Variety (May 1946)

56 Wednesday, May 22, 1946 Slate, N. V. Ciro Rimac Orch (12) with Alzira Cotmrrt/o, Charlie flow, Dorifa, JWechtta; Harry Savoy, Herman Hyde (2), 3 Dunhills, Sharkey the Seal; •Spellbound" lUA). ' State layout shapes up as one of this house's better efforts with a bill that's well heeled . in the comedy, novelty and musical de- partments. Layout runs an hour with forepart devoted to short punchy turns- while latter section holds up well under ministrations by Ciro Rimac's band and crew of Latin entertainers. Rimac's layout is solidly con- structed along flash act lines with song, dance and orch efforts pro- viding variety and color. Capable assists are by Alzira Cpmargo. a selling songstress with torrid rendu tions, and terps by two fetching gals, Mcchita and . Dorita. while Charlie Boy docs a terp twain'.with Rimac. This bowl of chili gets over nicely. Other acts . constitute familiar faces—proven ingredients at this showshop. Opener is by . Sharkey the Seal doing his balancing,, vocal imitations and playing a set of bells. Okay recepsh. While the Dunhills (3) are mak- ing their first appearance in this house, they've been around the vaudc circuits since their discharge- •from the service, where they ap- peared in the Irving Berlin show "This Is the Army." They're a smooth and skillful tap team with a choice assortment, of applause winning-tricks that put heat into the. deuce spot. .' .' Date at this house marks the re- turn of Herman Hyde and an un- billed femme foil. . He's been out of lively aero-dance numbers, Open with a precision dance, with ankles chained together, just to make it harder. Do individual stunts, and are cheered on by the customers in a fancy rope-jumping routine. Click nicely. , Loti-e.. Adams, Newark Newark, May 17. Louis Armstrong Orch (17) '.with Leslie' Scolt, Velmn Af iddleton; Billie Holidov. Coles & Atfcins, The CIiocot Inteers W; "Crime of the Century'' \Rep). The heat is on in this all-sepia finale for the Adams' stage show season.' The house will turn to alU film policy Thursday (23). which will be a blow to the local hepeuts. Louis Armstrong, vamped by a band that blows sour as often as sweet. , doesn't seem to mind. He has his magic trumpet and his familiar bullfrog voice to add to a naturally gay disposition and sails right along as if the orchestra were Chicago, Chi Chicago, May 21. Franfe Sinatra, Pied Pipers (♦), Steeplechasers (3), Sfcitch Hender- son & House Orch (27); "Up Goes Maisie" (M-G). Four, hours late into Chicago from N. Y. and hence'face to face with a mob of impatient payees, many of whom had been in the theatre since 7:30. a.m., Frank Sinatra showed signs of wear after the all-night worry session anent grounded" planes. The holding up of the hands to ward off squeals, the surprise stressing of certain musical phrases that bring on those same* squeals, the "Can-I- help-it?" expression when a bobby- soxer screams "Come and get me, Fraiiki,e!;~these and all the other stock-iiii-trade gimmicks belonging, exclusively to the . bow beau - were all there, so nobody was disap- pointed, even though he did .forget the words of "Embraceable You." Prc-curtain ovation lasted severnl minutes, drowning out The Voice as it came ; 6ut over the house's p.a. system from backstage. There was ...... ..... . •> ^ ln uypsy ana prisoner oi L,ovc these parts for some time and his nn d Velma Middleton. hefty come- act including the trick guitar, bass viol and the ultra-passionate harp get a good . quota of yoeks. How- ever, he seems to have deleted some of his punchier antics to the extent that walkoff doesn't have his old effect. Solo comedy turn is by Harry Savoy who does well with his un- finished sentence routine. Exit ap- plause earns an encore,' which he turns into a get-off speech. Jose. Golden Gate. Frisco • San Francisco, Afav 17. John CalueTt & Co., John Callus, Keye Luke, Ruth Terry; "Bad Man's Territory" (RKO). Well balanced layout has properly- pitched opening act for a show head- ed by John Calvert & Co. John Callus is amusing with his hodge- podge of clarinet playing, juggling and puppeteering and gets solid ap- plause. Keye Luke, who does the Chi- nese juvenile