Variety (April 1920)

"^^ ^^iijET^'S CHICAGO <>FF1CE Ct)ttafio STATE.LAkE THEATRE BOlU>IN<i ^'iSK3 1(5-. lAlACB, CHICAGO. Chicaco, .April 28. » hwe-and-ttiM* ■hotr. "o iJad to Jo^VaX tt «• "KWwUy. Orpheuni JKnber fct «t»»«r ttau« reaching ^^'.ood enough for WK,d/B lausemeot apiwtiu. Hwry Fox *V Mi Bft-w ftct headlined and '»^Ji ^«v^ I^M? Brlce did well:. '^^iJ- i^olcout came for Tom S^lA^d Mary Kelley. The rest grife ehJw^'^S «»-^^^ ^ *»'*«'■ '*}^ -/« Baker and Tolmson inrf with their hat throwing. SSfhifthS trio studied Moran and w Hn«Ui« acta must hejnort or ?'^* ^»i^a. but m these two there *"'h1^^ comedy busineas which »" "k^/iv created and which some- Pf ffi" JohiSson. Baker and Johnson, said to be the prior ^"i'."!,^"^ oMhTact^'sbouId be told £?*'"& u?8omethlng." In the *?. that followed there could be no S^^.h^of thfc feaponslbtllty. however, Sh ilKnd Sam Hyams atole ^X-S^e and eyery Sfsture they Jjt Vven the special drop was Sa Kd. Jooki^ like the old SS^TcLa and Shavne affair, with Kort "Cohn^^inted over "Slhn Hoo Hee." or «oriiething Uke it. so jjoo nec.^^ _^^ ^„„irt read'both ?.'?:^%rThe%"m^ytalkwaa ?h^bbVaJid nasty as well aa appro- «rSed,^ery low In its sedUments ffvwy barroom in Its observa- ?u^n«L Rogers Brothers' : whole do-re-ml bit was bodily "chosen." Md such lines as "my music go« in w aweet ^d comes out sO rotten" were the rule. The team died to ito Trfck^ getting nothing durtog and "°Wa?t'r nshter and Co.. in ajpde^ end cr^I^ farce o£ the, old "nigger Mt" style, with wild situations and Sijustifled smut, failed to get over nSt The efforts at comedy .were Jnalnlr^ through Introducing an OrlSital girl who behaved like an Scaped.lunaUc when a new cook was expected and a supposedly fe- male dog. so that when references to "she" were made.lt. could mc^ either the dog or the girl, for such Sea aa "my friend's husband used to give her a bath," etc. The turn ■KM conceived by Fishter, who ap- parently has a very poor opinion ol TOudeviUe goers' intelligence. He also wear» pearl buttons, on a-basl- nesa suit and a pink silk shirt Few ' laughs and no hands; Swift and Kelley then came on like a breath of falr-wieather. Both ' local favorttesi which meant pothlng after they got started and ^proved '- that they were more than local, they wafted through on clean, youthlul, ■napp comedy, poisetul technique and Miss Kelley'a heavenly llQUld voice In "Buddy." If Swift wrote I this materIM he may call himself a •vaudeville author—it Is ideal two-a- day, down far enough tO catch any- body, up high enough to clear its skirts of the dirt of offensive sug- geStiveness. Miss Kelley. ia a col- leen who vibrates Innocent youth, ha« the spark that flames an audi- ence without effort with *speolal- Ues." Fox garnered plenty ofsall he went after and ran for a dnch suc- oess. etaley And Blrbeclc finished handily. LaU, ACAOEinr, OHICAOO _^, \ . Chicago, AprU M. This house to its day had housed the hest ot the blood-thizsty drama, with* such ahowB as "Convict S99." "Sure Shot Sam," Joseph Santley in "From Rags to Riches" and "The Fatal Wedding." These shows would i>aclc the house with the 'there" ambitious youngsters of the gallery, who never missed an open- ing night of the well known heroes' of old. Those happy gallery days are o'er, to beautify the house It has been removed, the balcony is now in full <;ommand..a thirst itro- ducing brass rail has been added for the first rowers to rest their chins on, while they dretun of the days gone by. and see Variety hold- ing the boards where the beautiful heroine saved from