Variety (January 1950)

48 HOUSE RKVIEWS Wediieaddy^ Jaiituiry 18, 1950 Palace* N. Y. RoxVf N* ¥w Ithe quartet seems double - Andy & OcUa Kusscll, Ftcd uf pSwSvi i * Margot Conine, Simmy Susan Barry, Jay Marshall, Bobby bacKward somersaults. 1 Jbnuc & Go., Anne Kooney, Gcorye Brandt, Copdeabana Girls (8), Ter- j Paul Sydell and his^dogs please ;x)utw, Coco, Sieve & Eddy, Ben ti Stevensy Gordon Gaines; ‘"W/iitl-'with one canine getting a hefty y^jjt White Guards (5), Keaton & pool*' ( 20th j revieujed, in‘^ Varietv ! hand for his balancing, on tramer s _ Arm field, Beebe’s Bollywood Bears, Nov. 23, ’49. I hand. Little pilrp : does three | jdq^^ orch; ‘W^^ •■^ .;. ■' - ! somersaults Oil one paw. Third! aaii-' (CoFV, renieioed in variety ! The Rpxy display has; more va-, dog, Mexican hairless, adds touch i jan. 11, ’50. riety and production elements .than., of comedy as he refuses to obey usual, with the current display, master’s epmmarids. Willie Shore, a faye herP. has Their own atmospheric accoutre hiehts. have been displaced, tem- pbrarily. by the Copacabana line, and a fairly large .act assortment contains something for most tastes. Andy and; Della Bussell making their debut in tandem in these | mime of yokel playing the pinball environs, have an extremely erijoyf} machine is solid piece Of business, able song and chatter.act.,; TheylrC ( After a Ted L®wis infiitati6n Shore a personable .; pair with • fetching . revives Joe Frisco’s shiyv'er dance, song designs aind an .amiable line j Forva sock bowoff he does an im- bf repartees: As is Usual with most j presh' Of Pat Rooney’s waltz clog man-and*wife teams, much,is niade to ‘‘Daughter bt Rosie O’Qrady.’’ Current bill .at the Palace is a well-paced and diversified layout, refurbished his act siflee seen last [ adding up to about 70 minutes of datci; Getting pff some^ui^ies for standard but pleasing vaude enter- laughs, comedian turiism shf^shoe I taihment. Best act, and rightly slot- .routine to “Look For the Silver | ted in . hext-to-closing; is Keaton Lining’’ and “Tea For Two,’’ Pantor; and Armfield With sbitie sock and sexy comedy, Fefrime half starts and surrounding by-play. .The act. Ling gets oyer neatly with sc^es witlT consideraWe force. I carbonings of the ; top crooners; Fred the. Ink jSpots in “JViayr to click with ittieir ; excellent ballr be.’’ Bob Deu has become a set . Their routines haye a part Of. stage show with his bari- polished elegance, a frequent hu- toping of popsj “Old Master Paint- morous undertone and topdrawer er,’’ “I Can Dream, Can’t T?” but projecUqn. They get thevmeasure is bbst; in ; ‘Ribbidy-Bohbidy^Bob." of this house easily. - 1 Carl Sands orch has an unusual Jay . Mar^ ^subtleties ^ are pi-esentation in medley of Strauss pmeUmes. i-ost in this large thea; ^alt 2 ;es set tb moderri beat, tre, : but still he impresses with an ■ Zabe. engaging line of chatter .pegged Chieaj^09 Cli| 13. around pseudo-magic, and a ventro bit: There’s a pleasant tone to his efforts: that makes for relaxing en- j; orative note. ^ The w with Ann Anderson, Louis lavish and degpite the in i>ark’’ there s only eight girls, their rou-, ^ ^ ^ tines are stagefilUrtg. Terri Ste- ‘ yens and Gordoh Gaines do the production singing. Bobby Brandt pitches in with terping during the production and afterward does his usual turn for good resulfs, Jose, Kansas City, Jan: iK Celeste Bolmi Bob Hopkins, Eddy Mattson, The Stapletons (2), The Antaleks (5), Gil Torres Bouse Orch (11) | Story of Molly Second week of experimental vaude in the Fox-Midwest Orphe- um continues to use live /talent advantageously, albeit the box of- fice magnetism is lowered With one headliner currently against two previous Weeks. Current lay- out Isi more in the pattern of stands ard variety bill, and measures up riicely on the entertainment value throughout its 60 minutes. Established perch act; the five Ahtaleks, trio of femrnbs and pair of males, leads off /the bill,: follow- ing iriusicW intro by the Gil Torres house orch. With the heftiest male as anchor man, they run through a quartet of perches, gals taking turns at various aero risks high in the air. 1 pb Hopkins steps Into the m.c. spot, and