Variety (June 1921)

ly, June 8, 1921 V. •II lii KEVIEWHS n I E. AMERICAN ROOF. ima Bri« Fridkln Dancers are wdlincd. It ihould be the Boris SSlkin Dancer, and it tjhouldn't be SSiined. The act carries Ave peo- STon the stage, one In the pit and JTapplauHe leader In the last row. if the agitated person In the last ItTuozidf*^ f>Jffht wasn't rarrJed. JJ^^i^ at least a cousin to some one JJnnected with the sextet, as he wjnit into Blngle«handed salvos whenever any one did anything, and lift the theatre after the act fin- ked Maybe It was Boris himself. nLyhe the leader was Boris. The tesder sang a solo in English from the pit In a fuazy baritone. It was toinething about love and affected him deeply- It did not affect the audience that way. The entire six open the turn on the stage, singing luHtUy. Not one h|M even a passing voice. Only the jteAcing billing saved that part of lt« fSe chieftain then takes the pit tnd swings a baton with frantic oallstlienicF, while the three women dknce mildly and the two remaining men do varieties of popular Russian dattce steps. One of them gets ■omething on dilflcult but not new hoofing of the Trot.Mky type. The lighting Is too low aH the way. and at times It descends to'almost dark- ness. If this is an eftlort at "ef- fects" It Is a bust. The whole thing is a moiHum boiled opening act. With that as the feature, the dhow must have run light In ex- jkensc for this period. Most of the rtst of it was slngl**H ami doubles, Rlcanlo and Cooper being the .best Known namts In siKht. Max and tfenc, recently graduated from the Pan-time honeymoon ,t -v, showed H'ttle that Is new slute their M^ circuit appearances except a change In clothes, he now toiling In sum- mery looking two-piece wear, and ihe'in a yellow .frock with white trimmings. Neifher seamed to be trying very hard. Cooper sang S'jianimy" on entrance and "You iSado Me Forget How to Cry" in the middle, neither dragging down mucli. Miss Ricardo clowned, but was not as eccentric nor as vigor- ous as of old. There were hearty laughs, but no perceptible applause, the iinish coming on the baby cor- net and uke double, With no,encode given or asked. Gcorgalis Trio, two sharpshooters and a VVilhelmina Tell, shot at things from every conceivable po- rtion. Only a complete contortlon- pt routine could complicate It any more or make it. a,ny leds entertatti- Ing. Despite saluting d,nd*bowlng, the hou/ic was satisfied to let it so as it was. * Chapman and Rlnp. fcilxth, showed ai neat act and wandej«^d through a disjointed confusion of talk, instru- mentals, ballads, dramatics and what not. Opening as a talking double which did not Justify the man's eccentric wardrobe or be- havior. It left him to sing a ballad and follow with a light dance and cartwheel, still making It a mys- tery. He then produced a saw and xylophoned It pretty to recognition. The lady appeared in the opening and sweetly sang a song about ev-^ ery boy on the level having a girl on the square, which induced her partner to launch Into melodrama about It; if he got his music with a saw, he got his drama with an axe—to call a spade a spade. Two or three blue gags should be Im- mediately operated on. If the early comedy will be trinimed down to almost nothing and three times as much saw stuff will be done and the clo.sing song sung without any heartrending Corse Payton inter- lude, then Chapman and Ring ijrlll have a very desirable act for Loew time. Both have talent and per- •onality. Joe and Clara Nathan, talk, song and crayon cartooning (New Acts) opened the second c^nto. finishing on a Ted(\' Roosevelt. Jordan and Tyler (New Acts) held down ante- flnal, getting by on the fiddling. Keeney. Mason and Scholl, two roller skaters and a top-mounter without skates, closed and biffed the stay-for-the-plcture contingent In the nose with a few extra special Btunts that merited and drew heavy cannonading on that front. Monte and Parti, musical team, and Al Llbby (neither seen by this roof- hound) were the early birds not caught by *,he XjCil worm. . , - COLONIAL. The end of the intermission was the beginning of the show. Tliough there was merit to some of the first part, the second was wow, wow. wow and wow in four acta, which is as rare in a vaudeville bill as a four-horse parlay. The final four J^ero Tameo Kajiyama, Joseph E. Howard and Co., Watson Sisters Wid Ford and Price. Barr Twins closed the first sec- tion. Two peas out of one pod, i they offered a likeabl** nirtnro