Variety (March 1921)

22 SHOW REVIEWS Friday, March 25, 10.: 1 «u the repertoire. The Jewish lament, beautifully and feelingly rendered, proved her strongest num- ber. The American prima donna has everything needed for vaudeville. Bhe has stepped" right Into the niche left by Chllson-Ohrman. Richard Kean and Co., In scenes from famous plays, found very smooth going for his imitations of Mansfield and John Barrymore as "Sbyh.ck" *nd Jjjfc^Jekyn ati<lJH,ri Hyde. The average vaudyvifhan nan been so surfeited with revues and the lighter forms of entertainment that Kean should find the going very ■oft with his serious efforts. De- spite the characters being an- nounced as impressions of Mansfield And Barrymore in the final analysis it la Richard Kean's conception of them that is portray^.:. He went strongly. Howard's Spectacle, a high school pony and dog act, closed and aided by the "last act" propaganda of screen and program, held nearly all. After Intermission an unprogramed tot of about four years old did a fairy-like toe dance that entranced the house. Dressed as the Spirit of Easter the baby elevated perfectly and executed a rather intricate series of toe steps with exceeding grace. Boy, page Gus Edwards. Can. COLISEUM. Many houses will undoubtedly report a slight financial slump due to Holy Week, but the attendance at this house Monday evening In- dicated it will continue to uphold the customary box office returns. The show loomed up bright and stepped right along from the first curtain. The bill was minus the customary acrobatic turn, which quite surprised the patrons. Larry Harkins and Co. were the first and had to play around and wait 'or complete attention. The Harkins endeavor has been slightly changed with better results. He has eliminated several songs and substituted additional piano work. The blonde violinist stands out prominently. He not only proves ability in several branches but works with a broad smile that marks him in the personality col- umn. The singer is also good, while Harkins, who accompanies the one ballad number, has a neat way of camouflaging his lung power as if the sound was echoing from the strings of a ukulele, which he holds for the purpose. The election of Martha Pryor and Co. to follow was not any too favor- able for the singer, but she equaled her predecessors for applause. The company Is a male pianist. Arnold and Lambert shared the hit honors with Avey and O'Neil. Mile. Rhea, assisted by a trio of males, who give her excellent sup- port, did not demand much atten- tion until after her opening dance. From then on the dancer paved her way into solid admiration, while the one male singer possesses vocal ar- ticulation to carry his bit in good shape. A change of costume could be made by her dancing accompan- ist to make a more appropriate ap- pearance or to conform with the routine. Derkin's Animals, directed by the owner from behind the wings, worked a little too slow to hold them In. Such was the case Monday, for all those not desirous of viewing the picture took to the nearest exit. The turn would get more in the opening spot. to scratch, and with the additional kidding and chatter supplied by her partner, the turn had no trouble h» going over. Nat Nazarro, Jr., got away to sub- stantial recognition with his step- ping, though the remainder of the act, outside of the two melo- dies from an upper box, failed to arouse any marked degree of enthusiasm Nazarro seems to be :*lyirg motfty or%a. rujtuijr^split to,, score with his footwork, as he in- serted the sliding effect more often than was necessary during his dances. The playing of the 'cello, for which every light in the house went out, had its inning and im- proved the results with the added songster placed in a box for two numbers. The band and girl are very much secondary to Nazarro, with the former demonstrating noth- ing above the average in their play- ing, while the girl is on and off only long enough to make her presence known. Lew Wilson, next to closing, pushed through to a big finish after having some trouble in getting started. The accordion and guitar incidents were strong points in his favor, as were some of his stories, but the songs failed to equal the aforementioned accomplishments. A slight tendency to stall for bows proved strong enough to be respon- sible for at least one of the returns done by him. Martin and Moore closed with their routine on the rings and bal- ancing. Both showed to advantage in appearance and their work wind- ing up to a house that was still seated and generous with applause. gelo," the latter being encored. Miss Luby