Variety (September 1952)

Kncon* HBVIKWS S, 1952 ^MademtAselie Dt l^ayia!* teyue produced ttnd- pi^taeuted hu Lou WulterM; atuaed ^hy V^tdHe ‘KarM- rdvu CuIUm. wHitent); costumeg, FftddU Witt&^\ orchjg^ tration*, soTiffs, Summ^ Gallop .fc Art Waner aM^uddp Har- lowe bands; $5 trtimmutn- Cast: Martha Rape, ^icholas Darvas ■ & Julia; Std Krojftp. Cop- lette neuriot, Audrey Sperl^, Priscilla Callan, Ben ings. (5), Bill Brodetf Bob Sl^K Beverly BichardSp Suga Joan Michaelg, V^idH Doris Sands, Una She^rd, Mara Lindsey, Dale Drake, Mary Estelle Qregor, Jont Pierce, Bar- bara Douglas, Penny Portray, t^thy Reed, Rosemary Rudgewell, Glen Grayson, D<ms Elaine Gilda, Twlnny Wallen, Sand- ra Andrews, Ernie Amato, was matted, also W rather mtilical re<j*rdiiii( dot th# itmoi- phedc' bkckgtpuad* But ColltiU Jletiriot ii an et- (eTyeactni nUniber-l«ad«r, include ing her own half-man* j^-woinan ‘*danae d'amour” ajpK^ialty, Sid Krofft tlicki with hia PUpp^tf which he exposed alj the way and makca it a mure effective act aa re* suit, Audrey Sperling, n blonde looker* leads the can-cati number wherein Mias ileuriot is again prominent, as sh* i* in the title song, **Mlle, de Baris,'^ Bill Broder ■and Bob Slack are juve vis-a-vis [throughout, and Miss Callan (who ’‘is also assistant to stager Natalie Kamarova)* is .spotlighted in the sea ballet rfbniber which has an effective iridescent paint spotlight- ing and a special scrim thait is quickly enough put up. However, it runs a shade too long. The girls are lookers, the acts Lou Walters sonve mon^ths back '^took great exception to George S. Kaufman’s gtatuitous crack « niteries (“never have been in. o^, etc.) on the CBS-TV show, -“This IS Show Business.” Walters vox- popped that “much good talent has stemmed from the saloons and ^'there’s a better money $ worth m many a nitery than in a legit thea- tre.” While the playwright may have been waxing facetious or just thoughtless* Walters took it straight and, once again, after ^seeing hiS newest show at the I^atln Quarter that pride in his special, held of gndeavor is more than pardonable. He has downright Cause to boast. Walters has buUt .up his LQ into a Zie^eldian standard among the lush niteries, on and on Broadway. He has clicked with the same policy *at his Miami Beach* Latm Quarter (winter season) and via national- tours of his elaborate floor shows., Current new show holds over that extraordinary European terp importi Nicholas Darvas & J'tlla, who went from Haris’ Bal into a, London Anglo-Exench legit revue until Walters was able to im- port them under ah exclusive deal. They clicked resoundingly last winter in Florida and repeated here this spring* and continue weU into November. Their acro-con- tortive holds and formation's start where ''some of their colleagues leave off, Harvas is an amazingly Strong young man because the sup- ple and contortlve Julia is no midget; she’s a well proportioned looker with everything in the right places. TheyTl continue wij^ the next show headlining Sophie Tucker. Martha Raye. as unii^bited a Comedienne as one Will in anybody’s saloon, is topping the layout for a limited tour-week run A funny dame from way back, she knows her way wnund the customers. Fcmcee and boss of her own Miami Beach spot, the 5 O’clock Club, she makes o^a- sional forays to Gotham for TV, usually with Miltop Berle, and the Berle influences on her comedy antics frequently^ linger. She muggs, cuts-up and makes with a Ben Yost Vikings quintet like Berle does with Arabian acrobats or kindred singing groups. The low comedy sometimes is not suf- ficiently elevated but, for al fresco customer relations, it is undeniable. The double-entendre is in the same vein of singleness of purpose, but there is no disputing the reaction. Leave us face it—^Martha Raye ain’t Elsie Dinsmore. However, that haut couture job she flashed (with ad lib billing to Kathryn Kuhn) is plenty class in the fancy clothes set. Miss Raye seems also to have picked up too much of that