parts in Charlie Chan and Dr. Gillespie film series, wins moderate kudos with his voice im- personations, singing and blackboard sketches. Ruth Terry, billed as singing star- let of Republic Pix, has good quota of s.a. to get over with her song stanza, which includes "Shoo Fly Pie." "Prisoner of Love" and "Walk- ing My Dog." John Calvert and his ■ company of four dominates house for half hour with customers standing on seats to get full view of hysterical goings on. Calvert, using'members of audi- ence as working material mostly on- leave-servicemen, opens with mild- ly corny "Magic Varieties" which is mostly store magic, but warms up with "Disappearing Model" and wire suspended "day . Godiva" on prop horse, all of which is okay Also does a good cigarette routine, which brings him to the real sock, his hyp- notic three-ring-bedlem stanza Has audience scared stiff with Jekyll and Hyde sawing-off-head stuff. He has patrons falling all over the fee|^fr« fe'r^bu^cTeerlnl.^ h °«- Calvert has personality, good voice ly big-time stuff. Ted. Capitol, Wash. iur , Wa * h »neton, Mau 16 Manuel Viera, Ted Lawrie Rov (20th) Corwins; . «Dragonwuclc" »i2*°S ^,? api ^Vhow, including 4jj »- heI $l ov er from last week thv 'r« S ' Fred ^"p with Dor£ r^VrnVntio"!," 5 ™™ Corwins ' , U Hh W « ry ' ''"I'd. whistler, formerly with Horace Heidi's band, is sure' Domfhv » y type aud ience. With Dorothy R ae as singing partner vVrinU m ^ VP, faSt PaCe 0f SmOOth,' varied musical fare. ' ^ Lowery's affliction never intrudes »™ Ct, f n £ ne is so fuU °* enthusi- asm and showmanship that audience « Obviously hardly aware of his .handicap. He m.c.'s for team, giving singer her share of spotlight Lowery's whistling has range and volume enough to dominate full orch, which accompanies him. Opens with medley of bird imitations, does Waters of Minnetonka" and "Rhap- sody B,ue " Gal solos with her own "Debutante's Lament" and "It Had to Be You." Encore is duet. "Whistler Joe," which is a natural for team. Couple get audience ap- preciation throughout Three Corwins close bill with some groovey. system irom c-acKsiage. mere was Satchmo's best, bids for audience another of course, when he stepped kudos, which comes large and hand- •«..•' some, are found in "I Can't Give You Anything. But Love" and "Back of Town Blues." In these and his incidental solos throughout, the trumpet playing has plenty of .socko attributes—brilliant tone, impeccable out to explain he was late "because we were in New York last night try- ing to find places to.'live for the fellows who helped us 'during the war." And it's possible he did a .good job on "Sioux City Sue," im- mediately following; it was irnpos tu>l lull —ULiiuaiil iuiiu, unuuwi dull; uicuiaicijr iujiuwiii(;, u wda iiiiuun- phrasing in the blues style and a ! sible to judge precisely how good. u.ji.> b ,i, «... viu^.i o i-.J am, «« happy-go-lucky quality that implies the fellow is having a fine lime play ing for his friends so noisy were the customers. Fair-to-middling, male sepia terp team, the Steeplechasers, followed g lor nis irienas. ic-am, uic otecpiccnascrs, iouowc< Other band bits include "Stomping > with taps to "Cherokee" and such thn Raum* " ".QAlirl nnH lilrn thllc rtivina thp nnnc ctutinnA, at. the . Savoy." "Solid Sam", and "Let's Have a Session." Lessie Scott unlimbers a croonerrlype barytone in "Gypsy" and "Prisoner of Love" dienne. does "Wouldn't Be Satisfied" and "Hey-Ba-Ba-Re-Bop," to con- siderable acclaim. Co-star, with Armstrong is Billie Holiday, who knocks 'em dead with her nicely controlled blues voice and hot repertory. The gal's a win- ner. Utilizing a style that reminds one of 'Johnny Hodges sax attack, Miss Holiday hauntinglv chants her way through "My Old Flame." "All of Me," "Billie's Blues." "Lover Man" and "Better Go Now," all of them top notch. The Chocolateers ring a few funny changes in the customary tap routines; Coles and Atkins mingle dance steps and typical -Harlem comedy: It's a good bill, and a bright windup for the season. Bran. Oraheam, l„ A. Los Angeles, May 18. Buddy Rich Orch (18), Slim Gail- Idrd Trio, Benny Rubin, Dorothw Reid. Nick & Vicfci Collins; "Detour" (PRC). It's all bouncy