Variety (January 1914)

22 VARIETY HARRY LAUDER SHOW The Sixth Annual American Tour by Harry Lauder, under the direction of William Morris, opened Monday night at the Casino, New York. Of course, Harry Lauder had to be there, and he had to be good after the show ahead of him, and he was good. Mr. Lauder sang two songs, new to New York. The first, simg second in the running, was "It's Nice to Get Up in the Morning, But It's Nicer to Lie in Bed," with a good lyric, the cus- tomary Lauder talk between verses and after, but the blunt point of the chorus is told in the title. That might be limited on the program to the first half of it. His second new one, the fourth sung, was "Ta, Ta, My Bonnie Maggie Darlin'," the tale of a soldier boy. It is humorous in conception and recital. Lauder makes it more so by dialog, while effecting a complete transforma- tion of himself in dress, aided greatly by a dapper little mustache that the soldier boy says he used to sit up nights in his tent to train. The other numbers have been done before over here by the Scotchman. His first was "Wedding Day"; third, "Roamin' in the Gloamin'"; fifth, "Wee House," and sixth (and last), "A Wee Deoch and Doris," during which the audience somewhat lightly joined in the chorus, upon invitation. Nothing much can be said about Harry Lauder that would not be a repetition. He has everything he had, from canes to plaids, without neglect- ing once more to mention that wonder- ful personality or magnetism that permeates the entire auditorium the moment Lauder enters upon the stage. Besides himself and his songs, which should always be mentioned in that order, Mr. Lauder has orchestrations which are proof in themselves this Scotchman is some showman. When he's off stage, he's there through his music, and the heaviness of the arrange- ments is thrown upon the brasses. It is used for the refrains while he is singing. If there is a swing to a Lauder tune you will never miss it. In this Harry Lauder is the equal of Sousa, who always had a fine line in the same way on how to obtain the best effect from an air. On this trip Mr. Lauder has as his personal orchestral conductor Horace Sheldon, a good, clean-cut looking young blonde fellow, who directs his orchestra very much, according to hearsay, as Jimmy Saylcs does it at the Palladium, London. If Jimmy Sayles is the corking conductor every- one who comes back from there says he is, James should be in New York. They have mighty few good ones over here. Sheldon did very well for the second show with an unfamiliar bam! that likely held two or three extra pieces. The remainder r»f the Lauder show carries little weight. Jack Ark opened with diabolo throwing. He has been here with other Lauder companies. A good <!.'abolist, Mr. Ark appears to think pretty well of his stage perform- ance, for he protracts it to unusual length. Monday evening lie missed his best trick, that of sending a spool on a thread to tho balrony--and he lost the spool, which fell into the or- chestra on the return trip. Mr. Ark announced it was necessary to have the diablo spinning at the rate of 3,500 revolutions a minute before the trick could be done. It was good if he didn't do it, but Jack might have in- formed the house what speed he did get that brought about the flop. To a layman it seemed as though Jack had hit up about 2,999. But it isn't required that Mr. Ark should speak at all; he's a diabolist, not a monologist. The first half of the Lauder show is so light Alfred Latell in his "dog" im- personation, with the assistance of I'llsie Yokes, was really liked, and put over a nice little turn. Carlos Sebastian and Beatrice (Billie) Allen from the New York Roof were added for their "society dances/' and did fairly well, opening after intermis- sion. Mr. Sebastian was handicapped by unfamiliar musicians and his part- ner. Sebastian can dance, as well as originate dances, but he needs music and a partner for stage work. That is vastly different from a dancing-res- taurant floor. Jeanette Crook Mcll- waine, also billed to dance with him, did not appear. Mr. Sebastian and Miss Mcllwaine do very pretty dancing on the Roof. Ethel Bourne, Mona Garrick, and Irene Bercseny (New Acts). Some of them must have been imported unseen. But the people want to hear Lauder, so what's the diff? Sime. A THOUSAND YEARS AGO "A Thousand Years Ago" on its Tuesday night opening in New York, received an enthusiastic welcome at the Shubert theatre. The verdict was the phantastical production should be successfully popular during the re- mainder of the season. The first night crowd thought so well of it they gave the three principals, Henry £. Dixey, Rita Jolivet and Jerome Patrick numer- ous curtain calls and finally dragged the author, Percy Mackaye, and stage director, J. C. Hoffman, to the foot- lights. "A Thousand Years Ago" was first styled "Turandot" after the Princess Turandot, in the piece, and around whom the story revolves. The play was shelved until William A. Brady thought it might do as a starring vehi- cle for Grace George. Brady and Miss George decided the thing was too Chinesy for her and the piece was again temporarily sidetracked. The Shuberts finally produced it, and now that it has gone over are congratulating them- selves upon taking the initiative. Renamed "A Thousand Years Ago," with Mr. Dixey as the featured player, the production entailed a lot of ex- pense. There is enough scenery to give part of the Hippodrome show. This romantic drama play brings one man into greater prominence than any other. That's Hoffman, the young stage manager, who has accomplished wonders. For a stupendous production there was not a single slip or miscue. Dixey has much to do and much to say and he acquitted himself after the manner of his Adonis days. In less competent hands the role of the rollick- ing, dancing, flute-playing Capocomico