Variety (Oct 1945)

20 HOUSE REVIEWS Wnliios.lay, October 31, 19 IS Capitol, X. Y. Los Brown Orch <18) irilh Doris Day, "Batch" Stone, "StnmDU'' Brown; Caudsmilh Bros.. Kenny Yoti>lj>»t(M; "Kiss miri Tell". (Col) reviewed in Variety. Scpf. 12. 111.45, N Y. is. ap- show, i Col). ' Tliat 'the act situation' m theatres is not good currently parent in this new stage coupled to "Kiss and ".Tell _ Cap uses a dog act on its pit .elevator, the lype that normally plays Loews State While the turn, consisting 01 the Caud'smith Bros, and ■ two . French poodles sets -'.over, .solidly, lf.doesnt seem to tit the house and seems to have difficulty performing i s vaned tricks Nevertheless, the gags ol the men and the antics of tile hi'ihly- trained pooches, capped by. a threc- iri'.'h stand with a mult on top. con- viiiced a full-house when caught -that jt.had been entertained. ■ _ Les Brown's bis. hand, consist ins ot five trumpets, four tromnoi.es. live sax and three rhythm, plus the lead- er's clarinet and son. is a crack combo. It delivers, excellent music and breaks tip the pace nicely with a couple of turns by Butch - Stone, and Stumpy Brown, the . maesiro's which young brother, who pli'ys trombone. Hieing These two combine, in leathered cos movins into "Flyin' Home." Final, number is beat out for. lull 10 min- utes followed by three and a half minute encore to leave Hie ptttroits happy. It's live leader's personal showmanship and antics even more than his- music that srab attention and sell his particular brand of rhythm. Dinah Washington, oreb's sleepy- eyed vocalist, gives' top selling 10 "Atchison. Topoka and Santa Fe" and "If I Love You." Another canary. Madalyn Green, is on for "No Can Do" lor lair results. Rim- mer Sisters are a pair of. fast tap dancers that pleased. Red and Cur- ley, comic dancers,-complete the bill. ■'; .'. Brog, Oi-|»Im'iiiii. Mftls. 2«. Minneapolis', O. i .Coiyiit Bils'tH Orch -■'< 17.1 irit/i Ann I Vocal Moore & James .Rush!>!{». Shuf-M-I sized Daris. Dust;/ F etcher., Three Rock els.- "Lore, -Honor and; Goodbye illep). It i Count a belated lirsi vis.il here fur Basic,' but: the manlier in his fame has preceded him is attested by the lar.se outpour- nri ovations to greet hi hi. His throes, ib work over the new novelty sons "Chickcry Chick"-and the pice winds up as tiie highlight of the en- tire hour's business. Brown s.arts 0(1' with. "Hip. Skip and a Jump,", then, lends witli his ace. Doris Bav> perhaps the oulstandins band vocalist of the day. from several angles i any camera angle would look for sood on this sal). doing "Sentimental his Journey." "Paper Moon" and "That's for Me." Following the dog turn, there's a blues medley, activated of course, by Gershwin's "Rhapsody." and including "Serenade in Blue," "Blue Skies." e:c. As a finale to the band's main part, there's a produc- tion bit built around Brown's ar- rangement of 'B'zet Has His Day." affording the drummer a eye-catchy -solo using phosphorOscently-treated sticks.' Henny Youngnian rounds out the show. In the past, this gity has been guilty of too much old material. This lime, however, he combines the crack ''Heath cliff" routine and sundry strong oldies' with .sonic good new stuff, a Darftdy on "Atchison. Topeka Santa Fe" and another of Chopin's "Polonaise." and winds up strong. He gets a cons'ant flow of lau"hs through his material despite the fact that this show he messed up a-couple good cracks with bad timing. Wood. ■ ItKO. Itosioii • Boston, Oct. 26. Andjj Kirk Orch (171, Business Men of Rhythm (21. Jinimie Rogers, .King Cole Trio; "Johnny Angel" <RKO>. :" Andy Kirk band. evidently powerhouse with young teeners, anchors current show starring King Cole Trio, and clicks okay from the tune outset, which appears to be called "Together." General idea of band here is. to haul off and flatten all ears, with enough decibels