on »^ghf 3M0C among the twins, the orchestra and Rube Beckwith at the piano, all the parties concerned. This was seem- ingly inexcusable for a Tuesday night. The mirror dance, perfectly executed, but lacking variation, con- cluded except for a brief trot to the footlights, and the turn depart- ed to a rather shabby acknowledg- merf, Rome and Gaut, wiio last we«:k wrecked the Palace bill following Santley and Sawyer and next to closing, did well here ahead of the twins, but not quite up to their Times square pace. It takes a Mon- day, which brings out the eagle- eyed pickers, and a heart-of-the- town (almost said "loop") gang to get this pair on the fly. Lou and Jean Archer In full stage with two production numbers that didn't get very far to start, and then into their corking Bowery Dance and comedy • double, were heartily greeted at the finish. None of their other work Is in the same theatre with the Bowery specialty. In that Miss Archer Is superb and he Is rattling; In the re t of It both are fair only, and they should try to whittle down the spare stuff and get to the meat of it. The first number is a total loss despite clothes, drops, atmosphere and ev- erything—It should be replaced by something with snap, comedy largt;- ly preferred. The Bowery number they should enshritie and keep in as long as Tanguay sings *'l Don't Care," but it should be done In "one"; here is a number worth stag- ing if Arrher is eager to produce Cor himself. It could go into the "Follies'' and stop the show. An old Howery street scene, with lighting effects and other, details to refresh the memory or stir the imagination would carry Ibis little cfforl to a smash. Sheldon and Dailey. two girl.s working tjoullcssly, with tin-can material and wardrol>€ more suited for shopping on Twenty-third street than for playing on Broadway, opened weakly and finished the .same way. Neither is strikingly en- dowed with glorious gifts for bril- liant entertainment, but the two could get much more out of their stage time than they did here, with ,listless execution, lustreless frocks, "llfe'less songp. The audience thought BO, too, and did next to noticing. De Voe and Statzer. two men, start' with banjoes, go to acro- batics on the f.oor, then a s^xa- ll^one" solo by one of them, then to fpl1| stage with a high percti ap- paratus. Here two amazing leapa biaiid to foot from a somersault and foot to foot for a hold with one fuispended downward by the hands "and the other catching bH arches wltli his own from a floor half- somersault, were Immense; earned ahd got several bows. Kajiyama opened the second por- tion. Starting low, he rapidly got the Interest of the audience by his handwriting marvels, and then ran hia. desperately trained routine of backward, forward, upside down and down side down chlrography. complicated with double, triple and quadruple concentration stunts, all Interspersed wlch Ingenious humor. Moreover, this foreigner was the only performer on the whole bill who talked 100 per cent, correct English. The house was thrilled, held, almost stunned by his feats. Kajiyama has every attribute of a headllner, even though so-called "freak" acts are out of fashion. He is a showman, a wizard and an en- tertainer; when the audience flled out after the closing act three out of every four wore saying, "Wasn't that Jap wonderful?" Joe Howard, presenting a greatly abbreviated cast since he first launched his present scenery, got a great deal from his support, never- theless. The Apache dancers were a bang and the male single trick stepper and tumbler landed on both feet every time. The Chlne.se pair, man and woman, did not register decisively in their specialty. How- ard's revival of his hits went well, and the finale, firing from all barrels at once in a lightning quick assem- bly of his cast and all Its talents, went for a walloping half dozen curtains. The Watson Sisters entered, with the excruciating Fanny In horsey habllments (neat) and doing a lady just off an equestrian excursion The comedy had to do wittj wef»k- ends and weak ends, and was slightly rough In spots, as was some of the later talk and business. But —who gave a whoop? If Fanny Watson's wholesome clownmg can i turn blue Into lily white, why not? Here Is one regular vaudeville act. No "production." no aulhoi-. no program "credits." no fancy sound- ing or looking bull--just a marve- lous and healthy comic teannd with ,1#^serious fared and Orefty sirai^yht. whacking away