Variety (December 1956)

68 IVICHT ClUJB ttKVIBWS P^RiE’hr Wednesday, December 19, 1956 nil Clii’a* Palm Springs • ‘ Palm Springs, >Dec. 11. Hildegarde (2)Buddy Lester, Migal Twins, Bill Alexander Orch (7)*. Hildegarde' In her first appear¬ ance in the Village had a ball in. the new Chi Chi and. looked as if she had stepped out of a solid gold' Cadillac with costume and long gloves to matchr * House was split by two baiiquets early in the evening. The Shriners nearly filled their half ; and the Dfemos celebrating a victory din¬ ner for Judge D. S. Saund, the native of India Who beat Jackie Cochran Odlum for Congress, were • packed like subway. • peasants in their section of the house. Folding curtain .separated the groups till show time,' when the Demos joined the Shriners, a mighty easy way to join the Masonic playboys. Nitery still lacks rugs on the floor but elsewhere delighted. the eyes of audience, which ran over 500. The. “Incomparable” is in for eight days- and on the night caught gave a .long and ingratiating, show,, finishing on a medley of old d avor- ites including “April In Paris," the last time she saw the French cap¬ ital, and the darling she loves, .beaucoup.. . She also resurrected “Wunder Bar" , to show she could ..sing German ,as well as French, though in,the latter case she 1 pro¬ nounces Paris in Milwaukee French which makes it come out “Pair.TJs.” She went off her normal course to sing “Little Bit Of Luck”, from “My Fair Lady” and' the result could hardly be said to represent competition for the Broadway hit. Still, she is a superb gal when it comes to showmanship and the Shriners doffed their fezzes to her and the Demos gave her a heart¬ warming hand. Martin Freed, who used to accompany A1 Jolson and before that Helen Morgan, han¬ dled the orch during her numbers. Buddy Lester, an old favorite around Chi Chi’s, was spruced up too by the huge crowd.. His hat tricks got funny because he showed they were getting a bore to him too. His African trek, in-^ terlarded with imitations, warmed up the crowd for his finale; the comet comedy bit~ in which a member of Bill Alexander’s 'band seems to top him till Lester goes all-out for a smash finish. The Migal Twins, billed as ^“tel¬ evision’s great young dancers,” turn out to be chiefly acrobats in dinner clothes. Okay for an opening act. Hildegarde is in at $3,000 a week, and though the cover may have handled the pro rata bill for this night, it looks as if the valiant Irwin Schuman is trying still to be headman among those reporting capital losses. Next week Helen Traubel, and that one too costs money. Scul FontaineBifleau, US. B’cBi Miami Beach, Dec. 15. Betty Garrett & Larry Parks, Gene Allen, Page & Bray, Murray Schlamm, Sacasas Orch; ^tbO^ minimum (food and beverage).. Pre-holiday package, in for nine days to allow shift from Tuesday to stronger-patron-pull Thursday nights during season, is an in-and- out affair with heaviest mitt-spark- ers the teeoffers. Page Bray, holdovers. Topliners Betty Garrett & Larry Parks are new faces to cafegoers in this area, and, on this first outing in the La Ronde, add up as a pleas¬ ant, .handsome couple who set a chatty air to the book of duetings and brief terps contained in their stint. The routining provides full play on the Warmer aspects of their hus¬ band-wife relationship in bits lead¬ ing to the duetings which comprise the ipajor portion of their act; a wise staging which concentrates on upbeat harmonics to cover the lim¬ ited vocal range. On the har¬ mony, trie duo apply know-how to the delivery adroitly covering range limitations with showmanly display on a Vincent Youmans medley, vaude-type boy-girl con¬ cept and arrangement on “Lazy River" that winds from deliberate tempo to driving beat for the mitt- grabber. Workin of a soft-shoe (well handled) and segment on chairs add terp changes of price smoothly and effectively. Finale is workover of “Anything You Can Do, I Can Do Better/’ for warm bowoff. Page & Bray again mark up the show-stop notches in the initialer slot. They’re a lithe, coordinated team who spur the table-pounding with one-hand overhead balancing, whirlwind spins and bodyhplds that bring them into ‘the sock team bracket. Gene Allen, handed another try at La Ronde audiences, comes