Variety (February 1920)

SHOW REVIEWS ■ s i i i ■ §•■,■ ■■ :.-■■ :'.:■: ■ ■ ■ ■ y ■ ■■■ • m ■ ;••".;"• ■■■• . ':.. ','■-. '-*■■. ' •■■•■ .-■ ' V- ■-■ IS ■" fcf&: ■■'■ * '.•■•■ . . •. ■ ■ ■ ■'■. ' . v ■• ■■■' - " • . ■ -■ - u I ■■■■■ • ■ v..'. .' ■ ■■ . ■• v-r- :'"'■■' 5 •■•■ ■ ...... ■- i IE"" ...♦. ... %:■■ it. ..., . - aa Its principals, was hurried on in an earlier spot, but this did not effect its value as a laugh winner for it is a first class vehicle, well played and was warm- ly greeted. Martyn and Florence opened the show nicely with some clever Jug- gling of hoops and other objects, finish- ing with the man catching apples thrown those in the audience, on a fork held in hie mouth. This was worked up to a very good comedy bit. .The woman in this act shows a variety of very showy costumes. The Gaud smiths with their cleverly trained poodles furnished the show with a classy and picturesque clos- ing number which was much appreciated, almost the entire bouse staying in for the JTull act. .loewTc&ino. ; I San Francisco, Feb. 21. i The vaudeville this week held its share of the entertainment The outstanding feature was Tank, the best trained dog that has been seen here. The canine gives a demonstration of dog intelligence that is remarkable. It adds, substracts, multiplies and divides figures called out by the audience, indicating correot answers by short barks without any ap- parent signs from his master. The dog counted the occupants of an upper box, barking correctly the males and females It contained, also the children, and giv- ing the age of the latter. MlndTeadlng is also included in the routine. Dave Vanfleld, assisted by Ray Rena. opened with comedy Juggling* vanfleld as a Jewish messenger got a number of laughs. Lamonte Cowboy Minstrels, three women and four men, bave good voices and their harmony singing was rewarded with applause. A solo by the bass singer registered the biggest Indi- vidual score. The minstrel gags Include portions from Lamonte's original aot With a bunch of chestnuts thrown in. Van and Emerson, two men In athletic feats, consisting mainly of hand-to- hand lifts and balancing, were appre- ciated. They make a good physical ap- pearance and are neat workers. Lew. Gllmore and James Castle In blackface, but minus the dialect, pleased with some talk and old-time dancing. McLane and Madge did not appear owing to the length of the bill. The King show (89 th week) closed. «• CRESCENT, NEW ORLEANS. Mew Orleans, Feb. 25. Dull program at the Crescent first part of the week, with attendance slump- ing. The show lacked a headliner and there was a feature picture causing the film exchange to take credit for busi- ness. Kinio was first with his juggling that runs In the customary groove. Grace Leonard hau elaborated her turn but was avalancbed through employing colorless numbers. Mayo and Nevins never did arrive. Neither is possessed of striking ability and with an utter lack of originality they couldn't have hoped for more than tbfiy received. • Conroy and O'Donnell stick to the mall oarrier Idea which was quite welcome when first shown. There was Borae laughter about midway for' tbe best points but the finish found them cold. Klnkald Kilties had a shimmering drop and neat setting to start with and that atoned some for the conventionality of their Scotch stuff. Taps sounded for the lassie and highland jazz in New Orleans and adjacent territory long ago. Even In bottles Scotch was never popu- lar here. Samuel. . KEENEY'S, BROOKLYN. An ideal pop show at Keenoy's the first half, consisting of a finely blended seven-act bill, feature picture, cartoon ' oomedy and .news weekly. An Intelli- gent program arrangement eliminated conflicts, marking the show with a de- gree of smoothness and diversity usually conspicuous by its absence in the small. time 1 houses. Washington's Birthday afternoon they stood 'em up 12 deep on both orchestra and balcony floors, an overflow of 500 odd patiently waiting In the lobby and on the side- walk for a couple of hours to buy seats, for the second show. Cleveland Bronner and' Co. headlined. It's a beautifully costumed dancing turn, with elaborate lighting effects. The Keonoy audience seemed to be won- dering what the mysterious pantomimic stuff was all about, but loosened up when the bare foot dancing arrived and accorded the turn a good slice of ap- preciation. While the Bronner aot failed to get more than a scattering hand at the finish, It pleased through- out, and In addition to giving the showj a touch of "class," made a first rate "flash." Elliott and West opened with an* ec- centric singing and dancing turn, and ?ot over. Both men affect clown white aclal make-ups, with street apparel somewhat on the order of the make-ups worn by Morton and Moore, some years ago. Each slipped across a neat single bit of stepping. A couple of odd