might round out a better group for imitation, but she enter- tained and won out. Edward Esmonds and Co. in "Mr*. Latham's Career" found the going easy, No. 3. It isn't often a playlet Includes a clever pianist as this sketch does. Several curtains were won. Adelaide Hermann with her magic closed the show without losing one davrOif/lier avexsi^M.y *»iek; tha-t ef "Noah's Arc," drew comments of surprise and amusement. In all Mme. Hermann does her routine well. Clara Theodoros and Co. (New Acts) opened. I bet. ing couple of tricks could stand im- | failed to hold up the average so far provement. His reception was in the bill, because of a teeming in. rather tepid at this house, although it is not unlikely they were more 1 interested In watching him than applaud. Chaplin closed the show. 5TH AVE. Holy Week did not lower the at- tendance around 28th street. After eight o'clock they continued to dribble down the aisles. Very near capacity Tuesday night. The show ran along evenly for eight acts. Bartram and Saxton and Lew Wilson hit the high mark. The two-act were No. 2, experi- encing no trouble in getting their vocalizing across. Both men im- pressed all the way and were forced into numerous bows and encores before some one pulled the lights. Previous to that Sherman and Rose had opened with a dance offering before a special "set," which left them the recipients of an applause demonstration. Jean La Crosse fol- lowed, singing four songs of the slow variety . made acceptable through he* voice and appearance". Inclined to lean toward being a bit plump, Miss LaCrosse made it of no matter due to her costume, which was decidedly becoming. Jack Kennedy in a golf sketch provided the first comedy the show contained. His mannerisms were effective in bringing laughs; also the lines, here and there, sparkled through long enough to gain some attention, though otherwise the playlet seemed to drag for the major portion of its 21 minutes. The re- mainder of the east, a girl, woman and boy, suffice for "feeders" to Kennedy, with the youthful pair assigned for a duet, which they handled fairly. The acknowledg- ment received called for three or four curtains. Following the warbling of the Bartram-Saxton duo were Jarvis and Harrison. The mixed couple stepped out and cleaned for the major portion of the laug.. honors. The act remains about the same, with, perhaps, one or two minor changes in the dialog. The worn AMERICAN ROOF. The American had one of the snappiest, smooth-running bills of its career this first half, and the Roof audience Monday, which filled the aerial resort to near capacity (the evening was warm), found an abundance of entertainment to their liking. The three opening turns un- seen Included Eddie Montrose, O'Neil Sisters and Fisher's Circus. Dolly Ward, with a male partner, landed in the comedy-hit column with little trouble. The man should be a trifle more discreet with his talk, as audiences in other houses will not be so receptive toward some of his chatter as the American audi- ences. "Little Miss Sunshine" (New Acts), a flash girl act, closed the first half. The turn, which has spe- cial scenery.- appeared on the Roof with the house stuff, and although some of the flash was gone the turn did very well. Boyle and Bennett opened after intermission to a sure- fire dancing hit. Miss Bennet is an attractive miss, and Boyle has done well In the selection of his partner, the present combination showing some well-routined stepping. The couple should eliminate as much as possible the song introductions for their dances, as these slow down the turn materially. Leigh De Lacy and Co. in "One Born Every Minute" made the sketch stand np In the front rank of a bill full of hits. Miss De Lacy discarded this sketch some time ago in favor of a new vehicle, but it was found advisable to return to the former, and the returns Monday evening would warrant the action. A sketch with the action this con- tains in twelve minutes should prove ..sure fire in any of the three-a-day houses. Eary and Eary, with an eight- minute routine of acrobatics, topped off a bill that will not be equaled for some time to come on the Roof. VICTORIA. Virtually surrounded by compet- ing theatres, this Loew house on 125th street—the rialto of Harlem— is more than - holding its own, if Monday night's attendance is any criterion. Probably the largest the- atre in that section, the Victoria was almost capacity by 8.15. One would think that with a big-time house like Keith's Alhambra around the corner and a middle-time theatre like the Harlem O. H. but a few doors away there would be little