to endanger ma- sonry.. Everybody roars up and down the scale, puffing and huffing like mad through such bouillabaise.s as "Give Me Some Meat'' while six or eight brass bear down on heavily augmented chords. It makes a good deal of sense to any one under 15. but the late evening crowds don't set it. Beverly White docs "What More." "I'm Gonna Love That Guy" and "Somebody's Got to Go" and clicks mightily. Business Men of Rhythm do usual taps (tnale-ing with tumbles and falls, and Jimmie Rogers does "Har- lem Yank." "Fla-ga-la-pa" and "Good Deal" for a nice recepsh. King Cole Trio takes most of the kudos with their neatly patterned and rhythmically vital stuff, in which the melodic line, though in- .ventively embroidered, is always there. They do "We Three." "Era- braceable You." "If You Can Smile" and so on. for socko plaudits. Big' crowd at opener and biz steady lor h.o. of film "Johnny Angel." ■;■ Etie. Oi'|»Im*uiii, :;• Los Angeles. Oct. 26. Lionel Hampton's Orch (19) /ear hiring Dinah Washington, Herbie Fields, Madalyn Green; Rimmer Sis- ters -<2j," Red & Curlcy; -Dangerous imritder '. ' PRO, hot swing band lops a fast moving., lively sepia, revue studded with boogie woogie and hoi jive, blues and oilier singing al their best,.red- hot stepping and ' a bit of (unmak- ing. It all proves palatable, espe- cially to jive addicts. Basie demonstrates convincingly localitcs on this occasion why aggregation is rated superior in its particular, field. Every number is a miniature, jam session, with the Count performing at the piano and individuals and groups spotlighted. The Basic arrangement of his mu- sicians, with (ho eight brass on- one side of the Count in the center and the five saxes and three rhythms on the other, seems to produce swing that's not. only infectious with a smattering of tunefulness to some of it. but rhythmically flawless. The Count's own arrangement of "B Flat" is a sizzling starter. Then Shorts Davis displays skill, speed and endurance during his unusual tap routines that include some acro- batics and hand-and-foot hoppihg. "Tipping on the Q.T.' is another tor- rid band number preceding the ap- pearance of Ann Moore, jive song- stress, who enlivens the already lively proceedings with "Jivin Joe Jackson' Joe Jackson" and then a ballad. "Devil' and Deep Blue Sea," also neatly handled. "Red Bank Boogie" features Basic at. the piano 'and. of course, he's plenty good dishing out the boogie woogie. Dusty Fletcher returns to spill laughs, his drunk portrayal, business with the ladder and eccen- tric dancing being as funny as ever. Illinois Jackie hits a jam pack with a bit of extraordinary saxophohing for "Jumpin' al. the Woodsidc." Then Cat, roly polv Jimmy Rushing slops the show with inimitable, and orig- inal blues vocalizing, both of his numbers, "Jimmy;* Blues" and "Boogie Woogie." landing solidly. The Three Rockets are ace precision tapsters who also •,induce consider- able hand clappins and other ap- proval demonstrations. The band State, X. V. Bill AlrCime Orch Willi Belli/ Buckncr and Tiny Morris; Harry Siocku-ell, June Lorraine. Wilder Nielson, Lee Davis; "Over 21" Col). Stale, this week, comes up with a pretty bland vaude presentation that fails "to bring an overall punch be- cause of even quality of perform- ances and a .steady succession of singles which needs the punchier shoV backing of Ruby Zwerling's house orch and some, reroutining to bring out greater effectiveness. Band on lap is that of Bill Mc- Cutie, who impresses a.; having en- larged a cocktail unit to a 12-nian crew that isn't heavy enough to till the house musically. His straight musical pieces are workmanlike but unexciting, while the. pop-bottle con- certo isn't -strong enough to- carry." arc by Tiny. Morris, a king- chap. . who also stresses the I novelty department without major | effect .Oil the house, and Betty Buck- ner. a nice-looking item who passes iiu'ister with "Love Letters." . Ho;td|iher'is Harry Stoekwell.