the clutches of the villain by the hero at the tense moment used to predominate. *■ The aisles are carpeted, pretty little shaded lamps blink at you from the walls, where once, the house was darkened, to mystify you, adding an extra thrill. The cause of all these changes Is Joe Pilgrim, the renova^g. knanager. Joe has also workra up a following in this well known district that keeps this house capacity until the last cur- tain. . A well balanced and selected hill brought the cash this half, ojiened by Billy Scott, who true to his name wears kilts and tunes a bag- pipe, on which he renders several favorite' selections of the Scotch fol- lowed with a bit of Juggling, using a fork to spear the balls, thrown into the air. also passing tfiem out to-the audience to throw in, which gets 2. number of laughs; during his next Juggling trick he makes a complete change to that of an athlete, displaying a well developed physique, closhig with a head bal- ancing trick, receiving big Applause The Kinsman Trio, man and two women, sanig a aperies of classical numbers; pleasing. Royal Lor- raine, man impersonator pleased with her songs and -sayings. She had her Audience guessing until her closing' number, during which she makes a complete change into an evening dress, before the audience. Myrtle Moore'Trio, a man, and wo- man singing act, assisted by a pi- anist; Sang a cycle Of songs, with a blt^of Ulk. receiving bigjapplause ffar their efforts here. Bob Rbberts in blackface makeup was the ap- plause hit of the bill with his comedy talk, panning hla way ftpm H. C. L.. to prohibition, closing with, a parody on boofology. The bill was closed by the BlJou Com- edy Circus, a cat and dog act of the usual type.' doer this afternoon, bavlnl; returned that morning from his vacation In Texas, Abo oeing busy In the rear getting everything Uned up tor the opening. BquiUo and Uaybelle opened the bill with a nsual routine of hand balancing and wire walking, dosing with a feature trick by Bquillo mak- ing a leap £rom the top ot a ladder to that of a table below while doing a hand balance, retaining same after striking the table, a drop ot seven ^d a half feet, closing to big ap- plause. Freld and Green sang and fooled about the weather, with fah: results. Roques and Con2ano. accordion* ists, played selections from opera to ragtime, going big. Bob Sperry. with a monolog ot the usual type; was the hit of the bill. Opening with a song about the heavy taxes of today, tollowed with a line ot talk about prohibition and the usual run of present day topics. Ameri- can Desert Cafe closed the bill, scoring their usual hit to the small time houses. and Swift looks as clean aa he works KoVICKEB'S CmCAQO. ■ ^, Chicago. Aiwll a, Chicago's weather has been of the wet varltey for the past month. Business at this house was capac- ity, from the looks of the line in the lobby, one would believe. that the weather was of the moat pleas- ant, everyone finding It a pleasure to remain downtown for supper and a show. .^ . I>a Rose and Lane, opened the bill in a comedy talking and sing- ing act. Their comedy being /spent Uostly on married life and its trials and tribulations. Working before a special drop of a cafe and a modiste shop, frdm which the respective characters of the drunk .comedian and modlste.emerge; their talk and songs went big. Lester Raymond opens with a pi- ano imitation, playing two songs at one thne, fSllowed with various juggling fe^ts. Durink the different stunts he removes one of the many vests, on the back of which Sare comedy inscriptions. Vic ^eroy and Jack Dresdner. a couple of singing comedians of the semD-nut variety, scored the hit of the bill. Bertram Hay & Company scored well in their familiar Qomedy sketch. Dorothy Roy, entertained with a cycle ot songs. This little lady has an abundance ot personality and puts her songs over in homelike style. Moore and Field, blackface comedians kept* their auditors laughing, with comedy bite. The bill was closed by the Six Tasman- ians, a bevy ot girls dohig a teeth act of the usual routine. Betty Farker with a epecl&l drop and some special songs, won early favor with their audience. Hiss Parker's "nut" song created laugh- ter and when they went Into "two," pulling a few nifties, they, won strong returns. Tltey have a prop kiss where one ot the stage hands makes a remark oS-stase. which provides a perfect getaway for them; 'Yates and Reed, with Francis Tates doing female, and Gus Reed, "drunk," pleased. Anatol Friedland, with his minia- ture musical comedy and beautiful girls, received a reception on his entrance, and a heavy ovation on bis exit. Friedland has fixed him- self an act that Can keep bim on top In vaudeville as long as he wants to stay there. Marie Hart, the piflt-B.*ze soubrette, tiOces care very capably of her share of the act Morgan and Kloter. two girls in aongs and talks, held down the next to closing with a.great deal ot credit to themselves and booker. Muriel Morgan, doing comedy, la one of the angular girls, with a pleasing personality. Some ot the gags are a trifle old. but went over. Both girls can sing and show big 'time speed. Peterson Brothers, comedy and straight, close the show nicely on rings. Josie Flynn, with her shows at the Colonial, instead of an emergency substitute only during the MoVicker's rebuilding, it will give Loew and his allies a powerful competitor to the State-Lake to the Colonial, and a close competitor to the Majestip should Loew ever go into the two-a-day as has been fre- quently hinted, as McVicker's has location and will be a modem house. m. ^M AT AMERICAN HOSPITAL | < ■ Chicago, April 28. .. FoUowin*^ patients are or recently were at »e American Theatrl^l Hospital: Jack ."Scotch" Mack, af- ter fourth operation, recovering; Yvonne., operated on by Dr. Max Thorek; Mlsa B^U Westv(Wefit and Fountain)! discharged after opera- tion; Mrs. Walter Meokln. vue of theatre manager; discharged after operation hyDr. Thorek; 'Sylvia t>ee ot "The Little Cafe," convalescing after operation; Miss Blllle Labase- low. Roland's Stock Company, I>e- trolt, ditto; Mrs. Floyd Rathhun (Stewart and Rathbun), recovered from strangulated hernia operation; Billy arossman of "Hitland," '«• fashipiU turned to the act after emergency minstrels, and Litaonati were not pn ^appendicitis operation by Dr. Tho- ,:•.;/:,:;'i*l at this show. and manipulates his comedy as lightly as he carries himself. With- out sweaUng a hair this team tied up the show utterly, not once but twice, and finally begged (on the SQuare) off. McLallen and Carson did not "go" quite as boisterously aa this, but scored a whopping hit. McLallen has bloomed into a dry humorist from a roller skater, and skates bet- ter., than ever' besides. An- the chunScy Mtay Carson runs right with him at both, rBvealing a personality, a corking talking voice and a genius for playing straight; The laughs were in chunks and throughout Many bowg. Marie Nordstrom did a series of one-girl sketches by her sister, Fmnces. Frances Nordstrom always writes in the single strain; it flu her better than it does Marie, There is a bitterness