turns: over the sec- ond Inning to Eddy Manson and While perha ps not studded With top names R$ in recent , months, current bill is better balanced, and offers more aoceptable. fare.; Francisco and Dplores; subbing for Renald and Rudy> who wete grounded by /bad flying weather, have a topflight perch act: How- ever^ most of the solid reception they garner is offset by femme’S constant chirping of “Hello.’’;Gal climbs various poles, riding bicy- cles, dbing handstands, and for a sock finish swings around . metal pole While understandef whips the rod at furious pace. Hal Le Roy, rubber-iegged dan- cer, achieves his best results when he satirizes Various dancers arid imitates a jitterbug. His novelty tap stint goes over well. His eccen- :trie hoofing to “Lady Be GoOd’’ makes a strong closer. ; • The DeMarco Sisters are a re-, ^ „ , lief , from the over-arranged vocal { Kit Kats, Rosales Sisters, *’Spider as a white^aQed, deadpan, raggedy character. Then, while her partr her does some straight singing at the mike, she goes through a modi^ fied rtrip behind him, dressing again to emerge as a well-stacked neatly garbed, b.eaut. They play it ior laughs and draw; plenty> Show Opens With Tom Margot, ephine, dance; team, re? viewed in New Acts, along with George Dunn arid Anne Rooney, Jimmy Jimae; a suave /magician, 1 does_ the standard card arid cigaret maiiipuiations but impresses with his : dexterity. (The “& Go.” part of his act is a blonde, lookef ,who feeds him his props.) Guy also does the neWspaper-ripping ktunt with an added twist and caps his work by producihg a pair of rab- bits. He plays it entirely iriurii, a welcome relief after some of the ■ forced cOrhedy patter of other magicos.; Goco, Steve and Eddy a an Okay balancing arid tumbling act, getting best results off the teeter board. Trio attempt to mix in some qpmedy but make out better with the balancing. Ben Yost White Guards comprise five ' men singing the robust operetta tunes in the standard but always good Yost mariner. Arrangementis, for the most part, are sock and even the medley of operatic arias, . while riot up to Metopera standards, / draws heavy applause. Show closes with Beebe's Hollywood Bears, in which the trainer puts a trio of rough- lobklng: grizzlies through some well^xecuted stunts, such as rid- ing a scooter, roller-skating and tight-rope walking. (One of the bearsy incidentally, appeared once oil Milton Berle’s Texaco* video show arid'is. now billed as the “tel- evision bear.”) Don Albert and the Palace house orch back the acts capably: Stal.. : Apollo, 'Erskine:.Hawkins^Bandr-(A^ r Er^ \ rol Gariier Trio, Larry Darnell. 4 t Kit Kats. Ro!tai.es. Risf.prs goes to Git Maisott and. his novol animal act.. Opehing with a' ventro gag, Maison’s switch to a pint- sized chimp brings chuckles that accompany everything he does. The chimp, With his almost human, mug- ging and a few cute aero tricks, is definitely star of; the act. There’s a big St; Bernard that pleases with the old trick of obeying aU its mastei^s coriimands in reverse, and a brace of • chihuahua fpr.. com trast MaisOri handles his pets with humor; arid affection, by pass- ing most of the old standby teem niques ol such acts; As a result, the pace; though leisurely, is ap- pealing, and everything clicks, Walks off to hefty mitt actioh. . Margaret Phelan, fresh from her New York Waldorf stint,; registers nicely with some pop and noyelty : tiiries. Charitoosey doesn’t quite make it as an riU-out click, but most of payees 'seeined to like. Miss Phelan has a nice, intimate, albeit wholesome irianrier, good looksrand^best of all, she’s articu- late:-. Pritchard A Lord in a new: rou- tine tabbed, “ballet vs. tapSi’’ show their versatility and their skill as ter per s. Tliey always go well here, arid are continuing their, success :in .Currerit/p.a;; Three D’s, mixed aero team of two men and a gal, do exceptiori- ally well as curtain; raisers. They Work swiftly and well on bars; with some unforced cornic triiiches for interest. Audience Very erithusi- over this orie. . Lowe. Casino, Tprdntp ^ ;; Toronto,; Jam 13. Larry Adler, Be Roy Bros: (2) ^ Sherry Shannon, Larry Norman, Herbie Barris, Jimmy ■ Cameron, Charles GregoTy Girls (18), house orch; “Post: Office Investigator’’ is harmonica, with Margery groups. Gals look fresh and blend' voices nicely. Teeirig off With a fast“HucklebUck,” they swing inito “Pretty Baby,” arid then a calypsO, ”1 Love Jimmy.”, Their unaccom- panied arrangeriierit of “SWeet Six- teen” is dorie in trUe barbershop style and pa;yees give it a hefty hand. Quintet clowri around .with Woriderfiil Guy” for a strong Bruce; Street of Sah Francisco’* (Rep). ells backing him up at the piano. Manson runs through “Fiddle Fad- die,” a classical rhapsody, and a boogie; arrangement of ‘‘St. Louis BlUes” for weti-rourided presenta- JuleS . Munshin (New .j; Acts) is making his first theatre appear- arice since the war. Zabc, Hopkins takes over center spot of the hill for his own turn of plyinfiiiR, Miami Miamf, Jari. 14. Gurrent Apollo session is a well- balanced bill that gets audience approval. Standout attraction is the Erroll Garner Trio, doubling here and at the Birdlarid riitery, 'downtown. Group, composed of piano, drums and bass, has an in- gratiating style that goes over sol- idly. jponibo takes over closing spot With their rhythmic playing of “Scatterbrain.” “Good-Bye,” “Payanne’; and “Sleepless Night” to hefty, returris: Erskirie Hawkins* band, com- prised of eight brass, five reed and four rhythm, starts off the show Smiley Burnette, Grade Bafrie,. ^ chatter, mimicry . and vocals. He Lrion Fields, .TramiJo-Loonci/.s (2),! Vf^tri. ^ jumpy . St. Louis Blues ladles out laughs in good fashion Berti & Scott, Les Rhode House ; slowing down with a followup band as he imitates CrOsby, Hope, Bob Orch; ’'The Threat” (RKO). ,. vocaling of ‘‘Gafeless Love.” The Mitchu niri-Xlajy^G^i^rit-^nd-^Qt-bo rs, : ——:— — [ two ^gal . ^n d—two-^ri-ys-who -iriake works in a drunk-on-the-telephone w Kit Kats synchronize sequence and closes with comic so- weM imeup here this , well m their dance routines, be- quence geared to “Holiday For . *5’ with the ingredients proyid-, sides making a neat appearance Strings.” He then' brings on the ! ^^g^f^re for all tastes from corn to j in their toppers and tails. Some Stapleton duo for trio Of modern ! i f^ncy stepping that draws custom- arid interpretive taps. Smiley Rurriette takes care of attention is offered . via solo Geleste Holm fills the closing thri youngsters and the western j mheoffs. ; ■pot nicely in one Of her infre- fan oldsters. Mixes animal and * ^ An average rendition of;“Where querit vaude dates. In a 20-minute ; human vocal: takeoff$,. plus the 1 Are^^^^^^ ®S^red by Madelirie turn she tosses in a fiiatter between qUiritet of songs, me mixes 'them up well with “Too TarVeloris For Words,” “Don’t Gry, and *Rlue Moon” from the i »6p arid rtaridard folios, “My Guy’s n Lo\’ei With Me” as special ma- erlal arid “I CailriT Say No’’ frrim the Ado Annie role, her ‘Oklaho" tnal” springboard; Work is smooth ■11 the way, and draws, heavy ap- .plause>: . Biz somewhat off from the pace 0f the Initial week, but still very gOod for the house. corn-born gags arid songs he is as- had the soGiated with to set self up with j iP^J^t: bouricing with his “Hawks the aud. ; Self accomps on the ac-! Bpogm ^and' “John Henry Blues.” cOrdian adds to overall values.: ' yOcal rtyle terids Established friyorite here Is tp hecomo annoying and; hard on Gracie Barrie, and this time Out, J*.!® c^rs. but: clicks at this .house, she walks off with the palm hon* i JBs offerings of -‘Old Man River,’’ prs,; again in handy fashiori. Mix-il^ ” You, My ture of specials plus that easy, • ^^,9^^. pUd .P^ck Your Rags” Were pleasant delivery hits the ^ipplause | ^ \ meter for top returns. Torch, de-1: ^^®, -,P® ^ ®® Sisters, of Brazilian I parthierit has “Don’t Cry, Joe,” the j i^JPOrt, had audiem^ on the edge i hillbilly “Pappy Gave His; Shot-i theiv seats with their perch Oriental, Chi Chicago,. jan. 12. Martells & Mignon (4), Poiil Ry- dell, Willie Shore, Ming & Ling; p6b peu, Carl Sands Orch; ’’Whirl- pool^ (2m), ^ gun Away,” for : cOme.dy “Jose- i rPutiPes. Gals pulled some ., neat phine,” and for the smart lyrics, showmg full “Sunday Kind of Love.” It adds ;PPr®®iat|on. Spider” Bruce comes up to a