Variety (December 1913)

VARIETY 17 NEW AGR NEXT WEEK falttal Of FInt ApptwiM In or Around Now York 12 OlympU Girlt, Palace. Chrii Baker, Palace. Laswell and Rawland, Fifth Ave. Whirling Brfordi, Fifth Ave. Hoyfa Minstrel^ Fifth Ave. Jack Boyce, Fifth Ave. <The Willow Pattern Plate." Chineae Muaical Oddity. 25 Mina.; Full Stage (Spodal Setting; Exterior). Fifth Avenue. •The Willow Pattern Plate" by Eugenie Magnus is tragedy in song as enacted on a willow plate pattern of Chinese origin, which stage effect in blue and white is unusually effective as shown for the first time at the Fifth Avenue Monday night. According to the program, the action is supposed to take place during the reign of Kang- Hi (1661-1722). The billing also says Morey, Creamer and Ward do the •presenting" and that the act was staged under the personal direction of the author, assisted by George Ingle- ton, producer of "Bunty Pulls the Strings." It's an elaborate affair scen- ically, but musically it shows nothing oat of the ordinary. There's one strain about ''Lady Love" which is the most lasting of the little score, but the music as it runs for nearly a half hour is hardly strong enough to carry the act over for any great returns. William Pruette is featured and works heroical- ly to keep up the offering. Vernon Dalhart sings the tenor role of the young fisherman who woos Nieou-Chie (Louise Bninelle), the mandarin's (Mr. Pruette) daughter, only to be sentenced to death. Dalhart has some tricky solo work and gets away with the greater part, although one slip during a song offstage hurt him for the remainder of the evening. His voice is musical and of high range, but he attempts to soar •hove the "range." Pruette, of course, handled his song allottment in his usual finished manner. His mandarin was in keeping with the color scheme. Miss Bmnelle acted stiffly and lacked repose. Her singing met favor. Dorothy (jrace, Gwen Rayner and Edith War- ren were "three wise men" who neither SAng, danced nor talked. This musical piece with its Chinese atmosphere is tragedy, grim and depressing, and leaves such a dark taste one forgets that "Lady Love" melody which light- ened the gloom. The death of the daughter and the ghostly apparition of the lovers at the finale with the man- darin sobbing over the form of the girl will not be particularly relished by anyone. The producers have gone to much expense. The "Plate" setting is decidedly a novelty and catchy; 25 minutes of sad stuff doesn't make the right appeal from a vaudeville stand- Point, although it may add novelty to a bill. Mark. Bert Williami. Songa ond Talk. 33 Mint.; One. Palace. Bert Williams returns to vaudeville after his long stay in musical comedy as a feature of Florenz Ziegfeld's pro- ductions. He has a series of new songs, with a few scattered bits of talk. At the Palace this week he is demonstrating his strength as a draw- ing card. With things theatrical at a low ebb in the other show shops of Broadway, consequent upon the close approach of Christmas, there was a turnaway at the Palace Monday eve- ning. Williams' one best bet in the new repertoire is "We Play According to Me," the lyrics of which recite the dictum of a darktown sport to his fel- lows at the poker table, after he has lost his roll in the game as played "ac- cording to Hoyle." These lyrics might have been written to accompany the now famous pantomime bit in which Williams pictures a deal at poker. That could be introduced as an inci- dental to the song with capital effect. Monday night Williams sang five songs and told two stories, and was then called back to do the poker pan- tomime and sing "Nobody." His regu- lar routine occupied about 25 minutes, and the encores the remainder of the 33. The audience insisted upon "No- body" and refused to let him go nntil he had sung it. Then the colored comedian had to make a speech. It is regrettable that he has not more of his inimitable stories. The two delivered as incidentals of songs in the present are poor successors to those classics of "the African dodger" and the man who "wouldn't want any fish next Sun- day either." Williams has the story- telling gift in a degree possessed by few. It's a pity he puts it to such poor use in his present turn. He does practically none of his old style of dancing, the lazy, loose jointed step- ping that was so funny, but has a screamingly funny burlesque of the tango, which made up for it. Of course, he "cleaned up" at the Palace. Rush. Parello and Frabeto. Songs and Muaic. 11 Mina.; One. Columbia (Dec. 21). Parello and Frabeto are two boys dressed in the velveteens most of the stage-Italians affect. One of the youn^ men is a very fair entertainer, and does not seem to be an Italian by birth. He does most of the singing, though both do enough for a couple of acts. When they are not singing, they are playing musical instruments, one a guitar and the other an accordion. The act will do nicely on small time. 8ime. .If ro« don't adTertlM In VABIBTT, Hartley and Pecan. Talk and Songa. 10 Mins.; One. Columbia (Dec. 21). The only moment of interest during the Hartley and Pecan act is when the young woman does some crying in the conversational argument over mar- riage and their relatives. The talk itself holds no especial interest, nor do the songs the two people sing. The boy dresses in a very light sack suit and wears a derby of the same shade. As now framed, small time, Mim^- Prince Lai Hon Kim. Chinese Tenor. 