Variety (October 1919)

ENtS IN EUROPE 1SI d^MlKt^imtiKatefy on the Mgakig •/ the AtmiiUee, tnt •fter he had obMiuA h^JOa^ nat<v, B eifi eit TaMbot mrmnoed tc go to comtinental EMUrop^mmr oMwr oB Ui« important amiM«(wflt:.«M(rat caclttirfww /nr VAI^BTY. .iyMtotebt^ it the ueomA^mmlie Stabto vil^WMfM GjN^tf^ir.«* the mment. - J London, Sept 12. . 3tie .,^^^ situation in Germany today is probably the most striking par- lidoz of all the paradoxes in this topqr tiirvy land. I». Berlin, for Instance, there are doBO to l.OOO picture bosses, 60 Uii^KtrM. Ja. which .the apoken drama is -IkSitt'V p w i ii cB tfdi; ^ eoncwf halla ant- tmohameeetwtuAojtm oidy tm» TOttdovflle bouaea. . Seven nights a week the ■Winter.Oat^ den and tbo Apollo (the only two pUUMi In Berlin where vaudeville holds the boards) are Jammed fo the roof—and the overflow from each house always big enough to" All another. The acts are all received with enthusiastic applause. So far as surface iodlcations go vaude- ville has a hold on the Berlin playgoer quite aa strong as in New York. Yet 'the-paradox of having no^tnore houses for vaudeville than for grand opera con- tinues in the face of the fact that the exlattng demand would support iMt least ail^their pair .«C ''ball^ The onsww ia a ^jf»>fiild one.- -n**^ arid tteeneat tlnra . are not-enough vaudeVUU- .perConnert- in Gennany Veep more than two Berlin houses .ce^ Ing, so long as the rest of ths German circuit has to be supplied. Germany's live-year isolation from the rest of tbe_. world has stripped her of vaudeville' artists almost to the same extent as it bas denied her white flour. With Amer- itan, English, French, Italian, Japanese and Russian performers lacking from German vaudeville bills, it is perhaps** less ■ incomprehensible that patrons of vaudeville In Berlin should be confined iigt^Itwo theatres in which this, style of . J^;^oS=i^tertainment is olTered. ; •' :;i(abarrtte"'F^ _ ■ lack of vaudeville talent la the trw^n n . - dous growth/of the so-caUed Kabarette form of show—a craze that baf swfept aU Germany from Hamburg to Munich. .In Berlin alone there are no feWer than twenty of these combined theatre-res- taurant-dance-halls. They differ from the American cabaret such as Churchill or Shanley offers New York, in that the entertainment ia as '•legitimate" as a vaudeville bill and presented in the flame fashion—with scene changes, pro- ,.ii^riunmes and all the other accessories ■iqi'a regular variety show. The fact t^it. the audience is seated at tables iutd;:«ither dinibg X>r supping does not .lectte to. interfere, with the performance. '4%is.iliay be due, of course, to the char- . rf^UA^istlc: ability of the true German to Isstiage the donands of . bis., stomach— automatleally and wlthont 19 tiie least jirt«ci|ar1«;^irtdi .hi»Jriindtf^ieotia en- lleifiiK'ti'iitbev inenttri^a ':^v^ a:inatter .et ftMt ttae twen^ XW ^i!i«ie» III Berlin have the best oC thn iHd ,^HK6$(Nlle staled well as jimar^i^^ i^nendtcd trom the legitimate thttitMi .the bins are net.aji ebUDonUe nor ii^-'lavtab. in the matter, of produeUon ee.SSiegfeld's Midnight FroUe, the; food ilhd service are a great deal better—and the prices as moderate as in the ordi- nai-y restaurant. Prices that correspond with those in the -two regular vaudeville houses are charged for table seats, but witii this seat charge paid, food and drink cost no more than at any smart refitaurant, and dancing after ttae triMnr is thrown in free. The "Winter Garden—a great eblong hall, once a barracks, seating 3",000—la io Berlin today what the Palace is to Kew York, the last word in vaudeville, Eivcn here one may wine and dine, al- vttfough this privilege Is granted only to those Bitting on the teraisse^ series of KiatSed -platforms running along the rear "Wlcn'furthest from the stage. Smoking. .Of cearae^ ls*.iiHrialtted. "Aa It is to most of the German theatres, " '". • TwahW Aafei at Winter. GardeM..