-late of "Marinka" and "Oklahoma!", who wasn't up to par . at., show, eaughl. I When leaving the musical numbers; "Oklahoma!" and "If J Loved You." lie flattens out "Navajo Trail." "Till End of Time" and "Bell-Bottomed Trousers." latter being a faulty se- lection, orch haying opened with that number as a Navy Day tribute to tars present. Bulk of the entertainment vita- mins are by June Lorraine and Wal- ter Nfclson:. Miss Lorraine's imper- sonations are laugh provoking, while .Nielsen's trick unicyelirt.s is good for similar results. Bunching these two acts at the beginning of the show made a stronger start, but .subse- quent acts couldn't keep up the pace. Lineup is comqje'.ed by Lee Davis, comic, still in dire need of material. • . Jose. working and routines are mixed with clever lifts and turns, Nonchalaht's knockabout acrobatics spiced with comedy chatter are standard and go over big. Mofy. f'npiiol, WjisIi. Wnshiitprpn, Oel,'25. | Pamela Brit ton, Arthur Blake, Kd- ivurds Bros., Roy Douglas, Sam Jack Kaufman's House Orch; "The House on 92d Street i20lh>. Stage show goes nautical this week, with the orchestra dressed in Navy blue. Dwight Rover, William Ray- mond, Gene Archer and James Beery sing sea chanteys, including "Halsey. Nimilz and Me." Pamela Britton, songstress from films.- clicks for solid hand with "Bring On the Men," .-"I'm Gonna Love That Guy" and.others to slop the show. Arthur Blake lampoons Hollywood notables. His satirical impressions of Belte Davis, Frank Morgan, Katha- rine Hepburn, Gypsy. Rose Lee; Lionel Barry more and others go over big. Act is solid all the way. Edwards brothers cohtrib nimble acrobats and tumbling .that wins, heavy milting. ; '; ' .' :;•:;' • Roy Douglas, and his dummy Ed- ward, swap swift patter. The humor is above average for this type of act. Both duct a number, for getaway to plenty of applause, A ike,. ftarttv IMiilly Phi/tidelphio,*Ocl. 30. lohnny (Seal) Dnuis Orch uiith Dinuiy Bn.vtcr, Satlw Lang, Beatrice Kay, Ladd Lyon, Jeanne Blanche; Men in Her Diary" ft/). Nobody sleeps in the audience when Beatrice Kay is on the stage. And you can't exactly hap when Johnny (Seat) Davis is whipping thing's up. Between the two there's very little lag. in the current Earle offering. Miss Kay, abetted-by her talented pianist-husband. Sylvan Green, holds down the closing spot of the fast- morning bill and the tiny sal has to do two encores before she's allowed to beg off. Teeing off with a comic novelty titled. "They Stuck Me With a Bustle." she follows it up with "Eva Tansuay's "I Don't Care." "Put Your Arms Around Me." a tear-jerker lagged "Saloon." and winds things up with "Take Me Out to the Ball- game." Her ad-libs, asides with or- chestra-leader Davis, get a hilarious response from the pew-hblders. She's dynamite for any bill. Maestro Davis sets the mood for Miss Kay with his robust scat-sing- ling of old faves like "The Sheik." I "I Can't Give You Anything But .V«ianiM, Newark Newark, Oct. 25. Charlie Spioalc Orch (. 16) teilh Jimmy Sauiiders; Sybil Bowau, Coco, [Steve lc Eddy, Lyn Shirley; "Rilch- | hike, to Happiness" (Rep). Charlie Spivak orch toplines bill and is wowing them as usual. He makes 'em sit up and take notice when he gets his valve horn going on "Summertime'' and "Santa Lucia." . For straight work the orch digs into "Danny Boy," "Caldonia" and "Atchison. Topeka and Santa Fe." with plenty of bounce and an espe- cially good trombone section. Jimmy Saunders, vocalist of the outfit, really sends with "A Long. Long Time." "End of Time." "There Must Be a Way." "Beautiful Lady," "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes" and "Santa Lucia," backing Spivak. Off to neat hand. . Sybil Bowan scores with socko material, including