Variety (January 1917)

£f •*■■—■ • * • ._ ___ 13 AMONG THE WOMEN = Brandt and Audrey*- a * ik° Amen- can, do a clever skating act The girl appears in a purple velvet bodice and skirt of chiffon of the same shade. A two-flounce silver lace dress is the sec- ond change. Then there i» a pink vel- vet coat edged in white fur. liable Harper, calling herself a "cut." is aptly named. Miss Hirper has a lot of fun with a ribbon bandeau. Her dress was a simple lace affair. The girl at the flano was the better dressed of the two. ler, dress was of gray charmeuse. The four women of the Tyrolean Trouba- dours were becomingly dressed in na- tive costume of black velvet with Ens and shawls of emerald green, girl of Clark and Chapelle dresses r in a gray suit faced in rose cloth. Paul Armstrong's old-time sketch "Woman Proposes," pleased the patrons of the roof. The four girls are clean- looking, especially the lead. Her dress was of white satin with a rose chiffon top. The hips were of bronze. BY THE SKIRT, blue and white striped. material. The bodice has a standing collar around a lev neck. The Columbia theatre audience got its money's worth, for if there is one man in burlesque who gives a good show it is Frank Finney. The woman frincipals are alive and up to date, da Emerson, a good-looking woman of the matronly type with one of those*' well-corseted figures, was splendid in a navy blue chiffon. A gold hat had two black wings. A sport suit con- sisted Of a skirt and sweater of yellow and white silk jersey cloth. Another dress was of white lace with tiny blue ruffles and the bodice of the blue also. Florence Mills' first costume was of furple sequins made with a harem skirt, n this dress Miss Mills looked old, but when she appeared a second later in a white tailored suit she was in the chicken class. Miss Mills made many changes, every one an improve- ment on, the last Another miss who spent a great deal of time changing was Mae Holden. Two of her cos- tumes were lovely. One, a white dress trimmed in maribeau and a navy blue soubrette dress. Another pood-looking dress was of orchid taffeta over white lace. The chorus is sadly in need of clothes. One or two numbers could pass, but on the whole they were not only soiled but torn. The opening of the second act was the best-looking set They were black satin made long and embroidered in gold. Large hats with feathers made a good effect The Palace show isn't any too good this week but the audience didn't seem to mind. Marion Weeks was in" blue and silver, made in two silver flounces edged with blue net How the act called "The Night Boat" got jnto the Palace is beyond me. Class goes with the name Palace and that act doesn't belong. Elsie Glynn appears in a black silk dress covered with a figured tulle. A change is made to a gpblin blue silk made with a lace yoke and a sash of the silk. Clark and Berg- man, always a well dressed act, have outdone themselves this 4rip. Miss Clark, after a nurse's costume, wears a white net and silver. The net over the silver petticoats is cut in innumerable points, each finished with a tiny orna- ment A mauve net with a spangled panel back and front was exceptionally becoming to Miss Clark's blonde type. Still another change was a pale blue lace made in seven ruffles. Two pret- ty girls in the act are Minna Marlin' and Louise Dale. Miss Marlin was in apricot charmeuse over gold skirts. Little Miss Dale was a real soubrette in a blue froclr made very short. The bod- ice was of gold and had one sleeve also of gold. A good-looking blonde with A. Carr is Heler*. S«*vil?*. Miss Seville wears a blue velvet suit, changing to a dress of black velvet with surplice col- lar and-cuffs of white linen. Anna Wheaton (with Harry Carroll) has a new dress for her opening song. It is chiffon at the hips with a wide hem of Frances Starr is a very nice good girl, but more interesting when she is ad on the stage. 'The Little Lady in Blue." at the Bclasco, would have been all right, perhaps, for one of our near- stars on Broadway. But it is a shame to foist such drivel on so clever an actress as Miss Starr. The period is a hundred years back and in the simple old-fash- ioned hoop skirts Miss Starr was very pretty. A blue silk was oddly embroid- ered in white. There were the poke bonnet, mitts and parasol to carry out the picture. In the last act Miss Starr wore a white organdie. Mary Nash is doing her best work at the Playhouse in "The Man Who Came Back." The man is Henry Hull and a right good actor this young fellow proves to be. The entire cast has been so well selected one is assured of an interesting evening. x Miss Nash as a cabaret singer wears a bright red net In the last act for the minute she ap- pears Miss