begOff. ; I thi^ugh vnth ^a ^pUtinO eon^ Leon Fields emcees amiably aind , ^hat gets its. full quota of for own spot sets up okay carbon-j ings ori the standard movie top-1 . ^ ~ " i' ' ^ ^ piers ala Robinson, Laughton and | t apitolj 11. I; I for ivaude cafe types, Ted Lewis. ' Gagiines; and Clowning are hik forte Washington, Jan, 15. . Margaret Phelan, Pritchard & Gurrent bill could use . ari- = fi‘6m this viewing; however, spark-: Lord, Gil Maison, Three D'$; ’‘East qther act, thus trlmmiftg long run- fling time of other acts. Held io 40 or 45 minutes, show would be ime'.fare,' Martells and.i MIgnori, adagio loam, might garner better recep- pon by pausing slightly between flumbers. Muril of the more diffl- tosses and stints doriT register IT well aa they ifllghi Femme of ing laughs steadily .via . mostly , Side, West Side” ,{MrG), fresh-soUnding; irnaterial. Novelty side is held down capa-: It’s an unpretentious , lineup at: bly by the Trampo-Looneys.: ^o the big F Street house this week, of trampoliners. . Berti and Scott but a pleasant, well-knit One that built theinselves .solid reception gets approval from curtain to ciir- with their Latin miirtc.backgrounds tain. The pace is steady and fast to apt tap work. Les Rhode and enough for interest, and the acts house orch are okay on the back-. varied: groundirigs, Lary. 1 Customer vote for headliner Highly satisfactory bill oh pace arid persorialities but It’s Larry Adler who’s the big m^quee draw. This master of the otherwise mun* dane. mouth-organ gets his. usual ’cello-like effects, his horn and violin tones, his. terrific dOuble- tongUe achievements for diapason finishes. In addition, he has a suave stage preserice, complete with a cultured kidding rtyle, that could he high-hat with the customers but is, carried out sucpessfully on dCr hvery and welLiriannered superior- ity that is riot offensive. He opens with “Begin the Be- guine,” follows : with soft-toned, beautiful variatioris of Schubert's -*"Ave Maria,” does his own “Hand to Mouth” boogie composition, scores/ a tremendous finish with his piano arid harmonica duo of “Embraceahle You” arid “St. LOuis Blues, , oth®rs on this well-balanced bill also score big audience re- sponse., The Le Roy Bros., with their puppets, go over solidly on the dainty movements Of their ma- riohets, with often one or other Of the hoys manipulating a pair Of puppets simultaneously; Their el<wn doll frustratedly blowing a balloon, and anOthe ■ doing a Gene Krupa at the druiris, are ‘^ock.; Herbie Barris, with Larry Nor- mari as straight man^ have no trou- ,ble in .getting over. His patter is swift-paced, he sings a couple of songs identified with Jolson but, commendably; does a switch by not . imitating Jplson; and • finisrhes with a striptease .••satire that rocked^ an enthusiastic audiehce. Clever Sherry Shannon is on for dance stylistics to good recep- tion, imt a word should be passed on to Charles Gregory, stager, that when a featured dancer is import- ®d, his line girls should be disci-; look pleasant and take some interest in the stage proceedmgs. When Miss Sharirion holds the spotlight for. her fine numbers, the line girls should .at leart refrain from their aloofness or ■ aside conyersatiOns. .• This is riot'Only professional dis- courtesy but communicates itself to create Rudience irritatiori. As a matter of fact, .with the increased budget, and favorably. iiriproved vaude^ format on taste standards, in recent weeks, the customers might tegi.ri to believe the line could be disposed of, following- their shock- hianriers when other artists ^re on stage. Jimmy Game- ro 1 IS, as usual, a pleasant m,c. .. . . ^ .