^! istaiee OM TCVOlatien the Whiter CSar-. den bas bem iiiinita«.t«reive. ae^.ita^^ eluding the tnmr'em-oiit film eoimGf*. evideneins. the. libid <tf vaodevflle fare new beisK (Mrsed^QnUiMni. tt inaar be InterMtins to iletan ttae "Winter Ghu> den'a SeptenrtMr un (both vaudeville and kabarette bills being changed only once a month). Opening the show is Hansi Intunans "with her ducks." Here is a genuine novelty. The girl is pretty and—thin! The ducks, six in number, do pretty nearly everything in the world except talk, and get screams of laughter. I have seen ctuch worse tnumbor one" offerings at owt Justly Cunooa Ityaee an Broadway. _ . The Oeza-Varady troupe fOUow. a trio of singers and danoeris who sing better than ibey dance—a small time act Kari JBdUr "with "bis coUeague fNldci'" <the latter a noth-caten don* kqr) comes, third. The usual -QenMi.. tow- comedian worthing .pantomtaM and uaias anjitiieda ■lade flmMM.bgr 9oe Jiuksen. The aet ia tofrtaibehnifly oinr tor AunBelemm andfeneea. Bose Itnauer, modestly blllfaig herseM as a "hunorist;'* seemed to strike the audience that way. "^ Aside from a mar- velous ability to distort her round, fat face into grotesque grimaces, Rose bad littlfe to offer that would get a laufl^ out of a Broadway gathering. Alnieat a Classic Act. Closing the Orst jjuurtT-and consider- big, tbe^natuie itf the aict it would strike an JUnerieaa iaaiaiMe: as k tUieuleus plade OB Om bm—la Pwqr Oepwegrt 1 leal' down. But - beCote he - b . thnaigh. jUa aet one diseorem. tiiat Js.fdOM^ltfnc that approkehea very ektee tb' the .etasite. - Corwcgr gets a fiiU .stage set, .an fsterior, wlMeh on ,|iia entiaaee Is aboohiteiy bare except'for a ptdtet fence running diagonally upstage. The pickets are reeds on which he plays the overture from "William Tell" while a ferocious-looking bull dog chases him back and forth. Every other trick mus- ical instrument in the act—and there are a dozen different Hinds—drop or are hurled at him from the flies. The finish comes with a veritable "rain" storm of cats and dogs—which he tries flrst to dodge and then grabs by the tails where they lie—and?.,;witb them does a bell ringing verslQii. of the "i^bimes of Nonaandy". by swinging them'^round his .head. Conrey is good , enough to have the whole 'Me^tll^-:^^ Hippodrome for twenty m^tmb ' . . °i Openfaig tho-aecond par^Vfw^lijiii. and:: .OhtU^ fi>te on roller likat^/.niey Om . two hfetdlhiiw .,on-'tlrtL blOf MkHk Baiii, * Ger^iait :-«pa)k who eaee epen: a 'tbue ' (i| .mdat have m long UntTllfd^''^ %wr) 8^ at tbo Royal OpeSt|'Hotdie m, Petrograd jand. In Moscow, gets JQut <dioiee of po- sition and apparently is & top. heavy favorite. It is sji s^sL-^Pierlcan \>aude- ville audiences woii'ld w(ilic out on—the woman unattractive in appeQuatajM^fa^Ml a long way past her prime,' V'' " ' Karl Bernhard, -also 'l^iulng himself as a "humorist," comes nezt^ Perhaps ho is. ' Erik Jan Hanussen, a Danish mind reader sharing the top of the bill with Mrae. Rnpp, la cleverer and has a more effective act than Pauline ever had. If he can apeak English there is a fortune waiting for him in the United States. "With-his "neutral" origin Hanussen can play the Entente countries without fear of prejudice, and he will be a riot wher- ever he shows. "Without attempting to describe his act, it may islVe foine Mett of