Miami Beach dialectic influence with more than necessary Yiddish asides and ad libs, none of them necessary; if truth were known, whether in the Broadway belt or In the Florida orbit, they’re prob- ably resented by most. With the headliners studding this smart revue in surefire manner, “Mademoiselle de Paris” unfolds as a class floor show all by its own. It runs a solid hour and a half and, for a $5 minimum (food or bev- erages; and the groceries are above par for a nitery) it’s a bargain all the way. This accounts* in short, for the Latin Quarter’s durability, having outlived Billy Rose’s Dia- mond Horseshoe and any of the several attempts to resuscitate the Zanzibar, nee Hollywood, nee Para- dise, nee a lots of other names, 1 ^ along with the other big-scale, big- capacity Broadway cabaret-restau- HW rants, (bn fact Walters flopped, too, when he essayed the Gilded Cage on the Zanzibar site, again proving you can’t be in competi- tion with yourself.) The ponies and showgirls give the show a fast and colorful tee- off with the Quatre Arts ball at- mosphere. Then follow a kaleido- scopic sequence of specialties slowed only by an overlong “Bal- let of the Sea” flash number which Alan GaU, TheJlMydo^a it), Sttumri; G^dorts production of revue; Kowhere io Sroadwuy,^*. docks, Larry poster,^ E^UrHanUy, Geene Courtney, , Lombard, Don tonnen, Preddie Stet^rp Bobby Baxter, Bobby Gordon, Ted- dy King*s Oreh; $i dinner mini* mum. Comedian Alan Gale .has re- turned from hi* Miami Beach haunts to reopen this cellar cafe on the site of the former La Mar- tinique, where a ye^ ago he crated as Alan Gale’s Celehnty Chib. Under the same titte, Gale is trying to make a-run of it, with a polyglot 'entertainment of which he is a notable factor. Gale himself is a bright* fast comic who easily extracts laughs — with his single-0 patter, he has surefire and the headliners b.o. in- the pefsonallty; on the floor or as surance. • Mme. Kamarova who, a host, to make a nitery pay with her husband George Kama- under ordinary circumstances. But roCwho is the musical arranger, -* * have had vast experience, dating hack to Clifford C. Fischer’s French Casino days, have again done a tiptop job for Walters and his general manager, Eddie Ris- man. Gigi is the suave headwaiter at the tape and, per usual, Art Waner plays a slick fioorshow as at clos« »t abow, ii vltra-Mxy “Willie the' Wipeper,” a lieiyUy narcotic, dose of weird dance /orma using a itall rdd laddtf. as Cantr^ niece. ' Mack Tripletf_.hdlld steadily from walkon ihfbu^ a. aetup of varied tunei warbled,with particu^ lar attention to lyric* afid melody. Three eharmera lock.young and ' ..New Beiio Reno, Aug. 27. . -Prances Paye,. Continentals ( 4 ) Timipie Rogtrii, The Belmonts* Golden a.irUAB),Sierlmg yS OrcH - (»); Alice Hall Qudrtet; nb coper or minimum, Booker Milton Deutsch was des- perate' for a show to follow the re- lovely Is intone ‘'H»ve~Yourj^» «t iji*'Golden. Wlh an eye to tS ful Tune, o.®** Ijibor.Day rush, he stayed un a ..1—iLixr, ■ .....a-iy...... X. WlWlout i • nights putting together not only another top ^ow but the longed With his newest operation is not being run under ordinary circumstances. The post-midnight show, an enter- tainment masquerading as a revue, is highly disorganized and contains few ingredients of merit. It isn’t that the performers are so much at fault, since personnel , such as Gale, The Haydocks, Boh- well as proving the No. 1 dansapa- Ky Baxter and .Larry Foster man- age to survive the way-overlong performance of the trite and un- true. ‘ Gale, the Haydocks (hoof- ers) and Freddie Stewart (tenor) brow lifts during. one on record this summer. i* enedred to' the limit of thusiasm material opening night, the back for begoff encore ^^th. more J^yout; docked an hour and 35 vemes ^ minutes. With three shows a night, Jay Marshall Is this is going to leave about an hour this three-frame between jperfomanccs during the he relates in openmg lin^, There evening traffic, when the