Variety (March 1959)

Wednesday, March 11, 1959 PfiKMETY REVIEWS 77 KARMAN ISRAELI DANCERS & SINGERS (10) Folk Singers-Dancers 16 Mins. Latin Quarter, N.Y. Colorfully garbed, this singing¬ dancing group of young folks from JEAN GIBBONS Songs 12 Mins. Le Cupidon, N. Y. Jean Gibbons, who is making *■> return to the business following a long absence, has an excellent voice and a soothing demeanor. Israel has the energy and ability. Dressed in a flowing gown of to go places. But not as presently I Grecian lines. Miss Gibbons an- constituted. Dance combo lacks thei, no “?f! f '“** . • . . , , !works of the staples of the song- routining and variety to make a big j writing industry listing Porter, impression in most N.Y. spots. In a _ Kern, Romberg, et al, and she much smaller room, the Karman j ke ®P. s ; word. Miss Gibbons goes through So In Love,” “Gianina Mia,” “Kiss troup perhaps would appeal to a greater degree. At the Latin Quar¬ ter, the 10 youngsters failed to make much of-an impression at the opening show. Even though starting out fast- moving with sort of folksy dances, this soon tires from lack of varia¬ tion. Group drew only polite ap¬ plause. Youngsters work strenuously, with lots of hand-clapping with the audience invited to join in fwith lukewarm results) and obviously are well-trained dancers of their sort. But they are on far too long— Eix minutes would be plenty. Entire act needs sharp routining to hold interest if it’s to last in N.Y. cafes or night spots. All 10 dance bare¬ footed. The attempt to emulate cowboys and cowgirls, back¬ grounded by typical U.S. western music, is the weakest part of the turn, and should be dropped pronto. Wear. BILL DAILY Comedy 20 Mins. Black Orchid, Chicago Ranks of offbeat funnymen should, easily accommodate Bill Daily, a low-key type whose stuff is largely situational. This is his maiden nitery stand, and he be¬ trayed remarkably little nervous¬ ness at the initial spotlighting. Promising as he is. with un¬ deniable talent for the gentle whimsy, there is a disturbing derivativeness about the act. a fac¬ tor that could hinder him less if he brought to his portrayals a strong personality characteristic or a deep-impressing material gim¬ mick. Neither of these identifiers present, so that much of the time Me Again,” “Lover Come Back to Me” and “Make Believe” before encoring with “Mighty Lak’ a Rose.” She has an excellent voice which is strong enough to be heard sans mike, and there is lotsa ap¬ preciation for the inherent quality in her offerings. However, she needs an infusion of more color and spirit, which will probably be forthcoming when she feels at home again in the medium. Jose. Arches,'’. catching much of spirit of the English vaude comedy two¬ some. Follow with a Frankie Vaughan impression in “Give Me The Moonlight,” wearing tophats, then give out with “We Think You’re Wonderful” and wind with “Saints Go Marching In.” One distaffer has her coiffure tinted gray, the other is a redhaired looker, exudes similar smiling per¬ sonality, and both gals have quality. ‘ Act has heavy potential, and is okay for tv and stage market, both in U.K. and U.S., although would have tp be further sharpened for latter. Gimmick of two trombones is distinctive. Gord. iis ! RUSTY WARREN Songs, patter 55 Mins. Beach Club Hotel, Ft. Lauderdale Blue material has proved the formula for this previously diffi-. cult room. Current salesman is Rusty Warren who nightly con¬ ducts a primary class in the care and feeding of the love life of genus homo. Miss Warren . has only lately switched to the raw and raucous as better-paying fare. Her approach to the whole man-and-woman busi¬ ness is as direct as a sidewalk- hawker’s berk, her repartee a monument to the lack of innuendo. Originally booked for two weeks in January, her holdover booking is making a previously empty room into a personal parlor for her purple palter. She is equally adept at smoky, sultry ballads and songs with a punchline, running narratives with piano accomp, and audience participation “Roll Me Over.” Miss Warren stresses sex with a “prefer :the older type” routine and gently , mocks “fig-leaf phil¬ osophy.” Her Miami Beach bit is a howl with north-of-the-border Lauderdalians. Versatile singer TEDDY RENO Songs 25 Mins. ' Bobino, Paris Teddy Reno is a top singing star in Italy who shows versatility singing primarily in French for hi; first Parisian stint. His lilting bon¬ homie is not lost in the transition, and he displays an agreeable pair of pipes, savvy showmanship and the right cross between downright sentiment and bouncy imperti¬ nence. This indicates he could reg¬ ister in special U.S. spots and lias the right national and international qualities for video. Reno lacks the ' belting, raw showmanly qualities of a Domenico Modugno, but makes up for it oy his pro aplomb and ease. Mos/c. Seville, Lob