left for a small-time theatre like the Victoria, with its ample seating capacity, but they were coming in streams before 8. Loew gives them a five-act vaude- ville program running true to form on the established small-time lay- outs, plus a feature film, with a news and comedy reel for good measure. Helen Jackley opened the bill with a high-diving routine from a gradu- ated pedestal on to a small platform below. For a finish she strips to full-length tights for some work on a suspended vertical pole and does a high dive for a sweet send-off. Mills and Smith, rube cut-ups. follow in the deuce position. They gag and crossfire for some ten min- utes and then pull their resonant yodeling double for an encouraging farewell. Van and Carrie Avery are spotted No. 3, and sell their "Madame Sir- loin, Medium" skit for full par value. The coon comic exacts all possible comedy from his lines and business, with the female clairvoy- ant proving excellent foil for his quips and hokum. Bobby Henshaw, sans his usual green jacket blazer, but still sport- ing the uke and his trick falsetto, annexed the hit honors as behooves his next-to-closing position. Hen- shaw has also enhanced his offering with a female audience plant, who performs a couple of solos on a cor- net, with plant in a lower box tak- ing up a vocal repeat. Henshaw, in asking for requests from the audience, was greeted with insistent demand for one number, which he entirely disregarded. Why not eliminate the request hokum? Henshaw displays big-time possi- bilities with his present routine. The Dancers Supreme, a corking terpsichorean act consisting of two women and a man, closed, and ac- counted for themselves In a manner worthy of better grade bookings. They were a hit here. "The Witching Hour," picture, closed. 58TH ST. There was no evidence of a falling off in business for Holy Week, judged from attendance Tuesday evening. The lower floor looked ca- pacity except for the boxes and the upper floors had a draw. A good split-week seven-act bill that netted appreciative returns all the way. The hit honors went to Greenlee and Drayton, a colored two-man act spotted fourth. The team is big time. Foster and Rae (New Acts), using one of the former Mack and Walker flirtation rou- tines in the following spot, stood up strongly. Blanche and Jimmy Creighton. landed in the next to closing with a dash of rural comedy that was lightened by expressions not so truly rural. The chatter about the family was funny and more amusing was Jimmy's story of his session with a wild cat. His Hinging of his "airdales" in a dance he dubbed as "bull the Josephine" drew a big hand. Miss Creighton was crisp in style as a country lass, heff partner claiming she danced a •'brutal gasotsky." The finale bit with the roped bass viol took them off to good returns. The drop used depict! the interior of the I. O. U. Hall, with pictures of officials such as the "Enchanted Ruler" and "In- sipid Janitor." Edna Luby went over for a quar- tet of bOWS, No. 2. She opened with a French number and then offered a new routine of impressions. The first and best was Beatrice Her- ford's "At the Five and Ten Cent Store." The voice imitation was clever and truer than the other characterizations, which were Marie Nordstrom's jilted girl, Adele Row KEENEYS. With the downtown section of Rl-odkiyn' flvoi2«d- wXV Uk- Qh&pUa feature, "The Kid," Keeney's was forced to compete with the rest and easily held its own Tuesday night, when the house was well filled. Alvin and Alvin, acrobatic, fea- turing a pole, opened handily, with Rose and Lang, a mixed team, ap- parently playing under an assumed name, with the man doing a souse throughout the turn, took down several laughs and managed to squeeze out a hit with Monroe and <Iratton (fictitious names) in a pro- duction turn taking down an easy hit with a light vehicle that has considerable material of .erit. The man in this act also features a "drunk," with the audience appar- ently undiunted by having one in the previous turn. Judson Cole, a youthfu' appearing magician, kidded himself into sev- eral laughs with magic, a great por- tion of which he burlesques. Cole's talk is to the point and amusing, with his work well routined up to the egg trick finish, which sends, him off acceptably. Cole has prob- ably one of the best remarks heard about of late for a noise backstage when he remarks to the audience, "Don't mind that; they have the stage manager down and are trying to put a s white collar on him." The noise was quite noticeable, due to the following turn being the Bird Cabaret, which employs a number of