Variety (June 1949)

S4 VArDR^^LLB Night Qub Reviews Ve<lne8<1ay, Jung 8, I949 Si. nocif, :V.Y. Milt Shau' and Laszlo & Pepito orchs: $1.50 and $2'convert. The St. Regis Roof, nee the Vien- nese Roof but still featuring its done-over original Josef Urban decor, is among the la.st of a fast fleeting tradition around Gotham. The changes among the old-line hotels have been many. The Hil- ton people have done over the Plaza, for instance, and only re- cently the Vincent Astor manage- ment (Pierre Bultinck, g.m. of the hotel), which owns the St. Regis, gave up the traditional King Cole room to a 5th Ave. store frontage, moving it into the old Iridium Room site. This meant that the Iridium is no more; and the former Maisonette Russe (sans the Russe part of it, in the billing) is the lone "winter” room. But the Roof remains as a Manhattan showplace- Royalfy in Song NOBLE and KING HELD OVER AGAIN GLASS HAT BELMONT PLAZA NEW YORK Thonli Yon MR. JOHN WOELPLI ond JOE SULLY Portonal DiroctioN BAUM-NEWBORN AGENCY restaurant; in fact, it’s been en- hanced via its penthouse cock- tailery. That it’s a natural attraction is evidenced by the strong biz here despite the early season and the inclement nonrroofgarden weather. Above all. at least from manage- ment perspective, it continues to do a natural dining-dancing busi- ness. to a $1.50 an*d $2 convert (Sat.), with just two dance bands; there is no other divertissement. Unlike the case when the Milt Shaw and Laszlo i Pepito bands hold forth in the Maisonette (grill- room). and an occasional person- ality is booked, such as Nan Wynn, Julie Wilson and Roily Rolls, the roof is devoid of anything but the dansapation. The Maisonette, too, this fall-winter season dispensed with the dinner show, finding that its fashionably late dining clien- tele didn’t want to be interrupted at 9:30-10 p.m. to pay attention to an act, hence only a midnight frolic obtained. The Shaw band plays for the main dance sets and the alternat- ing Laszlo-Pepito ensemble, built around the Hammond organ, offi- ciates for the waltz and Latin se.s- sions. Both have the right type of "so^'lety” tempo, as witness their marathon stay here. The room is now presided over by August, veteran maitre d’ of the Maisonette, now that Jean has re- signed with the foldo of the Iridium Room. Jean, incidentally, is now co-owner of LaRue’s, hav- ing bought out Peter Oglietti with another headwalter and a third partner (financial backer). Abel. Carnival Drops Gate Nick The Carnival this week dropped its $1.80 and $3 admission charges j in favor of a $2 minimum. It was : felt that door-nick was too high i and militated against profitable op- eration. J Carnival’s removal of the ad- mission charge leaves only one N. Y. cafe on an admission policy. Bop City charges 90 cents at the gate. Beatrice Kay into Ciro’s, Holly- wood. July 8; follows with Cal- Neva Lodge, Lake Tahoe, Nev., July 29. NOW BOOKING ALL TYPE AHRACtIONS (Travelling Ltgit Snows, Vaudt Units, Concerts, Orchestras, One Niters, Etc.) WRITE - WIRE - PHONE MR. C. G. KEENEY RAJAH THEATRE 136-42 North Sixth Street Reading, Pa. Phone 4-8373 Theotre lost year played Sammy Kaye, Deke Ellington, Gny Lombardo, Tony Palter, Boyd Raobnrn, Ray McKinley. Blue Barron, Lionel Hompton. Horace Heldt, 3 Sent. Art Mooney. King Cole Trie. *Annie Get Ydnr Gnn* (3 days, 4 iliowi) $22,000; 'Oklahoma!' (3 days, 4 thowi) $22,000: 'Skew Boot* $15,000; 'Deiert Song* $4,000: 'Harvey' $10,000. t'opai'abana^ IV. Y* (FOLLOWUP) With the addition of Mary Raye and Naldi, plus Eileen Barton (New Actsi, the Copa generally maintains iis tiptop quality, with Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis as the holdover headliners. The pro- duction also holds. The ballroom pair are still among the tops in their field, Nal- di's lifts being continually amazing. The team’s dancing is strictly on the button, and no less important to their work is the well-orchc.s- trated music. A fine dance turn that can play anywhere. Martin & Lewis still wham ’em with their comedy, Lewis espe- cially emphasizing his ability to get laughs, regardle.ss of what he does. But