it t» say he is a mental Hooow* Working most of the thne in the anm«. cnce itself he lays himself open to heckling of every possible kind—and never once fails to turn the laugh cn his heckler. Between times he makes the score or more of individuals from the audience whom he has invited onto the stage—shouting to them from dLls- tant parts of the auditorium—do stunts that keep the house in paroxysms of laughter. As a finish he takes each one of the men and women from the stage beck to their, aeata^ and tells the 4udi- 111 ;.9t la » «c«!it - trhderitl«a m«ba«ebi«dBt o^^^ son, this place has taken Beriia by storm and every night'three timei aa many pleasure seeker^ as the place wQl. hold try to get in. The bright particu- lar star is Uax Landa, a comedian who reminds one vaguely of Willie. Collier in his qtfet my eC cettbig his vMata WUlby Oompk fThe.liysteiioiis Plate," la a mediocre. Juggler HwiM ^Rves'io. qfeed on their way theae «C. the-aodl'. cnoe who don't waat to 3palt-far'lhs flbn eemedy!. Tho WbtMr-GaiifleM Iji .undw.ti^ .maa- sgencnt of lbiii8' Retners. " ■ ' At the Apoflo Theatre. Jamea Klein is manager of (he Apollo Theatre, a house that reminds one not a little of Hammerstein's old Victoria in T«ew York. It is really the only put- and-6ut vaudeville house in Berlin to- day. The bill for September contains eleven acts, of which only two^ wonld "go" In America. But either, oise of them is better , in its line than .anything >'ew York ever saw. The,.S|«.;Aiitaiietti^ ftye |i!Bys.v;aBd-» gill, ranging ia-aijes flrant stk to bIiIshw ' Ml Qoarter «(. ail Boor 'te th«- r,- dad ta ftaat kngth. of .tlnet Sive'ini eadtfUtlMi oC sersbatie aovidtiea that.lttVBlUr.llftii. fh« tuidlenee out of Its -sewt (Uie aiiA again. The tn^Mr of tili'.baiid of youngsters, work- lae as an attendant only, keeps the act moving at top speed every minute, but flguret himself in only one stunt, a casting act in which he tosses all Ave of the boys onto the ample shoulders of the girl like shots out of a machine gun. The Hippodrome has never had anything even faintly approaching ,tlM class and sensationally clever eiiglsal- ity of this team of kids. The other act is a pair of "Hand and Head Acrobats," King Luis, and • son. Working with a pair Of springhoardo, one set above the other not unlike the layout for a diving act, tbls pair do double and triple somersaults Mraiil- taiMouSIy, the elder man flnishine in tlBM to catch the otho* on his sheiildsra! Wearing dinner Jadceta fkoin'iitart vo flniBh ^d without so moBb as rstCMng their, littir,. they present a ten^ntnite tun which ;lb. all deas sail Inlbiltetr richer fa : eurnrl se s tiata. aayfl^nic ^ a atndlar JJad ever' seea in .the: Blatasc »«:«Mt or tba^ bOl 4w«ni:«d wtat pitlftti eactniaeiB iBerltai (and Ger- auta3r)' 'lMUi to go iff . get tdeether any^ thlnsr trembling a good vaudeville sho-a-. The, audleneei even stands for a half hotir of marionettes. -^"^ Good Kabarette Bill. ,.'Viie', Metropol-Palast, with wMeh.-ls ebntteoted the Palais de..I)aBs«b .!■ ene ofi.tbe^Aibst poputar 'Sabantlea, with of:.!—.tables; erstfag Iwr :f£tae-eurrent-blll liMdiiaee. ne <ir\whlcb one vis a ralailat djibi' '^S^ Mle^t.* ^^Oa ve]8e.:ia. Ch^nany at the mo- meniti^ nbttrtemwaUty Ja depended on to isiakie..