rhythm and swing at the Orpheum this week, with Buddy Rich's hew orch and the Slim Gaillard Trio sharing the top bill- ing. Edge on the draw locally goes to the Trio, which has built a large following in here via long stand at Billy Berg's nitcry in Hollywood and records and radio. It doesn't edge out the Rich aggregation in enter- tainment, . though, the orch being very solid and loud to please the bounce fans. Gaillard Trio occupies closing spot and socks over four numbers for solid results. Strong instrumental styling, is of the first order, but is backed up with catchy jive talk fos- tered by Gaillard. Trio puts plenty of its "mel-creeny, o-roony."' dialog into songs. It's a showmanly group that is hep to pleasing an audience such as the Orpheum draws. Group prove able satirists with takeoff on Spanish crooners, a bit injected into a sharp version of "Cement Mixer." Other tunes pleasing are "Yep Rok Heresy," "Orpheum-Croony" and an instrumental bit that served as a curtain closer, in which Rich and his crew joined in. "Scatman" Car- ruthers debuted as new. drummer with the combo and held up his end with plenty of skin-beating antics. Gaillard doubles on piano and guitar while Tiny Brown takes care of a potent bass, Buddy Rich and his band of en- thusiastic young musicians . make good, if loud music. For a new group it displays plenty of crafts- manship and know-how: Its reputa- tion and drawing power will grow Mrong brass section and the Rich drumming can knock out more noise per decibel than any outfit to yet hit the Orpheum stage. It's loud but listenable. Group opens with Poon Tang," emphasizes heavy brass work on "Somebody Like You" reaches .a. show-stopping climax on Quiet Riot/ tears "Route 66" apart and jvjhds up with "Desperate Des- mond. Rich's drumming, particu- larly on "Riot," is virtually out of this world. While music is loud, it is stimulating and packs plenty of drive. Rich vocals "Route 66" while orch canary Dorothy Rcid warbles Where Did You Learn to Love?'' and "Ram .or Shine." She makes hard work of her singing and should try to look more pleasant while giv- ing put. . Benny Rubin is midway on the bill, carrying the audience along for sure chuckles at his dialect stories and gags. Nick and Vicki Collins are an enthusiastic tap team who show best in jumping jive bit. Brog. like, thus giving the cops stationed at either side of the stage to protect Sinatra from bodily injury a chance to relax—but only for a minute. He was back again, cmcecing now, to introduce the Pied Pipers. Fine vocal quartet offer "You Won't Be Satisfied." "Dream" and "Personal- ity" following which Skitch Hen- derson, who's leading the augmented Chicago theatre orch this week only, docs: some smooth. 88'ing: of "Full Moon and , Empty Arms" while Sinatra directs the orch. Spot for this number is on Henderson, but most of the eyes were on Sinatra. Now the cops were really showing wear, mob hysteria being definitely on. the .upgrade as the star moved in to take over with some more songs. From here on it is an aud- oarticipation show that would make Tom Breneman and Don McNeill turn green with envy. Sinatra, making his first stage appearance here since 1942. contribs "AU Through the Day," "Embraceable You," "Sweet Lorraine," "Nancy," "Try a Little Tenderness." 'Oh, What It Seemed to Be," and, with the Pipers. "One I Love Belong to Some body Else" and "I'll Never Smile Again." Then the kids opened . their lunches and went to town, all set for the rest of the day. Mike. Tower, K. C. Kansas City, May 17. Benny Meroff, Kathleen McLaugh- lin, Joleen Harris, 2 Jacks, 3 Little Honeys, Tower Orch (9) with Don Tiff & Bewerly Cassady; "Johnny Comes Flying Home" (20 th) & "Gentleman Afisbehaues" (17). Current show comes off several notches above those of previous weeks. Benny Meroff (New Acts), former band leader, doing a vau'de double and taking over as m.c. con- tributes a large share to the better show. Show is back to its regular 40- minute length, led off by Tower band on pop song with Beverly Cassady on the vocal. Kathleen McLaughlin (Mrs. Meroff) offers a duo of modern tap routines, both nifty She's followed by Joleen Har- ris, home-town