sharp impreshes of a Nordic prima donna, a volun- teer nurse, Bea Lillie doing "I've Been to a Wonderful Party' Gracie Fields yelling about ter" for solid returns. Coco. Steve and Eddy go nicely in amusing acrobatics. Shirley, fetching in light blue scan ties, contribs neat dance routine. [Iran. Apollo, N. V. Geonjie Auld Orch i|5) triifi Lynn- Stevens; Red Caps iU). Ted Kelly, George Williams & Roseoe Dyla. Hop, Skip and Jump; Bculuh Bryant; "Lady Confesses" (PRC). When an ofay band plays tin's Harlem house, it has to be a par- ticularly strong unit liberally sprin- kled with expert jazzmen. The Georgie Auld outfit didn't quite make the grade, being weak in lone and coordination when caught open- ing (Friday) night. Auld himself is an expert saxist, but everytime one of the crew soloed, results were dis- appointing. Lynn Stevens, band I warbler, does an ordinary job. Rest of the bill is colored. The Red Caps are a solid vocal act who register; on showmanship as 'well ,as warbling quality. Already we.tl- I established locally in the jukeboxes, they render. "Who Threw Whiskey In Well." "Accentuate P o s i I i v e .'' "Learned a Lesson" and "I'd Do It All Over Again." " j Bctilah Bryant is' a singer ot sorts 'who depends on her' mountainous j figure and sex lyrics of the uiisubtle variety to sell her.. In any case she I went over nicely * when caught. Williams' and Dyla,'two-man team, inject the comedy relief for near-, show-stopping ' results,.: They have smooth delivery and their mussing and timing are lots better than some of their, gags. Lineup has two tap acts, one a single by Ted .Kelly, who was ob- viously suffering from stage I right, but who knocked himself out-on a long, albeit, steadily smart routine. Other tap chores rendered by Hop, Skip and Jump, a vevy neat and precise male threesome who appear a natural for downtown theatres. Band plays "Airmail Special. "Concerto for Tenor," and "Stomp- ing At The Savoy." Crew was gen- erally inattentive to acts, following the lead of Auld, who was offstage more than he was on. ■-■ '„ . 26. The Toy Lou Wit- ' and "Wal- over Lyn Kchli's. Inilpl*. Indianapolis, pel. 27. j Prof. Backwards, 3 Melodetlas, [Ford, Harris & Jones, Cliff Winehill. i Four Skating Macks; "Dr. Cyclops" "■reissue) i Par). winds up. proceedings warmly with | "One o'clock Jump." In addition to performing al the j piano, Basie emcees the, show, in a I commcndably restrained fashion that's in good taste. Rees. Orpbeum is packed with rhythm fans Ibis week to see Lionel Hamp- ton and. bis orchestra give, out with ' the hot notes. From his opener-with "Airmail. Special, a driving, rhyth- mic, piece. Hampton nevcr.--lefs tip on his specialties. Curtain rings down after sustained "Flyin' Home" to wrap up a satisfying show that gives full'money's worth. —; . '.'Airmail" holds spotlight for close to eight minutes lief ore Herbie Fields, featured .saxophonist, fakes over on "Stardust." Next band spot is Hampton's piano solo on '."Hump's Boogie Woogie." followed by "Hey, Baba—Re-Bop." Latter piece is not as sharp as predecessors until Hamp- ton and his bass man takes over, and winds up with a drum duel between leader and oven's regular skin- bejater. Hamplon also solos "Body . «nd Soul" on the vibra-harp before Xalional. I.'ville Lonisnille. Oel. 26. Tale's Canines, .Jim Penman & Co.. Bill Casledo. Southern Sisters, The Shuberts. Rinehart. magician, Joe & Wanda. Joe Demon: "Shadow of Terror" ( PRC) and "Dangerous Intruder" (PRC), It s a long bill this week, what with eight acts of vaude turns and dual film program, but the customers don't get restless. Shuberts. male and femmc contor- tionists, go Over nicely as openers. Next on are Joe and Wanda, dance team, who contrib a neat routine of stepping that's plenty okay. Joe Denton, tenor, clicks with his warbling of "How Deep Is the. Ocean.'' "If I