table and four chairs, trucking off With them. Batie and Tuffy, another comedy- dance act, contribute the only gags 'worth a giggle. They run through them at the outset and then turn to leg work. One's thin and the best tapster on this bill, the other's chubby, a colored Harry Langdon In. appearance and somewhat like him in delivery. Latter also dances in a clever, comical groove and he foimd ready reception to his stuff. Biz good when caught, during New York's first aU-cIty blackout Wood. 'At Ease,' produced by Leon Leon- idoff: sets, Nat Karson; costumes, Marco Montedoro; features Robert Landrum, Betty Bruce, Glee Club, Corps de Ballet, Walter Dare Wahl, Dania Krupska,Rockettes; 'Mrs.Min- iver' (M-G), reviewed in 'Variety* May 13, '42. Leon Leonidoff fittingly tufiis to a military theme for his current Music Hall presentation. His soldiers are gay, pleasant fellows, in the person of the M. H. Glee Club, and are vir- tually surrounded by the pulchritude of the Rockettes and the baUet. Which creates a picture of military life, so far as the^ M. H. is concerned, that gives one an urge to call the draft board and query: 'Hey, fel- lows, what's taking so long? Setting Is the front of one of the Florida hotels requisitioned by the Army and turned Into barracks, which helps create the pleasant pic- ture. It also givers opportunitar to lace in a couple of new tunes, "lltaf s Sabotage' and 'You Can't Say No to a Soldier,' by Mack Gordon and Harry Warren. They're done In good style by M. H. regular Robert Land- rum. He's aided in the second tune by the prop pouting, of looker Dania Krupska. Layout also gives good opportun- ity to work In the fine tap work of Betty Bruce and the wJc.~ comedy of Walter Dare Waht They're the two Tffits added to the regular M. H, line- up. Whole show Is clipped rather short this aesh because of the aUnost two-and-one-haU-hour ruiming time of the film. „ , . Miss Bruce recently closed a lengthy stand in .George Jessel's 'High Kickers' musical In New York andon the road. She brings to Radio City the same verve, the same fine 'technique and the looks and person- ality that have caused her to be ranked among the few top tapstresses of the day. Walter Dare Wahl clicks as usual with his glue-like fingers, that seem to stick to whatever they touch, and his swift hand-balancing with the aid of a skillful under- stander. ^. . . Ballet has a pleasant svfitcb from its usual type stuff, doing a strobo- scope number. Gals have the tops of their costumes done in luminous paint to give each one the appearr ance in tne dark of being a small doll. Arms are likewise done In phosphorescent, making them app^ to be the legs of the dolls. It opens the way to amusing routines with luminous balls, sliding .boards, see- saw and, finally, with a slack wire, Rockettes finale with one of their usual fine precision turns. Herb, TOWER, K. C. Kansas City, June 6. Johhny O'Brien.. Don ■ and Jane Ford, St. John Brothers (2), Weber Brothers (2) ond Chatita, Marilyn Ballinfler, Herb Six House Orch; 'Secret Agent, of Japan' (20th) and 'After Mein Kampf iSJt.), This Is the. second of the Tower's four weeks of experimenting with dual features combined with stage fare. Although the screen attrac- tions aren't what the first week's were biz holding to an approxi- mate .25% increase indicated oy last week's biz, more or less justifying the new policy. Where the screen fare may hot measure up. the vaude bUl Is ian Improvement, alDeit a small one, over fast week's stage show, somewhat balancing the account. Hence this pbllcy of dual features with vaude is likely to prevail any- time in the future when the house is unable to secure a stage attraction of enough magnitude to draw trade on its own. When such stage units or attractions are availably single features will be the rule. . Like other Tower bills this stage ehtry is an assemblage of four stand- ard acts, the weekly tolateur winner and the Herb Six house band. What sets this one abovi' ^tiverage is the pace, which finds a rather compact and lively 40 .mlnv^tes resulting, and the fact that all act» themselves are a bit above standard.-^ Johnny O'Brien, the' harmonica maestro, doubles as m.c, playing It straight besides satisfying the cus- tomers nicely with his mouth-harp- ing in his own solo bit next to clos- ing. Herb Six band starts show off with a special arrangement of 'Wabash Blues,'- featuring Don Richmond's trombone. Then dancing of the bill is contributed by Don and Jane Ford in a trio of fast modern routines. Acrobatics by the St. John duo, evi- dently twins, is mostly of the bal- ancing and hand-stand type, but t&ey embellish with round of pantomime, Week's am winner, 'Marilyn Ballln- ger, a teen-age songstress, shows a voice on the rhythm side, and not without some ability and personality. Closing Is the turn of the Weber Brothers and 'Chatita, cavorting