youngster.who has a neat contortion routine. Three Little Honeys, discovery night selections, register . as cute Two Jacks then take over with their pole balancing feats, and earn good response. Meroff runs his clowning and gau- ging ^throughout to knit the show together, and takes over the closing spot. Its a return to his former bag of tricks, juggling, terping, clowning, and aided and abetted by the Mrs. as she imitates better known terpers and he does the old line schmaltz faves, Jolson, Cantor and Lewis. . ■ : . Q„ in . - Oriental. Chi ~ , „ CTiicaffo, May 16. o?. huc if, poster \Orch (13) with Betty Clark and Tommy Ryan; Bob Eberly, Masters & Rollins. Coco, IKi-VrSS?* " Ni9ht in Casa - all they're worth. Begoff—and in her stocking feet. Foster's 4 brass-5 reed-3 rhythm outfit, with leader oh clary, didn't do too well in a rambling rendition of "Cement Mixer" at the opener, but hit' its stride with an olio of tunes associated with the late Maj. Glenn Miller. Also get a lot of laughs with vocals about a gal named June who's bustin' out all over because she can't get a girdle big enough, aiid vocalist Tommy Ryan wins a nice nod for his version of "Gypsy."' Orch closes the show with "Dar-k Eyes." ; Masters & Rollins get a polite re- ception for their standard double- joint grotcsqucrics, Charlotte Green- wood-ish ciivortings by Miss Rollins! and skating, slow motion and "horse ti jockey" terps by Masters. Also do their ballroom parody. Some df the stuff is' a bit: too crude for the family trade, but they get off okay. Comedy aero and tumbling stuff, with a three-high to close, of the Coco. Steve & Eddie tceterboard layout (its in nicely between orch's ace and deuce turns. Bob Eberly sings "Love Is Just Around the Corner," 'They Say It's Wonderful," a "Tangcrine"-"Grecn Eyes "medley, and "Laughin' on the Outside." It might have been open- ing ji tters, but the pipes were "strain- ing for the high notes nnd the latter were coming out fuzzy around the edges at show caught. Mike. Apollo, N. V. Count Basic Orch (17) with Jimmy Rushing, Illinois Jacquet, Bob Bailey, Viola Jefferson; Pops & Louie. Ralph Brown; Taylor, Ray & Bruce; "Spider Woman" (I/). ■ Sunrise of this lightweight session ou Be , tty r, c ! ar !<.. cute gal singer with Chuck Foster's orch, who steps 'way out front and stops the show. "Just another band singer" doesn't apply to Miss Clark at all. She proves that at.the beginning by kicking her shoes off ("Sings better that way" explains the maestro), and then turning on a silvery lyric soprano in the verse of "Listen to the Mock- ing Bird," following which she rips into a mean riff version of the chorus interspersed with Pons-like trills Operatic pipes, coupled with a cute figure and bubbling personal- ity, mark her as triple-threat mate- rial, Also does "I'm a Big Girl Now," punching the blue lines for Top name music has become habitual with this house and trend continues with the Count Basie out- lit, just in from a western . tour. More commercial than the' average sepia swingsters, orch nevertheless manages to evoke approval from jump-happy crowd. Brassy opener is "Every Tub," spotlighting Illinois Jacquet on wild snd reedy tenor sax. High-note gymnastics unnecessary, but custom- ers like that type of showmanship. Ralph Brown follows with a nice terp single, tapping to Basic's rhythm piano backing. Taps arc strong, clean, and rapid, but econ- omy of effort is lost in out-of-beat turns and spins which are not good crbwd-pleascrs. Orch is showcased in "High Tide" with trumpet; trombone, clarinet trio. Basie follows with character- istically light-fingered "Mad Boogie" for fine hand. Viola Jefferson opens her stint with "Sittin' and Rockin'" moving then to "I Got Rhythm," with rapid- fire original lyrics. Average selling of a husky monotone brings only f» ir response. Closer is Ellington's Lucky So and So." _ Situation comedy bit with Taylor, Ray and Bruce starts well but slows gradually to a walk. „ °r c ,*> back to business with "Stay -wT ^ G . ro ? ne ,r B °b Bailey contribs 111 Get By" and "Danny Boy:" Irish tenor-like voice and easy de- \hZ r Z nave .t off a Ppea]. Experience should smooth rough