Variety (April 1953)

NIGHT CLTI REVIEWS rer, Wednesday, April 15 , 1955 Clre’Sy Hollywood Hollywood, April 10. Katherine Dunham Dancers (16), Dick Stabile Orch (10), Bobby Ramos Orch (5i; $2 cover. Something less than two years ago the Katherine Dunham troupe did a 10-day stand in., this spot which induced whammo to and the certainty is that results: will be quite as profitably provocative dur- ing this longer engagement. The room was thronged first snow opening night and attention ^sras rapt throughout the 45 minutes. Miss Dunham and her dancers, who characteristically work in both bare feet and brogans, splash a lot of color into their routines via costuming as well as footwork- And when these routines are tri- ple-distilled in semi-primitive sug- gestions of sex. the effect becomes electric—especially on su’ch a booking as this. Miss Dunham in recent years ful terpsters. clown through a sesh . Gogi’s LaRof, ]%• Y* which includes Dixieland stepping j 0 Sullivan, Ted Straeter Orch, to “Jazz Me Blues,” a zany imprest J p cp i( Q topes Band; $5 minimum. of a couple, circa 1920, learning* to tango via correspondence course, winding with a laugh-pro- voking Charleston. It's funny stuff and the crowd eats it up. ' Ralph Barnes, slack wire walker who plavs this room regularly, is also sock as he adeptly skims along the wire. He executes back- flips and ballet steps with equal skill to garner standout returns. - Bill is emceed by spot’s peren- Current stand of thrush Jo Sullivan and incoming engagement of French chanteuse Dany Dauber- son precede a change in the enter- tainment format at Gogi’s Larue. Switch from policy of spotlighting chirps as solo attractions- will be effected May $ by nitery with the showcasing of a package revue labeled “What’s.New” Miss Sullivan, whose appearance “SL®!' Und styling are of an ingenue na- light for a brace of songs with Michael Gaylord crew handling showbacking in topnotcb fashion. Rostanna’s Latin combo and organ- ist Lou Weir fill lulls. E he.. » El Rancho, Las Vegas Las Vegas, April 8. Abboit & Costello, Maxellos (4), Peggy King , Bobby^ Barber, Dot- tie Dee Dancers (8), Bob Ellis has developed so large a reper - i Orch (10); no cover or minimum. toire that what started as a senes of Caribbean capers has now spread into all corners of the world. Troupe opens with a Bra- zilian writhe and Frances Taylor and Lenwocd Morris follow with more South American : abandon- ment. Next is probably the most awesom e exhibit of the. evening, “Cumbia,” a portion of the much used “Barpnquilla” rhythms from Colombia. The gals* led by Miss Dunham, wiggle around carrying candles and puffing long cheroots. The males fawn after 'em waving bolos. Despite the attested origin of this bit. it appears quite like a Cuban canefield orgy when the crop is in. For color, riotous and smoldering under rhythm and smoldering under- j ull d in b y the ears, including , it is the top prp- rr,nn^.>v (if'pnp with sto statement of sex duction of the show A voodoo number, a frenzy of convulsion, has Ciceron shouting the incantations 'against native drum-thumping. The big-scale tan- j go routine, with the trotting au- thentically Brazilian, is most im : aginatively staged, with Vanpye Aikens. leading male hoofer in the troupe, pacing the parade with Miss Dunham. There is some su- perlative, stark symbolism in this dance design. From this point on, the mood is lightened. Satire is the predomi- nant note as a mixed quartet, in- deliberatelv overdressed 1909 fin- ery, chant “Darktown Strutters Ball.” “WiM About Harry,” “Wait- in’ For F.obt. E. Lee” and “Ballin’ The Jack,” in and out of which dancers gyrate. There’s a bit of - the Charleston lampooning and then Miss Dunham and Aikens do a Prohibition’ era bides writhe that, while it exudes sex, is basi- cally a travesty with artful tongue- in-cheek treatment.. Fcr the finale, the star chirps “Horey In The Honeycomb,” which she did on Broadway in “Cabin In The Sky.” It grows into a oroduction number in which the whole company has a whirl. Jim Byron, Giro’s pressagent, was mus- tered Into action and did a brief narration at an offstage mike-by wav of introducing each number. He was most articulate and. for a pressagent, astonishingly