on the tl^t wire, with such tricks as rope skipping, 'dancing and leaping through a paper-covered hoop, all expertly done. An is to be the policy when dual films prevail here, this week's films follow a theme, this oiie 'axe the axis,' and future double features are to be stmilarly programmed. .. ... Roller Skating Tanities'Looks Like Future Cfick llidi^h Now fiOG in Red Harold Steinman presents 'Skat- ing Vonlties of 1942,' rlnfc revue on roller skates; produced and directed by Gae Foster} supervised by Fan- ehon & Marco; special songs by Mi2zy and Taylor; Frank Ventry; or- chestra directed by Jay Freeman; at Madison Square Garden, N. Y., June 3-e, '42; $2.76 top. Cast: Ronnie Bellett & Jay Ed- wards; WTiirluiInd Four (.Hugh Thomas, Lavada Simmons,- Arthur Elasser, Eleanor Emanuel); Dolly Durkin and Walter Hughes; Teddy Sokol; Gordon Finigan; Louis Son- tilll; Gloria Nord; Lucille Page; Rose Piccola & Bobby Johnson; Bruce Touile; Bus^ West with Miss Page and Ernest Goodheart; Monroe & Grant; Lew Testa; Otto Eason; Bobby May; Gae Foster Rollerettes (24) and 12 boys. This Is a brand new type of show business, without precedence and comparable somewhat to .the ice- skating extravaganzas. C^onsldering that it has yet to. make its impress on the public's mind, red ink of around $60,000 to date is not sur- >rising, but the commercial poten- lalltles' are there, and perhaps next year, or. the year after, 'Skating "anities' will clean up. Out since early in January, when It opened In Baltimore, the revue on roUer skates has' not yet had a 'win- ning week. It's production cost was $20,000 and an additional $40,000. or more, has beeh lost on bookings. In many spots the 'selling' was not exactly right and potential custom- ers flgured it wais a roller derby and stayed awur in droves. Eventually the word 'Roller* was dropped from the title and there was some com- Saratlve b.o. Improvement One ling was certain, however, - and that was the show's good impres- sion. This has prompted its back- ers to continue, aesoite the losses. In the belief that - the second time around the same arenas the b.o. pic- ture will be brighter. Along with the-production Itself, those'involved in its financing are likewise new to arena show busi- ness. Presenter, Harold Steinman, fight manager, is fronting for a Min- neapolis group in which Fergy Bloom, nitery and liquor store op- erator. Is most prominent financially. Others are Ray Perkins and Dick Chafont, 'said to be associated with Bloom In Minneapolis, iand Jack Sabes, who owns a chain of retail vegetable stores in the same city^ It's Stelnman's brainchild, though, and be has worked on the Idea for three years. Finally, he was brought together with Fanchon 8c Marco, and Gae Foster was assigned to stage and direct the show. She has done a magnificent job, especially In view of the fact that so many In the cast 'were amateur skaters before this .show went into re- hearsal. The only pros are such vaude turns as Buster West and Lu- cUle Page, Monroe and Grant, Bob- by May, Lew Testa, the latter pre- viously a novelty skater at roller derbies; the Lightning Trio, billed here as the 'Whirlwind Four with Eleanor Emanuel added, and Otto Eason, colored, who has a good novelty imitating BUI Robinson's stair dance on skates, " ' Also prominently concerned In the production on the 'idea' end were Jesse. Kaye, Sam Shayon abd Arthur Knorr, all of< F. & M. They helped conceive some of the produc- tion numbers, with Miss Foster car- rying them out' . The profit possibilities In this show can best be gauged b'y its budr get setup. 'When standing stiU, the shotv's nut Is only, around $4,000; when moving, the cost is between $6,000 and $8,000, depending on the length of the jumps. Playing arenas, where grosses can be tremendous, 'Skating Vanities' could turn huge profits if It ever catches on. Show's costuming and production accoutrements ar^ excellent. Its routining is extraordinarily smooth, and a masonite floor, which is set up in sinall sections, has reduced the noise of the rollers to virtual Inaudibility. The flooring, incident- ally, cost around $5,000, but Is peculiarly susceptible to dampness. One was ruined In - Washington when It was laid on a wet floor. One of the show's surprising standouts ,is Lucille Page, contor- tion-acrobatic dancer who learned how to skate especially for this pro- duction and is now doing a^ ef- fective an act on rollers as she ever did on' a theatre stage. Likewise clicko and a newly born skater is Bobby'May, the crackeriack juggler of Indian cliibs and balls. Monroe and Grant aren't wprking on skates, but their comedy~ti:ampoline act Js nicely camouflaged in a barnyard scene. They also scored opening night at the Garden. Buster We^ doesnt make any pretense of get- ting on skates at all and his great reception for his talking hoke turn upsets all the