with hokum gath- ered from the s<'veu seus and ei.t;lil circuits, and making the cu.stonieis howl. Then the hn inony get-away hallad. What mor*- couM there he ed; the punch was !n Fanny's per- sonality, and sha sold that—*every ton ot it—for plenty of hand-to- hand wampuriT. She never was in finer fettle. She did all but break a leg, but never breathed hard at It. The girls stopped the show and could have done another half hour, but didn't. Hall to the one good two-act that hasn't sighed for a musical comedy In vaudeville. Bert Ford and Pauline Price closed. She is a dainty girl and he a neat little chap. They dance on a silver wire, neither very tight nor very slack. But, how thoy dance! Ttip tCQin ceuld have held up any juiicttire of this bifi with ease. As It was very few left and those who didn't appfauded. Lait. NEW ACTS THIS WEEK and started off with a nifty ditty which they Imvo been usiqg'• If tluy had a slore liouae lull ot for some time. This ran a little drapes and dro[»s aiv' a ;ean» «>f i» «i- Jong, hut was acceptable. They followed with a "Spring Song" uance iiiiit didn't cau.'ie any comino- t'on. and then a double with a line tap thii^h which was ruined by y>ni^ mi.sunderstanding througlioui lor datjeers lietween sfuigs and a cUorus and a Ha^vaiian baixt ami .1. ft()( K of wardrohe' The »|.>th's were a4l right juid more w<»uldn t ha\'e been atis a'i riglit' r: tlif hon.se iilio was all ih>- ' atu- r.nhf^r* ■ lued- PALACE. A big show; that goes for the running time, but more pertinently the generarhierlt of the bill. There were three production acts—the Santley and Sawyer revue. Will- iam Seabury'a "Frolics" and the Four Marx Brothers. That brought the number of acts down to eight, but the show, off to a two o'clock Monday matinee start, did not ring down until 5:25. Clouds up to over- ture time may have helped the over capacity draw, which was treated to a real holiday card. The Marx Brothers are a quick repeat In their new "On the Mez- zanine Floor," and that is no sur- prise. After the Palace showing about six Weeks ago. It was reported the brothers would take the turn off and make It Into a three-act show. The excellent fashion In which the act worku out In vaude- ville probably led to a change of plans, for it Is a whale of a trick in the twice daily. The "interpolation" of lienny Leonard, the woVld's lightweight boxing champion, added to the fun. I.<Hst week the fistic flash showed with the Marx.9 In an uptown house, but the champ's date in Jer- .sey ne.xt week to mix it with Rocky Kansas made It Imperative for him to stick to training. Without Henny the act ran 50 minutes. In- cluding 'feed's" speech. Leo Marx Is more the true come- dian than in any of the family's for- mer offerings. He is a "papa" of the "Mezzanine" turn as much as ever before. As a quick thinker he qualifies with the fastest in vaude- ville. Twice he displayed tjiat Monday. Once when "Red" muffled the bottle of booze. It tell to the fli>or. The brothers showed team- work that resembled a 8h(»rt-stop backing up a second baseman. "Pasquale" quickly picked up the bottle and dashed off. But Leo made pretense of sopping up the spilled "llcker" on a 'kerchief and using it as perfume. There were several changes over the first Palace showing and some new latighs. I^eo supplied most of the new stuff. When informed that "Mr. Could had lost most of hfs money before he died," he replied: "Yes, I know; he tried to run a F'ord agency In Palestine " "On the Mezzanine" sounded like a new song number, and It Is pretty. In- stead of the jazz band tinish there was an ensemble of only those In the act. Hattie Darling, only fea- tured member of the support, showed something on her violin. Al.so in the way she wore her frocks. With the Marx act over at 5:10, there was a wait for Bobby McLean, who closed the show. I*roportion- ately few people left the house. Leo Marx stepped In on skates on McLean's introduction, supplied laughs and came in on the finish. If he forgets and wears a hip flask, it will be fataL Jack Pomeroy, Burke and Blue were out of the act at the matinee. prol)ably be- cause of the lateness. McLean con- tended himself with th« Jiimplng stunts and a display of his' really dazzling speed on the "Ice." Holding over for a second wcel; the cameo couple, Joseph Santley and Ivy Sawyer, displayed "Kllck Klick." which like their last sea- son's revue was staged by Hassard Short. The class of Santley teamed with the daintiness