that business of stress- ing their respective Italian and Jewish backgrounds, especially the latter, with all the linguistic pat- ter that goes with it. is something they still overdo. And they overdo It to the point where you wouldn’t be surprised if Menasha Skulnik were to join the act at any mo- ment. Except that Skulnik might use too much English for Martin & Lewis. On the night caught Martin & Lewis made exactly 29 Jewish ref- erences. That’s by actual count. Which practically re-labels the joint the Koshercabana. The Old Roumanian and the other down- town eastside spots are not going to like this at all. Another indication of how undis- ciplined their act has become is in the way Martin is sloughing his songs. More and more he’s using his tunes as the fulcrum for his own individual or the team’s com- edy, and in this way much of the value of a basically legit voice is dissipated. The guy’s got a lot of s.a: for the dames, but both seem more intent on selling chopped liver and minestrone asides. As far as Lewis is concerned, he has developed a unique style that gives him an identity all his own—if he doesn’t blow it. He and Martin must learn that nitery audiences are not comprised of just those familiar with their single- strain argot. Another thing: material. They’ve got to get new stuff, since most of their material is by now too familiar—including comedy kicked around by other comics, straight or in rewritten form. They have one very acceptable piece of se- rious material, with just a slight comedy touch, in their Crosby- Barry Fitzgerald bit. and it’s a trib- ute to their own innate showman- ship and ability that, immediately following their extremely hectic carryings-on, they’re able to make an audience accept so divergent a bit as the latter. Kahn. York bow at the Vanguard. Others on the Angel layout have been standards for sometime. Rose Murphy, for example, a re- peater here, pipes her way into popular acclaim with her fetching baby-voiced vocals. Louise Howard finds favor with her comedies and, Miss Williams, attractive colored songstress, indicates that with more development she’ll make top- drawer grade. | Angel patronage are .given the opportunity of helping discover the new talent. At Sunday’s (5) session, a pair of promising young- sters were exhibited. Richard X. Carter, who warbled sea chanties with a high degree of feeling, and Lee Kreiger, who indicates he’s a comer with a different line of comedies. Lad has a line of dance satires and a burlesque of the mod- ern drug clerk. Both are top ma- terial, but he needs better projec- tion before taking on important showcases. Jose. Charley Foy’s, Los Angeles, June 1. Charley Foy, Ben Blue, Sid Fields, Sammy Wolfe, Uncle Wil- , lie, Roberta Lee, Abby Browne Orch; no cover; no minimum. Charley Foy popped with a new show Tuesday (24) that had the packed house screaming for more. Change of format in the informal offering found him singing an in- troductory number and clearing off board to make way for other entertainers. In the past Foy has emceed affair, ^ Top-billed in offering is Ben Blue. Along with his regular stooge. Sid Fields, and stooge w ait- ers topped by Sammy Wolfe, Blue held down the fort for a goodly 3.5 minutes of the hour and 15- minute offering. Blue dusted off all his old routines for the apprecia- tive crowd who cheered him on for several encores, i Negro comic Uncle Willie all but stole the show from Blue as he pantomimed to di.skings of A1 Jolson and western tunes. Mimic scores with the crowd and looks set for a long stay here. Torcher Roberta Lee kicks off w'ith three vocals. Numbers pleased but her charm captured the male element more than the warbling. Abbey Browne’s band, which has been at the Valley nitery for the past eight years, furnishes the ac- companiment for show and cus- tomer dancing. Bop City, N. \\ (FOLLOWUP) Bebop is playing second fiddle to Billy Eckstine in the current layout at this “progressive music” emporium, but it’s still okay with the juves who are packing this nitery’s left-field bleachers at a 98c. tab. Even more remarkable is the number of adolescents who