dope' that an act of his type Is too handicapped for larjge arenas. As for the Lightning Trio, a foursome here, they are do- ing their standard vaude stage spins and holds as a unit but then re- lease Arthur EUassir for a fine skat- ing- solo in which he features every type, of spinning. Of the others, hl|;hllghts are Lew Testa, who does isome astonishing tricks on-the rollers In a screwba'U skating routine. He possibly got^th6 biggest applause of the night aiid deserved It Bruce Towle, who was the amateur freestyle skatmg champ in 1941, gets over nicely with grace< ful figure-skating; Gloria ^ord, petite' and blonde looker, lives up to the glamour-girl buildup, she^ been getting, plus bejng pretty nifty on the rollers; Gordon Finigan and Walter Hughes deliver an excellent comedy routine somewhat along the lines of the Ice-skating Frick and Frack, .while Hughes, in another- spot, doubles nicely into ballroom skatlne with Dolly Durkin. '' Teddy Sokol does some good jump- ing. All of the ensemble work is good. Miss Foster has conceived some nice routines that closely approximate the group skating features of the ice show.- This is especiallv notalile in the patriotic finale and the open- ing rah-rah siene. . Another produc- tion number worthy of bows is the Cinderella bit which features Miss Nord and Sokol. Attendance opening night at the Garden 'was rather meagre at less than 7,000. but the audience liked the show from start to finish. 'Skating Vanities' went into stor- age following the four-day Garden run, opening next fall on a tour of cities which have never had - an Ice-show. The promoters figure this strategy may solve the b.o. problem. Next spring. If feasible, a new pro- duction 'Will be staged to play those towns In which 'Vanities' has troup^ since last' January.' Scho. ORPHEUM, MPLS. Minneapolis, June 6.' Horace Heidt Orch (14) with Donna'dc her Don Juans (4), Qllie OToble, Gordon McCrea, Charlie Goodjnan, Miml Cabonne, Bemie Motflson, Jerry Bourne, Frankie Carle, Fred Lowery, Roy Cordell; 'Mayor of 44th St.' (RKO). Horace Heidt continues to demon- strate his excellent showmanship In 70 minutes of jempacked entertain- jnent. The proceedings gain im- measurably from his expert selling as emcee and clever routining. As always, there's something lot nearly every musical and | fun-loving taste In Heidi's outfit and the leader doesn't. overlook a bet. The Heidt eagerness to please is always In evi- .dence. Heidt has no dancers in his troupe, so he enlisted a champion rug-cut- ting couple from a local high school, and they brought down the house. Then, too, he and maje members of his company step down into the audience and choose feminene part- ners for dancing that garners plenty of laughs. His hobnobbing with the customers, from the stage and off, helps to make for on^ happy family. Into his 'Treasure Chest' stunt during non-broadcasts Heidt has in- corporated some of the best fun feature of 'Do You Wanna Lead a Band?' and 'Truth or Consequences.' His musical numbers are the sure- fire hit-parade clicks.. He has an impressively large aggregation and the patrons are getting lots o'f en- tertainment for ttie money. The dressing of the*troupe and the run- ning of the show are beyond re- proach. The HeWt gang provides the en- tire show. Singing gets into the sad- dle from the very start with the opener, '3 Little Sisters' utilizing all the v<)calists. Also, Heidt and OUle CToole lose no tlm£ in beginning their clowning, which is scattered through the entire show. 'Under the Apple Tree' is satisfactorily done by Donna and her Don Juans (4). Frankie Carle's tickling of the Ivor- ies and Fred Lowery's whistling also smasho. ' Jerry Bowen, Heidt and several of the otiier boys had - 'em screaming with their interpretations of the Arthur Murray dances. Miml Ca- banne and Bernie Mattison turn loose their pipes on 'I Remember You' in a duet and Gordon McRea, romantic tenor, hits the target with 'Not Mine' and 'Miss You.' Mattlsoil also gets hot on the clarinet the band joining him in a swing session. Cash Is handed out to volunteers from the audience during "Treasure Chest' At this catching three soldiers and three girls. competed for cash prizes in contests to guess the names of the orchestras tiiat,^he band rep- resented by .theme melodies. Winners and losers received cash, but the lat- ter were penalized, one leading the band, two others hanging washing and another pair dancing solo.. After ■Treasure Chest' there's stUI more show. Roy Cordell, 19-yeBr-old singer, landed applause with Tan- gerine.' Theln Heidt pleads with uose In front to buy war stamps . and bonds from his boys in the lobby when departing, and the band fin- Ishes with a stirring patriotic medley —a corking finale that had all the musicians joining In the singing. A nearlyfull house at the opening Friday matinee, despite Intense heat Rees.