Angeles Los Angeles, March 3. Lester Horton Dancers, Margue- lita, Al Escobar Orch (7); no cover, 2-drink minimum. Daily is reminiscent of established ! also plunges occasionally into pi- comedians in the same general genre. For example, his soft-spoken “H’lo” gambit and subsequent me¬ andering patter harks of Herb Shriner, including a quip about a plush restaurant where “you have to audition to eat there.” One of his funniest sketches has to do with a shy guy new to the formal banquet circuit, and his attendant perplexity re apparel, which cut¬ lery to use for what course, etc. This one, as it plays, evokes the sturdy image of Sid Caesar. Daily flashes a particularly keen Imagination with an impresh of a newborn just home from the hos¬ pital. It’s a delightful bit, but again invites comparison, this time lb Jonathan Winters. Yet,, for- all the suggestion of personalities in the same orbit, Daily is a sufficiently attractive and fertile performer to rate atten¬ tion by the small rooms and tv potentates, especially for guesting on the variety formats. - Video, in fact, is familiar ground for Daily. He’s a floor director for NBC-TV, Chicago, and made oc¬ casional appearances on the web’s short-lived “Club 60” daytime stanza. He has a good “feel” for his stuff, . and may in time give his own character the sharper definition needed to spell the dif¬ ference between fair success and the upper rungs. Pit. BARBOUR & BILLIE Still-Walking, Puppets 10 Mins. Empire, Edinburgh Barbour & Billie, mixed pair, have an offbeat angle with combo of stilts and puppet manipulation. Male towers above femme partner o:i stilts, then pair drop cloth covering to achieve three-tier effect for operation of puppets, di opping false bodies to enlarge head effect oh small bodies. Routines include distaffer work¬ ing but movements as leg-twining acrobat to tune of “Pretty Girl Is Like Melody,” and also a cancan bit. Wind with male moving around on high stilts while femme, brunet and vital, does a big-boot dance onstage. Win palming for cleverness of conception, and exit solidly. Okay for most vauderies and high-domed niteries. Gord. ano blues and is past-mistress of rhythm. . She does two shows nightly in the colorful Lulu Belle Room, night club adjunct of the Beach Club Hotel, and looks like¬ ly to become a steady annual at¬ traction. Her Jubilee “Songs for Sinners” is a LP coverage of her show routine. Culm. GLORIA LYNNE Songs 25 Mins. Storyville, Boston Gloria Lvnne, statuesque Negro jazz vocalist, Is going to be a name to reckon with in the jazz world on the basis of her fine showing here at George Wein’s Storyville where she’s singing up a storm. From the vocal group and o.ne- nighter circuit in New York, and with a new album, “Miss Gloria Lynne,” on Everest, she’s essaying the jazz nitery time. She scores solidly with s.UDple pipes and firm control on “New York Medley,” “Shootin’ High,” and “I Don’t Know Why.” For the comparisoners, she’s somewhere around the Carmen McRae and Dakota Staton techniques, but works arresting timbre on such fare as “They Didn’t Believe Me” and “Perdido,” which she scat- sings. Miss Lynn comes across in solid fashion from bowon to bowoff and fills the stage with her pres¬ ence. . On “They Didn’t Believe Me.” she does a surpriser opening start¬ ing an octave higher than orig key and from then on nobody knows what’s going to happen next. She projects in soulful fashion, and her gospel music background is evident. She has tremendous jazz talent and power and with ex¬ posure she should climb rapidly to the front ranks of her contem¬ poraries. > Guy. TRACEY SISTERS (2) Singing, Instrumental 10 Mins. Empire, Edinburgh, Tracey Sisters are an attractive new singing and trombone-playing duo with potential. Two cute misses harmonize to open with “Everybody Loves a Lover,” segue with “Pretty Baby,” then into “Never Been a Night,” both playing trombones. Offer a neat Flanagan & Allen im¬ pression with “Underneath the 250 Miles From Atlanta To the Sea, So Boat Show PuBs’Em (With Acts’Help) Atlanta, March 10. Situated some 250 miles from the sea, Atlanta probably is the most nautical-minded landlocked city in the United States. Two reasons: Allatoona Lake, some 35 miles from here, and Lake Lanier i named for the famed Georgia poet and flute player), just now com¬ ing into its own as a watery recrea¬ tion centre hardly more than 20 miles 1 from city. Martin P. Kelly, fronting for United Sports & Vacation Shows, of St. Paul, has been producing the Southeast Boat & Vacation Show for nine successive years at At¬ lanta Municipal Auditorium. Long ago he found out customers wouldn’t come out just to see boats alone (at $1 for adults and 50c for kids). So he has been put¬ ting together unit shows to en¬ tertain the patrons who pay to gaze at boats, fishing and camping paraphernalia and all