Variety (December 1912)

VARXITY TROCADEROS Until Minnie Burke hits the stage about ten minutes after the rise of the curtain "The Trocaderos" gave indica- tion of becoming a slow moving per- formance. It all changes in a second, however. With Frank Finney and Sam Adams following Miss Burke into the proceedings, the pace is struck and the show moves through without a let- up. "The Trocaderos" will stand com- parison with any of the burlesque shows touring this season. The whole is entirely satisfactory and far above the average. Scenically and from a production standpoint there are many shows on both Wheels that will outrank this one. The two-act piece holds an ex- terior and interior set, neither of which is elaborate, but both are adequate and a little different from the usual. The eighteen girls carried have not been liberally supplied with wardrobe nor is the dressing particularly dis- tinctive. The girls work fairly well, although in one or two instances they acted a bit drowsy. The numbers went over not due to their efforts so much as to those of the leaders. There were several that went very big. They were not of the sort that are called back because of a catch line. "Everybody Twostep" was made a hummer by Miss Burke. The show needs a male dancer who can work with . her. Murray J. Simons, an ordinary Hebrew comedian, would possibly fill the bill if he could be induced to part with the cre£e. His actions indicated ability, but not in the Hebrew comedy line. "Row, Row, Row," nicely presided over by Edith Shaw and a couple of comedy numbers by Frank Finney, also went big. John P. Griffith made him- self felt in the numbers through a good singing voice. In comedy the show is excellent. Messrs. Finney and Adams have sand- wiched in just enough fun making of the proper sort It is the truest ex- ample of what burlesque foolery should be, clean, without even the taint of the suggestive. It is all rapid fire, no long drawn out scenes nor frayed comedy bits. George Brennan is the juvenile doing fairly well without get- ting to the fore very far. He dresses and looks well. Following Miss Burke a good all- around singing and dancing soubret with a barrel of ginger, come Camille Farlardeaux, Elsie Leslie, Corinne Ford, Miss Shaw and Norine Holmes. Miss Farlardeaux, an impressive and stately blonde, answers the requirements, al- though her reading of lines could be improved. Miss Leslie in a slangy role did very nicely with the small part. Miss Ford had very little to do but her stage presence and reading of lines would credit a seasoned stock woman. The Misses Shaw and Holmes played together as sisters. They were good to look at and are far ahead of the usual minor role burlesque woman. In the matter of principals "The Tro- caderos" are strong, probably the rea- son the show is a very good one even without an elaborate production. THE DAFFYDILS. In the matter of principal women Sam Rice's "Daffydils" organization does far and away better than the general average of Wheel shows this season. Madge Hughes, Billie Hill and the Clark Sisters make a first rate quartet. Strong in this department, the show would pass in spite of other defects, but its deficiencies are a minor considera- tion, especialy since its comedy is well taken care of. With good principal women and a corps of capable come- dians, the fact that some of the talk is extremely old is a forgiveable detail. The comedy material was sustained only by the ability of the comedians in their horse play. Much better was the staging of the numbers. Whoever put the ensembles on knew his business. The stage evo- lutions were always snappy and well handled, and the finale of the first part was a wonder in whooping up rousing numbers. The music was a medley of the latest rag numbers, with the girls turkey-trotting about the stage in live- liest fashion. The climax was "Missis- sippi," the newest and one of the best of the current rag repertory. The "ponies," eight in number, walk down into the audience on the left side, pa- rade around the aisle to the opposite side, face around and sing one chorus and then parade.back. This maneuver started a riot The minstrel first part which is used in the opener is rather dull, although a number by the Clark Sisters helped a bit. Unless there is urgent need for a time filler, the bit might well be elimi- nated. The burlesque starts with a "hop" dream and becomes a sort of fairy-tale. The producer was so busy arranging pretty stage pictures he almost forgot to give the comedians an opportunity. The pictures were good to look at, but that scarcely made up for the ab- sence of laughter in the closing half. The production is in most respects satisfactory. There are several rather novel and extremely pretty items of costuming on view by the chorus and the principal women without exception dress well and in good taste. Miss Hill displayed an extraordinarily attractive model of Hussar arrangement involv- ing tights and in the burlesque was emphatically "there" in two creations of white and yellow satin. Miss Hughes dresses less ambitiously, but at all times looks well. The Clark Sis- ters run rather strongly to orthodox color schemes and models, but have apparently been willing spenders for their wardrobe. The specialty material is scattered through the burlesque. It is rather light, the best being the dancing of Besson and Hughes. Lew Seeker prob- ably started the season with a baseball monolog. Nothing remains of it but the opening song. The rest is scatter- ed and uncertain gagging in which he is abetted by Sam Rice. The show is entertaining enough burlesque. It does not touch the best shows of the Wheel nor class with the worst, but passes without violent com- ment either way. Rush. HINDLE WAKES. As a cleancut presentation of