Nash is in a black silk dress and a white hat Clark and Bergman have come into the Palace with a brand new act and a good one, too. Gladys Clark, look- ing prettier than ever, wears innumer- able clothes, all of the fluffy lacy style. An orchid net is made over a pink foundation with panels of gold se- Suins. A white lace is made with three ounces and sides of net cut in points. Still another frock was of pale blue with a skirt ruffled to the waist line. The bodice was silver. Two young misses, Minna Bergman and Louise Clark (nieces of Mr. and Mrs. Berg- man) were beautifully dressed, one in a short blue soubret dress. The ma- terial was embossed in colored fisrures. The bodice and one sleeve were of gold cloth. The other dancing frock was of silver lace petticoats with an overdress of apricot satin caught up at the hips with yellow feathers. The show at the Columbia last week called "The Hip, Hip, Hooray Girls," is above the average burlesque. If the women had better voices nothing more could be asked. Ben Pierce, the come- dian, is funny in a quiet way. Tie dressing of the chorus is splendid. The opening has the girls in evening dresses, all in a variety of styles. Most are made with hoops. The smaller girls come on in short pink dresses trimmed with blue. Upstage they don mantles of orange and white stripes. Underneath are one-piece bloomer suits of cerise, green and pink. Good looking bloomer suits are of white satin with stripes of jet High medici collars of white net and caps of jet are also worn. Then there were gray chiffon bloomers made very full and caught to the wrists. Lavender dress- es were made with short skirts hooped at the hem. Pansies were used for trimming. Mauve velvet union suits were combined with cerise. Helen Vreeland wore a white dress made with a full skirt trimmed in crystal. An- other pretty dress was of white taffeta with three bands of insertion topped with a tiny ruffle. The bodice had an old-fashioned bertha. For her special- ty Miss Vreeland wore pink chiffon. Tillie Storke has a good-looking gold dress. The lining is pink. May belle Mahlum is the best dressed of the women. Her clothes all look new. Miss Mahlum's first dress was mauve net embroidered in silver. A very neat suit had a white skirt with black stripes running arcund thr :!::rt A green coat had collars and cuffs of gold lace. The flat hat had an opening in the front with net set in to see through. A diving act was very well done by six good-looking girls who did sev- eral difficult dives, %^ J\ U J\ £\. JEL 1 *m5 "The Plaza Girl" opened the new Plaza restaurant at Flatbush avenue and Fulton street, Brooklyn, Dec. 27. The new restaurant is of three floors, with a cabaret or revue performance on each. It is a big place for Brooklyn, in the main district of the city and al- most opposite the Ritz restaurant that has had a monopoly of the cabaret business over there for a long time. The Plaza proposition seems to be whether it can hold Brooklyn at home o' nights. Brooklyn's best have been coming over to New York for its after dark entertainment The Plaza is roomy enough and its ballroom on the top floor, where the revue will give the midnight performance, is a very spa- cious place. The dining room below is for the dinner trade, the revue first ap- pearing there at seven. The lower floor has a small dancing space and holds a cabaret show. For Brooklyn, where too much has not been seen in the cabaret revue line, "The Plaza Girl" may prove an attraction. "The Plaza Girl was put on by Dan Dody. It has about eight principals, including a male trio, an orchestra of eight pieces led by Mel Craig and a chorus of 10 girls. Among the principals are Coral Melnotte, Jack McGowan, Ursa McGowan, Ruby Wal- lace, Harry Gailand, Zella Clayton, a Spanish dancing act and the Elk Trio. Several numbers are given that have no particularly novelty, although Miss Melnotte, by far and away the best performer of the show, looked very nice in a pajama costume and led her numbers excellently. Her working partner, M- McGowan, a presentable young fellow, was troubled with his voice at the opening show. Miss Mc- Gowan, a youthful and good looking girl, had animation, but the other women, including principals and choris- ters, failed to make any impression through looks or work. The numbers used were lively enough, two or three costuming schemes merited approval and a flag finale to pleasing music helped the revue along, perhaps to the satisfaction of Brooklynites. Satur- day McGowan "walked out" without notice and before the first week had ended. He was replaced by Harry Dehnar. The "Elk Trio" also left, by request, with their brand new evening clothes that looked to have missed their right owners in