and sweatness of Miss Sawyer makes almost any- thing they do a delight. "Kllck Klick" is new and novel In its en- trances, crisp and fresh in its dressing. The two full stage scenes, with the neatly worked cam^'ra de- vice and later the moon and run- way, both brought pleasing numbers. For the latter Miss Sawyer showed for the first time in short skirts and for so slender a type she was al- Uirin/7.. She was dainty on her t< s as with everything else slu d«»es. Santley's "Summer Stars are Shin- ing" proved the revues prettiest nuniber. though Miss Sawyer had something with a gfx I melody in "Spanish r^)ve." In lighting as in production, skill and invriitivent ;i i shown through. Santley and .*>awyer I did T\<)t aim for a punch. That is I something they do not n'-ed. Hut I there eame freely the i-exponse thaf * earned the clever lyrlr from Santley land arjother U»(»k af the Mi>'s Sawyi'T-. ' \N illjarn Seahiiry lias hr.-ri show- ing h's "l*'rivolic« ' danee revue in ! the hinterland. He brnuKht it back a letter act. for whil« tin- -^-Ifings ' .'ind r<.nripe are Unr^i'mced in gen- era' iheie are some new in»^ml)ers III the company and tliey stiiml out. .More partieularly there !• R^th Cannon, a little mis." who y^Iioiild Y.\fi a name on Rroadw.iy.^ She . . CC'ojftintied on nai:'^- L'2> HARTMAN and WILEY. Songs and Talk. 18 Mint.; One. H. O. H. Raymond Wiley for the past few seasons has been playing about in a futuristic Jail act with a male partner. The present offering is quke 54 deparlurc fr<^m his former specialty, for Wiley is merely acting as a foil for the comedy of Miss Hartman. Wiley is using his double voice number from the old act for his single bit. He makes a clean cut looking straight man although a trifle stiff. The act depends for its future upon Miss Hartman. She is a ^ood looking blonde, wearing straight evening dress, although at the open- ing she wears big storm overshoes or perhaps they are auto shoes, for evening wear. They get a laugh and aim the audience in her direc- tion for comedy. She irets quite a bit of fun kidding her partner Her clowning Is of the right sort and she does not give the Impression of trying to be funny. Some of the stuff Is not new, but she manages it nicely and gets it over. The couple have appearance and class and should work into a happy vaudeville combination. They are headed right and at present for the smaller big time houses and the bigger small time houses should do very well. A season's working In the middle west houses where the act should be In demand would do Ihcm a world of good. ROBCRT REILLY snd Co. (2). Songs and Talk. 17 Mint.; One. Robert Rellly Is an Irish tenor who has in his support an attractive , miss and a boy. A light pleasant love story is unfolded. Its principal characters are an Irish lad and las- sie, the comedy of the piece beinc the Inevitable appeai^ince ot her younger brother at inopportune moments. The act opens with a number by Rellly in "one," following which the drop is separated, displaying an ln« torior In which the boy enters offer* Ing the singer a glass of ale. The girl appears having expected the visitor, with comedy business by the kid ensuing. The drop is brought together again for more vocalizing, later be^ ing separated, showing a country gate with more love making and in« terruptions by the boy. The man and girl go in tor double vocalizing with a dance finish by the trio topping off. The idea Is well worked out. The piece has value as a singing offer« Ing. The story is productive and the comedy by the kid always sure. The act Is well staged, its value ia this respect not being gain<*d by the Roof showing and should fit In some spot or other on any present vaudo* vnie bill. JACK DONOHUE. Talk and Dancing. 15 Mins.; One and Two. Jack Donohue is a dancer, late of the 'Follies." and previous to that in "Angel Face." For vaudeville he has retained most of his old turn inasmuch as he opens monologing. The talk lands mostly, mainly through Donohuc's nervous. Jerky deliveiy. He breaks up his lines getting laughs. But it .is as. a dancer he shines. After the mono the n<t goes to "two" where Dono- hue pulls his travesty on the cla.'