Variety (Nov 1948)

46 VAVDEVILLB WadaewUjr* JHovember S, 1948 Night Club Reviews Chez Parce» Clil Chicago, Oct. 29. Harvey Stane^ Vagabonds (4), Grade Barrie, Perri/ Franks & Janyce, Chez Paree Line (10), Cee Davidson's Orch (11); ?3.50 mini- mum. In establishing itself as • Chi landmark, the Chez Invariably has fut togetlier shows of solid content, ven; when the neon spells out the most expensive names on the after- dark circuit, which is often, there's no skimping on preliminary acts. This policy has brought con- sistently heavy patronage that de- fies postwar; sags, inflation and otlier economic pitfalls. Harvey Stone, a newcomer to the ■Chez; haS' the, discursive chop- punch brand of comedy readily ac- cepted here. He warms up with a marital routine in which wifely foibles serve to get yocks. His re- cital of gambling misadventures drew steady and quickening re- turns. Brought bacic by an ample hand; he hits the laughrper-line jrate in patts of his Army standby. Combos are a departure from the Chez-norm, but the Vagabonds' ad- dition of comedy, ranging from broad byplay to pantoed innuendos, provides choice fare. ; Quartet of two guitars, bass and accordion are launched with a straight instrumen- tal and vocal of "Lazy River," building to a fast crescendo. Four- some goes Hawaiian in a so-called mating song, then segues via Pa- cific Islanders double-talk into a set of oldies satltising the Jolson and Ted Lewis styles. Perry Franks and Janyce are pert and wXnnii^ in tapB. garaished by aero touches for a good send- off. Graci« Barrie, sheathed in low-cleft blue, clicks with comic in- terpolations of "Sunday Kind of Love" and her account of • hillbilly bachelor girl. Songstress bows off to heavy plaudits, following her "Galitzeaner Rhumba." Dorothy Dorben line bookends; the show with a modiste tableau and a tum-of-the-century waltz number, both well stepped and cos- tumed. Midway turn has them pa- rading in elaborate garb symbolic I of major holidays. Best in content j "d execution is the modiste se- I quence, but it suffers as the closer for an overlong show. Cee Davidson's orch of four reeds, four brass and three rhythni backs with skill and turns out danceables, that fill the floor. Baxt, ttM door und a-$2 minimum It • table is occupied instead of the gallery in front of the bar. The Roost probably fills the need Of * considerable portion of hep- sters whom the conventional swing patterns can no longer satisfy. The demand for progressive jazz is growing, and tlie reasons could probably be discussed with greater profundity by the boys at Belle- vue. But the musical avant-garde now know that there's a definite need for be-bop. Even if Herman isn't strictly from that school, there's enough vigor in his efforts to pass muster even from the most wdent cultists. The Tadd Dameron relief crew of four pieces bops its way nicely. Dameron's piano work and the ef- forts of the tenor saxisl click with the audience. Jose. Wally boag Celebratinq Ont Ytar in VAL PARNELL'S "STARLIGHT ROOF' London HIppedrom* EVENING NEWS . . . "M*w comic fdlcnt-^ances with Urifly fleet- nesi.'' ■ ■ , AWI2niC\: Murk .1. Leddy XOXDON! Cliurlcs Tucker Tenrace Hooin. Vitt (HOTEL \VM. PENN) Pittsburgh, Oct. 26. Jimmy Savo, Billy Catizone Orch (8) with Lee Henry; $1 and $1.50 eoiiwrt. COMEDY MATERIAL For AH Branehat ef ThMtricah PUN-MASTER "Th* ORIGINAL Shew-Bix Gag FiU" Not. 1 to 23 @ $1.00 aach 3 DIFFERENT BOOKS OF PARODIES (TO in eacK book) $10 per baok . FREE : COrr OF "HCMOB BUSI- NESS.''^ The Shoir-Biz GnKiizlu« ^^ltll nttcli $3.00 ininlmttm order. Bend lOc for lists of other comedy inuterldl, HOiiffs. parodies, uilntitre] imttcr^..|»I»ck-nuts. etc.. ' NO C.O.D.'S PAULA SMITH '■ X00 W. 54tb Street, Kevr York IS ^rrampolinlngly Veurt' Paul and Paulette Trio Direction: LOUIS W. COHAN 203 N. Waboih Av*. Chicago 1 Boyal Iloost, IV. Y. Woody Herman Orch (1»), Tadd Dameron Orch <4); admissioji 90c,; $2 minimum at tahle$. The Royal Roost, firmly estab. lished as the be-bop center; on Broadway, gets a change of pace with the booking of Woody Herr man's recently reorganized band. It's A wise move for both inasmuch as Herman is in a position to get as wide a showcasing among the youngsters that go for this type of music, and the spot gels the benefit of Herman's prestige and top juve