Variety (February 1910)

14 VARIETY NEW ACTS NEXT WEEK. Initial Presentation, First Appearance or Reappearance in or Around New York. Polo Teams, American. «* ; Mamie Fenton, American. Balloon Girl, American. Great Howard, Hammerstein's. Weber Family, Hammerstein's. Smmett Corrigan and Co., Colonial. Phil Staats, Fifth Avenue. Clara Mae Hammer, Fulton. All. K. Hall, Fulton. Gertrude Hoffmann. Bartow. 58 Mini.; Full Stage. Alhambra. Gertrude Hoffmann in "Gertrude Hoff- mann's New Review" will prove an eye- opener to the favored few who have suc- cessfully produced for vaudeville. In the matter of production Miss Hoffmann has gone them all not one but a hundred bet- ter and has placed together by far the most elaborate offering that has ever been shown in the varieties. Besides the several costly scenic effects, Miss Hoffmann is carrying no less than twenty people who appear in the act, an executive staff and extra musicians whose aid to the regular orchestra cannot be over-estimated. The act proper has been built on the idea of imitations, but it is not as a mimic that Miss Hoffmann gains her strength nor is it the trading upon other people's ma- terial. It is Miss Hoffmann's idea of bur- lesque and travesty that makes her suc- cess. This travesty strain seems to be a sixth sense with the artiste; it asserts itself in every move she makes. Anyone with the smallest sense of humor cannot miss the delightfully funny points. She goes from delicate satire to the wide- open pure burlesque and everything re- ceives the same skillful handling. The act is divided into twelve distinct parts. Opening with "It Isn't That Way Any More," showing how George Cohan, Eddie Foy and Ethel Barrymore used to play and how they do »t now. This is done in "one" and gives the act a very fast start. A Tanguay imitation follows, which might be dropped. This is followed by a short Ruth St. Denis bit, with an elaborate setting, introducing what the program calls a Royal Cingale Troupe who amuse with their native music and dancing. Twelve girls are also employed. Anna Held followed in a wonderful dress creation. The Beautiful Blue Danube, in- troducing Isadora Duncan and Twelve Nymphs, replaced Anna and proved one of the biggest moments of the offering. The setting and the dancing of the girls is pretty. Miss Hoffmann, who can dance, showed to advantage in the number. Harry Lauder followed and might be placed with the Tanguay thing. An ex- tremely laughable burlesque on Valeska Suratt's "Belle of the Boulevards" chased Lauder from the mind. The dance per- formed by -Miss Hoffmann and a tall, lanky fellow, a sort of a Jimmy Russell, was ludicrous in the extreme. Miss Hoffmann's gown, which allowed of her taking a slop only about six inches long. helped bring the laughs. A quick change made on the stage to Alice Lloyd brought the twelve girls on in bathing suits and NEW AGT® OP THE WEEK "Dinkelspiel's Christmas." aa Mins.; Full Stage. > - Colonial. Jos. Hart's name attached to the Din- kelspiel act carried the idea of a musical offering, but such is not the case. The act is a comedy sketch pure and simple. George V. Hobart wrote the piece, which was first produced at a Gambol of the Lambs. He has handed vaudeville some- thing different in the comedy sketch line. Mr. and Mrs. Dinkelspiel are awaiting the home-coming of their son Louie, who, be- ing a traveling salesman, has not been home in two years. The old couple look forward a with much pleasure to the boy's return to wed Lena, his old sweetheart. They are so certain of this that the old man, as a pleasant surprise, has already procured the marriage license (through politics, he says). A dapper little Frenchman enters and excided- ly proclaims he has been accepted for the until-death-us-do-part handicap by the best little girl in the world. Enters Louie with the finest little chorus girl wife , on record. Louie is a bit shy on stacking the old folks up against his newly ac- quired better half, although they have been married a year and a half and have something besides a certificate to show for it. Little wifey becomes peeved be- cause Louie is getting cold feet and does a getaway to the baby. The folks then come upon Louie and show that he is wel- comed back to the old home. They talk about everything until they hit it up for Lena, and the old man finally spills the whole thing by handing Louie the mar- riage certificate. Of course, Louie has to fess up here, and the blow is a stiff one to the elder Dinks. What a dirty trick to do a nice German girl, they say. The Frenchman is very attentive here, and in- . dicates that Lena is his bride to be. This makes it pretty soft for Louie, and chorus wifey comes in with triumph. The parents are not prone to forgiving, but they cannot stand pat with the kid in the limelight, and everything is forgiven. A pretty . Christmas tree is lit up in honor of the latest Dinkelspiel. The act contains a great many bright lines. The opening is a bit too talkey and the act should be liv- ened up by cutting the early dialog. It is a good comedy act* for any bill. Dash. Lionel Barrymore, Phyllis Rankin and McKee Rankin. "The Jail Bird" (Dramatic Sketch), si Mins.; Full Stage (Parlor). Hammerstein's. An unusually large audience Monday may have attested to the wisdom of Wil- liam Hammerstein in booking this "name" attraction, but if the patrons came to find entertainment in witnessing the dramatic players they were sadly disap- pointed. Mr. Barrymore in certain roles is a brilliant actor of polished art. In "The Jail Bird" he is lost in a hopeless morass of stagey talk and utterly false theatricals. The sketch is not interesting for a minute, has not a spark of action and the situation it laboriously builds up would scarcely be worth a newspaper paragraph, even if it could by any pos- sibility occur in real life. To which various indictments might be added the inconceivable folly of