bosses exists A disparity between my s^- can expect the tables to do good ary and what money J owe the business. ^®^^*^****K*l?ui! Frances Faye, who wonders her- He Wghlightsf his come^ with If lypg g^gj, a nb on early eyem hillbw yo- i>|ick, seems essentially assured that deler, acicomping himself with jjgj. fypg gg jjgj.g gj^g ^j^g, difficult job of following three and.although this is a ules of . If I Had My Way. telling blow and she suffers from good yocks. Wtik ,j|-g Midway in her song an^d' piano shift, payees begin to forget about what went before. With 4 )iano up front, Miss Faye, with boom mike, chatters her way into a group of standards and some songs she wrote. “Get Happy” is Cafe de London London, Auj^. 26. ' Carl Briasoh, George Smith and Winston Lee orchs; ^ minimum. Although Carl Brisson fias filled *ongs sne wrote. uet nappy is many lefidt engagements in London ^ over the years, this is his cabaret j uTt,x wv. ^ ‘‘lia.rlrrftum SfnirrArVc nnrl Darktown Strutter’s Ball” and tion maestro. Buddy Marlowe is the relief combo. This is the best $5 money’s worth in the mass- capacity nitery league; - Abel. ^ Colony Sc Astor London, Aug. 27. Lind Joyce, Felix King Orch, Don- Carlos Samba Band; Colony: |5,I50 minimum; Aston $3 mini- mum to 11 p.m., $3 cover there- after, _ aspects of the show; Foster, who to**have~Tost Bat,” a. sagebrush medley and a M^wSf’^he'was v": ??*?"?« Son* .oT hia zest .nd .xub*«nce, ““t*! ire the major factors in the va- "Boogie Woogie Wash-a-Womii? §.”eWth“i teC^a» a'Sf27rs?^gf’’“’‘ wIS; '^gi^sinXg. otherwise, the revue on night current engagement Is Brisson’s , Hpnr Continent's, pared down caught consisted of the Haydocks jjgj.g si^ce headlined the. (rom five, and with a new man in in some sprightly tapology in^ad- palladium program some three bass, stop show with clever anima- dition to their douhlmg into other v 5nd in the intervening tjon of such thmgs as “(Dasey at the tonesr B^ter, who snares laughs energyV mo^ «ettiig drunker and druiker. It’s calist m -the late Tommy Handl^ s ^oj^^edy magico; Don Tan- around the tables hopping on to a cliefco comedy with top arrange- ITMA program, Lind Joyce has J^n. comedy singer; Geene Court- around the tables, flopping on.,xo a ^ been a . f^^^?otmn on Briti^ Linda Lombard, who arc the femme decorations, etc. To borrow a standard gag," you guaranteed to learn Yiddish. Kahn. cabaret field and now has her first major nitery assignment at these two Berkeley Square spots. As a chanteuse. Miss Joyce is an experienced ■ hand, but as a flitery entertainer she still has quite a lot to leam. There is basically an im- maturity about her act and style Which is obviously bom of inex- perience, Her personality is warm enough and is nicely projected, but her few attempts.at patter to provide a continuing link are in- dicative ..of her limited knowledge of this branch of the business. In her choice of material, too, , the warbler has attempted to take With all flack broadsides listing the easy road and has picked num- Billy May’s tooting as a “big band hers which she hoped would get bash,” most visitors to this teepee may. not like the show, but you’re Brisson knows how to win and hold chair or dancing across the floor. There is movement almost aU the Bee,” whistled solo with buying accompaniment, scores'. “Shiek. of As a showman of the old school Araby” with panto action register* his audience. By means of. a couple in laugh department. >. Timmie ‘Rogers, young Negro of hsides immediately after W 9 ®*®edy sin^r with a big personal- first entrance to the background of ity, starts off with a special Ev^- ThmtderMrd, La* Vegas Las Vegas, Aug, 28. Billy May Orch (18), Nelle Fisher’ & Jerry Ross, Mack Trip- lets, Jay Marshall, Carol Simpson, Johnny O'Brien, Kathryn Duffy Dansations iT%.. Normandie Boys (3); no cower or minimum. “White Gardenia,” he has most of the customers rooting for him, and as the act progresses with its full body Wants to Go to Heaven, But Nobody Wants