back, with the same weak material that leaves the tablers unmoved until he hits his “little boy’s” bed¬ time story routine—a’ la vintage ra¬ dio’s Tommy Riggs. - Winds With a spoof on male fashion show mod$ els, a> bit .which,Jias possibilities, once it’s paced, and.punched; up; as is, he needs a stronger set of early lines. Sacasas and his crew showback ably, with Murray .Schlamm handling the m.c. assign¬ ment in g ood s tyle._• Lary. Statler-Hilton, Dallas Dallas, Dec. 14. Fran Warren, ' Bob Cross• Orch (12); $2-$2.50 Cover. ■ *'• ’ lt!s reunion time again for Fran Warren. Songstress was a fave Here in -Danny Kaye’s revue dur¬ ing the 1952 holiday season at State Fair Aud during Cotton Bowl. Week. She gained more supporters at the same spot in “Pajama Game” during the 1955 Texas State Fair. Now, recently out of the “Pajama” lead in New York, she’s spending Christmas here again with a two* 'frame nitery date. .. Miss ^Warren whetted both eye: and ear appeal at her Thursday (13) opening, making heavy use'of .old¬ ies and evergreens in a Versatile 30-minute vocal display. “Back in Your Own Back. Yard” and “Mak¬ ing'Whoopee” are followed by her bread & butter tune, “Sunday. Kind of Love.” Medley of four w.k. ' standards are pertly piped ahead of. a fine voicing of “Hey, There,” almost a trademark tune for her. Well-Stacked looker In¬ cludes the verse in a nostalgic, room-quieting “Lover, Where Can You Be?’’ and then romps with, a handmike, belting “Just One of Those Things” while strolling the stage. Sock clincher is “Slaughter on 10th Avenue,” in., which Miss. Warren unveils special -lyrics by Don George. The Richard Rodg-. ers tune is a show-stopper, and a begoff for her. -Bob Cross orch gives top show¬ backing, especially for “Slaughter.” Maestro, on cello, has his longhair string quintet playing seasonal mu¬ sic for early tablers. Show finales. Dec. 26, with Henny Youngman and Chiquita & Johnson due Dec. 27 for two frames. Bark. Aiiiato’s, Portland, Ore. Portland Ore., Dec. 11. Shecky Greene, The Boginos (5): Coup de-Villes (5), Herman Jobel- man Orch (6), Kokalani & Buddy Fo; no minimum, $1.50 cover. The unpredictable Shecky Greene is back at this plush nitery after an absence of one year and everyone is happy as result. The bigleaguer invaded the Pacific Northwest-for the first time last year, and after opening nite here looms to draw big for the next 14 davs despite the usual pre-holiday lull. This stocky comic is strictly ma¬ jor all the way. For over 30 min¬ utes he slams out fresh, dynamic material in a style all his own. His timing and. delivery are terrific and he makes the best of every¬ thing in his stint. He can take off on a tangent, if need be, and get back to where he was. He has ap, outstanding sense for audience situations and works everyone to the hilt, delivers gags and stories in many dialects, demonstrates a neat set of pipes, and has a mil¬ lion gimmicks. The youngster has the customers in his palm from the time he en¬ ters the elevated stage until he graciously begs off with plenty of. palm-whacking still ringing 30^ minutes later. He works in a con-' fident, well disciplined manner that gets bellylaughs all the way, and his pitch is extremely glean whens necessary, aS was the case opening night. A big table of teen¬ agers loved him. Tablers get big yocksfout of his audifehce partici¬ pation. In short, a great comic loaded with entertainment. _ The breathtaking Bo&inos (5) are in the deuce spot and prove to be a tough aet to follow. Three guys and two gals, holdovers from last week, please with lightning risley stuff. They gamer solid niitting for their foot juggling. Boginos sell big and grab gasps from ring- siders with their twisting, spinning antics. Comedy bit is inserted when customers are brought up for free ride and get feel of foot¬ work. The Coup de Villes are winners of a “Mr. Talent” contest. Five Ne¬ gro youngsters give out with some fine harmonizing, with good pipes individually. Knock out four pop tunes for good returns. Kokolani & Buddy Fo work their guitar, piano and tune stuff in the lounge. Herman Jobelman and his house crew play a fine show and get the dancers on the floor throughout the evening. Layout closes Dec. 24. Feve. Y©r&alltes>m Y. Dick 'Haymes, Cy Coleman