double dances brought regular returns. A novelty encore with one of the men do- ing a "souse" and the other encased In a five-foot prop whiskey bottle, which terminated with some neat double hoof- ing, landed. Next to closing, Canfleld and Rose, a straight and Hebraic conversational team, held the show up nicely. The straight has a line of nut gab highly entertaining and mostly original. The comedian does a modified type of stage •Hebrew, with a clean facial make-up and neat wardrobe, getting a full quota of laughs legitimately. The routine Is capably handled, each point being driven home in an easy manner. A parody on i "I was never, nearer Heaven in my Life,-" the o*&ly song in the act, sent the team off for a couple of earned recalls. ' The / Aerial Mitchells closed and showed what.a good gymnastic act can accomplish when they're enough to get an audience. . The girl made a pretty ploture in a one piece white athletic suit. She's there, too, when It comes to working' on the revolving ladder. The man besides being a first-class aerial performer Is also a likeable comlo of the quiet type. The breakaway ladder made a flashy feature stunt, holding-the sort of thrill that vaudeville audiences are .strong for. Vand and Vernon, "A Peek in Pekln," and Sargeant Bros (New Acts). Belt. METROPOLITAN, BROOKLYN. Andrew Mack started on a tour of the Loew Circuit at the Metropolitan, Washington's Birthday. Mr. Maok, who 11 p l a , y , l , n » T a fun week, was featured In the billing and the lights Monday night, out not headlined, that position being held by Alice Lake as star of a Metro ■ffiSJSf- Should a Woman /Tell." In addition to Mack the flrst half bill held four other aots. Monday was a field day for the Met, crowds packing the en- trances all day fighting for a chance to get In. Once inside those holding everything from straight admissions to box coupons were forced to wait up- wards of 30 minutes for a seat. ■ Bollinger and Reynolds got the show off in good shape with a double wire walking specialty. The girl did the reg- ulation tricks on the slack-wire com- petently and the man started something with a series of backward and forward swings. Later the man, who interpolated some pleasing comedy in his routine, put over a good feature stunt by bal- ancing on a chair on the tight wire, while holding a lighted lamp on his head. An old stand by of wire walkers but always sure Are. Ward and Oowry, second, were a hit with banjo and violin singles and doubles. The boys have Improved their • turn materially since Been at the Ameri- can a few weeks ago. The fiddler has added a miniature -violin, similar to that used by Orock. The rag stuff-with the freak fiddle with horn attachment, and a banjo likewise fitted out, brought big returns. Eddie Carr and Co.. the only comedy turn oi) the bill made 'em laugh consis- tently with their familiar office boy skit. Carr Is a good light comedian, his ability as a laugh gotter far outdistanc- ing the material contained in the choice collection of hoke which constitutes the major part of his present vehicle. The skit will do excellently for the small time, but that is its limit. During the course of Mr. Mack's act following, Just as Mack started to tell an Irish story, a woman sitting near the last row in the upper part of the balcony, caused a disturbance by ob- jecting to someone standing in front of her. In order to attract the atten- tion of the usher, the woman started to applaud. Others sitting In the same row, whose view of the stage was ob- scured. Joined In the applause to call the usher. Mack, believing the applause, which really was not intended to dis- turb him; was a mark of disapprobation on the part of a portion of the audience regarding his story, announced he would out the yarn telling short if the house didn't want it and swung into a song. Coming back later, Mack put over his full routine of .Irish stories to sizeable comedy results. Mr. Mack probably Is still wondering whether the Metropoli- tan gallery was trying to break him up Monday night. Thoy weren't, he can rest easy on that score, as the writer sat within two rows of the usher call- ing incident, and witnessed the whole disturbance, which, by the way, was not the fault of the ushers, the crowd being so dense the ushers, although battling hard, found It impossible to get through to the disturbers. Aside from the above Incident, Mack's whole act went over, his three vocal numbers "Flnnegan's Ball," "Mother's Knee" and "Get Them While They Are Dancing" all scoring individual hits. The Dancers Supreme (New Acts) closed. Bell. HARLEM OPERA HOUSE. All records went overboard at the Har- lem Washington's Birthday when over 2,300 people witnessed the four perform- ances which breaks all previous records for a single day's receipts there. The former high mark was 2,100. The last show got under way at nine to a houBo crowded almost to suffocation with standees draped all over and a dis- appointed group out in the lobby who were destined to go home theatreloss. Valentine and Bell opened with trick bicycle riding Introduced In a novel man- ner. The feature trick is a leap from a trampoline by the woman to the shoul- ders of the man who is seated ton an upright bicyole. Another flashy stunt follows, namely, a leap from a table off the trampoline to another two high shoulder perch, the man as understander balancing a tall unlcycle.