would have fared badly. Miss Jolivet has a part that's exacting and requires more than ordinary acting, yet she met each emergency. Perhaps the strain of so much dialog forced her voice at times to sound harsh and metallic. Fatrick deserves praise for the excel- lent manner in which he played the tempestuous young Prince. Frederick Warde was splendid as the Emperor. Jos. C. Smith, Allen Thomas, Albert Howson and Sheldon Lewis were effective members of the vagabond players' band. Smith whirled and pirouetted continually as the Harle- quin. "A Thousand Years Ago" may be compared to "Kismet" and "Sumurun," but it has much novelty, kaleidscopic splendor and sufficient romance to make it stand out on its own. It's Chinesy to be sure, with Italian atmos- phere, and the lingo of the understood English that's necessary to give it the right flavor for American appreciation. Mark. has not the usual rapid succession of ensembles. As an example between 8.35 and 10.15 there were but four or five, including the Tango finale to the first part and the opening chorus of the second. One or two solos were scat- tered through this time, which made up the body of the entertainment where ensembles would have been of vast effect. In place of this sort of display, the "ginger" before referred to was apparently substituted. Ru»h. TANGO GIRLS Charles E. Taylor's "Tango Girls" show is filled with off-color material. There is no very nasty incident in par- ticular, but the constant repetition of shady references, and the frequency of double meanings of a blue tint make i* apparent that the players are will- ing to pander to the lower tastes of burlesque audiences. There was a fair sprinkling of women in the Gotham audience when the show was seen, and they did not respond with any great readiness to some of the alleged humor. Even in the olio Boyd and Veola twisted the lyrics of familiar songs during a medley into a sug- gestive slant. There was no necessity for this sort of thing. Tony Kennedy, the come- dian, has real humor. When he wants to he can make his Irish character amusing without being messy, because he has done it in other companies. There was no excuse for one bit of dialog in which he was concerned in the first part involving an exchange of "family stuff" with Bertha Rich. As always in the Taylor troupes the numbers are nicely done. The com- pany has two first rate leaders of num- bers in Miss Rich and Mile. Veola, the latter getting her songs over in excellent burlesque fashion. Gladys Sears is featured among the woman principals. She makes a sprightly soubret and displays several uncommonly pretty gowns. One of flame colored silk worn during the first part was particularly striking She also docs an agreeable "single" as an olio number. The third specialty in this division was the turn of Collins and Hawley, an amusing arrangement of two-man conversation with a catchy opening in which the German comedian is disclosed in the audience. ' Eighteen girls make up a chorus aggregation rather above the average in appearance and have apparently been trained with some care. The evolutions get away from the conven- tional burlesque staging, and the mem- ! ers of the line work with spirit. The dressing is not especially pre- tentious, but is bright and reaches the standards set by the other organiza- tions of the Independent Wheel. In one particular the "Tango Girls" is somewhat behind the other shows. It UNION SQUARE There is better entertainment at the Union Square this week than for some time past. Individually the numbers are well enough, but somehow they do not work into an altogether satisfactory ensemble. There were three talking sketches, two consuming more than an hour. Three straight "singles" (of widely different character, however) and an entire absence of lively dancing did not help to give the show life. This was in some measure rectified by the fact that the comedy values of the show were good. It is evident that the Union Square audiences take their comedy in large doses. The hits of the bill went to Tom Waters, and Hussey and Lee, both acts delivering fun of the most robust sort. Waters got his best re- turns from the imitation of the debu- tante playing the piano, the mugging contortions that went with it were a "scream." Hussey and Lee scored most positively with their parodies and comic songs. The fact that this line of material got over best should fur- nish Arthur Klein with a hunch to book in a rough-and-tumble comedy bill of the "pop" class. With the class of audiences the Square is drawing now, a serious effort to give "dollar vaudeville" is an impossible proposi- tion. Florette opened with her equilibristic feats and contortion. Laurence Semon, sporting cartoonist of a New York evening newspaper, followed. Semon gets away from the established routine, and his sketches of baseball stars come nearer to artistic excellence than most of the work seen in this sort of offer- ing. Enrico Elsinor, a powerful tenor, who impersonated Caruso to the im- minent peril of the chandelieres, started a real demonstration. The Paul Arm- strong playlet, "To Save One Girl," was the feature. The sketch, previous- ly played at the Palace, has a new cast. The players are excellent, and the sketch has a sure enough "wallop" in the climax, but the audience was rather wearied after 25 minutes of aimless talk that led to the surprise finale. Mrs. Gene Hughes and Co. have a capital vehicle in "Youth." To be sure, the Square audience missed some of its subleties, but found plenty of amusement in the more obvious points. There is a good deal of sparkle in the lines, but Mrs. Hughes wisely does not go in for fine points, preferring to win the frank haw-haw than the educated chuckle. Harmes Trio, hand balancers and # acrobats, with a neat routine, closed. Rush. If yon don't advertise In VARIETY, don't advertise at all.