• MeStay. ' /Bbifkdh U.S. Vaucle Jules Borkori, general, manager of Fioductiori Ad*ts <& Spectacles . of Fans; has arrived in the; H. S. to line; “p ari; Amoriean variety show, which he would tour through • Europe thlS; season: -• : _ Borkon; also plans to produce a ■ ■ film comedy in Parts this stimraer. ', Sacha .Guitry, who; is writing the,! would star in the pic along ' with Fernandel.' ^ j lJjpto\iini9 Toroiito, . Toronto, Jan. 12. Ink Spots, Artie Dam; Ada Lynne, Stagg McMann Trio Church & Bale, Bert Niosi Orch (16); ’’Challenge to Lassie” iM-Q)i: After a IS-year vaudeville black- out; this flagship of the Loew cir- cuit in Cariada has embarked on a revived stageshow policy. The experimerit, on initial week, has reputedly doubled attendance; ' The draw, Of course, is The Ink Spots, with the four guys arid the pianist in gr^ suits bn arid off for a solid Teeeptiori. Operiine ill full stage With “No Orchids For My Lady,” they gave the custoni- ers plenty for their money,; with “Maybe,7 “if I Didn’t Care,“ et al.' As expected, that soto vobe har- monizing arid the trick soprano ef- fects riiearit; that The Ink Spots had to beg off When caught: Bill opens with an attempted audierice :warmiip by Artie Dann as iti.C; and then Church and Hale into their commendable blend of tap routiries arid ballet spihk for a nice: reception. Ada Lynn follows With her hoyden act, complete with screwball hats for comedy char- acterizations, arid gets riice returns, but she should have tlje brass sec- tiori to tone down on their ac- compariimerit to her song selec- tions# ... '..'■i • The Stagg McMarin Trio have no * trouble getting over on their harmoriica harmonizirigs and prove themselves to be good coiriedian.s. On fine diapason.“vorlt and . forte firiishes, they were outstanding in “Dance of the Hours’- and “‘My De- votion.” Dodging in and out Of the proceediiigs, Dann proved him- self an Innocuous m.c.; when caught. A fast talker who talks too much and stays too long at a time, he seems to Want to make a bigger hit with the stage band tha n he ^ does with the customers. His intimate gags with the musicians were a waste of time to the audi- erice.... . . ■ The ^revival of vaudeville is a box-office success at the .Uptown oft* the initial veriture but better booking is necessary to bring the payees back; MeStay: Eorle, Pliiliy l^iladelphia, Jan. 13. . Buddy Johnson Orch with . Ar-. I thuT PrysoCk, Ella Johnson; Ella Fitzgeralds Berry Bros.; Patterson & Jackson; ’’Chinatown at Mid- ” (Col). Ella Fitzgerald arid Buddy John- son’s orch. divide stellar honOrs iri the new Earle show, although a couple of strorig supporting acts, help keep the revue moving at a fast and entertaining clip. The opening show Friday (13) ran 5.5, minutes, and the speed made it seem even shorter than It was. Plumper than ever, but epn- slantly increasirig in stature as an artist, Miss Fitzgerald is the high spot; She does a fetching arrange- ment of “Don’t Cry, Joe,” which is dualed^ with . that other torcher “Happiness is Just a Thing Called Joe;’ She also sings“East of the j Sun” and tears up the place Wilh the reprise; of her famous “A-Tis- ket, A-Tasket.” Brassy without blare, the Buddy Johnson band comprises four truivi- pets, three trombones, five sax,, piano, bass arid drums. Johnson is the pianist and also a composer. The most imposing item is the orch’s, performance of the first movementjjf his incomplete “Con- certo.” Strong individually us ] well as in the ensemble, the band scores right from the. opener. ‘‘A Good Day.” Arthur Prysbek bari- tones “I Can Dream” arid “Be- cause” to good returns. Ella John- son,, the riiaestro’s sister, is per- sonality plus ' with her blues vo- cal, “Since I Fell For You,”: / ^ The Berry; Bros.;, virtually a vaude standard with .their white ties, walking sticks arid tails, ^are funny as well as agile, arid I'un through their break-ricck routines with sock results. But the best re- ceptiori is accorded Patterson • and , Jaefcson, , 0verstuffed coirilcs in [Scotch tam-o-shariters; who dual in funny songs and dance. Amusing also are their takeoffs of the Ink Spots; Jolson, Eckstirie and Ed\va rd Gi Robinson. Both the comics and the Berry trip had to beg off: Johnspn does the emcee chores and tries to build it up with laughs, but I it’s riot his field; ; : . . Gagli. ; FoA. LouN St. Louis, Jail. 14. . Nick Lxteas; June & Martin Barr rett, Tally & Dexter,John Paul Lehd, Mariam Sedbold, Roy pong- las, 4 Willys, Joe Schirmer, Frank , Panus Orch;' ’’Woman in Hiding” yui):. ■ r - ■ ;■ ' AlthPiigh current layout is a bit heavy bn the musical side the eali- bre of the presentation is highv Nick Lucas making his first p.a., in (Continued on page 53)