Variety (Jul 1944)

34 VAUDEVILLE Wednesday, July 26, 1914 Night Club Reviews ( olillion lloom. ST. O. (JUNG HOTEL) Neic Orleans, July 19. "Candy" Caridido and Orch (5) and Leon Prima; no. cover, rid mini' mum. "Candy"' Candido, comic, bass fid- dler and'voice change specialist for- merly with . Ted Fio Rito's orch, is a native son. The Candido crew, which peddles a sweet and hot thype of dansapation, is one of the smooth- est combinations to hit these parts, and business has been hefty since opening night. Candido punctuates his program with a little Dixieland and kindred matters, as well as staging a one- man floor show that is a knockout. His specialties done in several voice changes are comic wows. Leon Prima, brother of bandsman Louis, is featured on the trumpet and doubles as the band's vocalist, and both make for good listening. Band keeps the floor filled during the dance sessions.. ':; Liuz. Treasure Island, D. C.V ' Washington; June 25. Lamb-Yoeum's "Ice Parade of 1944," featuring Bette Wharton and cast of 8 (1 girls, one male skater); Chago Rodriguez; Carr Van Sickler's bond (7) with Carol James, vocalist. Dinner minimum'. $2; after 9:30, ,|lr $1.25 corer.charge. Pete Arban. operator of this smart new club, has gone all out to lick the slump by bringing in the first ice show ever installed in a capital city spot. Club seats 300 and formerly featured Latin music, Lamb-Yocum troupe comes here ,from an 18-month run at Philly's Hotel Ben Franklin. Company is small but fits well on the postage stamp floor, with most members doubling as chorus and; feature singles. ' \. ' , , Opening night was. crowded, despite the 30 percent tax bite, with the 30-minute show moving swiftly and colorfully through nine num- bers from the starling medley to the timely "Victory'' finale. Bette Wharton,, comely blonde star, per- forms ably, but kudoes were copped by a D.C. gal, Lillian Tribby, with a graceful and lively routine. She is an exceptionally pretty trick with a nice personality. Went over big. Other highlights are a gypsy dance, by Bette Wharton and four of the girls; a sophisticated double, "Night in Manhattan"; and a "Song of the Vagabond" routine by the male member of the cast. Hand- some costuming adds to the per- formance. Treasure Island has been a strong magnet for the bjg.. Latin Ameri- can colony in 'town, most notably the embassy crowd;: and Chago Rodriguez, bine-eyed Cuban guitar- ist,, is a highly successful fixture here, strolling among the tables with his Spanish tunes. Carr Van Sickler band also features Latin selections, while . Carol James warbles agree- ably,,:. ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦♦♦♦»♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ » N, Y. Nitery Followup 1 V»«♦ > ♦««♦«♦ * V * ♦ H i ♦♦♦♦♦♦ Billy Rose's Diamond Horseshoe remains the best saloon show with its handsome and generous five-part revue: frank Ross, with his trick vocal, calisthenics, (chiefly, the trum- pet imitations), and Bob Hall's mara- thon rhymcstering are showstoppers. And one day they'll "discover" Her- man Hyde as, a truly great zany. Every comedy bit he does has imagi- nation and is well conceived. It's of the stuff which made W. C. Fields famous. . Abel. End of L A. Hotel Strike Snags Martin C-Clirer Unexpected cancellation last Thursday (20) of the waiter strike at the Cocoanut Grove, Ambassador hotel, Los Angeles, forced a scramble to get a band to replace Freddy Martin on a Coca-Cola broadcast. Martin had "been ordered out of the hotel by the American Federation of Musicians, in a sympathy rnove. and while off was booked for a coke show Friday (21). He had to return to work that night, leaving the broadcast flat. Music Corp. of America, which books the soft-drink broadcasts, had little more than 24 hours to get a replacement, finally putting Ted Straeter's orchestra on the air from San Diego.., -'.''v.': ' ;",' : , ;. V. Unit Reviews ''/:?