the dr*«Aing room. Peterson, Fields and Morrison filled in the vacant places. For Brooklyn, though, and this may be all important, it's likely to be called a good free show. The Plaza restaurant will likely hang in the balance for a while, between the best and the ordinary trade, but which- ever way it falls, it stands a good chance of making money. New Year's could not have broken worse for the New York hotels and restaurants. Of the three nights from Saturday to Monday, Saturday was the best along Broadway. Yet the restau- rant men did not so view it since Satur- day is ever their big night. Sunday was rather uninteresting along Broadway until about 10.30, when the nearness of the incoming year livened the streets up a bit Following police injunctions, however, nearly every place closed be- fore two, including Jack's, a restaurant that has been opened 24 hours daily for years. One or two of the Broadway places after the regular closing hour served guests in private rooms. The excise law forbids the sate of liquor between midnight Saturday and 6 a. m. Monday. This section was applied to the after-midnight closing Sunday. ■Road house* jus* outside New Yorfc's- city line profited by New York's rigid rules. These road nouses were packed, several having been swamped with reservations and they stayed open as long as the crowd remained. In some of the small towns they are located in there are no police at all. The New York situation was brought about by agitation oyer the Sunday-New Year's Eve. It is said a hotel proprietor ex- pelled from the hotel men's association a few years ago accepted the oppor- tunity to make the agitation more pro- nounced to secure his promised re- venge upon the men who expelled him. Monday night (New Year's) was very mild, with Broadway ordinary in ap- pearance through the preceding two days and the working Tuesday morning giving everyone a chance to dodge the restaurants' invitation to make Mon- day night the official celebration time. The most popular attractions in Chi- cago cabarets are now the Jaz Bands or Orchestras, and every cabaret, re- gardless of its size, has a Jaz aggre- gation. Bert Kelly is credited with the introduction of the Jaz Orchestras in and around Chicago, Kelly featuring his own organization at the College Inn, beneath the Sherman House. Kelly also has placed Jaz orchestras in the Fort Dearborn Hotel. Grand Pa- cific Hotel and Al Tearney s cabaret on the South Side. The College Inn Jaz combination is probably the best of the local outfit with Kelly at the banjo and Gus Mueller playing the saxo- phone. Kelly's crew plays for the dances between the ice attractions which give the show proper on the floor rink. At Harry James' Casino on the North Side the Jaz band is also a big drawing card, but James has strengthened his amusement end there with a so-called Jug band. The Tug band is a Jaz band with a "Juggist" blowing base notes into an ordinary whiskey* jug. The tone resulting re- sembles the music of a bass viol. San Francisco ushered in New Year's eve Monday morning, the officials at a late date setting the celebration off un- til Sunday midnight, at which hour the cafes were permitted to serve drinks and open their dance floor. The hilar- ity, however, was allowed to last but two hours, tne restrictions calling for drinks to be served not later than 2 a. m., with dancing to continue all night if desired. Permission was granted to' those who paid for drinks before the hour to continue until such time as they clean up the remains, and still be within the law. Business all ' over town was very good, with reser- vations practically giving every estab- lishment a capacity crowd before the festivities were under way. Doraldina was to have opened at Reisenweber's last night, for an in- definite engagament, having left Mont- martre Tuesday of last week. Negotia- tions were on between Doraldina and several shows, including the new pro- duction for the Cocoanut Grove on the Century Roof. Clifford C. Fischer, who operates Montmartre, alleges a three- year contract with Doraldina and may test the legality of her present engage- ment. The dancer made her first ap- pearance at Reisenweber's and left there when receiving $200 a week. She is re- ported returning for a weekly salary of $600. The Knickerbocker Hotel New York, claims a business of $45,000 In its restaurants during the three New Year's days, 950 bottles of wine were sold New Year's Eve. some running to $12 (vintage) a bottle. Jack Bustanoby hss taken off Les -FleuTa.-cvn West 43th -street" Les- Pleura went into the hands of a receiver some time ago. It's a side street place seat- ing about 300, with a low rental. The Islesworth Hotel Atlantic CHy, has an ice rink.