under the ob- servations that sometimes hurts. The act Is hard on men and not al- ■; ways pleasantly so. A female ver- [• Bion. of "The Face on the Batroom fe Floor" or the like came in the mid- dle; it was about a traveling man 7 who broke a girl's heart,, and it was far from funny—it was acid. Later a woman leaving her husband went to tragic depths and fltjilsh^ 6Heap. when, after all the too-gwume acri- mony, she flies to hla arihs-becausc he won $500 gambling, so the sexes finished abOut even on the offering. Miss Nordstrom fared fairly, that's ■11, and would have been much bet^ ter in lighter, more humorous, leas biting matter. Lew Br ice, nicely placed this time, caromed across for a fine Impres- sion, da.iclng at interval^ in his best' footage and clowning merrily and jaiily. Adelaide Mason, his acro- natlo little partner, was passatile. plenty ot bows for Brice. . Harry Fox, with his two wonder girls, got it coming and going—the applausQ and liughS. When he ■Prung his scrubwomen chorus (lo- cal) he got more out of their panic stricken exppesslons than if he had rehearsed theni a year. Miss Clark, nw planlste, la not prograhied, but 5™?,,,"eated a lasting memory on a wuiiant girlish personality and fP^'^Klng performance. But Bea- ince Curtla, his ingenue .was a sen- S» i."" ^"* ^hat there was any way or .distinguishing her personal ap-. f,^"2?' ^"'^ there werie gasps and auoible comments. THo child- is a «"; as/Stlr?; a9'phg;llV^^^ ^tot .Hihe PAPERS "TAKE THE BTK^K." Chicago, April 28. One of the few post-war instances of price reduction came about in six of the seven local newspapers this week. Newsdealers met and framed resolutions that with increased ex- penses, they could no longer handle the dailies at two cents and make a living. The publishers met, and. In- stead of raising the price of the papers from two to three cents, as one lone paper had done, they de- cided to give tftj»-dealers the extra money out of their own instead of the public's pocket; therefore they cut the price of their product from n.40 per 100 to $1.20 per 100. This lii the face of paper conditions be- cause of which about $250,000 worth of advertising was left out of Chi- cago dallies last week and one.paper cut 60,000 a day oft its circulation. "The Tribune" Is advertising, "Borrow a Tribune—Don't Buy ■ One," which Is unique after the cen- turies li? which newspapers have fought, begged and worked for cir- culation, - •• MH)WAY, CHICAGO. ■M\. :?•<■■■'•- V •: (' Chicago, April 28. ' Patrihs of this theatre are always assured of a well balanced and se- lected show, this house being per- sonally booked by George Webster. "The hous^ is owned and operated by the Cohen brothers (Abe and Mike). Mike was doing the greeting at the iSTATE-IASE, GHICAOO. Chicago, April, 28. With heavy rato falling contin uously from 10 o'clock on. this thea tre played all day to capacity audi ence and with a line waiting. The Aerial Be: Orotfs opened with a speedy gymnastic act, running more to class than 'sensational tricks. Willing and Jordan, a man and wo- man In character songs, went over nicely. Followed by Jay Dillon and NEW HcVICKER'S FOR VAUDEVILLE Loew-J. L. aniil S. Sliows for . \ Colonial. Chicago, April 28. Contracts have been drawn and bids are being received for the wrecking of MoVicker's and rebuild- ing the entire structure as a new vaudeville house of the newest type. Mc'Vicker's Is the oldest theatre in Chicago and one of the oldest on the continent It is a Jones, Linick &\ Schaefer stand, situated to the heut of the: "loop.", with