•}. Star Tim© '■''■'< (CURRAN, SAN FRANCISCO) San Francisco, July 25. ''Star Time," with Lou Holtz, Benny Fields, Tony Si Sally De Mar- co, Berry Brothers, Jimmy &/Mildred Mulcay, Wliitson Brothers, Shirley Dennis, Francine Bordeaux, Armand Cortes. George Prospery. Musical di- rection, Lou Forman; direction and production, Paul Small. Philly Opera to Tour 70 Cities for Sol Hurok Sol Hurok will present the Phila- delphia Opera Co. on tour from Oct. 9 through Feb. 27 next, in 70 U. S. and Canadian cities. Repertoire of three operas, "Merry Widow." "Tos- ca" and "Marriage of Figaro" will be •used.-..;;;:-.; ' Company will dp four perform - ^ances at home for its 1944-45 season, switching from last season's Erlanger theatre back to the Academy of Mu- sic.: Operas arid dates are: "Mei ry Widow," March 1; "Tosca," March 14; "Marriage of Figaro." April 3. and "La Boheme," April 17. HOT SOPHISTICATE TIMMIE ROGERS TOI'NGSTOWN, OHIO with COUNI BASIK Material by SID Kl I.l.KB Mitt.: WM. MOKKIS AGENCY New Act MARY JANE DODD Songs ■ :',. * ■ :. 9 Mins. Club Charles, Baltimore ■ Nice-appearing temme. possessed of pleasing vocal equipment, utilizes elaborate arrangements to point a sellable style of song styling. Reaches for both extremes of the scale to highlight climaxes and scores very favorably with the effect. Caught here in room playing to mixed clientele, she managed to catch on well with versions of "Great Day," "I'll Remember and "Milkman," smartly mixed for change of pace. Should be able to climb to more ambitious possibilities. Burm. Keep Your Eye On FRANKIE RAPP America's fewest Comedy Star Just Completed 8 Sensational Weeks at the Bowery, Detroit. And 2 Weeks at Ka-See's, Toledo rernoDtil Management: VKTER J. IODICE Instirnuee Exchange BIdtf., Detroit, Mich. Press Representative i' II \ KOI,II C. BERG Hotel Statler Iletroit, Mich. Edwards Brother Hurt, Act Forced Out Theatre Edwards Bros, had to cancel out of LoeVs State, N. Y., last Wednes- day (19) due to accident of George Edwards, understander of the com- edy aero trio. He had thrown a ligament out of line at the last show Tuesday night but it didn't bother him until next day. Edwards were to have held over With Daye Appllon on current bill. The Graysons, mixed duo replaced. Oregon Extends Curfew Portland, Ore., July 25. The Oregon state liquor control board has voted to extend the clos- ing hour of nightclubs and holders of restaurant and hotel liquor licenses to 2:30 a.m. - The legal. closing hour has been midnight since shortly after the U. S. entered the war. ; PITT TRIO'S NEW ACT '. Pittsburgh, July. 25. ■ Dancer Gloria Smiley, "Miss Jack- sonville" of several years ago Who retired from the profession When she became Mrs. J. W. (Harp) Vaughn,, wife of local booker, pro- football star and sportsman, is re- turning to the Cafe belt again shortly as part of a trio. Gal recently returned to Pitts- burgh from Jacksonville, where the Vaughns have been making their home of late, With two. former dancing friends there, Estelle Stager and Milly Christ, and three of them are now rehearsing and outfitting-a turn. Paul Small has another hit. Small, who puts monkey glands into vaude- ville and jells it into a revue, opened his newest at the Curran theatre last night under title of "Star Time," An audience which bought out the house, accepted it as a smash, thanks mostly to Lou Holtz. As master of cere- monies, he makes the show. Holtz, working alone and in every act of the show, even with the dignified De Marcos, ties it into a production that has everything. ■. It is a laugh spree, with talent thrown in for good measure. The DeMarcos, of course, also tie up the show. Tony may have slowed down a bit because of illness, but he is: still tops, and finds a capable partner in attractive Sally. Small hired the best acts in their field he could fin^. The Whitsohs, for