Variety (March 1915)

VAUDEVILLE WITH THE WOMEN By Thm Skirt Having noticed an advertisement in Varieti of Mme. Hammer's new dressmaking establishment at 129 West 45th street, I dropped in there the other day. I was much surprised to see such an artistic shop of! Broadway, where you expect those things. The show rooms are done in maple and blue. An elaborate display of stage and street costumes are on view. One must be a crank on clothes if not able to find something suitable. Mme. Hammer takes great pride in her special order department, and the materials on hand are certainly worthy a look, with prices remarkably low for these days, as dressmakers are charging. At the Liberty where the gigantic picture of "The Birth of a Nation" is exhibited, the girl ushers are dressed in the 1870 style. They look very sweet in the grey ruffled frocks and when seating the audience, upon returning the coupon, drop a curtsy. The men at* tendants are garbed in the army tihi- forms of the North and South. No play ever produced has the gripping power of this picture. All the women were crying, and not a few men. A New York theatrical manager, who has no Broadway house however, to manage, is bewailing the day he con- fessed to his wife. It happened in this wise: The manager was taken ill, and grew worse. Several things were on his mind, and it looked as though he had better say them quickly before too late. The manager and his wife had been most friendly during their long wedded life. She had been frugal and her husband had amassed quite some wealth. As far as the profession knew, he had never let a dollar get away from him until it was yanked when he wasn't looking. Thinking it better to leave this sphere with an unencumbered conscience, the manager asked for a minister. He had been taken ill some- where out of town and the minister of the denomination wanted wasn't handy. Accepting as a substitute, his wife, the manager told her everything. In the recital were many incidents that he would never have recalled, especially in the bosom 6f his family, if his physical state had been normal. The wife said nothing. Following the confession the husband commenced to recover. When it became a matter of a few days until he would be entirely well, his wife casually mentioned she had better pro- ceed to New York ahead of him, and prepare for his homecoming. The hus- band offered no objections and the wife left. When hubby reached New York he found an $8,000 automobile at the depot to meet him, with a liveried chauffeur at the wheel, while his wife reclined inside, with a brand new costly outfit, smothered with robes, and the machine drove him to New York's high- est priced hotel, where he was carried up to a suite that had been charged to him at $25 a day on a monthly rate. Asking his wife what it all meant, she replied that after listening to his con- fession, she thought it was her turn. From the start the wife made, the man- ager, has estimated his household ex- penses for this year will reach between ' $50,000 and $60,000. But he can afford it, although he remarked confidentially it is cheaper to die than to confess to your wife. At Hammerstein's this week Valeska Suratt is showing some mavellous clothes. She first wears a trailing gown of black velvet, heavily trimmed in brilliants. Over a short dancing frock of black chiffon and velvet is a jet and sapphire wrap. A striking costume is of jet, the skirt being um- brella in shape and trimmed oddly in blue feathers. A cloak of pompadour silk is trimmed in nichings of black. Underneath this coat was a beautiful dress of green trimmed in design called Dresden. Natural looking silk apples hung from the skirt. A coat of gold trimmed in fringe with gauntlet cufiVwas attractive. A wrap of orange velvet lined in green and trimmed in fur was gorgeous. Suratt's last cos- tume was in purple velvet, made trouser fashion, had a cerise belt and was trimmed in bunches of grapes. Miss Suratt's hats were mostly sailors, large and small.. One was a gauze that looked like a flower. Miss Suratt is wearing her hair extremely plain, and this style, that is so trying to most women, is very becoming to her. Mile. Doria with a tiny waist is neatly gowned in white with a bodice of blue velvet. Nan Halperin has a new wardrobe. A pretty blue satin dress ruffled to the waist line was first. Then came a new wedding gown. It was white taffeta, the skirt made very full and edged in a wide ruche. The pet- ticoat was in silver lace and the bodice was a basque, laced up the front. Queenie Dunedin is a very pretty girl whose act is novel. In a singing and dancing number Miss Dunedin wore a yellow dress with two flounces of lace. On the wire a short dress of yellow satin made in pinafore fashion was most becoming. On the bicycle, what seemed to be a union suit of white satin was worn. Maggie Cline was dressed in her green satin wit^j a man- tel of black, heavily jetted. The Colonial Monday night resem- bled the Metropolitan with the boxes filled with evening garbed women and men. From one box floated a Votes for Women flag. Lillian Albertson and her sketch were responsible for the suffrage contingent. It is too bad Miss Albertson had no better sketch to show her friends. But she did look like the nurse. Vaudeville