Variety (October 1914)

VARIETY 15 ^m\\v\ fflSsss w^ FREDERICK M.M5CLOY CRACKERJACKS. With the comedy division materially strengthened at the Olympic through the presence of a neighborhood nut named "Jake" who adorns a stage box seat every Friday and Saturday night, an Extended Columbia show sponsored by the Operating Co., was a riot last week. "Jake" is apparently a standard draw- ing card for the house, many inquiring if he had arrived before purchasing their tickets. He controls a trick laugh that graduates into a hysterical whine which threatened to stop the performance on several occasions. When "Jake" is an- noyed he turns toward the audience with a disgusted look, but when ex- tremely joyous he moans out, "Oh, My Gawdl" "Oh, Mamma, Me!" and "I Wanta Die." Working under the pro- tection of the house, "Jake" is a diver- sion for the average patron and com- bined with a good show, is worth double the admission. The "Crackerjacks" is especially adapted for the Extended route, with plenty of rough comedy, a passable equipment and a fairly good cast. The show is in the usual two parts with an olio of four acts between. The book, by Harry Cooper (also principal come- dian), is made up of burlesque "bits" with a light theme running throughout that neither helps nor hurts in gen- eral. Cooper's familiar comedy char- acter predominates in the performance, although he shares the center liberally with the other comics. Jack Dempsey and Harry Seymour also have comedy parts, the former a tramp and the latter a dope role. Sey- mour's work suggested he was picked at random to fill a part left over after the others had been taken care of. At that he did well, considering. Demp- sey's tramp bit made a fair filler. Lew Seymour and Fred Dempsey (the Sey- mours and Dempseys were in the ma" jority) played straight parts, both do- ing well. Gertire De Vere, Cecile Dun- ham and Grace Tempest handled the principal women's roles, Miss Tempest merely filling in without any important duties beyond her olio specialty. Miss Dunham carries a good voice for bur- lesque, looks good always and made a splendid principal. Miss De Vere's chief endeavors came in number lead- ing. The vaudeville section introduced Miss Dunham, whose song repertoire has been selected with care. She went the limit in bows and encores. Miller and Tempest with their "Kix and Trix," a unique semi-acrobatic turn employing some excellent work by Miller and just enough light comedy by Miss Tempest were one of the big individual hits. Al- though Miss Tempest is running a bit strong on avoirdupois, she retains her magnetism and excellent delivery. Seymour, Dempsey and Seymour took the olio honors with two good voices, a piano and an excellent lot of popular numbers. .1 ft «* r which Jack Dempsey introduce^ lis dancing !>it in tramp makeup. •Jempsey is a ..lever soft shoe man, t ad selected a poor character to picture his work. It seems a neat, dressy outfit would show off his work to better advantage besides giving it the added touch of refine- ment. The costuming, like the average Ex- tended show, has been picked accord- ing to circumstances and fits nicely without any suggestion of preten- tiousness. At times, Cooper runs a bit ahead of the limit in comedy, but per- haps gauged his work according to the audience, for what double entendre ma- terial was added at the Olympic went great. Here and there a piece of business appeared that looked familiar, one in particular being the duel scene, a dupli- cate of the one in the "City Sports" show, but figuring all the extended shows as little pals together, the sim- ilarity is probably excusable. The "Crackerjacks" will satisfy any extended house audience, for it's aimed to suit the 50 cent burlesque patron. FAY FOSTER SHOW. The "Fay Foster Show" is Joe Op- penheimer's attraction on the Progres- sive Wheel. One thing distinguishes it from the start, its chorus of 18 girls, nearly all youthful, good looking and possessed of voices. That most re- markable part of burlesque, a chorus ensemble who can sing, is in the Op- penheimer company. The girls display their voices indi- vidually in the "Follow Them Around" number, made a "chorus song," al- though as each chorister comes for-, ward, she sings a verse or verses and chorus of a popular melody. This helps to fill out the musical end, as there are not any too many of the popular songs in the regular list. The performance runs in the cus- tomary Progressive style, two acts and an olio. Lester Allen is the principal comedian, playing a Hebrew. He is a young fellow and capable of putting over comedy, and should develop into a comedian of value some day. Just now he seems to think that a catch line, "Oh, You Ought to See It" is worth repeating, and has it on the program as the billing for Fields and Allen. It is as small timey as it looks and sounds. Mr. Allen had better get rid of it, on the stage and on the program, also make his partner stop the slap-stick stuff of slapping his face with his open hand. This brings laughs easily for the olio turn, but it isn't the thing for a budding comedian. Besides similar acts of long ago in the varieties