acrobatics: Berry Brothers, for hoofing; the Mulcays, for harmonic specialties; Benny Fields for the nos- talgic songs, and then added a new discovery, Shirley Dennis, who is a natural for Hollywood glamour seek- ers, a gal with vivaciousness, per- sonality and a voice. She proved herself , a trouper When the mike went dead in her opening song and slie stepped down and put on the steam without it. There is another newcomer, too, Francine Bordeaux, a cute French-Canadian who de- serves and will undoubtedly, get more to do than her three bit parts. With such a lineup of veterans, .sprinkled with hew faces which click, and with Holtz reaching new heights, "Star^ Time" provides an hilarious evening well spent. It's ready for the best of the two-a-day vaude series. After Frisco run show hops to Mayan theatre, Los Angeles; meanwhile advance sales indicate an extended run to packed houses here. Larry. New Theatres ; Continued from page 3 ; Itlwtcus LOEW BOOKING NCY GtNekAt txecujivt offices LOEW BUILDING ANNEX ;160 W. 44th Si., N.V.C • Myant T-7»o 'NO ****** ,v Oft Paper Ban ^ Continued from page 31 ^ tinue business for the remainder of the year and a handful of new pubs would have been put out of business entirely. Ironically enough, a few of these outfits, for example, Burke- Van Heusen, Williamson and.Capitol, currently are marketing substantial hit songs. . As it stands now, the only paper restrictions applying . to the music industry are on folios over 32-page*, which come under the 75%. of '4b production. Under 32 pages the books are under'Only the 75re- striction on printers. * : :. Most music pubs didn't think the industry had a chance of getting the WPB restriction eased, which is why Walter Douglas, chairman of the board of Music Publishers Protec- tive Assn. (Harry Fox is genera] mgr.) is receiving congrats. He en- gineered lifting of the order... . Morton Gould, composer-conduc- tor, in Hollywood on Mills Music publication of new concert works and to conduct background music for. Charles R. Rogers' picture, "High Among the Stars." Stars of Tomorrow VV: (MAUN STUDIO, N. Y.) Jules. Denes, who produces a dra- ] matic program called "Mistakes We j Make" over station WBNX, N. Y., pulled a beaut of his own with a vaude performance called "Stars of Tomor- row." staged at the Malin theatre, N. Y.. Wednesday (19). Producer, a Hungarian refugee playwright who claims to have had 13 of his plays produced abroad, staged what he called a replica of similarly staged ventures in Europe—a variety show of aspiring talent, with the audience to cheer or jeer them as they saw fit. ■ In' the apathetic confines of the non-air-cooled Malin studio, the audi- ence. . cbrraled at 60c a throw, did neither., viewing the proceedings helplessly until the less hardier started filing Out. The talent, mostly amateur, was pretty dull. There was the emcee who told jokes about worms: the soprano who sang offkey; the tremulous tenor warbling cow- boy ballads; the overdressed has- been burlesquing operatic has-beens. Such things as an octogenarian in Victorian costume trying a Spanish dance to castanets merely confused the customers, who didn't know whether to take "it as satire or straight. The only individual's to show some promise were a satirical adagio team narrfed Roy and Gladyce Royce. For the rest, the hook. ,. ■" .; . ■•■ . ; Br on. (Show closed after opening per- formance.) ever, theatres have been able to ob-: tain enough material to patch worn carpets. . >. ■ ; • ~ ' ■ 7. About 50,000 theatre chairs will probably be available Within the next few months. They will be built from partly fabricated parts in in- ventory and from .idle and excess stocks of materiais. The second- hand market for chairs is pretty well cleaned up by now and repair parts/ such as springs and upholstery, are difficult to obtain, (WPB agreed to look into a proposal of the theatre people that some of the aluminum surplus be converted into frames for theatre chairs.)