potentialities. : Herman returns with a band that's on a par with some of the outfits - he batoned when he was I in the top category of jazzlsts. The orchestral texture derived from an instrumentation of eight brass and a quintet of reeds and the Usual number of rhythm players, is on par With the previous Herman omU fits.' His treatment of turtes is al- ways interesting whether he lets out all the stops or weaves a jivey pattern around a conventional pop; Herman's outpourings are more than sufficient for the demands of this comparatively small room. He fills the room in a niamier that'.s in the groove for the bop cultists, congregating here and at the same time takes into: account the more orthodox tastes. Mary Ann McCall and Chubby Jackson (considerably slimmer than when last around) perform in their accustomed styles for good effect. While Herman is not strictly In the be-bop category, he'll do more than well in this spot. The Royal Roost in itself is one of the latter day phenomena on the Stem. It was about ready to fold when operator Ralph Watkins staged a bop concert one Tuesday night. The returns were so gratify- ing that he's been on this policy since. There's a 90c. admission at tainen. Xt'« « comparftivtly pl« matter to tnovk tti* poctaU* bandstand to another part of tha room so that they can work wlthj out distractions. Otherwise, it's an excellent hang- out for th* stayups with an enterr tainlng show provided by Daphne Hellnian, Marfan Manners and the Three Flames. All have previously appeared in the uptown boitea and have attained somewhat ef a repu- tation. Miss Hellman charms the cui- tomers vrtth her harp recitals, play- ing a variety of selections, includ- ing a Scarlatti aonata, variations on Liadow's "Music Box" and few boogie riffs and doei equally ai well with ber special material vo- cals. She's a pleasant item for this spot. Marian. Manners, a statuesque brunette, does some pleasing tunes that get audience attention. Most interesting number is an Indian lullaby, which has a touching and plaintive quality. She's off io nice returns. The Three Flames click with roiighhouse instnimentals and vo- cals. This sepia group with an in- strumentation of piano, bass and guitar, provide neat change of pace with comedy tunes. ^Numbers get plenty salvos. The Earl Hodges trio showbacks and provides dance interludes. Jose. Town's class hotel spot—in fact, the only one^has reopened after a six'montb shutdown and Is still persisting in getting a couvcrt while other niteries have long since discovered that Golden Triangle',s strictly minimum' territory. Tliat hurt the Terrace Room last year and is likely to react against it again. ' Teirace Room seems to be alter- ing its entertainment policy some- w,hat. however. In past, shows have usually consisted of tw or three „ , ,, ,, . ,. „ standard acts. For the reopening ^ Bagatelle an ultra-intnne room bill there's only one—^nd likely; Just oyer the east side marker on ' to be that for a while—and it's New York's 52d street, inaugurates .Timmy Savo, a show in himself. It's a new policy with this show. Room, the first time for the little fellow until now has depended almost en- in a cafe around here (his past i tirely on the blue ditties of Dor- appearances have been in theatres othy Ross to lure the customers, ■ •- tossing in. only sp(H:adicauy a sec- Oftd act. New /show has two Other standard actsi, in the w.k. Deep j River Boys ^hd up-and-copiing null Bagalello, 9f. ¥. Dorothy Ro*s, Deep River Boys (5), Eddte Fisher, Kurt Maier; $3 miiihinwi. ' : ■Mtarlal, vMl* ftlll puffa In tpota, demonstratM conslderabla polisltt Inf hai been dona. With the right si>otlightlng, he could easily taki a placa among the top ranking mala gingers. He opent hero with "Si» tin"^ On Top of the World," fob Iowa with "Night Hat a Xhou8an4 Eyes" and a apedal routine fee» turing a mixture of songs, then close? witD "Iff Magic" and Darling" to well-earned applause. Triton, Rochester, ResuMiiiif Showfil The Triton hotri, feodiestelv N. Y.i resumes floor shows tomor* row (Thursi). with Ada Xiynn on the bilL Spot use> a single act with booldnss by Miles Ingalls out of New York. Little Jack Little is set to follow later this month. XIOTZ'S JIEW BERTH Jack Klotz, who recently re- signed from Joe Glaser's Asso- ciated Booking agency, lias Joined Ben Bart at Universal Attractions. Klotz will head the theatre and cafe dept. and even there not in 15 years, or more), and so he can go right through his long-established reper- toire without feeling that he's.cov- . . , . eriug old ground. Thai makes it i young singer Eddie Fisher. There easy for Savo since the numbers I should also be some appeal via have the advantage of loiig-tesled pianist Kurt Meier (New Acts), who success. His pantomime remains received a heavy press on his ar- inimitably tops, and he goes rival in the U.S. 