- It got them a storm of applause. The Warren Girls followed and goaled them with their double routine. The comedienne has a rough familiar de- livery which is In decided contrast to her partner and builda up to laugh pro- voking proportions. Tbe act is nioely costumed both wearing decolette dresses and making a neat appearanoe. t'Tiddle Urn Te Dutn" and "Dardaaella" got them big returns. Rahn and Beck (New Acts) were the artistic moment following with Sully and Thornton (New Acts) in fourth posi- tion. Browning and Denny, re-united since Denny was last seen in the Hermione Shone aot, were a clean up next to clos- ing. Jack .Denny Is wiBe enough to stick to his knitting and his piano and lets Miss Browning handle most of the vocal- izing. The Greenwich Village. Eddie Foy number, is a pip, arid the Chinese double with Miss Browning cracking wise In pldgeon English went over for a whang. Adrian billed with a question mark was a small time riot closing the vaude- ville portion. Two stagehands and two assistants are utilized for near special- ties which gave a touch of intimacy that paralyzed the uptownera Adrian opens with a part of the old single routine of Henry Lewis, but later the stage bands in overalls are drafted for a, riot of clowning and off key^slnglng. . It's a small time wow. " 7 "The Thirteenth Commandment" was the feature picture and opened to the UB ' . Con. CITY. * - One wouldn't think sd many people live on 14th street and its vicinity. After seeing them come in steady streams to the Jefferson further down the street. ?."?, wo " w tn »nk: the City would be a llttle ^? ny ^? n capacity attendance. Not so. The City even had the edge in the matter of attendance Monday. Monaban and Co. (New Acts) opened. Nippon Duo. a male Japanese team, offered songs and instrumental work topped off with some barrel spinning. The turn pleased. Mat- tie Ferguson & Co. (New Acts) Interest- ingly held down No. 8 with a sketch. A J ox news reel split the vaudeville at this point. Belle Rutland resuming mat- ters with a cycle of songs. She la a charming miss and an able vocalist, but has yet to acquire full stage presence. However, she was not slighted la the least by the audience. Rome and Gaut (New Acts) followed 5# i a .„ tftblo,d musical comedy, "Last K l f h i' , ll "tarts Wa million dollars but fizzles down in the middle and al- most expires on conclusion. It "may be the fault of the principals as they did not appear very ambitious* The entire cast was selected for Its dancing proc- livities and what they did was meritori- ous. It simply lacked spontaneity. Jack Rose was next to dosing. His nut stuff got them. The Three De Koffs closed with an Interesting tumbling and acrobatic routine. JEFFERSON. The holiday matinee had them In In droves. Thelsson'B Dogs opened with an interesting routine. Ames and Curtis preceded Little Lord Roberts, who al- ; most - stopped proceedings In the third spot. The diminutive entertainer is a great little showman. Julia Curtis with her Impressions and songs found considerable favor on fourth. It Is only to be regretted she does not Btay on longer as her meagre 12 minutes seemed far too little to suit the audience. Anger and Packer were out for the flrst show owing to Mrs. Anger's sore tbroat not permitting more than three shows for the day. She worked the last three performances, however. A short comedy reel was impressed Into service to fill the gap after which- Princess Wah-Let-Ka (New Acts) verjr interestingly proved her worth with a mind reading act. Fox and Brltt were next to closing. La Fayee and Co., two women and a girl, closed with a dance routine that seemed to find favor with the housa ' KElTH'sTioSTON. Boston, Feb. 26< It is practically impossible to plok a flaw in the show this week. One of the best features is that It contains four acts, only one that could be discounted by the audience. The other acts on the bill are not familiar to Bostonlans and in this respect it differs greatly from the show of last week when there were several so-called "Boston favorites," listed among those present The big spot Is held by "The Spanish Revue." There are 11 numbers, with three special drops used. Seldom has a better song and dance "tab" been seen here. ■The show 1b opened by Slegel and Irwin, a strong man double who