Trio, Salvatore Gioer Orch, Panchilo Orch ; $5 minimum. Dick. Haymes is- a paradox. He has the basic elements for a clicko cafe turn, but- he dissipates all'the plusses with an unimaginative and -sometime lackadaisical approach. The voice is there and so is-the looks, both strong magnets, but he fails tq take, advantage of the at¬ tributes’, He comes oh like a band singer who’s ' had too many one- nigh ters under his belt. The de¬ livery is ' mechanical* and unin¬ spired, making 40 minutes seem like a long, long time. ’ This is no difficult obstacle for Haymes to hurdle. All that’s need¬ ed is a bit. more spark and enthu¬ siasm to insure a crowd wrap-up. The aud is with him, especially when he does such identify ers as “It, Might As Well Be Spring” of “Little White Lies” and he could get ’em.all the way if he just, showed them that he cared. As it stands now, his close to a dozqn r tune -songalog lacks the- ex¬ citement necessary to carry-a cafe crconer over the top, Haymes gets a standout musical assist. from Cy Coleman’s group, doubling, from ' Coleman’s own Playroom. hangout on West 58th £t.* Salvatore Gioe’s orch comes in for a special assist when a rich musical backing is in order. Gioe also keeps the terpers hap¬ py and the mambo. bugs get a chance to get in' their licks when Panchito takes over. Gros. Ellen Roc, Miami Beaeh Miami Beach, Dec. 16. Celeste. Holm, Rickie Layne & Velvel, Mambo Aces (2), Henry Tobias, Mai Malkin Orch; $4.50-$6 minimum (food and leverage). Celeste Holm, who was one of the group of smart femme acts- which played, the Balmoral Hotel here several seasons back, to down- beat results stemming from awk¬ ward setup of the room, came back for another try. This time she’s in the plush Cafe Pompeii, a much more suitable showcase for her suavely handled special material. Results: biz and aud impact augurs return date in the futures book of the Eden Roc. Miss Holm’s act is a specially tailored affair, bespeaking careful attention to cleffings and lyrics that allow full play* her predilec¬ tions for tongue-in-cheek spoof¬ ings, viz: the difficulties of chang¬ ing a man’s ways once he takes the Lohengrin bait; woes of a Parisi- enne who takes up with a stateside tv addict; medley of comedy bits on saloon torchaiiters. Chanee-of- pace dept, is ditto on the aud-click meter, the straight chansons adept¬ ly phrased and sold and, on the off-trail side, “When I’m a Stow¬ away” typifying adroit handling for the big sell. Summary: heavy palm payoff. Rickie Layne with his garment- centre-accented carp enter-product, Velvel in the precede, work up a good measure of laughs, with play on proper use of names and word- age. Strongest laugh N provoker is the workover of tablers when laughs come too slowly; at times the pace is too deliberate, but over¬ all the stint averages out a pleas¬ ant session with enough aud reac¬ tion to . prime a good load of lock returns. Mambo Aces, held for a second week, kick up a hip-swiqg storm with their versions of Latin beats in all shakes, shapes and tempos, to provide refreshing departure from standard ballroomology teams. Henry Tobias, the ASCAPer, is back for his second season as show conferencier and applies smooth intros to tie things together. Mai Malkin, with each show, mark up kudos for apt show and dance music. Show closes Thursday (20) to make way for Harry Belafonte, who starts two-week runs for name lineups. Lary. El Chico, W. Y. Rosita Rios, Ciro Rimac Trio, Mercedes & Albano, Danny Verzos Quartet; $4 minimum. Booking of Ciro Rimac into El Chico is probably a record-setter in delayed return engagements. The dancer previously played the spot about 29 years ago. Appear¬ ing with him on the current stand are two young femme partners, who obviously weren't handy oh his last outing. Present at that time, though, was Benito Collada, owner of the operation since its inception 31 years ago. Rimac’s reunion with Collada and El Chico is a pleasant one. The booking, however, is slightly Offbeat in that it’s grooved along more popular lines than the usual traditional Spanish entertainment offered. It's not likely that the steady clientele built up through the years will object to the fancy stepping: dished ’Out* by Rimac arid the distaffers. - * > Terps offered