Variety (September 1913)

VARIETY 19 competent one in the matter of vdcal and histrionic talent, but apparencly totally lacking in the art of terplsi- chore. The majority of them of lio- vine stature, they essayed very little dancing. The musical numbers were accompanied by a little swaying and strolling of most amateurish concep- tion. A great "to-do" was made of the American, debut Monday night of Grete von Mayhof, a soubret declared to be famous in Vienna. She is nearly six feet tall and when her lover in the show calls her "My sweet little Helene" it got a laugh not designed. It is dif- ficult for a soubret of that stature to be "cute/' but otherwise she qualified, except when she essayed dance steps. The latter consisted mainly of lifting her skirts to her knees, not swishing them alluringly, but making exposure deliberately. If it be true that the Philipp's the- atre clientele is in search of "close to the knuckle" entertainment, it will cer- tainly revel in "Das Mitternachtmaed- el," otherwise "The Midnight Girl." Jolo. ADBLE "Adele" appears to have gone over. She made her debut in English at H. H. Frazee's Longacre theatre Aug. 28. The first night audience was joy- fully enthusiastic over the little musi- cal comedy, taken from the French, the English adaptation made by Adolph Philipp and Edward A. Paulton. The theme is old, but the music is new over here. It's the music that will keep it in favor on the American stage. One waltz number, entitled "Adele" caught on strongly. "Adele" brought a new player into marked prominence. That's Natalie Alt, whose first Broadway chance came with "The Quaker Girl" when she suc- ceeded Ina Claire, but her real oppor- tunity is now. Miss Alt has unques- tionably "arrived." The New Era Producing Co. (Jos. P. Bickerton, Jr., managing director) is sponsor for the play with William Ziegler, the millionaire, the "angel." The money has been well spent, the scenery being new, fresh and atmos- pherically adequate. The costumes are modern and worthy of the women's at- tention. As to the chorus, it's not large, but the women appear mostly for the purpose of showing off the wardrobe. A few men are thrown in —and "thrown in" is right, for they did nothing more than get in the way of the girls. Georgia Caine is the only other mem- ber of the female contingent to have a look-in, and she does highly satisfac- tory work. Miss Alt, however, walks away with the lion's share of the spoils. Hal Forde, an English actor, Craw- ford Kent, Dallas Welford and Will Danforth were the principal men. Forde has many long scenes and ac- quits himself creditably. Kent's role didn't seem to strike the right key. Welford and Danforth as the rival dealers in delicatessen commodities did well. "Adele" strings out too long for com- fort, but the opening night brought more encores than were necessary. It should bring prosperity to the Long- acre. Mart. DANDY GIRLS The Progressive Wheel won't find any fault with C. F. Cromwell's "Dandy Girls," at the Gotham, New York, last week. The Gotham the night "The Dandy Girls" was seen held a fair at- tendance, with no burlesque opposition against it in Harlem. The show was entitled to capacity. The first part ("It Happened in Havana") is the best It runs in 40 minutes, is lively and fast all the time, has 20 chorus girls, a male chorus and principals who are sufficient, excepting perhaps Max B. Davidson and Bert Lester, "Dutch" and "Jew," respective- ly. In the second part ("It Happened in Paris") these principal comedians are both Hebrew, with nothing dis- tinctively theirs. They take part in a "table scene" in the burlesque, where the three principal women are also en- gaged. It is a duplicate of the scene used in "The Roseland Girls" on the Eastern Wheel this season. No one can likely claim this bit Of all the principals, male and fe- male. Will Morton as a "cissy" did the best work. He appeared only in the opener, not used in the burlesque for some reason. Jack McSorley came next, as a "straight" man, who looked exceedingly well, carried himself with ease and worked in a natural vein. Rene Cooper is among the principal women, but has little to command at- tention. Marjorie Demarest is voluptu- ous and pretty, while Aleta Hall is the third, playing the elderly roles and es- saying a singing monolog as one of the three olio turns. Miss Hall can*t get away with it. Al Shore and Sam Lee in a singing and dancing turn in the olio are handling no steps be- longing to them but make a good act for the show. Each also leads num- bers. The third olio act is a "Visions D'Art," probably framed by the show management. It is badly done in every way. The olio needs a strong rough comedy act The chorus is very well dressed, so nicely at the opening all the girls looked pretty, but they are shown up in the first part finale, "Our State," a number taken from "The Follies" of some seasons ago, with the costumes and effect. It is made a "chorus num- ber" through each young woman hav- ing a couple of lines. Their attempts at delivery are funny, but another "chorus number" later on led by David- son and Lester is botched and seems to be used fof "stalling" purposes only. The entire show is short, and the last half drags through an evident desire to prolong it The numbers as a rule are good, of the popular sort, and everything about "The Dandy Girls" looks genuine, ex- cepting the aigrettes worn by Miss Hall. The principals dress well enough, the settings, both exteriors, are bright, even if sparse, while the entertainment, as such, built on former popular lines, certainly furnishes more as a real burlesque show than many of the new-fangled near-productions. There is enough spice in "The Dandy Girls" to whet one's appetite for that sort of thing, and burlesque can stand a little spice the way Mr. Cromwell puts it over. Cromwell has a real good show. When he straightens up the burlesque and olio i'.'s going to be better. Bim9. THE BRAUTY PARADE Credit is