its back waU facing the back wall of the Ma- jestic. It li9 plausibly reported thatlthe Loew^J. L. & S. shows will be moved to the Colonial, The Colonial Is- now the star Fowers-Erlaiiiger legitimate bouse, and whs for sev- eral years a Jones, Linick & ISchae- ter vaudeville theatre. It Is aroun^ the comer from the State-Lake. If the deal should be for a perma- nent restoration of the J. IJ. & S. rek; AthaliO D*AUree, sharpshooter, recovered. • "CLARENCE" BIO ON TOUB Chicago, April il; "Clarence" Is cleanhig up^ these parts on the road, the •Thleago com-^ pany playing to tremendous busi- ness at ^present through Indiana. Gregory Kelly featured, as he IB fa- mous around there .tor his stock successes and his "Seventeen" rec- ord. Indiana la, of course, Tarklng-. ton's home state, also. M :m DR. W. E BAUiNGER 7ACIAI. SCKGKBT. DKBMATOIiOOT V The Jeweler TO 'THB /PKOFBBSipN 8p«el»I Slaoount t« FertoraMta WHBN IN OHICAOO 8tat«-I«ke TfeMtrs BIdg. Ciwnd Ztow G a r dei|{ CmCAWt HOST BEAUTIFUL . '^'.ji.v RlfWURANT-THEATRS, C:^":.' BoddngHighClaM :> ^ Refined AttractioiM • <' DOUBLES ^ TRIOS -^ OiUAnTCTTES. Ett.; Act not ba refined tnd raetMt* up to'■' tUndard which wUl bo tmntcUtti bj tb« UiMrt cUii 0* tttnMIR. " ■' It laar tet Btela Mtb th* rhiuWn*Dt*.tUiT«. cnBfflUBlcata tnd tttU toU VUtleuUn t».<fllE0 HURLEY. «tl|« OIW<«r. ■.;"'-><, '■^'{W. M ABSB. i •• EIER CUSTOM TAIIX)RS eiQ^Ute-Lake Bids. Chlcas«»lil. The proper eorrecUoii of fe»ture«. tadd U*"' lahM tnd defecU to » ikUled iurfoMi. ___„ Uy li itm' eipertonce »nd aenlf* In rratce In w»r facial ninteu enaWea ne tt offer ireauj luproTed method!. , _ _, .». k. m PERUANKNT Uniat «* "»«£.« .?*^nSt TIBIBLB ConertloB of Ba«o "^oU^i^?™? NOSES CoTOded Withoat 8»r. BKUABLE TiMue Building for HoUaw Cketta LtoM and WtlnUu. No paraOD used. CHICAGO^ FOREMOST B THEATRICAL PHOTO STUDI0| GRAND PIANO FURNJSHED FOR ALL MUSICAL ACTS :| ALL KINDS OF SCENERY Ai«0 SPOn.lOHT-OPEN SUNDAYS 43LOOi^ ST.-,T£-!,*y.E 0LDO. " CklCACO 190 N. STATE ST. Phone Randolph 3393 Dr. W. K. BAlalnccr 100 NoHh 8t»t« Bt. rhone Ontnl 2&S0 Chlcsge INDESTRUCTO TRUNKS^ •5 PerlOffl«t.'l>Uooant te^e Ptpfirtribn Tour-flid'.trunk Uken in'exflliapg* .Repairing on sliort notice MONARCH TMNK 4 LEATHER WORKS 119 No. Oeatbom St Fbone Central 8313, Qpiodle Wood* and Cort Tbeitrt*' Cblcafo. NEW YORK COSTUME CO. GOWNS TaadeviU* Acts Wanted M All OTlmci The Webster Vaudeville Cirant )- Sslto 80S-800 DelHTTsre BIdr. .NO ACT TOO BICfc-JfO 8ALABX TQO flIOH . , OIMI, H.'WF.B8TEB , * :. M "r***..***"^?]??. "I'-^K*!*!? Oenenl Mai>«K<r rhono HajMtto :2L0. COSTUMES 137 N. WABASH AVE. LARGEST COSTUME MANUFACTURERS IN WEST CHICAGO Central 1801 HAZEl. RENE HATS - GOWNS - COSTUMES ' $M.J«i Stote-I-k* Bolldteff. Cfclcifo Tel. Cent. H» mENii DtoBCQT'R 1. Formerlr with _ . ... . t : e i^^l^'SANjjljbs i EUlth Stricktan* You WUI D« UMUr at the Vnity" ~ BICHABO 0. HOt'FlIAM. BooklB# .MfT. T. D>VIOIIT PEPrM, Bni. Mgf. -«•-•:,^••. UNITY VAUDEVILLE AGENCY Second Vloor MTooda Theatre Buildlnc'CUocco Booking Theatres, Clubs and Cabarets PUOME MAJK8T1C 8020- ...JU,. - 8 B O . B.R.O. Playing to Capaclly every night, lo havo remodeled, adding <1 J more chair* apa 10 tables, but no Full Drew »ulte tlloweO. My ateak" and chopa are Juit thfl mqif ■ aa when I had 13 chalra. ' • "THE 13th CHAIR" **PETE" SOTERO§ Next Door to the COLONIAI. THEATRB, 34 WEST BANDOLPU ST.. CinCAQO W^ T4YLPR TRVNKS rSJiO W. 44ft ST..' N. yT" « '-' • '■ 28 E. RANDOLPH ST.. CHICAG ICAGO . - .1.' I . x; x '■'^m > <i^^^MM:kmM';!l^^$^BM^MM^'^M' •■/-'-.'.-'■•-r, 111.' •i.^.'Jij.--^