Variety (November 1914)

VARIETY 17 Harry Bulger. Talk and Songs. 15 Mina.; One (Special Drop). Broadway. For his return to vaudeville, Harry Bulger, who has been experimenting with musical comedy for the past sev- eral seasons with indifferent success, has taken his idea from the trade mark of Smith Bros.'s cough drops. The opening shows a drop in "one" picturing what is supposed to be the factory of the famous candy cough cure, with the familiar photo of the brothers on the side wall. Bulger and his aide walk on attired as the Smiths and after a short introductory duolog, Bulger plunges into a discourse on the history of the manufacturers, which is followed by a series of comic lyrics. The talk is bright, and although containing a few "elders" is sufficiently strong to hold its own. A political number probably known as "Mr. Wilson's Alibi" should be discarded because of whatever poli- tical differences the average audience may represent. It is not very compli- mentary to the President and was not taken with very much favor. Another turn appearing later, singing, "Our Hats Off to You, Mr. Wilson," were reward- ed with a reception on the opening line, a fact which speaks for itself. Bul- ger's ability to handle his particular line of material in either talk or song is sure to get him over anywhere. He pulled a big hit at the Broadway and with a short workout should classify for the medium time, his one call on the big string resting on his reputation, which has not been over-strengthened during his sojourn in the legit houses. Wynn. John Burke and Co. (3). Dramatic Sketch. 15 Mini.; Full Stage (Special Set). Harlem O. H. Dramatic novelty with a bit of danc- ing interspersed. Two men and two women in it. Mr. Burke has the role of the old dancing master. He has adopted the daughter of one of his stars who has died and the act opens the night of the youngster's debut at Drury Lane. The old master has been dubbed a "has been." He sends the girl to the theatre and sits dreaming of the past, during which the mother appears before him and goes through a series of ballet steps. Following this Mr. Burke offers an old fashioned soft shoe dance, heartily applauded. At the finish the girl reappears, but one is left to guess whether or not her debut has been a success. The turn will fill a good spot on small time nicely. Sam Soder. Rhymster. 9 Mina.; One. Harlem O. H. Sam Soder has adapted Harry Breen's idea to suit himself and his talents and is presenting a rhyming stunt on the small time which he works straight. He is very bad on English, and this, with his poor personal appearance, makes it rather hard going for him at first. After the audience gets what he is doing, he passes nicely. His of- fering is one that is essentially small time. .* Homer Mason and Marguerite Keel- er (3). "Married" (Farce Comedy). 21 Mina.; Full Stage (Special Set; In- terior). Keith's, Atlantic City. Homer Mason and Marguerite Keel- er offer a remarkably clever playlet, entitled "Married," as a sequel to their "Lost Key." Not only is the idea novel, but the acting is refreshing in every particular. A feminine aphasia patient gets into the room of a hotel. A burglar who has entered before strikes her on the head which brings her back to consciousness. She rings ui- the doctor. He tells he/ to go to lied and wait for his visit. The burg- lar, who has been hiding, attempts to s'ip out unnoticed, but a key is in the lock and the man himself appears— intoxicated'. He imagines that he "sees", things, when he discovers the woman's clothing and later the woman herself in his bed. He reaches the conclusion he has married her while under the influence and didn't remem- ber it. The woman awakens and screams. He pacifies her by saying tliey arc married. A blow on his head from the burglar's sandbag sobers him. He attempts to reason out where he married the girl but to no purpose. She wants to dress, but the burglar lias made away with the clothes. The man offers her his overcoat, and they talk it over. The talk is remarkably well done in a clever and refreshing love dialog. The burglar again tries to escape and is captured. While the man is holding him the doctor calls up. Pell (Mr. Mason) answers the phone and tells the doctor he is married. He informs them that such is not the case as both have been in his private sani- tarium until a few minutes before the episode in Pell's room. Pell requests the doctor to send a minister. The burglar proves to be a kleptomaniac minister and Pell has him perform the ceremony. Mason is excellent. Miss Keeler has a charming piquancy that goes well with her naive work in the love scene. "The Witness" Dramatic Sketch. 17 Mins.; Full Stage. Grand O. H. (Nov. 1). A little dramatic offering that seemed to get past with the audience despite the principal male character persisted in acting all over the stage. Two men and a woman in the sketch. One of the men is the district attorney, the other his secretary, and the woman is the former's estranged wife. A man- about-town has been murdered in his studio apartment by a woman and the police have a suspect in custody. The D. A. is confident she committed the crime. The wife enters and pleads for the woman, stating she is certain of her innocence and finally makes a confes- sion that she is the one who killed the "rounder" after he lured her to his apartment and insulted her. The D. A. orders* the police to free the woman they have been holding and he and the wife sit down for a long talk at the drop of the curtain. The act has possi- bilities but the present company does not make tbf most of them. Carlos Sebastian and Dorothy Bentley. Modern Dances. 