the appur¬ tenances that appeal to the out- doorsy set. This show* as a crowd pleaser moved fast and tunefully and laced with comedy. Opening night au¬ dience of close to 2,500 showed ap¬ preciation of performers’ efforts... Opener, the Wazzans, is a fast turn of seven whirling, soinriing, tumbling colorfully dressed French Moroccans climaxed by under¬ stander supporting all six of his partners at once. Grimaldis, man and wife team present a novelty music act. Brit¬ ish uuo style their turn on the English musichall pattern. Femme comes out in clown rig. but sheds.it to reveal'a “built” that gets the male customers on her side. Pair are talented musicians, playing, between them, xylophone, banjo, accordion, trombone and sax. Male plays sax and slide horn simultaneously. Femme climaxes with blindfolded stunt as she does split in front of instru¬ ment and never misses a note. It’s sock stuff and they get big mitt. Dieter Tasso, juggler, has a top- drawer act, mixing a little foolish¬ ness with his skill in tossing of cups and saucers from foot to head while balancing on slack wire. His bride of a few months, a blonde looker, gets wolf whistles 'although j she cloes nothing but hand him the tools of his trade. A special act is spotted in Wal¬ ter G Cross, national duck calling champion who won his crown re¬ cently in competition at Stuttgart, Ark. Turn is so realistic patrons kept glancing around exoecting ducks to come flying in through the auditorium’s doors. Lewis & Van, tap dancers, step lively and rhythmic and scamper swiftly up and down miniature stairs. They encore with fine soft- shoe number. Smeed Trio (Willie, Werner, Claire) are Swiss-born chirpers who mix yodeling, dixieland, billy- billy,, calypso and cha cha. Willie, in addition to talents as clarinetist and pianist, gets guffaws for com¬ edy antics and Liberace takeoff. Good reception. Luce. Harry Schiller’s Seville nitery should show a profit during the coming weeks with the booking of the Lester Horton Dancers—a gy¬ rating group of terpers enunciating modern progressive dancing in an exciting Afro-Caribbean flavor. This plus the Latin notes of the Al Escobar band make this Santa Monica Blvd. nitery a good bet for those seeking unusual entertain¬ ment. The Horton group swivels on to the boards in colorful island garb to the rhythmic beat of a conga drum, A mixed racial group of at¬ tractive boys and girls who show a lot of class in a sexy way, they score best in a “Bamboo Alley” routine performed by Misaye Ka- wasumi, Jeanna Limyou, Don Mar¬ tin and Val Goodrich, and “Cuba Antigua,” a satiric treatment of the rhumba displayed by James Tru- itte. Miss Limyou and DeeDee Young. Patrons are treated to a plus by the vocal contributions of Mar- guelita, Escobar’s band chirp, who knocks out a Latin tune like Abbe Lane—worth seeing by itself. Cha- cha enthusiasts get their chance to play Arthur Murray via Escobar’s inviting dance music. Current show is in for an indefinite stand, depending on business. Kata. Bobino. Paris Paris, March 3. Patachou, Ted^u Reno , Joel Holmes, Marottees (4), Andre Rob¬ ert, Mady Rougey, Saltano, Ronald & Rudy, Jean Harold; $1.75 top. | traditional Scot ballads with mod- ; ern rock ’n’ roil, thus guaranteeing juve imerest as well as apprecia¬ tion from the oldsters. Wilson has assist in the song department from Gordon Mac- : Kenzle. rotund kilted tenor, and in,musical bucking from his long¬ time accordionist. Will Star. Terry O’Duffy attends to the ivories, and : Angus Fitehelt, Scot fiddler, leads the Cornkisters musical group. Sydney Devine, in tartan trews, ( is a Scot-angled rock ’n’ roller. ! Wilson himself wins mitting lor . his rendition of faves like “My Ain Hocse,” “Maggie Lauder” and “The Northern Lights of Aber¬ deen.” ; Tommy Loman, Scot comedian, has a too-slow act and holds up pace of layout, but Billy Crotchet, i a clown using lotjSa props and other business, wins yoelcs for his crazy interruptions. The Joe Gor¬ don Folk Four are a folksinging and instrument quartet of young males who exit to good palming, while Andy Stewart, a Mickey Rooney type of comedian, comes up with gac fodder and some Scot country ballads with a beat. Iso.bel , James, brunet looker, dances fresh¬ ly with the Scot Country Dancers, and Desmond Carroll leads a better-than-average native troupe of chor’nes (from the May Moxon stable) in terp’’ng. j Layout, with final lineup of j varied performers, is surfeited by ' Scot music which, nevertheless, • has s’rong appeal on patriotic grounds to locul outfronters. It is offbeat stuff after normal run of routine vaude acts. Gord.