brief and concise. Dick Stabile’s house orch flaw- lessly backs and enhances the show and dishes dansapation be- fore and after, alternating with the othef house stalwarts, Bobby Ramos’ rhumba quintet. Bert. Lines are forming to the right tcit a gander at Abbott & Costello, but results are far from satisfac- tory onstage. Objects of such, af- fection are horsing around for a full 30 minutes, yet deliver only two established routines. Rest of period is spent in feeble attempts at humor, falling short but plenty. Having had weeks in which to prop the act for nitery, A & C nevertheless chose .to put their stuff together at the last minute and spouted streams of apologies for lackadaisical results on open- ing night. Two surefire bits record good yocks—“Handful of Nickels” and “Baseball.” Other ideas are slapstick scene with stooge Bobby Barber. And since both announce that their best-known routine, “Baseball,” will only be performed upon request, question arises as to what will be dropped in along the way if no takers. However, pair feel confident that audiences will ask for the old “Who’s on first?” sketch, so aren’t particularly wor- ried about being left high and dry, Maxellos are cramped for over-, head room in their foot balancing and tossups. Nervousness makes for errors, but with time and be- coming accustomed to small space, quartet will regain fast pace and accuracy.. Peggy King, introed as a flicker starlet by Costello, is on too long with chirp sesh. Pipes are harsh in upper register as shg pushes tones outward, and should keep chatter to minimum between tunes. She’s a flashy looker, with okay chassis and strawberry blonde tresses, but needs more savvy to hit such a room as this, Dottie Dee Dancers preem eight- girl line this show. Clucks are, in the main, okay for looks and ture, is filling her second Gotham nitery commitment after* a lapse of about two years. Thrush, who’s been, concentrating on the legit- musical field, made her local bow in 1951 at the Hotel Pierres Co- tillion Room. She’s nicely gowned, without overemphasizing the sex angles, and her soprano piping and generally demure approach impress as being primarily tailored fqr the- atrical tuners. She cuts a nice .figure on a nitery floor with 25-minute stint register- ing as pleasant without generating any real excitement. Room, how- ever, isn’t designed along lines par- ticularly favorable to a songstress, especially when tunes delivered fall into the ballad vein. Her output includes a “Romeo and Juliet” operatic, aria and “Love Is Where You Find* It,” both strictly in the high note vein and done tastefully. She also does a potent job on “Somewhere Over the Rainbow,” “Blue Room” and “How Do You Speak to an Angel?” A special material, bit obviously intended to draw yocks, fails to click. Miss Sullivan, who opened at the cafe last Wednesday (8), exits Fri- day (17) to make way for Miss Dauberson’s bow the following night. Ted Straeter orch and the Pepito Lopez band lure seatholders onto the floor. Former gfoup adds to its musicalizing via an effective vocal workover given some tunes by bandleader and sidemen. Jest. dinary variety acts. Tomy Frank- lin does a series of takeoffs on va- rious type tourists and singers that are lacking in the material con- tent to niake them of good open- ing dimension. Claude Castaing does a patter routine and impres- sions that are also in need of ma- terial hypoing to make his rather well-pointed impressions savory. Julia Rouge is in the throaty thrush class but lacks the punctua- tion and delineation of lyrics to make her . a standout. Variety bit winds with a standard harmonica group, Le Trio Marny, who reed a good “Sabre Dance” and blue medley but fall down on the last batch of can-can numbers, which need instrumental weight behind them; They shape as a good entry. Then follows “Chlcago-Digest” in its mayhem and ribaldry as it gives out with a story of rough gangsters in Chi. Paul Paviot has managed to fill this extremely nar- row stage with a lot of movement and color, and good use of sound effects keeps this facile farce mov- ing. A Hollywood star is kid- napped and finally rescued from the clutches of the dread Coffino by the intrepid G-man, Slim Spring. A