giving all the "fat" of the sketch to McKee Rankin and re- legating Mr. Barrymore, the bright, par- ticular atar of the occasion, mind you, to a wooden role. Half the time Mr. Barry- more was sitting disconsolately in his chair and trying to look at ease while Mr. Rankin droned on and on everlastingly with a story that had no beginning and no end and wasn't worth while in the middle. A part of equal force was foisted upon Miss Rankin. She was very busy sitting still and listening and of no more dramatic value than the chair she oc- cupied. At the finish she had a few emo- tional lines to speak, but who can sit in frozen silence for eight minutes and then at the dictates of a playwright (who is nameless on the program for good and sufficient reasons), leap as it were, into emotional frenzy? There is a long, in- volved story attached to the sketch, which it is scarcely necessary to touch upon. If the sketch plays another week in vaudeville it will be some manager's fault as it was William Hammerstein's misfortune. Ruth. they used Alice's mirror song with capital effect. Harry Watson with the trombone followed and then the big laugh of the piece, a burlesque on Annette Kellermann. Miss Hoffmann appeared in a grotesque make-up and did her dives with two wires attached to her. Nothing funnier has been seen thnn Miss Hoffmann's ap- pearance being dragged back to the springboard after a ducking. More fun was caused by the girls' timid approach and final jump into the tank, which ended by them going down a toboggan slide placed opposite the springboard. Miss Hoffmann appeared once more, finishing with Eddie Leonard, changing to blackface in a trice. Miss Hoffmann has without doubt given vaudeville the great- est act in all respects that it has known and it is just a question as to whether she will be able to stand the strain going through it twice a day. Dash. The Oriental Rose. Singing, Dancing and "Posturing." la Mins.; Full Stage (Interior). New York Roof. In this case "a rose by any other name" would be equally bad—if not worse. The young woman, who has been featured a-top the New York Theatre for several weeks, is so bad a dancer and so wretched an amateur that she is a big comedy act. The rising curtain discloses her reclining on a Turkish divan, smoking a cigarette. She rises as the lone piano-player does the best she can with Oriental music, and proceeds to go through a series of the most grotesque and -ridiculous "Salome" contortions, at the same time singing a ballad. The girl is a tall, slim young per- son wit'h a very fair average of good looks and has a voice of really excellent quality. What she is doing in this foolish travesty is not easy to understand. She would be much more in line for advancement with a small part in a musical comedy or vaudeville "girl" act. In her present act she will reap the questionable rewards of a reputation as a second edition of "The Cherry Sisters." Rush. Violet Allen and Co. (a) "Keeping an Appointment" (Comedy Sketch), ao Mins.; One. Fifth Ave., Jan. 30. There are several clever and novel ideas in working out this skit, and it consti- tutes a decidedly refreshing and desirable addition to vaudeville. At the outset a drop in one represents the interior of a room in an apartment house. The young husband enters to explain that the land- lord has compelled him to move into and out of several flats in the building, until, finally, he hopes that he is settled in th right one. During this brief speech the apartment hallboy and a furniture mover bring in piece by piece several articles of furniture, keeping it up until "one" has its window hung with lace curtains and has enough furniture in sight to represent a well furnished bedroom. Enter Miss Allen who, as the wife, starts a lively fuss with the husband as a comedy in- terlude. The fact develops, during the action, that they are professionals and have an engagement to play a club that night. Their dress clothes are sent out to be pressed, but when it comes time to get them back the cleaner's shop has closed. The wife devises a scheme to outfit the couple with improvised evening clothes and to this end the pair appropriate the lace curtains, drapes and other articles in the place, and when they have finished present a very acceptable appearance. While the work of perfecting the make- shift costumes is going on word comes that the landlord has made another mis- take and must move the couple to still another floor. The hall-boy and furniture mover rcapppear and finish the work of carrying off the furniture by the time the couple are ready to start for their club engagement. They close with a topi- cal song, illustrating how various celebri- ties use a cane in walking. In the body of the act Miss Allen contributes two verses of a song which introduces clever dance imitations of Geo. M. Cohan and Bert Williams. The young man who plays the role of the husband is an exceedingly clever chap and his name deserves a place beside Miss Allen's in the billing. Both principals work with a snap and dash which leave no dull intervals in the skit and their success was complete. Walt. * Imperial Comedy Trio. Comedy Sketch. 15 Mins.; Two (Close in One). Lincoln Square. Opening in a dressing room scene a re- hearsal of a couple of songs is logically brought about. The three men are play- ing their act for the first time, and the comedy results are brought about by dif- ferences of opinion as to what is wrong with their work. The manager of the 'house has told them that their night per- formance must be an improvement over the matinee or they will be closed. They make up for their act, one as a Dutch- man, another in black-face and the third as the straight man. Their turn is called and they go off stage to close their act in "one." The singing voices blend well, al- though none of the men ranks as an ex- ceptional vocalist. The act is well planned and pleases. Walt. 0