cockatoos which made consider- able noise when being put in their places behind the drop. The bird act provided a flash of distinction, but the proper place for it would have been closing the show. As it was, the noise hampered both the Judson Cole turn and Muriel Hud- son and Dave Jones, immediately after. The Hudson and Jones com- bination needs new life, the listless- ness of the offering detracting greatly from it. Miss Hudson re- tains her looks, but seems to be greatly limited in the* present act, with Jones hampered on account of inadequate comedy material. May Forster and Co., on the rope and wire, closed the show and did it well. difference to lUvii* aii What saved th e tur n was the nat« ural, good singing of the slimmer member of the team, who abused his position by demanding a purple spot. Their material is stale and it missed fire with the audience. In appearance they seem neglectful of good dressing and in closing one of the members was as unethical as to signal tq an,acquaintance of his in. the balcony. The applause 'died.' with their second bow. The Stanley Brothers in closing worked with an abundance of pep, holding the audience practically in- tact by the manner in which they attack the routine. The closing stunt wherein one of the brothers with the gage in his teeth is a sup- port for the rope which balances the other as he spins brought big, legit- imate returns. The overture by the Avenue B orchestra was so peppy and con- sisting of three Jazz numbers inter- mingled was a starter in itself that it evokes considerable admiration In comparison to the offerings in other houses w^.ere it is nothing other houses than a time killer. fitep. land in "Love Is a Wonderful an'e appearance continues to be up Thing," and Lillian Shaw with "An- METROPOLITAN. With three or four houses !n the neighborhood all selling Charlie Chaplin in "The Kid" (including another Loew house, Bijou, across the street) It remained for the Met- ropolitan to pack 'em in Tuesday evening. The vaudeville end ac- cordingly was Just taken care of in so-so fashion, only; however, every, thing went. Jimmy Flynn, a song plugger, cooed a couple of ballads. The Esther Trio, the first regular act, followed. Man, woman and girl comprise the cast. It looks like a family affair, with the man featur- ing a few telling equilibrlstic stunts, the women mixing it up with a lit- tle stepping. A couple of routine bends, the sum total for their ef- forts. McConnell and West opened No. 2 interestingly, but fall down later with the songs and routine. On the songs end their stuff is too old to command attention. The couple has a comedy opening. The boy has a few "good, if remih'isceTii"; Kiorlc*. She Tias a vamp .Tet-up that could be sold attractively, but not in t ? present garb. They would do bet- ter and get further by rearranging the entire act. Chapelle, Stinnette and Co. top- lined in No. 3. The turn now car- ries special hangings and a pianist. The former are nifty looking rags and the latter is a niftj ra dicker on *he grand. As for Chapelle and Stinnette, the couple is the same, sure-fire, strairht vocalizing, col- ored combination 'n vaudeville. Ward and Wilson (New Acts) next to closing. The Great Felix and Co. closed with a slow magic routine that r"rs rather long and loses its fire thereby. Felix has been known as Herman the < treat and the Great Hermann at divers times also. His is a standard magic catalog routine, for the n.ain de- pending on his lightning palming for its effectiveness. The conclud- ing iron chest illusion brought a lit- tle encouragement. The cola materializing stunt was also rather well done, but the open- AVE. B. Out of a half dozen acts of typi- cally big-small time, calibre, only one seemed to ^tand up above par at Loew's Ave. B Monday night, and this was the "9 Krazy Kids," who headlined simultaneously with Para- mount's "The Easy Road," starring Thomas Meighan In lights. The Kids seemed to lift the tempo out of a sluggishness and mixed rou- tine which this East Side audience took to more and more as the rou- tine progressed. The act, despite being padded with a flavor that is stale material, as far as up-to-date vaudeville is concerned, furnished the major portion of laughs. Left in the hands of r Heb comic and a chorus that sings with gusto and a tenor who tops even the orchestra, tl.e turn scarcely registered a dull moment. The act was on in No. 4 and closed to crashing applause. The vaudeville part of .he show opened with Lieut. Thetin. His of- fering is preceded by a screen in- troduction of his accomplishment in the war as a French act. That