lot of shooting and com- plexities make up this^ section. Zina Rachewsky and Simone Sylvestre supply the pulchritude and Francois Patrice is a craven Coffino and Michel Piccoli a Rover Boy G-man. Decor is serviceable ana helps give the stage a needed feeling of depth. Rita Meffem gives this the Paris tag in a strip- tease that offers only a nice torso with hep peeling not part of the gal’s stint Mask. Meateleone Hotel, X. O. New Orleans. April 8. Henny Yoimyman. Eileen Todd, Danny Deane Orch (7) j $2.50 minimum . v luc Mirtin, uxwaj xui auu i .. , . ~ j « i _ . ~ frames. Routines are simple, with Blin§trub 9 s, Boston Boston. April 7. Georgia Gibbs, Ralph Barnes, Bourbon 8c Bain, The Juvelys (2), La Belle Carroll, Ted Cote, Mi- chael Gaylord Orch (8), Rosanna Latih Combo (4)> Lou Weir; $2.50 minimum. Topped bv the vivacious thrush, Georgia Gibbs., making her first Hub appearance in more than five years, current layout stacks as just about the strongest to hit this vast bistro this season. With ex- ception of Miss Gibbs, liiiehp is strictly visual, which due to size of the place, appears to be the logi- cal format. Attractively gowned chirp, a onetime band vocalist hereabouts, unveils ^ a smoothly-paced sesh which includes uptempoed and ballad stuff, interspersed with two- beat treatment of “Ballin’ the Jack” and her current Mercury platter winner, “Seven Lonely Days.” Gal handles each typo with solid vocal and showmanship savvy to rate plaudits and results in begoff with her w.k. “Kiss of Fire.” She’s surefire throughout. Lineup tees off with La Belle Carroll, a shapely blonde stepper, who tosses in neat tap routines winding with a fastle to solid skiii- beating by drummer Russ Adams. The Juvelys, a mixed aero duo, score with a breathtaking stannza featuring head-to-head while male; attired in tails,, nonchantly jug- gles Indian clubs. Bourbon i< .fining ) swingy opener and Afro-Cuban pe- riod. Latter has strange costum- ing for Latino theme, but some- how accentuates hip tossing. Bob Ellis shows the way musically^ giv- ing many .slow cue pickups and un- even temps to his footers. But since this seems to be an off-the- cuff show, perhaps he has to have time for catching onto the drift of things. — WilJ. Saxony* Miami B 9 ch Miami Beach, April 11. Patachou, Val Olman Orch; $2.50-3 minimum. Judging from business being at- tracted by Patachou, the vibrant French import, there’s still plenty of interest in cafe entertainment hereabouts when a new face in the field is introduced. Swank Pa- goda Room of this top hostel is selling out twice nightly, at a time when most operations are digging for at least one solid show a night. Here is a showmanly, carefully devised- stint, with lighting befit- ting the class presentation ‘ of the cha nteuse-comedienne. Showmanly also is usage of English intros to her Gallic Chants. Mixture of Amer- ican pops adds to overall impact. Garbed in simple blouse and skirt, she . eschews any extraneous bows or walkoff-comebacks to keep the songalog a tight, fast-paced flair. Best of her offerings are a sly spoofing of “Why Don't You Be- lieve Me”; the tale of the femme who concealed a kitten in her bosom, and “Wonderful Guy” as it might be handled by a French thrush. Blends in straight “Hold Me,” “My Man” in native language and: “La Vie En Rose” for change Of pace. Had to come back for several encores of standard French laves, could have stayed on longer. Patachou can write her own return engagement ticket with the Saxony owners. Val Olman orch, with a top as- sist by Patachou’s accordionist, sets, up the backings in blgleague man- ner and keeps the floor filled for dansapatipfl. w Vary. Ritz Carlton, Montreal Montreal, April 7. Nancy Donovan, John Gallant, Joe Seitano Trio; $1-1.50 cover. * With the guys and gals home from school and the lid off the Lenten period, the Ritz Cafe was luring the bulk of Montreal’s cafe society with Nancy Donovan, and the personable chanteuse is a cinch for quick returns judging from ini- tial reception. This is Miss Donovan’s first major cafe stint in Montreal apd the overall layout .of this swank intimery makes an ideal showcase for this talented gal. Projecting a good set- of pipes to all corners of this, room, she