by* the trio‘take in* the merengue, samba and cha- cha > while Rimac hits top stride with his ■ expert tangoing. •: Some singing* is also thrown. in; but it’s the-dancing that counts. -Also in the show, tagged “Fiesta. In Rio,” are Mexcedes & . Albano,-.who take, carp of the • flamenco footwork. Their heel-and-toe maneuvering is good. ^ Lively .musicalizing is proyided by . the Danny .Varzos Quartet, while Rosita Rios, Collada’s wife, continues to emcee in a personable manner. < .Jess, Eddys% Jtt. C, , Kansas City, Dec. 14. Connee Boswell, George Hop¬ kins, Tony DiPardo Orch (8); $1- $1.50 cover. Holiday session is a nine-day stretch for this bill, as Eddy s’ closes for a few days at Christmas time. For the short session) the club has a show with a punch in the sprightly young comedian, George Hopkins, and indefatigable songstress, Connee Boswell. Open¬ ing show was overboard at 65 min¬ utes, but... sure to settle down around '50 Which shotild give it a real lift as a pre-holiday treat. Both turns in the room fbr the first time, and acquitting themselves first rate. Hopkins lad shows a good deal of versatility in ’ telling a story okay, singing with more than or¬ dinary talent and carrying off im¬ pressions with good comedy touch. He makes the opening pace strong, lets it lag in some by-play with the customers, and picks )t up for a strong finish. He loses little time in getting into long list of impres¬ sions, of song interpretations via Cole Porter, Gilbert & • Sullivan, Bill Haley and others, has some; choice laughs in a bit about Tarzan and the chimp, and follows with vocal impressions. This builds through Varighn Monroe and Elvis Presley to a combo of Billy Daniels and Walter Brennan, high point of the turn,' and roundly applauded. Closer leads to a session of whack¬ ing . out some hot licks on the drums and tossing out the last laughs, also well received. Connee Boswell puts punch into her turn, reeling off nine numbers in fine style and building to a solid close. She opens brightly with ! “Let a Sfnile BJJ Your Umbrella,” and' changes pace with a mambo version of “This Can’t Be Love,” from her just released Decca al¬ bum. There’s “Ooh, That Kiss” and “Begin the Beguine” on the peppy side, “True Love” and “La Vie En Rose” in full ballad arrangements, “Que Serra, Serra” for audience participation, “Some of These Days” in Sophie Tucker fashion,, and a rousing finish with “When the Saints Go Marching In.” There was an extra moment of interest in this one as she was gifted with a cake for her 21st wedding anni¬ versary during the turn. Eddys’ closes ' temporarily after the Dec. 22 show, and reopens with a new bill on Dec. 26. Quin. Bliitstrub’s, Boston Boston, Dec. 13. Jones Boys (4), Lola Dobritch, Duquaines (2), M&rkeys (3), Moro- Landis Line (10), Stewart Rose, $2.50 minimum. Xmas parties and the Jones Boys are packing ’em in for boniface Stanley Blinstrub this holiday sea¬ son. The four youngsters are re¬ peating after winning in an early engagement here in September. The well-rounded layout gives with everything from spirituals to rock ’n’ roll, #nd on night caught (13) they were hot with the customers, nabbing three returns. The four are Wayrie Hoff, Rex Dennis, Nor¬ man Dial, Fred Smith. Moro-Landls line of lovelies are slick in dance routines dressed as Santa, backed by holiday music and vocals by Stewart Rose and singing waitresses. Second turn is an oriental motif terp. Lola Dob- ritch thrills the aud with toe dances on the high tight wire, rides a bike, no-hands, back and forth for big returris and clinches riding high unicycle on the wire for heavy mitting, Duquaines, slick dance act, exe¬ cute some fancy ballroom turns and segue into blues bit for torrid boogie number and then go into series of spins and twirls for solid returns. Merkeys,. three zany con¬ tortionists on parallel bars, strut around stage in weird positions for boffola laughs, swing from the bars like monkeys, and wrap up with a triple swinging routine which gets them off to a smash score. Mike Gaylord cuts the show in slick fashion; Lou Weir is pleas¬ ing in the organ interludes. Jones Boys end Sunday (16). Balance of show holds through Dec.’ 23. Hi- lites opened Monday (17). Guy. " Plaza Hotels IV. Y. Annie Cordy (with Roland