^L Patachou, besides her electric stance, is in fine voice and exudes the right mixture of healthy cvni- , cism and rugged individuality, ■ tempered with a knowing human- ; ity, to wrap her savvy songalog : into a boff appearance. She’s . plussed in being surrounded by an : excellent show which should have this bill in for a solid two weeks of biz. ! Patachou belts over her tales of Paris gangsters, the streets, love, ! interspersed with folky ditties, in i a knowing manner to make for : socko reaction. Teddy Reno, an • Italo crooner, backs her up in : second slot with ease in delivery and his personable projection (see New Acts). Joel Holmes displays a pleasing ! ruggedness as he authoritatively j gives out self-cleffed songs on old. r memory-evoking music. He is bud¬ ding into a regular staple and, with the right roadwork and launching, should eventually emerge as a. star here, Mady Rougey also shows future stellar possibilities in a voice with fine nuances, substance and pro¬ jection. There is still too much dependence on known dramatic ditties, A songalog of her own, and a channeling of her knowhow into a more personalized stint could turn her into an important new chantoosey here. Marottes (4) have delightful, bulton-eyed, puppets doing folk dances or indulging in rib-tickling scenes to make this an excellent filler and ripe for U. S.- video. Renald & Rudy are muscle men with rippling, hand-to-hand from prone positions. This is graceful and made to look easy by expert showmanship. It is heavily mitted. Jean Harold shows slides putting known heads in unusual positions and on strange bodies, for a clever offbeater. Andre Robert is an agreeable patter comedian and Saltano glibly •chatters while performing some clever magic bits and getting a good hand on his transformations in shedding and putting' on cloth¬ ing while firmly tied up. Mosk. I/Olympia* Paris I Pari'-. Feb. 24. Gilbert Beeaiid, Brenda Lee, UStcite Marchand, George Reich Ballet Ho HO), Maria Lerma, Jean-Marie Proslier , Linon, Jo Jac & Johnny, Jacques Bodoin; ?2 top. Empire, Glasgow Glasgow. March 5. Robert Wilson & White Heather Group (Gordon MacKenzie, Will Starr, Sydney Devine, Tommy Lo¬ man, Teiry O’Duffy), Billy Crot¬ chet with Jeannie, Joe Gordon Folk Four, Andy Stewart * Angus Fitchet & Cornkisters (4), Scot¬ tish Country Dancers (8), with Jfsobel James, Desmond Carroll and White Heather Girls (12), Bobby Dowds house orch. Gilbert Becaud is in good form and has come up with a new group of catchy, frenetic, se'f-cleffrd songs. He has a tendency to strain his voice at times but brings it off by sheer workmanship. Less man¬ nered than before, he now gives a fine production backing to his songs, and looks light for special¬ ized boite booking in the U.S. Brenda Lee, the 14-year-old American rock ’n’ roll singer, is relaxed and shows off her pro ars well. After Paul Anka’s hit with his breezy aplomb, she is more—as a curio a?«et rather than 'or her' solid abilities. But French were auite impressed by her showman¬ ship and ease. Colette Marchand, a class’c bal¬ lerina who has had some musichall experience with Roland Petit, man¬ ages to mix well with the hou-e atmosphere by playing up h w so id legs and playing down her cl^'c^l background. It almost comes off, especially in her cancan forav with the George Reich Ballet Ho. the regular house dance grouo. Jacques Bcdoin is a clever im¬ pressionist who gives pop singers a going over by uncanny imitations underlined by deft satirical shafts. ^Taria Lerma belts out some Ilis- pano ballads but overdoes bo’h voice and bodily movements f ir house presentation. It makes her mannered and more for in lime bpites than the more relaxed niu«>- hall boards. More ease and less forcing of her prnes coidd make her an okay staple, but the spark of individuality is missing. Jean-Marie Proslier patters fairly risibly on current events and Jo Jac & Johnny do a whims’eal c; til¬ ed v dance act in for laughs. They utilize slow motion terp and erra- : "c movements well, as well as trick breakaway musical instruments to make this a diverting entry. Linon is an oldtimer who brings a fine breadth of classical vaude. Dressed as clown, he cavorts on a tightrope and belies his mimed falls and fears by exemplary prow¬ ess. He gets big mitts. Show shapes for a good five weeks of b ; z if Becaud can hold out in his strenuous hour onstage. Two years ago he collapsed on the boards but came back the next day. He is a showman and looks to par- lay this entry into top biz. Mosk. Family fodder, attuned to Auld Lang Syne tastes, offered here by the White-Heather Group, headed by fave Scot tenor Robert Wilson, kilted warbler who specializes in I’ltirig heather-and-loch melodies. He adopts novel policy of linking J. L, Lewis’ 1-Niters Jerry Lee Lewis is set to resume theatrical engagements starting ; with a series of one-nighters March ,26. He’ll head a package which } will be booked by Circle Artists ICorp. Surrounding cast is still to {be set. j Engagement marks a switch from i the William Morris Agency which had been handling Lewis until now.