offers a* songalog ing ballads with Calypso, switchin to special material by Eli Basse an then into a Gallic chirp for solid mitting. Her brisk Irish tempera- ment is uppermost throughout ses- sion, establishing a warm relation- ship between performer and patron that pays off on every song. Gal is best when reprising an old fave like “Don’t Take Your Love From Me” or doing a satire on the Met artists singing radio and tele commercials. Her “Mr. Ike” garners solid mitting and a windup IJjroup of pops gets her off to plaudits. Grooming is adequate without being over-theatrical and intros are brief and conversational' without the usual “and-now-I- would-iike-to-slng” hokum. House pianist Johnny Gallant gives Miss Donovan able support at all times even unto improvising a bongo accomp for her Calypso of- fering. The smooth Settano combo does the between-show music for customer hoofing in its usual clicko manner. Newt. Crazy Horse, Paris Paris, April 7. Crazy Horse presents “ Chicago - Digest,by Sapin, Vidalie and Pa- viot; staged by Paul Paviot; with Simone Sylvestre, Michel Piccoli, Francois Patrice, Zina Rachewsky, Claude Castaing, Le Trio Marny, Rita Meffeni, Julia Rouge, *Tomy Franklin, Grane, Gorget-Chemin; decor, Marc Janson; $3 minimum, This Crazy Horse Saloon with the wild west motif and swinging doors now has all the shooting coming from a bunch of Chicago gangsters, who run riot on its tiny stage in takeoff on stateside gang- ster pix. “Chlcago-Digest” small- seater, holding about 150 when full, caters to the young Gallic set and provides enough noise to keep them happy. Though acts and show are of medium level, It is well paced and makes for a pass- able nitery evening, though not at the high calibre set by other boites featuring revues here. Tab Is hi usual category and biz was fair at show caught. Iru&howj istarta roithMu batcluoSer This two-week bill is a bellringer in every department There’s a pleasant pace to the show that gives the impression of a leisurely good time for the customers. Current layout headed by comic Henny Youngman and pert songstress Eileen Todd completely won the opening night audience with their contrasting wares. Youngman depends on modern, streamlined humor for yocks. When he steps before the tableholders, he sizes them up and starts to feed a line of patter he thinks they’ll go for. It didn’t take him long to win them over to his side. His style of bouncing over one-liners inter- sliced with well-framed stanzas of story-jokes captures laughs throughout. Material covers a vari- ety of topics ranging from psychi- atrists to horse races, plus kidding the customers, band boys and waiters. And while some of his chatter apjpears to be “kidding for real,” the patrons love every min- ute of it Youngman, whose work is height- ened by bis deadpanning, should give the spot a needed shot in the arm during his engagement. Miss Todd, a blonde looker, in a bouffant gown, handles straight b&lads and other tunes With equal ease. Her melodic stint takes her through such tunes as “Making Whoopee,” “You’re Cream In My Coffee” and “They Didn’t Believe Me.” She hews to selections which set off her voice to best advantage and permit her to embellish her singing with warmth. Nets plenty of palm-pounding. Danny Deane orch supplies the vocal and musical backgrounds for the acts as well as the rhythm for dancing. This is a versatile crew. Liuz. Shorehm Hotel, R. C. Washington, April 8. Darvas k Julia, Harry Snoto Bamee-Lowe Orch (10); $50c*$l cower. The popular Blue Room is draw- ing some of the warmest applause in a longtime for the strongest bill it has offered in many a moon While this bill follows the hotel’s pattern of limiting the entertain- ment to two acts, both are well above the average. There’s nothing else in these parts like Darvas & Julia, fastest and flashiest acroterp turn. Audi- ence rewards the team with a solid volley of applause. Act is flash from the moment Julia bounces onstage in slick, short black cos- tume, with customers wondering what kind of dancing she will do in that abbreviated costume. Then she begins to whirl and leap and the number is in. What gives Darvas A Julia an extra fillip is audience knowledge that the team has just