Loved You." and "You Made Me Love You." Standout of the bill is Rinehart. magician, who has been playing local niterics. Makes neat appearance in top hat and tails, and his femmc as- sistant is plenty easy on the eyes. He does three routines, opening with card tricks, plenty slick and smooth, followed by cigarette manipulating. Closes with rising . card tj-ick to garner nifty hand. Bill Castc.Mo. in exaggerated G.l. garb, tells some old gags, and sings a song anent coming home to the I U.S.A. Folks here liked it okay, but his stuff seems geared more for sol- dier audiences. Southern Sisters "register with their aero-dance ■'■stuff, and Tate's Comedy Canines get over big With the kids in (lie audience. Elders liked 'ein.' too, particularly the dog which could apparently add and subtract. . Jim Penman m.c.'s the show, and does his own turn, a juggling ses- sion that's okay. Handles rubber balls skillfully, but his running line of corny gags were what the cus- tomers liked most. Lower floor filled at last show Fri- day (26). ■' • Hold. Love" and "Caldonia.' Danny Baxter.lays aside.his horn for a turn at the mike with okay warbling of a couple of ballads. Blonde Sally Lang takes care of the femme voealing ably. Jeanne Blanche does a fair turn at dancing after essaying a tune at the mike.- Ladd Lyon and an unbilled stooge present a clever and unusual bal- ancing act which Ladd winds up with an odd bit of tap-dancing on his hands. S(i«(. Oriental, Chi Chicago; Oct. 25. Allen Jones, Consolo & Melba, Gil Maisou, Nonchalants (3). 5 Wil- lys;- "Blood. On-fhe Sun" tVA). Following a series of band shows, management is presenting a straight vaudeville layout for the second of its longer run shows under new policy in. conjunction with first-run I j»y.'{f~^«£' Xiuie V 'SItt«f8 United Artists product. Current bill headed by Allan Jones, is in for three weeks. Despite fact that Jones labored under the handicap of a heavy cold, he manages to wham over a healthy hit with his singing of "June Is Bustin' Out All Over." "This Heart of Mine,-';'-"Night and. Day." "If I j Love Y-ou" if.id .6*<'tHft'sc;." '©a^key £ Serenade." Five Willys give bill a fast start ftith . their, flashy Indian club and I colorful radium.-.lreated hoop .jug- gling. Outstanding is still the two- high juggling trick on unsupported ! ladders. A hit, Gil Maison. keeps the. laughs roll- ing with a smartly-paced and nicely cued routine with a monkey and sev- eral dogs-.ranging from a Mexican hairless to a Great Dane. Couple oif balancing and acrobatic tricks' are done with the monkey and dogs, but act is geared mostly on Maison's chatter with the animals and .their ignoring of his commands. Clicks, Consola and Melba register with a neat routine of dance patterns, open- ing with a smooth waltz followed by a sprightly routine to "Turkey in the Straw" and then one to "Vieni Su" and closing with a. Mexican polka. Cbuple have an easy manner of Keith's, which dropped vaudeville for the summer, took it up again to start the current, stanza. It offers a neat five act bill with emphasis on comedy. Biggest response is won by Professor Backwards.- who -amuses cm with a line of drawled-oilt gags and then amazes em with his knack of pronouncing and spelling words backwards. Clyde Winehill. who doubles as emcee, keeps the house in chuckles with his brand of dry humor. He's a versatile chap who goes in for nov- elty uongs and ventriloquism on the side, finishing turn by pacing- his dummy through "When Irish Eyes Are Smiling" while smoking a cigar. Ford. Harris and Jones, dance team plenty fast on the feet, close the show in fine style. Four Skating Macks, featuring some speedy and hazardous routines on wheels, get it off to a lively start in the opener. Three Melodettes. an attractive har- mony trio, register nicely in "The Joint Is Really Jumpin' Down at Carnegie