Gran- ier), Ted Straeter Ofch, Mark Monte’s Continentals; $3 cover opening night. r the French are the first with the skirt and ^Annie Cordy is gonna be alright as a Earis-to-TJ. S. entry. Nothing as authoritative as killing 'em 1 ht debut and then maybe wind¬ ing up on the Duluth time. No not that; Miss Cordy didn’t slay ’em in the Persian Room but she’s a •femme who can build. That meas¬ ures a better potential in the ulti¬ mate' payoffs. •A Parisian by way of Brussels, when,sheds-French she-is not very French; meaning not too overboard on the Gallic’ groovings; but when she is Anglaise she is fairly torrid. No glamour puss, none of that come-hither about her, she has a sufficient comeliness on the floor. She doesn’t need the glam face or style, since she plies the laff route more than the thrush stuff. ' The pipes are serviceable, though per¬ haps belying her reputed status as a vocal stylist abroad. Miss Cordy also has an okay sex- terior which she doesn’t further- exploit; nor does she have the need for that accent, as per her comedic flair. Still, there must be some curves somewhere, but Miss Cordy isn’t pressing the point and that rose-colored gown, in good taste but perhaps excessive in the yard¬ age, would hide those possible assets. She does a little lifting near the outset, just as a bit of a teaser, that’s all. A lot of the Frenchified stuff, mccoy or mchooey, seems overdone by many another. Miss Cordy re¬ flected this by awareness in satiric vein of what a key Ameri¬ can branch-town of the U. S.—New York, tlyft is—seems to expect from the usually safe-and-Seine imports. Apparently she wouldn’t be razzled-dazzled into an overload of conscious-Gallic, figuring that she should stand or fall on her comedy. She’s an above-par raiser of the risibilities, better and even superi¬ or in characterizations and impres¬ sions than when fronting the more conventional forms of eomedic at¬ tacks. In fact, her extra-extended one-woman sketch, yclept “Impre¬ sario,” is a wallop in its deft acting that, is mated to■ versatility and range in application to a mixture of girls-girls-girls with its striking series of “auditions” for a talent agent. It comes at the finale and is obviously her chef-doeuvre that she whips into a large winner be¬ cause of the undoubted affinity be¬ tween percenters regardless of language. Thus the barrier, if any existed, is not only hurdled but a matter of huzzahs for the impact she builds. Miss Cordy also Is very lively and with a built-in eye-twinkle, though nothing of the impudence here. She’s what generally passes for a hoyden—an overworked word; rowdy in moderation but not dowdy like rriost purveying this style. Okay, too, on “F.leur de Pa- pillion,” distilled in the dixie beat, but only of passing grade in a vi¬ gnette on a girl at an Apache ball meetin’ up with a muscular fellow who is a flop on the physique when he removes his jacket. This may have had more peppery connota¬ tions in the “Paris original.” Her rock ’n’ roll quickie is a throwaway, strictly a latching-o:i to the current Presley-pash, and her “Leon” drunk bit seems exag¬ gerated although innocuously so. These are just pickoffs. Overall, the impression persists that Miss Cordy, while she may have what she and her principals regard as a “finished” act, would be more fin¬ ished when* she uses a scissor lib¬ erally for excision of unimaginative material and puts the hypo on the legs and lively stuff,' more espe¬ cially the one-woman skits, and gallery of impressions. An impres¬ sion likewise persists that Miss Cordy’s set-pieces are even better attuned to the musicomedy and re¬ vue style, which would be in keep¬ ing with a good part of her old world background. Because she is a savvy mime, no impresario would hurt himself if he inserted her in revue, and she s ripe for the classier cafes and video, of course. This just about rounds her out on the show biz cir¬ cuits, considering her click calibre on records (Capitol, etc.) and her French film stints. Her conductor, Roland Granier, tackles the act-bgcking from the piano for a slick and cue-perfect assist. Ted Straeter’s crew takes these cues well, with the Persian maestro and Mark Monte's Conti¬ nentals supplying the customer beats. Lillian Roth is due Jan. 9. Trau.