spots. "Doggin'. Around" features Joe Jones on drums together with rnythm section. Like majority of acts overdone 5 °' ^ type ' itS sUghtly Basie's prize package. Jimmy Rushing, offers "New Blues" a'nd '"BoP-a-Rebop" for his usual sock effort. Tops in his line. n i,Iv P K te . am u Of , J P0 , ps and L °u'e are V . l ? u , t sh0 "ld lay off the vocals sl, «H,. t0 terps - Show's finale in One o.Clock Jump" but it never WU started before orch peters out for a quick exit. Entire layout needs editing. ■ Town. RKO, Bostoa „ „ . Boston, May 17. Rose Mane, Mineuitch Rascals with Johnny Pulep; Buster West, Ross Sisters (3), Bunin Puppets Larry Flint House Orch; "Suspense" {Mono). New Acts BENNY MEBOFF With Kathleen McLao(htln Comedy, Dancing 14 Mlns. Tower Theatre, K. C. Recently returned from war thea- tre trouping, Benny Meroff has been taking a look around at vaude and club work, doing a double with the Mrs. It looks like the double act is here to stay with no more of the comedy band or wacky unit biz he did for years.. This way there is no payroll, social -security tax, trans- portation or any of the 1,001 worries that plague a vaudc troupe. It's just get in the car with the Mrs., drive to the next date, do your stuff and take it. (comparatively) easy, with- out the supervisory headaches A vaude vet, Meroff has plenty of tricks in his bag on his own score and the wife-partner adds with her looks and terping. For the Tower Meroff ran out the-works, gags, imi- tations, juggling, terping,. and the two give: a wcll-fijlcd 10 minutes. In cafes and clubs, they're doing three shows nightly,' with at- least one full change of routine. For this date they boiled it down to winding MerpfT's stunts around -a trio pf Kitty's dance imitations, and, this'al- lows them to pack the 10 minutes well. Vaude could use more acts of this type- Quin. VIRGINIA McGRAW Dancing 10 Mlns. Havana Madrid. N. Y. ; Pert little tapster with a refresh- ingly ingenueish face and a nice build, Virginia. McGraw dances smoothly. Routines contain plenty spins for flash and a good number in which she taps without music a la Eleanor Powell. Gets over nicely in the opening spot, here. Good act for similar bistros or vaudcrs. Stal. Straight vaude layout in combo with 'Suspense"—the film doing most of the pulling—but nicely bal- anced and finding' plenty of favor tTT—J .u 1 , der ' evening crowds. There s nothing new on the bill or especially outstanding, but it's all standard stuff and well routined Rose Marie, headlining, offers well-styled songs tailored to her high-grade style, clicking with a new one called "Crying My Heart <?^k e oi ?6 socko with Italian song Chenc Lune." meanwhile do- ing impressions, such as. her nifty welMiked nte ' Good sluff a »d Minevitch Rascals, yearly offer- ing, vary in no detail from their yearly contribution, and prove as sock as usual with Johnny Puleo clowning and drawing billing The Ross Sisters, easily the ranking aero tri °- still, contribute daring and fast stuff for plenty of favor, and Buster West standard act. gets ditto Com- paratively new, the Bunin Puppets do a floor show act with mx., r and its 8j cute trick. Also nicely re- ceived. Show, in short, offers nice contrast to band show and being nicely staged and backed up bv the Larry Flint house orch, wh ; «h is very good, clicks. Biz flne at p~>ner Elie. CPA Nixes Bid ^5. Continued from page l — his Culver City lot, making a total of six stages when completed, about Oct-. 1. Government gave the per- mit because the use of the Roach studio by the Army prevented nor- mal expansion during wartime. ' Civilian Production Authority granted the Hollywood Bowl permis- sion to spend $65,000 on concrete construction in the interests of pub- lic safety, but turned down building requests by the Motion Picture Re- lief Fund and Slapsy Maxie's. MPRF wanted a $300,000 building for living quarters and hospital beds, arid Sftpsy Maxie's asked leave to spend $50,000 on building improve- ments. Enterprise's application for a per- mit to build a $100,000 sound stage on their new lot was nixed yester- day (Monday) by the Civilian Pro- duction Administration. 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