discovered that this slapping eventually tended to paralyze the muscles of the slapped face. The comedy of the show is begot- ten by Allen. Harry W. Fields, his partner, is an ordinary Hebrew straight. Harry Le Clair plays a few characters, in woman's dress, in his familiar way, hut does not do his vaudeville turn. Mr. Le Clair lends some weight to the show. The principal woman is Viola, of Boyd and Viola, who have a singing olio turn that just about passes. They could brush up their song repertoire for the act. Albert Boyd is another straight. Besides the olio division that also contains a stereopticon posing number headed by Mile. Elray is "The Moon Maiden" in the first part, the crane- swing over the heads of the orchestra in a darkened house. This was much liked by the Prospect theatre audience last week. The first part is "Cleopatra's Isle" that has some "Pleasure Seekers" ma- terial in it. "A Taste of Forbidden Fruit" is the burlesque, the old private dining rooms in a sectional restaurant that is so well known to burlesque, but worked somewhat differently here. Mr. Le Clair is credited on the pro- gram as the author. One of the favored number leaders is Martha Horton, a pretty girl, who does quite nicely in her own little way. Settings and costuming are all right, and the Oppenheimer show is a good average attraction for the second grade of burlesque; in fact, it's somewhat above the average of this season's out- put of that sort of a show. PROGRESSIVE TRIO PLEASED. Frank Calder, Sim Williams and Charlie Taylor arrived in New York early Wednesday morning of this week. When they emerged from the Columbia Amusement Company build- ing along toward the middle of the same afternoon they displayed an air of contentment and joy that strongly indicated the possession of documents carefully stowed away in their respec- tive inside vest pockets upon which the seal of the Columbia Amusement Co. had been stamped. The managers returned to their companies on the Progressive Circuit the same night. WOOD SHOW KEEPS ON. Joe Wood's "Maids of the Orient" (Progressive Wheel) will continue to play out its route, if possible, making arrangements direct with the theatres instead of through the circuit office. Wood signed Mollie Williams to extra-feature with the troupe at New- ark and Philadelphia for the weeks of Oct. 12 and 19. The Fields and Fields show will play the Trocadero, Philadelphia, next week, as originally routed. Olio Act Formed. Edna Green and Bobby Harrington are now working together doing their singing and dancing specialty in the "Transatlantics" olio. Went to Chicago. Billy and Violet Pearl Meehan left the "Follies Burlesquers" Saturday in Cincinnati and opened the following Monday for a vaudeville try-out in Chicago. CANCELLATION SUSTAINED. Pittsburgh, Sept. 30. An injunction which would have closed the Victoria theatre (Columbia Circuit, extended), was refused by Judge John A. Evans yesterday. It was asked for by Hugh Shutt, manager of the "Folly Burlesquers," billed to play the theatre this week. Manager George Gallagher, of the Victoria, asked Shutt to bear a portion of the expense of the extra attraction, Toots Paka and her Hawaiians. Shutt refused, and the engagement of his company was canceled. "Fay Foster's Show" (Progressive) was en- gaged by telephone to New York. In his petition, Shutt declared his company is losing money through en- forced idleness, but Judge Evans ruled the plea had no standing under his booking contract. TRANSFERRING CHI HOUSES. Chicago Sept. 30. Commencing Sunday the new Engle- wood (Progressive) theatre goes on the Columbia Circuit with Ed Lee Wroth's "Ginger Girls" the first attraction un- der the new management. The future of the Haymarket, on the west side, is still in doubt. It is almost directly opposite the Star and Garter, and it is hardly thought the Columbia people will take it over. "The Darktown Follies," a Progres- sive show playing the American Music Hall this week has not been notified of any further route and will probably close. The Folly, on the South Side, just outside the loop, is being remodelled and will shortly reopen. The Folly was taken over by the Columbia when merging with the Empire Circuit. I. H. Herk is in charge. J. Herbert Mack and Charles Wal- dron of the Columbia returned to New York this week after a tour of the cir- cuit. Out of Dupre Show. Withdrawals from the Jeannette Du- pre company recently include D. Van Valkenberg, business manager; Lillian Thorndyke, prima donna; Ray Burke, principal comedienne; Mae Francis, Dorothy Leslie and Marjolain D'lvory. Represented the State. James H. Rhodes, formerly manager of the Empire, Albany, and now located at the Gayety, Detroit, was recently honored by Gov. Martin H. Glynn with an appointment as a representative of the State of New York at the seventh anual convention of the Atlantic Deep- er Waterways Association, which was held in this city last week. Joining Eva Mull Co. Weston and Keith, Frank Reynolds and Harvey Lang have joined Eva Mull's "Follies of 1920." "i 'Midnight Girl" Going Out "The Midnight Girl" leaves New York Oct. 2, for Chicago, where it will open.