11 Mine.; Full Stage, Palace Music Hall, Chicago. Chicago, Nov. 4. Carlos Sebastian and Dorothy Bent- ley have arranged a new routine of dances, which they are offering in vau- deville. They open with "Romance De Fleur," a rather novel idea, in which the young woman attempts to keep a red rose away from the man during a fast dance, finally to yield it to him at the finale. Other dances in the routine are the "Sebastian Stop Step," "Valse Artistique" and the "Fox Trot." The dances are all lively, pretty well worked out, and some of such a novel nature they call out applause during the run of the act. Turn gets over nicely. Rebla. Juggler. 8 Mins.; Full Stage. Palace Music Hall, Chicago. Chicago, Nov. 4. This juggler, fresh from foreign shores, offers a novel idea in his line, elaborately worked out, and finished in its entirety. He has his stage set with two tables and a back counter. His act has laughs from the opening, with not a dull minute. One of the big l.'.ughs is when he knocks against one of the tables which collapses and falls on him, covering him with napery, dishes and cutlery. He works in a nonchalant style, thus living up to his billing of "The Unconcerned Juggler." The act is of such calibre that it would go well down in a big time bill. Dis- tinct hit at the Palace. "Vacation Days" (8). Musical Comedy. 25 Mins.; Full Stage. Harlem O. H. This act seems to have hastily been thrown together without apparent rhyme or reason being evolved when the finished product has been turned out. It is an excuse for a small time team to appear in numbers with three girls and three boys working as a cho- rus behind them. The chorus is one of the bad features. ' They cannot sing nor dance, and as that seems to be the reason for the act, why the less said the better. The act is prettily cos- tumed. Undine Andrews. Kid Impersonator. 14 Mins.; One. 58th Street. A little girl who is offering a kid characterization that will fit in nicely on any small time bill. Miss Andrews is a small blonde person, looking ex- ceedingly well in a little pink kiddy dress. She opens with a kid song that gets over nicely and follows this with a number of kid stories. Some are rather old, especially the one that ends with "Come in I tooked it off now," but the way she tells them gives the little yarns a new sort of atmos- phere and they bring laughs. She closed with another song that earned her three bows. Singer's Midgets (17). Lilliputian Vaudeville. 23 Mini.; Full Stage. Hammerstein's. Prodigies of the midget or lillipu- tion size are no longer a novelty on the American vaudeville stage. Sing- c'rs Midgets, a recent importation from war-bound Europe, make their play for popularity on the strength of their numbers and the versatility of the lit- tle people. The midgets combine a mix- ture of'variety, the act making the best impression with its concerted vocal ef- forts at the closing on the "Tipperary" number led by two of the company. This "Tipperary" song is put over in typical musical comedy style and is a valuable asset to the entire act. One midget is a miniature Sandow and makes some wonderful lifts for his proportions. One of the older little men puts two elephants through an in- teresting routine. A woman does pony riding which availed little. Nine of the midgets offered acrobatics, one show- ing more agility than the rest. Pyra- mids were in the majority. After a song-violin obbligato number by the man-woman "team," the finish came with the song. There are 17 in the com- pany. The program says 40. The re- mainder may have been too small to be seen. Robinson Brooks and Co. (5). "Pick"-Act 21 Mins.; Full Stage (17); One (4). Grand O. H. (Nov. 1). Act will not do in present shape. Badly put together and entirely too talky. Robinson Brooks does a female impersonation of a "wench" and "bawls out" her "husband" throughout the turn. Four picks try for singing and dancing. They are very bad in the former department and do not pull any- thing unusual in the latter. Weber and Elliott Singing and Talking. 17 Mins.; One. Grand O. H. (Nov. 1). Another "audience" act. Two men; the straight coming on and apologizing for the absence of his partner. The comedian coming from the audience, asks for his money back because he got in on a pass which he could have sold had he not come to the show. The straight invites him to the stage and after a little talk the two go into num- bers. They got quite a number of laughs from the Sunday crowd and seem to be a nice little comedy turn for small time. Margaret lies and Co. (2). Comedy Sketch. 19 Mins.; Full Stage. Grand O. H. (Nov. 1). Will prove a clever comedy sketch for small time providing it is cut down to the real meat in the idea. At present the turn is at least four minutes too long and consequently draugy in spots. Miss lies is a clever little girl who docs nicely with the material she has. Her support is not as strong as it should be. The man is clever enough, but the woman settlement worker is not. The act while a comedy has pathos, well turned to a laugh at the finish. When in shape, good for small time.