are spilling over to the regular service sector with its heftier $2.50 minimum bite. And Eckstine is the reason, judging from the pre- dominance of young chick parties which are backgrounding his vo- cals with intermittent squeals of ecstasy. Eckstine sends them with his creamy headtones. His style is easy and cool but he knows how to turn on the romantic spigot in the crucial passages. Eckstine is dishing up a repertory of his plat- ter faves which are mostly on the slow' and sentimental side. Num- bers like "Body and Soul” and “Caravan” are buttered up to cus- tomer taste and explain the Negro crooner’s phenomenal platter and cafe appeal. Charlie Barnet’s aggregation of six reeds, nine brass, and four rhythm dishes up jazz in the behop vein. Barnet has a hard-driving, expertly-trained crew who go from straight instrumentation to slither- ing dissonance with equal dexteri- ty. Their decibel rating is a bit too high for the ringsidcrs’ ear- drums but this music is tailored to the modern style. Large share of the beboping is supplied by Bar- net’s ace trumpeter, Maynard Fergu.son. Band vocalist 'Trudy Richards does well on a series of pop ballads, but has trouble in reaching over the orch’s accom- paniment. Milt Jackson Trio, a holdover, is filling in with its brand of in- tricate rhythms. Herm. EEuiiywooa. June I Arthur Lee Simpkins, Phil nh man Orch (7). Rene Tonzet fth, ba Band (5); $3.00 .Suw.’""' Using a warm personAiUn Arthur Lee Simpkins scores &' a halt hour of singing. Negro sine er. in for a week, may be book"d for another stanza a little latp? in the season due to his effecMvl single. Simpkins does best with rhvth mic arrangements of ‘‘Old River” and “Begin the Beguine” At least, t4e audience response is greater to songs with a beat than it is to such semi-operatic and fal.setto deliveries as his “Pagliac- ci” aria and "Bay of Donegal" which he sings with a true Irish brogue. For nitery patrons used to a full show, Simpkins’ turn isn’t quite enough, but he is well-liked by the picture crowd because of his solid salesmanship. He is backstopped by Phil Oil- man’s orch. CARDINI "Cardiiii. Easily the Best of tht Sltighf-of-Handtrs." ABEL, VARIETY MABCH ffh, 194f MCA WM. MORRIS AGENCY jjussy PHOTOS U. Made (rom youf negative w photo Unsurpassed in quality at any price NO NEGATIVE CHARGE-NO EXTRAS 24 HOUR SERVICE ON REQUEST litO's: W.SSpirlOO. tSS per 1000 Fan Mail PhotDS (5 x 7 ) 13S par 1000 * Rostcants >23 p« 1000 ] Moiwtid CiilariMWiits i30i40i. t3 SS (Na Nagativi Ckargt on 2 ar more) Made by J. J. Kric{sniann. The Man Whoot Photographs Grxe Billboard's Covers otoarooh , Plan 70233 . V?r 165 West 46 th St 1^ ?/rr NewYerl( 13 .N.Y.JI Vic Damone tapped for Para- mount theatre, N. V., Aug. 3 or 10. L W( DELIVER WHAT WE ADVERTISE ilM PHIlAOllPHIA, PA. CLINTON HOTEL IT.'SI’S 200 OUTSIDI ROOMS /r»m *2 OAKY IPICIAl WltKir PATtS NOUSIKIIPIMO MCliiriel EDDIE SMITH BACK AGAIN Also Takas Plaasur# in Announcing Excluslv# Rtprasanfafion for fha HYMAN ZAHL AGENCY OF LONDON, ENGLAND Attroctions, Acts Inftrastad in Parsonal Manogamant and Europaan Bookings WRITE — WIRE — PHONE RKO Bldg., Suite 902, N.Y.C., PLaza 7-7254 WINTER SISTERS Currently CAPITOL, New York « Thanks to Sidney Plermont, Max Roth ond Bernard Burke Per. Mgt.: Horry Nothono I Bluet Angel, IV. Y. (FOLLOWUP) Since there’s no longer a sure thing in the way of intinie nitery attractions. Blue Angel bonifaces Herbert Jacoby and Max Gordon have been beating the bushes for new faces. They’ve been eminently successful so far. Until recently, they used Gordon’s Village Van- guard and the One Fifth Avenue to incubate Blue Angel material. Now they’re running Prevue Nights at the club, which so far has pro- vided more than a few acts. Stan Freeman on the current bill (New Acts* proved his mettle. Hayes Gor- don and Martha Wright (New Acts) came up via the One Fifth Avenue and Irene Williams made her New Thanx, HAROLD KOPLAR For Our 22 Consecutive Weeks At Your HOTELS CHASE AHO PARK PLAZA ST. LOUIS GARW^ VAN and Orchestra Or 0«r Way to Tahoo-Biltmore Hotel, Lake Tahoe, Idaho FOR THE SUMMER . t ' 14 • 114 mp • f .M n 4 • • '