inter- esting character studies "Hindle Wakes" is delightful; as the startler promised, it falls down lamentably. Fanny Hawthorne's refusal to marry the young man with whom she spent a week-end from home lacks the "kick" that made England gasp. But as an intimate study of human action the piece is an exquisite gem. It makes little difference that it deals with a type little known to American audiences, the cotton mill folk of Lancashire. The real human note is there, and is not to be mistaken. Truthful delineation speaks in direct, forceful dialog and acting that is as satisfying and as devoid of ornamenta- tion as the roast beef of Old England. In respect of its unadorned simplic- ity and compelling sincerity, "Hindle Wakes" is another "Bunty." The characters talk in the picturesque dia- lect of Lancashire, a quaint mixture of Scotch burr and cockney, in which "happen" means "I dare say" and the article "the" is sadly neglected, a quaint and interesting speech which has a note of freshness on our stage. The play (opening at the Elliott Monday night) is by Stanley Hough- ton, who has written several short sketches. The story is rather bare. Fanny Hawthorne, a humble millhand, has left home for a week-end at Black- pool with a girl friend. They meet Alan Jeffcote, son of a millowner, and another young man. Alan and Fanny hit it off and journey in Alan's motor car to Llandnudo, where they register at a hotel as man and wife and re- main from Saturday to Monday. Fanny's parents become suspicious and the whole affair is disclosed. The girl's able-minded mother insists that Alan be forced to wed her, and the father is dispatched to present this de- mand to Nat Jeffcote, the rich mill- owner, who was the friend of his youth. Jeffcote is a man of old-fash- ioned principle. He breaks off the youth's engagement to the daughter of a wealthy merchant and directs Alan to wed Fanny on pain of disinherit- ance. Alan agrees. So far the story is in the approved family story-paper style. But when Fanny is brought into the proceedings the problem becomes distinctly "mod- ern." She calmly declines to have any of it. She will not spoil her life by wedding a man who will submit to the dictation of an able-minded father. In short, Alan is "Not enough of a man" for her. And so she departs, an out- cast from her home, to earn her liv- ing. Which is curious and altogether convincing but certainly not very dra- matic. Fanny is drawn as an individu- alist, but on the facts the suspicion will creep in that she is a wanton. A program footnote announces: "The company was organized and rehearsed in England by Lewis Casson, stage di- rector of Miss Horniman's noted rep- ertoire company of Manchester." Herbert Lomas as the unbending father brought no graces to his playing of a big part except the supreme grace of absolute sincerity. Alice O'Dea, the nagging mother of Fanny, drew a forceful portrait, and Kmilie Polini, in her ten minutes of oppor- 19 UNION SQUARE. (Estimated Coit of Show, $2,775.) It was old times again on 14th street when the variety stars of yes- teryear opened a week's reunion at the Union Square Monday/ It is not only "old timers'" week down there, but it is also the longest show that has been given in the house in some years; 11.30 the show closed Monday night with the old vaudevil- lians grouped together on the stage singing "Auld Lang Syne." John Le Clair, the veteran juggler, worked fourteen minutes, while Hines and Remington, assisted by Joseph Arthur, devoted twenty-five minutes to their "Notoriety" sketch, ending with their old curtain speech in "one." Mr. and Mrs. Harry Thorne and Co., with their trials and tribulations of married life, scored for twenty-one minutes, while Gus Williams filled in an ac- ceptable fifteen. In "Clancy's Ghost," Mark Murphy and wife played twenty minutes. Lydia Yeamans used up thirteen en- tertainingly. Miss Yeamans sang four numbers, her best impression being made with her "I've Got a Pain in My Sawdust," done in the plaintive tones a la Willa Holt Wakefield, who also uses it. Col. Sam Holdsworth, the eighty- year old tenor, followed. He put over each of his four solos effectively. His "Silver Threads, etc.," and "The Hand of Memory Weaves the Blissful Dream of Long Ago" were the best liked. Holdsworth worked fourteen minutes. Ward and Curran and their "Terrible Judge" act had 'em laughing good and hard. They did twenty-three minutes with John P. Curran singing several topical song hits. Maggie Cline was the big hit of the night. She was on view just one-half hour. Miss Cline has her act running much better than on previous appear- ances, doing some excellent work in her closing number, "None of Them's Got Anything on Me." She has some new patter with this number. It re- ferred to Bernhardt's present vaude- ville tour. Caron and Herbert came on after 11 o'clock, but the audience showed its staying qualities by sticking to the last. Fourteen of the "old timers," in street clothes, lined up for the finale. Mark. tunity during the last act, disclosed a positive genius for unaffected, genuine acting. The construction of the play is most unusual. It is in four acts, the first in the humble home of the Hawthornes and the other three in the breakfast room of the Jeffcote home. The sec- ond act is divided into time periods by the momentary lowering of the curtain. Between the first and the last acts the heroine does not appear, an arrange- ment that might endanger the interest in the character. But it undoubtedly paves the way for the bin final scene, in which she is involved. Americans will probably not expe- rience the shock that agitated England over "Hindle Wakes." Our social con- ditions are rather different for one thing. But they should find the offer- ing an interesting novelty. Rush.