to Die.” ®Next is “Good Whiskey and Bad Women.” leavening of nostalgia, .the ap- 'This kind of material gets best re plause becomes more; vociferous. He was forced to beg off after about 50 minutes at show caught. While a reasonable proportion action from tricky lyrics accented by his mugging. In a 15-mmute array of hilarious comment on everything from taxes to women, lad gets in solid. When of the act gives the singer oppor- vviicu +nni+\r +a Hn catyia nf fhA shtic^.c; RogCrS IHISSCS With IXiatBrial, hC IG captures with personality. This tunity to do some of the songs linked with hi? name, there Is^ a sufficiency of contrasting material to give the show a happy balance. In many respects it follows the combo up. The should keep him moving Belmonts start the act aware o£ a new word, but a^p^ ?atMW movfwi«r in their frequently t&'o obvious and much interpret it to mean bashed ear- « 11 jjig rnedlev from Precise and original terps. A frequently of the effect is lost by saturation. Some readjustment of the routine, drums. The solid crew blows with uninhibited elan—^great for hip- together With a more sophisticated , xt,^ wrecking to conv ®rs’ationalists. Th, The 30-minute show. Miss mcLters^^^^^^ Lady” receives a handsome mitt. 1 iAa«f fivA ntiTYihArs “Maggadilla,” a winner in its own Bne is sexy m saro^ig opener^ and for local use. His medley from “Song of Norway” done in Scan- dinavian is an immediate fave. “Angelus,” which he last sang here at the Palladium, is again clicko, and “Pink Cocktail for a Blue square dance rhumba highlights the gimmick stanza. Sterling Young takes over in the wake of the Paul Pendarvis orch. The AHce Hall Quartet continues to spell the band. Terry True’s to the aet. Joyce. ^hL at least five numbers i,^’ m7st'lnsinu7ting“bear‘h^ “MaggadBla,” a winner in its own which fall into the same class, and S thS r^m sTnee Duke^ right, is enhanc^ by the presence in a jungle nmtff brief leop- it i^ in this connection that the , T / some fellow Danes who join in ard skins for curtain. Macu. turn needs revamping. Her best . ^hat effect the blasting mil chorus. Pop hits include “With click by far at show caught was the have on attendance cannot as- These Hands,” “When You’re in brief selection of songs she intro- buzz is ve y a- Love ’ and ‘The Last Time I Saw duced during her stint as ITMA X^rahle about enttte packet.Pans,” and contrasting specialties vocalist. ducer Hal Braudis takes many a ^j-e The Old Lamplighter” and gambler’s chjmce when he brings “The-Handsome Texan.” of Keyboard accompaniment witn fhPCA nrpvinus sessions have naid Aitnougn not ai capacity levei, the Felix King combo (minus the off butS^ when a coloWul array cafe was doing above-average maestro, who Is vacationing) doing “ ureound the sSind aS ior time of year on opening night, slick backgrounding. The rhythm Ijjg musical units. Backgrounding is ably done by terping tunes are in the able hands ^ ^ llimbo^ar 305 Club? S.F* $an Francisco, Aug. 29. Roger Ray, Peggy Mann, Landre Sc Verna, Arline Lindstrom, Wiu White, Dorothy Dorhin Dancers (10), Deryl Knox Orch (8); minimum. I txr r r - 1 11 t, 1 I Bimbo and Sam B®sey have a Winston Lee orch which also pro- package in this new talent collec- Myro. has helped to set off the current n .A V n TVT <«r favor of dance bands retarded for ^ ^ lloiel Roosevcli:^ A. X « many years. During the Thunder- Cafo $oeiety 9 N# V Lenny Herman Orch (5), Nick ijird display, the orch exhibits Buddy Costa, Evans Bros. (2), DAmico Orch (4); ?1-?1.50 cover, three tunes from its recording li- Marian Callahan, Manhattan Paul, , „ ^ brary--“Take My Sugar to Tea,’’ sonny Roberts Orch; $2.50, $3.60 Lenny Herman has come out on “Charmaine” and “Love is Just rninimums. top of a tough assignment. Booked Around the Comer.” Comparison into the Hotel Roosevelt s Grill to the great Jimmy Lunceford Cafe Society Downtown, which (home base for Guy Lombardo) sound cannot be made to the com- rponened hiirrlcdlv after a summer during the