'after spending through such standards as "Old several years in a Nazi concentra- Blaek Magic,'' "One Meat Ball" and tion cainp duringi the war. HELENE and HOWARD Club Dates and f«levision in New York Dir.: MATTT ROSEN River Stay Away From My Door' with a charm and. originality that have never been duplicated. Whati ever Savo does here Is out of the top drawer and he's on for at least half an hour and. judging from his getaway applause, it's -not Miss Ross is sparkling as ever ] with her songs. Some of her lines i border on ■ the ' censorable and ! would probably be offensive if i dished out 1^- anyone else. Dexteri-1 ty with which she eases them through, though, makes the tunes \ nearly enough. Little fellow is a I easy to take and her seemingly , 'mop-up all me way. unlimited repertoire of special ma- Bill v Catizone, wlio had the band terial makes repeal visits to the ' 1 here last year, Is back again with j Bagatelle worthwUile, Gal has also another crack crew for dansapa- ' tion, and has most of the men he ] had a season ago, l)ut a new vocal- ist' .She's tall, atLi-aelive Lee developed to the nth degree her facility for insulting the paj'ees and making them like it. Deep River Boys impress as one she knows how to use for max! mum effectiveness, Cohen ROCHELLE and BEEBE Ju$t Concluded 8 Weeks PARAMOUNT NEW YORK Nov. 7th TV Gwejf Shot Id Sullivan Show — WCBS-TV Opening Nov. 11 RKO Dayton, Nov. 18 to 20 RKO ColMmbui Nov. 2S RKO Shubort, Cinn. Dir.t AL WILSON AftlNCY NARDAand her DOVES with MAJA on tho DRUMS THANK: DOROTHY PACKTMAN and LEO GRUND For 72 Wonderfuf Weeks Playing Fairs Wifh THE ROXYETTES for GEO. A. HAMiD Henry, with an okay set of pipes of the better colored quartets now ' ' " ■ making the rounds. < Fifth man backs "tiiem■ bh.piano.) Theip'voices blertd neatly .and. all; four; project pleasant, persdnalities'to leiid ■visu- al ifnpact to their work. One of the best features of their act Is the choice of material, a, mixture of spiritiials, pop and standard tunes and comedy songs. To dem- onstrate their versatility, the two songs they sold best the liight caught (27) were "Ell. Eli" and "My Yiddishe Momma." ■ r Fisher, though still in his teens, has already played some of the , Brevoort 8iip|ii'i* iiuli, I Daphne Hellman, 3 Flames. Ma- Irian Manners, Ear! Hodges Trio; no cover or minimum. . I The Brevoort hotel, discontinued as an inn several months ago, con- tinues to function on the ground floor as a restaurant and supper club. Ths landmark, which in the JACQUELINE HURLEY Aereboffcs In Teeftflicofor HELD OVER 5TH WEEK Biltmore Bowl LOS ANGELES Par. Mgr.—BERT COLLINS Dirw—JACK KALCHEIM EMCEE "THE ENTERTAINER'S HANDBOOK." ■■ PacklU With Parndiflt,. Band Nov,. altiev Monoloouei. Pat; tah ALL N EW I Sub. uription to 9 eonseoutivit' l»u«, $(.00^ Gat yoiirt NOW from D; A C, FRANKEL, Daik H, ISOS 8. Homan Ave., CIiIcbbo 23, III, past has been a rendezvou.? for jtop N. Y. clubs and opened here the literati, once was operated by Herbert Jacoby and Julius Monk. Both have since gone xiptown, with I Jacoby now co-owner of the Blue : Angel and Le Directoive, while ! Monk is at Le Ruban Bleu, i Agent Jean Rose has now taken over with a policy of intime enter- tainment. Initial show indicates that it should be a potent business ; getter in the lower Fifth avenue sector. 1 However, some physical changes I are necessary to give the room more'' charm. Layout is such that I customers v coming into the club must > pass'in front of the enter- MAJA on Hie DRUMS Open/ng NOVEMBER 5th (Return Engogement) World Famous LEON & EDDIE'S CLUB after a summer on the borscht belt. Kid's voice has improved tre- mendously since his break-in at the Copacabana. N. Y., two years ago and his method of selling his MALINY