<slcal dancers, getting big re- sults with a snake dance imitation, using his arm for the reptile. Another big laugh was his utiliz- ing u coat hanger for a bow and arrow in one part of the travesty. At the Prospect Donohue followed Princ<>ss RadJah and ad llbbed a travcrty on hen snake and chair dance that was the com<^dy hit of the lillj. A papier mache snake was carried out In a covered basket for the number. Donohue. in order to enrage the reptile, as RadJah had done, unwound a red tie fr<>m his neck and shook it before the prop's eyes. It was a real wow. Donohue Is big time, and on the same bills with the Princess quali- fies as a strong comedy adjunct with his burlesque. It's the fun- niest one of the season. Con. m MAE NEIL8EN. Songs. 14 Mins.; One. Broadway. It was MUe Neil.<«on In the theatre on the side cards, but the lobby held billing of Kay Neilon. Blther name won't help the act o< the girl's, how- ever, which is all small-time from the kid dress worn entirely during the running to the material, routin- Inlng and manner of handling. Starting with a Chinese number Miss Nellson followed with "Old Swimming Hole." then did a Lauder song without credit, placing a plaid sa.«h over her short dress for that, llnishiiig with Italian and Irish sonK-"^. .Miss Neilson was No. 2 at the Broadway. .. I^im9. BURNS and LORRAINE. Songs and Dances. 11 Mins.; One. Two clean-cut chaps In saclc suits doing a song and dance rou« tine. Opening with a Jazzy pub- lished number, the boys go In for Impersonation, one taking danceri^ with his partner, singers. Cantor, Leonard and Jolson are used for singers by one boy, with Rooney, White and Cohan for the dance mimicry by the other. Both handle their bits well. The turn travels at a good speed, the boys having sufficient magnet- Ism In their work to hold attention, with the pre.sent turn showing signs of developing them Into a standard act. DOHERTY and DIXON, dongt. Piano and Harp. 10 Mins.; One. Ksensy'e* Brooklyn. Two girls, each an accompn>'hed musician, on piano and harp. The pianlste also sings while at tha piano and also with the accompani- ment of her partner. The singing discloses a considerable range of voice and carries the act along hardily. The musical ability Is never left in doubt, the harpist handling a solo bit in tip top style. No. 2 at K^^cney's Monday after- noon these girls found the going easy with a turn that is .-efineni'iit from start to finish. JOHNSON, ROB and GIBSOf^. Comady and Musical. 17 Mins.; Full Stags. Qr99\%y Sq. Two men and a woman Tlie I:4t- ter Is supposed to need the aid of musicians for an entertainment, and calls up the musical union. Both the men are comics, one sporting a violin, the other a banjo. The latter could be heard hi the several numbers played, but th«> Ud« die appeared to be used as a prop. Comedy was worked up by the flddler and the girl, the entire rou- tine, classing as "hokum," but quite effective. On fourth the trl.i drew hearty returns. ^Iim\ HOLDEN and HARRON. j Talk, $ongs " v^ 14 Mins.; One (Special). '^'**"'^~* The tcam'.H vehicle is titled "The Billposter," with the man doing the title role and the woman an acircss. They engige in crossfire, she offers to make him an actor along the stereotyped lines and he comes back in a (lurked .'^ult outfit for two popular soni;s in draggy tempo. The orehestra always was a couple of notes ahead of him. Some niorc sidewalk talk and th«*n another sf>ng by th" woman, a statue^;qll4' figure to thi huinptj-dumpty Accompinl- nir'Mt of her partner The latter sIho pick' d out a /ront row male p.itron for a eorif inu*^»"M li'«rrii>.»<' "f f**^ libbiTii;;, adrlr»'«(MnK !itm as 'Fred." lie Wiis not a shill, although eomedy pMSsibililies pre.«»enied thMiiseU»'M if one wer** carried Sure fire o:» the present time. v;.' ' . KELLY and BROWNE. Songs and Dance*. *' 11 Mint.; One A man and woman goli^g in for competitive work to decide whieh ie of greater value to bring forth the worth of a musical composition* i^ingirg or dancing. . . The man is an Irish tenor: hie partner a daneer. He sings a num-^ her with the woman doing a dance to the same music following hlou The rn^n's voice would suggest cabaret experience. The girl's mala asset is her appearance. Her danc^ ing shows no originality. For an early spot on small ttrn# bills they will suffice. Six acts and a picture were pre^ aented at the Playhouse, liuil.xon, .\'. V . ihc lalfer half of last week. Ben Cohen, manager of ].n^w'% « oionial, Detroit, lias wirrd in that he ir. tends to attend the D<>riip'ey- i'.iriMiitiir figUt, inviting Abr ^'rii'd- n .'in himI Moc Sihetidc, ♦ » t'. e I.oef ufHf-e, t<i be hi'- giiest.«t.. • • / v ,K>» ■»*. ... .J* ;*x.'j-'«»' I «r. " 4:^ .fr : t ( M 'v>! ■*•■• t >».•;■■•; ;i*A •>••>'»' t'« » A