close big. The Lovenberg Sisters and Neary fol- low with a "revue" which "was rather a dangerous proposition considering the Spanish one that cornea after. How- ever, Neary pulls the act into flrst po- sition, partly by personality and partly through Introducing some good stuff of his own. Frank and Milt Brltton wasted no time in getting right to the audience. They start out fast and keep the pace up. They use xylophones for an opener and then swltoh to brass but all the time go strong on the "Jass" stuff and got a big hand. Could have taken many encores except for the triple bill stunt. Tarcan is a big comedy number. Imi- tating an ape he gets away with real comedy stuff. It la an Idea, cleverly put over. , Arthur Deagon was the familiar nam*. He Was In good voice, treated tbe pro* hlbltlon question in a new comic vein. and finished with a triple somersault. Placed In a rather difficult spot because they were elected to come on right after the bigi revue Thos. F. Swift and Mary H. Kelley got over with their "Gum Drops" act splendidly. Anna Chandler, accompanied at tho piano by Sidney Landfield, got away a bit slowly but did better as she want along. As Is customary when one sings songs which have not been made popular through extensive advertising she bad to carve her way Into the good wishes of her hearers, and this she managed to do. She seemed to do better with the last two songs than with the rest of her offerings and took several bows. Lucy Oillett has a new touch on a Juggling act. She held ber audience from the usual walkout. Lea lAVbty. 3 FIFTH AVENUE. They are redecorating the Fifth Ave- nue auditorium. While they are at it, why not lay in a atock of new scenery? Alao a few props. They had an Interior set the first half of the current week that was about as crude a conglomera- tion as - could posaibly be seen In a humpty-dumpty picture house on on* of tho smaller circuits. The set itself was a hectic pink and lemon, with a rose backing, a green carpet, an orange lamp shade, a red velvet cushion on a sofa and royal blue velvet curtains. The bill opens with Gabby Brothers and Clark, three men, who do dlabolo tossing, club Juggling and atraw hat throwing, with plenty of oomedy. A peculiar thing about the club Juggling is that It sort of hypnotises the specta- tor. The clubs are brilliantly painted and pass so rapidly that one is over- come with a temporary somnolence. A clever, fast act of Its kind. Ida Brooks Hunt, with Alfred Caslln at the piano, pleased with her prima donna voice. She opens with "Voloe In B. Major," then "Shadows Will Fado Away," Caslin has an instrumental solo to enable Miss Hunt to change her gown, then- "Twilight In Barakeesh" from VIo- tor Herbert's "Algeria," finishing with an operatio medley. Mlsa Hunt en- countered x,some difficulty In keeping the orchestra in time to her warbling and they apparently paid no beed to the pianist, who tried to keep pace with the vocalist. Aa a result Miss Hunt had to wave her hand and stamp her foot to remind the men in the pit that- they were there to aid and not hinder her. Mlaa Hunt wore two gorgeous train gowns, the first a gold brocade with a bolero bodice of brilliants, the second of dark green tulle with green sequins over gold. Will H. Armstrong and Co. In a oomedy skit, "The $10,000 Ankle," proved Mm* self a funny low comedian. He Is sup- Sorted by a very beautiful woman, woo oes straight for blm. Lloyd and Christie, with crosstalk fashioned on tho lines of the former Avellng and Lloyd turn, are as good an act aa the original combination, Christie making a corking feeder for hla partner. They have a very funny bit of conversation on "Jo ne sals pas" ("I don't know"), which Is as good as "What Street"- waa In lta day. Dillon and Parker, man and woman, with apeolal drop, do singing, stepping and crosstalk- in a very classy way and scored a healthy bit The woman Is especially clever In acting out ber num- bers. What they do, they do well. May- belle Adams and Co. (New Aots). And then came Harry Hlnea, next clos- ing, who evidently considers himself too good for a three-a-day house. He makes uncalled for references to the supper show, comments "facetiously" on his booking agent, on trying to "get" Jersey City the last half and kindred remarks calculated to secure a laugh from those standing In the wings—matter about which audiences know nothing and not designed to amuse or entertain those who pay their admissions. Then be entered Into the routine of the closing turn, Big Franz Troupe, which inspired Franz to yell Into the wings an admoni- tion to Hlnes to keep away from the girl in the act aa he (Franz) had loat one that way. All of which is supposed to be "refined vaudeville." Tbe Frana Troupe do some excellent riding on mis- fit wheels, interspersed with comedy. Franz has a gag about his stage setting. • ■. "-v &