10 Mina.; One. Palace. You'd never suspect the Prince was Chinese if it were not for the fact that he wears a flowered coat with flappy sleeves and his eyebrows point northeast and northwest like Frank Daniels'. There is not a hint of a dia- lect in his speech. Indeed, he speaks better English than the average of English-speaking actors, with broad vowels of ultra-Bostonian extraction He sang "I Hear You Calling Me" with perfect enunciation, and the audience found nothing humorous in the Chinese idea of the song that John McCormick and the talking machines made familiar. He closed with "The International Rag" translated into Chinese. Except for this item, his act was perfectly "straight." He has a rather agreeable tenor voice. The turn does very nicely as an oddity. Cer- tainly a Chinaman who pronounces "last" as "lawst" and talks University English is an interesting freak. The audience took him seriously . and seemed to be entertained. Ruth. Five Hayward Siatera. Muaic. 20 Mina.; Two (Plush Curtain). American. Five women have arranged a musical act which should have no trouble in getting them time in the pop houses. They carry their own lighting outfit, introducing a lighted cross on the cur- tain upstage during the "Rosary" num- ber on the one-stringed instruments. There are solos and group numbers with the brass, the popular stuff get- ting a nice hand. The song number at the piano by two of the women could just as well be omitted. It got nothing Tuesday night. Mark. Polly Prim. Songs. 15 Mina.; One. Bronx. Polly Prim is a clever girl, without the right material. That explains everything. Miss Prim opens with a song, entitled "I Want a Rainy Day, Pal," dressed in a rubber coat and hat. After one verse and chorus she drifts into a sentimental recitation. It places a dampener on the act right there. If Miss Prim must recite, why not wait until the finish? The second song was "I Tried to Be a Lady," rendered a la Irene Franklin. The last number was the best. It told of the way different men make love (doctor, baseball player, etc.). Miss Prim has a pleasing way of getting a song over. Ve«ta Powell. Freeman and Carr. Singing and Dancing. 10 Mina.; One. Bronx O. H. (Dec. 21).. Some singing, an exchange of patter with one man affecting an Irish dialect, and soft shoe dancing. Play is made for comedy thiough interruption by the comedian. The men did their best work with the soft shoes, the dancing being sufficient to hold them in esteem in the pop houses. The straight should pay closer attention to his dressing. A yard or two off that brown suit any- way. Ifoi^f NEW SHOWS NEXT WEEK Initial Presentation of Legitimate Attractlona in New York "lole," Longacre (Dec. 29). "Girl on the Film," 44th Street (Dec. 29J. Anns Held Company, Casino (Dec 29). *«The Philanderer." Little (Dec. 30). LUy Long. Songs. 12 Mins.; One. Columbia (Dec. 21). Lily Long is an English singing comedienne, long and lanky, calls her- self "Skinny Liz" and otherwise pokes fun at her angular figure. Miss Long is the girl who came across anticipating a long route over the big time vaude- ville circuits, but found herself cut short after appearing for one week at Proc- tor's, Newark. Take away the eccentric clothes Miss Long wears and her work remains all about the same. Even her style of comedy dressing is similar, one- piece dresses with tight skirts, causing her to dance with difficulty. Her dance steps show no versatility. She is a high kicker and can do the Charlotte Greenwood thing, of swinging one leg in a semi-circle before her. The type of eccentric singer Miss Long presents has been seen over here before, more or less exaggerated from the specific type as given by her. Nellie Wallace was one. From the "Dame" character as it is known in England and has been seen in America, Miss Long appears to be a female extract. Sunday she did three numbers at the Columbia. Practically everything she had to offer was contained in one of them. The others were merely repetitions. She sings pleasantly, but for this country and in vaudeville an eccentric come- dienne must be eccentric and a real comedienne. Her first number was "I Wanted to Go Into Vaudeville," the next "It's Me They Mean" (or "Here Comes Skinny Liz"), and the last, "Where Has My Georgie Gone?" In the latter the singer wore a red cover- ing over yellow pantalettes, with a bunch of roses at the waistband in the back, much as Daisy Harcourt at one time wore a rose. Her first costume was of white and black stripe, and the second a yellow. It seemed as though she had them all on when entering, just stripping down and changing hats. Miss Long wouldn't have a chance ever here on the big time. She is doing nothing that has not been done be- fore. On the small time she would go through without attracting undue at- tention. If there is any opening over here for her at all, it would be in a production to take care of a bit that called for eccentricity in dress and form, where her "Greenwood kick" might come in handy. But it could onVy be a bit. fiime. Varre Brothers. Acrobats. 8 Mins.; Full SUge. Bronx O. H. (Dec. 21). Two men in "Tad" and "Chink" characters go through an excellent routine of ground tumbling although they could get better results with more speed. Good acrobats, and will give satis^ction on any three a day bill. Mark. (Continued on page 19.)