come from New York by plane and will be returning there in the morning to fill the Palace Theatre engage- ment. This creates a special plus in addition to the calibre of the act itself. What the aud doesn’t know is that, immediately upon her arrival for the Washington Airport, Julia engages in 10 min- utes of especially nigged warmup exercises to limber up. Darvas 8c Julia play only the supper shows because of their earlier Gotham commitment, with a local dance team filling in for the dinner show. Teeoffer is Harry Snow in pop songs (New Acts). Bamee-Lowe music accompanies the show and supplies the dansapation rhythms. Lowe.. Top’s, Sai Blego Saif Diego, April 7. Slate Bros., Jacqueline Hurley, Fulton Burley, Tommy Marino Orch, Sally Ann Davis; no cover or minimum. Gatineau, Ottawa Ottawa, April 7. Jerry Cooper, Ladd Lyons (2), Chet Clark. Boots McKenna Danc- ers ( 6), Harry Pozy Orch (7); 75c admission, $1 Sat. Gatineau manager Joe Saxe has followed a smash teeoff week (with Louis Armstrong) jyith a show built around a new femme line, richly costumed and trained by Boots McKenna, and top billing to okay warbler Jerry Cooper, fave hereabouts. Besides soloing with socko oldie, “When You’re Smiling” (his new Mercury label), and others, Cooper appears with the McKenna gals in a green-and-pink springtime pro- duction, a Mardi Gras routine and a clicko number where dancers wear effective black and silver out- fits, called “Legs, Legs, Legs.” Chet Clark registers with his fine harmonica blowing, giving custom- ers the real goods in “Rhapsody in Blue,” “12th Street Rag,” “St. Louis Blues.” Ladd Lyons, with unbilled sister (Irene), handles comedy balancing.to begoff. Harry Pozy backs show and plays for dancing to kudos. A1 Cos- ti is at the cocktail lounge piano. '6i * ** * , Gtrmi' * Reunited Slate Bros, (Sid and Jack sans Henry) chose Yale Kahn’s class nitery to test new- old material before venturing on the circuit. Some of the Slate fran- tics are too fast for this crowd, but rousing finish on dance rem- iniscences leaves ringsiders holler- ing for more. Heavy boffs come on baseball hit and “Chandu” mindreading turn (which Sid used to do with Ben Blue),, building steadily to as- sorted unison dances for sock windup. Freres frolic too strongly —at least for this room—on swish vein and some indigo items could be penciled. In sum, even without Henry, the Slate slapstick is still formidable and funny. It’s a big- league act. This being a room that goes for terping of any and all kinds, Jacqueline Hurley’s acrobatic danc- ing gets hefty mitt, although turn could be pruned several minutes, Okay in Irish songalog' and em- ceeing, Fulton Burley has standard brogue tunes in repertoire. Hand- some Irisher is heavy-minded with the jokes, however. He also errs in pushing for Shamrock brogue in song-selling. As a result of trying too hard on lyrics, Burley’s good voice loses dimension. When singer relaxes and lets brogue come along naturally, he’ll do much better. Don. Baker Hotel, Dallas Dallas, April 9. Connee Boswell, Abbey Albert Orch ( 9); $2 cover. It’s been 20 years since Connee Boswell, with sisters Vet and Mar- tha, lent her vocal tones here in a huge stager with Paul Whiteman’s orch. She’s recapturing those ’33 fans and adding new ones with a nostalgic, smash 40-miriute sesh that retains the husky lyrical qual- ity through nine tunes. Also, her between tunes contagious, comic chatter, heavy with her New Or- leans “you-all” accent, knits the bond with Mural Room tablers. . Strapless white gown adds orb appeal as Miss Boswell socks over three blues numbers, reprises a new Decca etching, “Mam Street On Saturday Night, 1 * and sells the lengthy “Begin The Beguine” ly- rics. In a blue spot she goes sen- timental with “La Vie En Rose,” before sliding to the piano for a riotous ragtime bit on the 88, with whistling, and “Piano Roll Blues,” with lyrics. Big mitt greets her dosing, w.k. “M’Appari.” Effective mid-show visual bit is injected as Miss Boswell plucks off her trick white Bally & Lang costume to re- veal an eye-filling magenta* gown. Abbey Albert orch's showbacking is terrif, per usual, and crew gets . a month’s holdover for a Sophie * Tucker tiate/ v* . * > »• _ Bttrk:' ‘