• 8. Freon-12, the refrigerant used by many theatres, continues very tight. (There appears no likelihood, even if the war in Europe should end suddenly, that the freon situa- tion would change materially. Most bf it is used in the South Pacific and. in the China-Burma-India theatre of war.) The theatre spokesmen at the meeting charged that the department stores were getting a better break than the theatres as to the available freon supply, and WPB promised to look into this. 9. WPB agreed to take under con- sideration a proposal of the indus- try reps that it sponsor a request that theatres be added to the list of "lo- cally needed" establishments, which would enable them to do better about getting manpower. At preseWt the theatres have enough people to keep going, but they are worried about What will happen when they ask for replacements under the new War Manpower Commission regulations.- One interesting suggestion was made at the meeting by the.industry committee. It said that, before WPB okays priorities for material to con- struct new film houses in war crowd- ed centers, the "projects should be discussed with existing theatre op- erators in the various localities. Bands at Hotel B. O.'s Continued from page 32 ; Still running strong to about neat 4.300 Los Angeles : ' Freddie Martin (Ambassador; 900: $l l -$1.50). Strike settlement put ork back on stand Friday. Expect slow customer return for slim two-night 800 covers. '..'- ■!''*: . . : ■ Joe Reichman (Biltmore; 900: $l-$1.50i. Firing big guns all the way for 4,600 tabs. • Location Jobs, Not in Hotels ■ v «' -.<::'. '• (Los Angeles) • Jimmy Dorsey (Palladium B. Hollywood, sixth week). Holding out on sixth and final week for terriff 34.000 average all the way. Jan Savitt (Trianon B. Southgate, seventh week). Filling the floor with 9,500 dancers. , : . ."' '. .. : Frankie Masters (Slapsy Maxies N, Los Angeles, third week). Same old story. Capacity 5,200. . '. ..'.'./:.'■'"■ (Chicago) i : ..'"'» Gay Claridge (Chez Paree; 650; $3-$3.50 min.). Put tables on the dance floor last week for the Democrats. Show headed by Mitzi Green and Benny Rubin packed in amazing 5.400. ' v : .Carl Ravazza (Blackhawk; 500; $l-$2.50 min.). Ravazza holding biz to excellent 4,500. . CAPPELLA AND PATRICIA who hod to ENCORE AGAIN AND AGAIN. Cappello lifts hit BEAU- TIFUL PARTNER with on* arm and whirli h*r Ilk* a propeller. All their dances are DARING as well as PICTORIALLY EYE-FILLING." —EARL WILSON, New York Post. "Cappello and Patricia, just back from Hollywood, are the new terp team at the St. Regis' SMART ROOF AND CLICK RESOUND- INGLY with their variegated rou- tines. Feature of the ballroom- ology are HIS AMAZING LIFTS AND HOLDS. ONE BALANCING TRICK, HIGH ABOVE HIS HEAD. BEING A THRILLER. Their stuff runs the gamut of waltz, tango, yesteryear 'Tiger Rag,' cape dance with-castanets . . . and a deft 'con- versation piece.' The routines are carefully plotted." : —ABEL GREEN, Variety. "Among the TOP TWIRLERS noted are Cappello and Patricia, now at the St. Regis Roof ... BEAUTIFUL IN EXECUTION of tra- ditional ballroom . . . is EXCEP- TIONAL FOR THE EASE with which Cappello handles Pat . . . his hoists and sweeps create the ulti- mate romantic illusion of two who seem as one." —GENE KNIGHT, : N. V. Journal-American. HELD OVER St. Regis Hotel NEW YORK . Management'._ MUSIC CORP. OF AMERICA ROY DOUGLAS "til* comedy rendition of 'Little Sir Erlm' ItrhiKH down the lioiiHe." —NEW yOBK SI X, Ju\y. 5.- Dir.—II. I.KK, 1R8-, ll'ivny, X, V. C. TOP-NOTCH COLORED TALENT 'J'hentrioat and mttalcat talent for rocktail liounk't's,. Tlleatrca, Night Clulia and Radio. ■ • ' • KiitM-lainment furnished for alt oc- casions. . Vt'ritf,* PlioTie or AVire Colored Kaillo Arllnts' Assneintion THEATRICAL BOOKING AGENCY : S458 S. Stiite St.. f'hiengo 1% Viilorj