over, the routine goes further Into an il- luminating curtain depicting rocket illuminatk on a battlefield. It seemed a trifle hard to get what it all meant at the start, but with the appearance of the French lieutenant himself a scattering reception was given him on the credence of his performance *he great war. Lieut. Thetin represents the usual sharp shooting stunts, varying, how- ever, from convention by the execu- tion of the tricks. Only in one in- stance did he miss a trick, and that was on account of the cartridges runn. r» out o" the barrel of one of the guns he was shooting with. His broken English is an added " "~h g tter. In No. 2 Fir*. *iu»U flm itti, a -em.v sii ing an d piano team, aroused some tittering from •' e start by showing a proportionate nmount of fle^h in evening attire This Impression died down instant- ly practically when one of the ladies seated herself at the piano and be- gan the first of four songs in duet with her blonde partner. Their style of work is fast, their voices very fair and the routine changes after three songs into an imitation of a player-piano with four hands. Their Hosing song of a rube brought two well deserved bows. The big- gest feature of the act is that it tries hard and registers as a con- sequence. In No. 3 Tommy Gordon sailed away with honors up to that part of the bill, exhibiting a capaeity for "nut" stuff in delivery that regis- tered spontaneously. He held the stage for 14 minutes without tiring, mixing monolog with three songs the cues of hich were allied with the continuity of the gags. Lane and Smith followed In No. 6. BROADWAY CUTTING PRICES (Continued from page 12) "Lady Billy," however, has made a good run of it and should stick through April. "Afgar" has an- other week at the Central. It will not tour until next season. The non-musical leaders are toppetl with "Deburau," which is standing them up at the' Belasco. "The Bat" is second at the Mo- rosco. "Lightin*" the record run leader at the Gaiety, "The, First Year" at the Little, and "The Green Goddess" at the Booth about form the leading business group. "Ro- mance" is very strong at the Play- house and "Peg o' My Heart" looks safe at the Cort. "The Gold Dig- gers" has been under $13,000, but Is still a powerful draw. "The Four Horsemen of the Apo- calypse" at the Lyric is the smash of the special pictures showing in the legitimate theatres. With a little under $21,000 grossed last week it is approximating the record busi- ness of "Way Down East," which is still showing at the 44th Street. This week the Metro production started off more strongly than last week, the Monday matinee beating $900 and the night business going over $1,600. The ticket brokers renewed two buys this week, the renewals being "Lady Billy" (Liberty) and "Blue Eyes" (Shubert), the latter being handled because of the switch into the Shubert. Buys were arranged for the new attractions, taking in "Mary Stuart" (Ritz) and "Toto" (Bijou), while "The Ghost Between.'* which opened Tuesday, was also in line. The other buys are: "Rose Girl" (Ambassador); "Love Birds" (Apollo); "Deburau" (Belasco); "Green Goddess" (Booth); "Bad Man" (Comedy); "Peg O" My Heart* (Cort); "Ladies Night" (Eltinge); "Tip Top" (Globe); "Nfce People* (Klaw); "Mary" (Knickerbocker); "First Year" (Little*; "The Cham- pion" (Longacre); "The Bat" (Mo- rosco); "Sally" (New Amsterdam); "Romance" (Playhouse); "Dear Me" (Republic); "The Right Girl" (Times Square). Last week was one of the worst the cut rates have had in years. The upstairs counters where tickets are 25 cents more kept sending unsold bundles downstairs. The attractions on sale were: "Rose Girl (Ambas- sador); "Cornered" (Astor); "Af- gar" (Central); "In the Night Watch" (Century); "Mary Rose" (Empire); "Broken Wing" (48th St.); "Three Live Ghosts" (Bayes); "Little Old New York" (Plymouth); "Rollo's Wild Oat" (Punch and Judy); "Dear Me" (Republic); "The Right Girl" (Times Square); "Passing Show" (Winter Garden). "Mecca" in Holy Week. Cleveland, Man h 23. "Mecca," at Keith's Hippodrome, the pace indicating a record gross for Holy Week. "Up in the Clouds/' Musical The new musical show being readied by Joseph Gaites is to be called "Up in the Clouds." It is due to open in Stanford, Conn., May L\ Kellard Touring Cansda John E. Kellard has placed In re- hearsal a Shakespcrcan repertoire company. A route has been laid out for the Company through Canada. Jane Cowl Reviving "Mary Stuart." Jane Cowl will produce in New York this spring a revival of Schiller's "Mary Stuart," surrounded following the "9 Krazy Kids/' and by an all-star cast.