would be easier to sit through if we had more acts like Beatrice Herford. Miss Her- ford was gowned in black satin trimmed elaborately in jet. Mignon, diminutive in size, tries several imita- tions but doesn't seem to strike any on the head. Her dancing surpasses her singing. In a white net dress over pink chiffon and trimmed in bands of silver Mignon looked dainty. Harry Hines (Hines and Fox) was conven- tionally dressed in an evening suit, a few sizes too small for him. "The Rosey Posey Girls," at the Columbia this week, is a peculiar show. Many people found it tiresome and walked out on it. The men are clever, but there seems to be too much of them. The women won't set burlesque on fire. Only one gives a good per- formance. She is Billie Davies. Miss Davies is a big woman whose dressing borders on the vulgar at times. In a white shawl with pink tights, and a black shawl, Miss Davies showed ev- ery line »f her figure. Sarah Hyatt wore some pretty clothes. A green dress was piped in red. A red dress was good looking. The chorus dressed well at all times. In fact, the numbers were all well staged and showed con- siderable thought. A "Panama" song was effective, with the stage draped in streamers with water effect by a pic- ture machine. One number was artisti- cally dressed in black and gold. The opening of the second act found the "ponies" in handsome soubret cos- tumes of different colored spangles. A team, called Gates and Gates, are clever dancers. Miss Gates dressed in good taste. NEW "STEP" SHOW SONGS. The Charles Dillingham "Watch Your Step" show at the Amsterdam is being kept in brightened condition through new songs and business intro- duced into the performance. This is the intention of Mr. Dillingham and Irving Berlin, who wrote the score. It is thought the production will remain at the Amsterdam over the summer. At present the newest songs are "Watch Your Step," sung by Vernon Castle in the last act, "Homeward Bound," which replaced "Move Over" in the Pullman car scene, and it now sung by Brice and King, and "Lead Me to Love," sung by Sally Fisher. The "Step" hits are selling at pro- duction prices, 18 cents a copy (whole- sale). About 200,000 have been sold to date. The leaders are "Syncopated Walk," "When I Discovered You." and "One-Horse Town." PATRICOLA. Called "The Queen of the Cabarets" in Chicago, Patricola is concluding a consecutive engagement of two months at Wallack's restaurant, New York, where she has furnished the entire eve- ning's entertainment for the big dining room of that hotel. Patricola, an extraordinarily clever singer of character songs, carries a white orchestra of seven men, also a woman piano player, who is a soprano soloist. Having achieved quite some popularity in New York Patricola is undecided whether to return to Chi- cago, where imperative engagements over the summer are even now calling for her presence, or accept a proposal to enter big time vaudeville in the east. If the latter is decided upon, she will probably open at the Colonial March 29. Harry J. Fitzgerald is looking after the vaudeville end. OBITUARY NotftOO «* *Mt» «f ra^no ^Mt dl fltlatlvM 9t •! sir at M Mats • rtt\st San Francisco, March 17. Lincoln Beachy, American aviator, during an exhibition flight for Exposi- tion visitors Sunday, attempted a dare- devil feat several thousand feet in the air in a monoplane. His mechanism went wrong and he dropped into the bay. Unable to release himself from the straps which bound him to his seat he was drowned. Beachy heretofore did his loop the loop stunts in a bi- plane. He's said to have had a pre- monition that he was going to meet death while flying. An effort is under way to erect a monument to the dead aviator's memory. He was one of the first over here to fly professionally. Chicago, March 17. Ben Rosenthal, traveling represent- ative for the P. M. Barnes Park and Fair Agency, died this morning after a short illness with pneumonia. Rosen- thal was formerly connected with the Western Vaudeville Managers' Associ- ation. He was 45 years of age. Los Angeles, March 17. Frank Stilts, airman, in the employ of the Universal Film Co., while "do- ing" a picture job in midair here yester- day, lost control of hit biplane and dropped 150 feet to his death. Archie MacKenaie, aged 70, manager of one of Gus Hill's "Bringing Up Father" companies, died Tuesday in Cambridge, Mass., of a complication of diseases. MacKenzie was with several K. & E. shows at one time, A widow survives. William W. Cole died March ^0 at the Hotel Biltmore, New York. He was about 68 years of age and a well- known circus man of olden days hav- ing retired some years ago after amass- ing considerable wealth. Julie Mooney, known as the original "Piff-Paff-Pouf" girl, died March 6 at her home in New York. In private life Miss Mooney was Kenneth B. Merrill. Gypsy Mooney is her sister. Louie Beniere, a contractor who was also a successful playright in his leis- ure moments, died at Rambouillet, France, Feb. 27, from the effects of a motor car accident George F. Arnold, father of Rena Arnold, died in Cleveland, March 4, of double pneumonia, following an operation. Due, a well known foreign tenor, died recently at Montpellier, France, at the age of 57. If you don't advcrtlM In VARIETY, don't advortlM.