^jtj^:.i9wti^'j^ over. The scene Is a :hoteI?b<idrodnr^a^d the action re- voty«i» about' the first momentB alone of a;newly wedded .coiiple. The curlaJn com^s down on what (to the German audiflnce at least) seems a screamingly funpy situation^—with the bridegroom to driink he passes out on the floor l>eRide the bed andrthe bride, having .lisrobcd In fiiU view of the audience, crying that "This is h^t- as mamma promised." Of the regular turns, one had merit— an echo of the old Rice and Prevost team, in which a woman played straight for a really clever eccentric acrobat. - Nelson's Kunstlerspiele in the Xur- furstendamm is the smartest of Berlin's "Weat End kabarettea and quite tlie most attractive of any of them. With a loat- ing capacity of only 400 it Js mor ly like the style of eatettalnaRifi at the Folies Beisare (taMr the FOlten la At the BMoient. lands Is playing-the lead fa a. one-ao( Ouit^^ t^UtA "A Nightly GoMtf' IV Mis: JSoeky. Iftr.aUl away the ■devwest aad leMt/SiilpiBestlva of anything modem noir t» toir liNa la Germany. It to tho treatawiit Of ths old triangle situation in a ftuhlOD no- body else ever attempted before. Adapt- .. ed for American vaudeville and given a cast of three capable actors, this piece would create a furore. Others on the bill at the Kunstlerspiele are Heina Fuss, Liiesel- Alden, Fritz Junkermann. Lotte Andreeen and Fritx Splra. They are all artists. The Bonbonniere in Munich is a kab-. arette not .unlike the Kunstlerspiele aa|t with a bin almost as excellent. - In Cologne, headquarters of the Brit- ish Army oiC Occupation, the principal kabarette is SIroplicissbdus, with fifteei| different a^. in the, current bilL They are cdl'seonnd 'daits and include'only . dancers and singers, thhrteen ofs.:tlMai'. woBien. It is a strOdng connweatarr aa tho ffTeets of frateiraisatlan (so ^ ' OmmeA of sad:-. wbilrtijl at lisr the- hl^MK.- lu m f ,- .tIadf'.BKHUi-; offipe iprJy ia el^ ' i ^nnHter itls becanin CoMeitti^ head^^V : quarters of the American Army of Oo^l^i cupatibn, is so much ^smaller than COv logne or because of action by the mill- 1 tary authorities, the fact remains that, the doughboys' amusement—so far as ; the theatre In Coblentz is concerned—j..^.; is limited to army-censored motion pie^jv^^ tures and "concerts" at the Y. M. C. " hut "Which may or may not account for Jy, the numl>er8 of American army iiBl^'..'->' forms to be seen in Colognel ' > HEAVY "PUCK INB JUDGE.'? Gus Hill wants to break into the ranks ■ of the Broadway producers, and wlttij;''.; that end in view has put into rehearsal^- a comedy drama with musical interpola*:'ji.'; tions, entitled "Puck and Judge." by Frank Kennedy. The principal roles In the production v are to be played by two men, bothv-;!; weighing'in excess of 300 pounds. i There are 16 speaking parts in the, 41 show and there will be 20 chorus girla, . • Frank Tannehill and Bd-Hutchinson will stage the produoUfla.: whidi wUL-^. ' have an out-of-town.' Itay. It win be brought ■ 'HERUN WEEK^' NEXT WEEK Irving Berlin, Inc., the x^usie publl«ih«' v er^ will have Its title beim^> icvjng Bn^ni-!. 'Ua. siHeSd^ all over the^'eoidMiy-odiai-' ^a; nebctatr Oct 6 for a iredc: • " K ^ The HarieiiB lioew Circuit fa to baiw ; the "BeieUa WeA^ la.ajl of its. vaudci' vflle theatipca^ llb l6Mi;thaa two cu'rra^- il^ Berifa aoags wm be taMutt at eveiar pci^^<^^ % At the saaie tine the lOe, retail miisiiB^:-t^ stores.wOf-aMka a.qieeiei' display, et^:*-' the BflrUa bMrte^ iuid frving Bering : persoa wffl e s mmisicie a big thne vaii vlUe .toar fa Nmr Toik. . LONla TACK SAM 18 BACK. San Francisco, Oct. 1,, . ..• Ix>ng Tack Sam arrived on the Nan- • king from Shanghai lost week and " for Salt Lake City, where he opened «^ the Orpheum in a sew .act this week, j:;. . !^: - . ^ . -■.:>■;'■■-» A nwii% produced by Jes UImn, fee? turing nrajKlttl. Sophie S«liallr Mlas Bfatthewiak Ct. Bdwaid. Bit«|9a .Cal(f«M^' .aad BOly.SidUvaa. jQpened at-the V«ki-^IA kfa Garden. Newark, N. jr., laai'lfonMr/