Hall," ''Sentimental Jotir- and i'liieago, Mil Chicaoo, Oct. Thiiifc-u - Drink .Hoffman. Pitchmen 13), Paul Remos & Boys (3), Eddie Osborne, Breese Orch (15) with Jevu liams; "Dolly Sisters" (20tli>. Fourth week holdover of "Dolly Sisters" necessitated booking ol new stage show lor final'stanza of inter, and layout proves entertaining fare with Think-a-Drink Hoffman as headliner.' World's highest paid bar- tender, as he continues to be known, working before a small bar and, aided by two femines, amazes the payees with quick concoctions of any drink they call for. A solid hit. Paul Remos and midgets contribute tap dancing by the boys, balancing and aerobatics, tops of which is a baekbend by one of the midgets as he is balanced by Remos and the mouth-to-mouth trick with sticks, closing with the boys playing the xylophone and doing acrobatics atop a novelty apparatus for hefty returns. Eddie' Osborne, making his first appearance since leaving the Navy, is tops at the Hammond organ on "Hawaiian War Chant," "Ca.-ey Jones" with trimmings and a medley of college and service songs tor neat milting. The Pitchmen click with their, kazooing, particularly when they do impressions of Clyde Mc- Coy. Henry Busse, Wayne King and Guy Lombardo. Opening the show Lou Breese and orch plays "Gotta Be This Or That" and Jean Williams vocalizes on "Till the End of Time" and then accom- panies herself on the piano for 'Paper Moon" to nice applause. Mortf. Olympia, Miami Miami, Oct. 26. Al Fisher, leith Tiny and Lou; Victoria Troupe (4). Mel Murray, Jack Leonard, Hermanos Williams Trio, Les Rhode House Orch (ID. Boogie-Woogie Bugle Boy.' Biz fair when caught. Corb. Tower, K. C Kansas City, Oct, 26. King tc Zorita, Don. Marlowe, Mipiione, Bill King. Tower Orch (9) with Mike Carll and Frank Alunun; .'.'.Whiju, Gitls -I>n,ns., Ffouie" i.PRG) and "Beautiful Cheat" \X11. Plenty of variety in the 40-mihut.e layout on tap at the Tower this week; Tower orch. with Mike Carll and : his, trumpet, open show with "I'll Buy That Dream." Frank Altman tenors, the vocal effectively; Bill King, juggler, breezes through a fast se.sh with Indian clubs and balls, and gives way to, Mlgrtoiie. nifty control terper. who registers with her agility and poise. Don Marlowe, who doubles as ni.C.. gels laughs with a .running lire of gags in his own spot King and Zorita 'close with a psychic demonstration: Working (iiit in the aisles, man Tires questions from stubholders to be, answered by woman, blindfolded, on stage. All gagged up for plenty of fun. "Biz good when caught. Earl. 'act. Current bill is an odd blend of ntfery acts (from local spots) and vaude, with the recruits from the former scoring in surprise fashion. Al Fisher, with Tiny and Lou. jit- terbug trio, booked in from Kitty Davis', click nicely. Fisher, a nice- looking lad, was a bit blue in the first show (cleaned up for subse- quent performances) and garnered plenty of laughs. Heckling routine from audience by his mite-sized part- ners also adds to merriment. Panto routine by Fisher and Lou. with An- 'u"rewS' ! '.Sisters'. "rei!bi'o'ing'"bf •Massa- chusetts" backgrounding, solid. Trip finish with torrid terp routine for. plenty applause. '.. '.' ■ . Victoria Troupe (4), English cycling act (reported first to bit the U. S. since war), won't lack work in this country. Their standard stuff on wheels is done well and sends them away to heavy applause. Another recruit from the bistros. Mel Murray, turns in a dynamic stint on the piano, combining singing with ivory pounding that has the audience yelling for more. Topping bill is Jack Leonard, ro- tund comic, 'who does a nice job introing the acts. Also clicks in own spot with fresh line Of gags and songs. Hermanos Williams trio close.■ Cos- 1 timed gaticho type, the male mem- bers hand-balance, with femme -sing- ing Lafinairs. All adds up to neat Soil.