summer dog days, Her- bined output of May’s brass, reed layoff last week is apparently em- man’s been a steady draw with biz andirhythm, but only to the reed barkiAg on a policy Sf showcasing st tli 0 room clicking At About 35/fe sGction* Ti^itli .l^VilliG Smith blow* rGcord who hAVGii^t hAd a more than the previous summer. ing alto sax a'keynote member of click disk. Under this format, the Herman heads a small but musi- the Lunceford crew, and positioned spot can still continue its history cally potent crew. With the maes- the same with the May windjam- as a showcase for fledglings. In tro on accordion, Lee Friswald, mers, there emerges a similar glis- the past, (i!SD brought to attention bass; Roy Seymour, drums; Charles sando effect. Brass is on a som^ such names as Lena Home, Zero Shaw, piano, and Alan Shu*, sax, what Kenton kick at times with Mostel and Josh White, the orch manages to project the dissona^es. May s rhyt^ section Cafe teed off this policy with rich, full sound of larger groups, Buddy • Costa (New Acts), who It’s a happy crew whose gaiety is Lunceford s driving wallop—-is not works on the Pyramid label, transmitted to the terpsters and in (be same league. Fusing of some Costa’s major try for the bigtime tablers. A sock asset. ^tie swing period ideas with pm- came with his wiixing of “Mask Is Musically, the orch is well versed gressive measures seems to be the off.” He gets along nicely here, in standards, pops and showtunes. deal in all of May s arrangements. Marian Callahan has a choice It’s style is pegged for dancing and Nelle Fisher & Jerry Ross are a line of terps in the Spanish idiom, the packed floor during and af- top terp team fresh from eastern While her Latin adaptations show ter dinner attests to its ability, vidshow and nitery circuits. Fresh some Imagination, she’s still to ac- is the word, for their work together quire fluidity in this field. At one is different, exciting and glossy, point in show caught she came Opener with Miss Fisher as dance- into unscheduled contact with the hall chick and Ross garbed as west* floor. She failed to show her best ern dude employs some difficult this performance, Manhattan legmania in modeme trend, with ’ followup routine a distinct change into something pixie. Impact of pair’s third round, which is spotted of the Don Carlos Samba band. 1 with the Geqrge | rates as one"of the most Smith band. Myro, 1 soud^ey have contrived in a long time. „ n# - There are appealmg slices oi song, comedy and terpiflg gals of the ensemble, famished in sprightly costuming, help shape up the total melange ^ito a sparky en- tertainment stanza. This show i pretty good proof that standam fare, properly routined and can keep the customers happy ana the cash register ringing. The sheaf opens with six pranc ing babes togged in track oufws cavorting a “What a Race routine with four long-stems to take intne slack.' To highlight this sequence. Will White handles the vocals wiUi ballerina Arline Lindstrom on home stretch. It's good stuff wh quiets the dinner clatter and leaQS into Peggy Mann’s vocal chore. Miss Mann has the. voice and looks for a payoff and her opener “Somebody Loves Me/’ sets her for on Aoev with 111 VV Orch is flexible and equally adept at rendering a tender ballad such as “I Talk to the Trees” or a rous- ing novelty such as “Pittsburgh, Pa.” Vocals are- handled by Her- man, Friswald and Shur. The Nick D’Amico orch is tops for the rhumbaddicts between the Herman sets. Gros, Paul emcees. Evans Bros. (2) are under New Acts. The orch backing is by Sonny Roberts. Jose, an easy breeze witii * ,, ,, Alone” and “Botch-A-Me. ^ii which draw hefty kudos. Like her “Kiss of Fire” encore with iiei Dx xxxv. —- ■ j,,on- which she begs off to tage. It is plain, however thaj this thrush is hot hitting at dimension and that her If ® ^gal. mility is drag on her total appeal She has a big voice and a gooa range, which in the lower tones is particularly exceptional, but la (Continued on page 47)