due someone for "The Beauty Parade" production, for, while the show is short of comedy, it is a strong effort to provide a preten- tious piece, clean in every way and as up to date as a burlesque show can possibly go. The wardrobe represents a liberal expenditure, backed up with two neat and carefully designed sets and a special drop for the finale of the first part. This speaks well for the production end, but a glance at the cast and the book finds a far different condition. The latter, no author credited men- tioned, just consists of numbers and music cues. The principals looked and acted as though they were simply play- ing "thinking" parts. Several spots the comedy came into its own, but these were few and far between. Practically all the comedy has been handed to Harry Fields, a capable He- brew come'dian, but hardly strong enough to shoulder his present task, for which at least one more working partner should be allowed. Occa- sionally Joe Mills, characterizing a rural constable in a unique way, pro- pelled himself into the picture and al- ways with good results, but another low comedy type is necessary to carry the show through. Perhaps the com- edy flaws would not appear so prom- inent had the stage manager bolstered up his musical end, but this also showed the undeniable signs of negligence. The chorus of 20 (ponies and show- girls) are the worst singing aggrega- tion ever assembled in one outfit, and if the "ponies" can dance at all they failed to show it. In the first section of the several songs rendered not a single one earned a legitimate recall, although a few seemed to fit. Aside from Countess Rossi, one of the prin- cipals, there isn't a good voice in the line-up, and the Countess wisely re- served her vocal strength for her spe- cialty. In the burlesque two numbers found their way to the hit column. A ballad handled by Joe Phillips and Lilla Brennan stopped proceedings • for awhile, and a little later Miss Bren- nan reigstered with a popular number in which some incidental business with the chorus did more than the lyric and melody. In the burlesque the Countess added a touch of class with her spe- cialty, doing well, too, but Mildred Gi'mour, who presented a similar bit in the first part (using a repertoire of popular numbers), failed dismally. Fields with some parodies lifted the monotony for a brief moment or two, but he could also improve his ma- terial. Of the comedy bits, all new, the best were handled by Fields, Phillips and Mills. A series of living pictures, the girls posing, did its share, and the finale of the opener depictin^^ a harbor scene touched that division off nicely. Miss Brennan and the Countess vied with each other for flashy costumes, the Countess just outdistancing her young contestant by a few points. James Howell played a semi-straight tole, and Claude Miller doubled for a Chinaman and English lord, doing the latter very well. Phillips in a light comedy part filled a gap. Virginia Zollman filled up in spots. There is a great opportunity here to PANAMA PANSIES Boston, Sept 3. Out of four of the Progressive Wheel shows which have chosen iios- ton to open in, this is the only oae which has fallen down, being especial- ly conspicuous because of the startliin.- ly fast pace of the previous three To be sure. Jack Perry was never accused of being especially burdened with a superfluity of either comedy or originality, and when he divorced him- self from his good old song, "Down in the City of Booze" (with which he used to open) he apparently abandoned much other stuff which was good. In the burlesque Perry appears only once in a sad semi-travesty on "Ten Nights in a Bar Room," taking the part of Joe Morgan straight like Simon Slade's whiskey. In this sam*- bv»- lesque Walter Vernon, who is »*iily hampered in the first part by the rJile of the gruff sea captain, takes hold of the comedy with a firm hand, playing straight Irish and using much of the drink mixing stuff which made Pat White famous. Unless Perry looks out, Vernon will take first comedy honors easily. In the opener Perry is using the ap- pearance of the tramp disguised as the first husband of a divorced woman and makes an attempt to dig comedy once more out of the face in the pic- ture frame thing, but it doesn't get across. ; "The Georgia Blossoms," a corking colored act, consisting of ten dancing Creoles and two colored principav§ playing at the Old Howard, were bundled Monday into taxicabs and shot to the other house, going on in ten minutes' notice and, despite orchestra troubles, saving the show. Lillian Perry and Ethel Hall ,;vvr a Cabaret specialty in the olio, eas ly the feature of the regular perforn-.,nc«, while Clifford and Rose, two local 1)03 s who do not shine in the performance proper, have a bright talking skit The Prospect Bellboy Trio are a fair act, but the best singer of the three had his training singing in a picture house, apparently,, as he has not a single ges- ture or change of countenance during his song. "The Panama Pansies," with two un- pardonable exceptions, has a snappy chorus with good lines (physical) and good voices, and in the time-worn liv- ing pictures one girl posing as Evr is a curly wolf and deserves the expendi- ture of a little better scenic stuff. The show needs three new costumes, opening and closing scenery, one new principal, a little original matter in the closing march, one more shift for ihr chorus, less responsibility on the minor principals, and the "can" for Perry's Joe Morgan stunt. Perry's main assets so far seem to be a loose pair of trousers, a whistling set of teeth, a good chorus, ard a position as star on a good circu . Goo' make a big show out of "The Beauty Parade." A general shake-up in tlixi cast with a few new faces and ' oinl voices would do the trick. Until doc- tored, the show will pain recognition only as a flash production, with tie general opinion a pan- show, .)rin- cipally through the hck of IniiKhing material. Wynn