Variety (March 1922)

I Friday. March 17, 1922 BURLESQUE 11 BURLESQUE REVIEWS LEW KELLY SHO\y .-,..11 _...-.••••••••#••• J^" *^* fuller Pul'- I • • • • • • t • •••••• ••••«••Alt . .AI n:irrl»')ii Kelly Harris fih^xa Peach T^ew Kelly. An off voar i'««^ nt th.» Columbia this week is fSisfa.Mory entertainment Tlie Tot furni.-h^'.l .Mtiier the people or IhA miteri.il to ofTset his pecuhar iharactori/ttion of the dope liend. best known exponent in burles.pje. nuts all the emphasis on talk with- out any l'»^v c(»m<Mjy business of the riotous kin.l, ami in order to ijr.- HPrve the balance the surroun.iinK oeople must luTPSsarily work ener- getically and lorcefully. The orlv way to nutke ivtlly - •ombre fun fir-M-tive is to furnish it with stailUnn contrast in tlu- rest of the slaK' pi'thre, not m dressing alone but in c<.medy material as well Kellv needs a lot of skillful feeding to make his characterization stand out. anil the ni^-n in his sup- port do n«)t furnish this aid. Per- hans the chi»f comodian has taken too mv-jh on his own shoulders and left the other*? too little opportunity. Whatever the reason, his stuff doesn't bit on all sfx as it did last season. Watching the organization work leads one to the view that the supporting comedians are partly at lault atid Kelly i»artly responsibr^ for the way the sho^. i.s hooked up. There is an enormous amount of talk, most 01 it in the atrociou.s pun- ning vein. Dialog alone never pot anywhere in a burlesque show, even when delivered in that greatei-t of comedy a-set.-*. extreme dialect. When it is 'all in straight Kngli.sh It has to be extremely I right to make up for absent business^ Kelly furnishes no business of his own and his assist;iuts are deficient in the same department. The comedy being under weiglit, the burden falls upon the women, three in number. One is a straight singing prima donna, which narrows the field down to the two singing and dancing ^oubrets. Dolly Bar- ringer and Evelyn Hayn. T'ero is a study in contrasts. The chorus ag- gregation i.s uni«iue. being made up of 18 of the talleat girls ever s^'^th- •w«red together on one stage. Tlie two principal women mentioned are as tiny, as chic and as trim as the eighteen are tall, and every time they appearetl all eyes were centered on them. Both are neat in appear- ance, with the jauntiest figures Imaginable, and cheerful workers. At the outset they did very well With their numbers, but as the eve- ning progressed and the gloom thickened even they could not in- still any great amount of cordiality in the crowd, rather a slim ono for the Columbia. Their surroundingr^ were against ihem. The general ef- fect of the show leads one to sus- pect that a type of tho Kelly dope flend kind cannot carry the comedy end of a .<-how alone. It must have a comic foil of some sort. Kelly's chief aid this year Is Art Harris, who does a colorless Hebrew with vaguo dialect and a mechan- ical, painstaking, plodding way of handling comedy. It has no life or «pontaneity and makes a poor foil for Kelly's quiet methods. Nobody else attempted comedy in any deli- nlt* and consistent way. Out of the three other men, ono occasional- Ijr appeaaed for an isolated comedy ♦i*^ talk or makeup, but there was fothing emphatic or positive about *t The whole plan worked out as • pretty weak department. Perhaps "8 just an accident of selecting Kelly lias been a pretty con- go-setter in the comedy J^y. Probably this season's .skid is '*J/*[.tiiose unavoidable accidents. Al Harrison aoes a wide varietv w semi-sirai;;ht characters, none of viitli a in- kick. That goes witK Af^"''.J^'''' t'lJl^'nff specialty «ii ii''"^ "'^>" '^'••»J>' J" the eve- •"ng. Th^ others were described on I^?J^^'''^"^ ;>-• Louis SheMun, Kob- vm ,'^'^*^'" :'»^^ Butler X. Mander- •»"'e, but so incidental were thev to jne prote.Hlings that it was all but jnapossibh.. to identify them from "»e printe.i program. Kvervthing was scattered and haphazard: noth- «f fu ^^^"^ ;iiid objective. The climax »t the show was a hopelesslv mis- Jirocted effort. The elaborate story onngs tb.f oii.iracters together in a P"8on at the finish and the Ji the who!., ,hi,..^r paving to do J^«|ly. si.n-onn.b-.l with prison uni 2J?M """"" '" '^^ ''•' l''<^ ri'st of the See m ^V"'"- ^''''^''^'^ ^^ l'">l "ce madM ;, ,>^,,„ i„ jj pofTin tb- «wa of J ser^amlng farce, but d«»II.^ ^■'^ ""''• ^" I'-riunate. »epres^it^^ .j^elly.^ ,,... ■'<»« th*^ doi„ *n« sk-t.-h played upon most amusingly. It was the best item of the evening except for a man and woman gymnastic specialty interpolated in the second act and involving Roslia and Louis. Another specially was that of Sam Wilson, Negro singer of songs in Yiddish, who had the stage all to himself for eight minutes. "NVliy shouhl a lirst rate colored singer of native songs be deemed interesting as a Yid.lish Caruso? Perhaps it was meant in a coiuvdy sense. PARISIAN FLIRTS former R.'ni.> It I .i»us-'I'>>;«^ lorn .sitiji Ji. ... t'luia « ;ili.^i«ii ... Tiny 11 ..st'bU't.. Ja'ii 'I'lMIiUIS.. suiiuny Jim... .Irving N'. I,«^'.vi3 , ...Arvly Martini ... .Ila'ph Smith l'n»<l,i l,.hr M:i»..'l I, I ...May K-niliir-li .Clius. Koliiiison COLUMBIA'S CHI., CONTINUES Chicago, March 15. Tho Columbia, the Columbia Cir- cuit house here, inaugurated Its new oontinuous, burlesque, vaudeville and feature picture policy last Sun- day, The first day's busines."* for "Tit for Tat," the current attrac- tion showed an increase of $500 over the preceding Sunday when Al Reeves' .show was the attraction. Monday the matinee doubled that of the previous Monday, and in the evening tliere was an increase of CO per cent, over the previous Monday night performance. Izzy AVeiriiiarlen, the new man- ager, has made a number of clianges. most noticeable the increa.sed candle power used for the illumination of I he niarquoo signs in the front. Chailes Hobin.^^on's show at the Olympic this we.'k takes you back 10 .\ears. The makeup of the cast follows the style of a decade ago; so ar<' the ni'tluuls and so Is the miteriil. ISut that detail doesn't ti?;ure one way or tho other, llob- inxui's <"haraett'rizations are as amusing as ever they were: his par- ticular version of "Irish .lustice " is as fnil of laughs, although the rou- tine has change«l only in minor d^- is unique,in HA7MARKET STOCK Cliii.ugo. Maieh J, •ids. ■istent them double clunax is a morbid bit ^^ilh the hanging of with ] draped gallows, hang- rofTiu re It's very ^^'•op m on LJ^burban r. J>4nd Of o.. the wifa •Pective J^'fe, had leaving t clean: rnoni"nts tend in ?l •ith Kathrli -bowed two Were lit lie i Care id.-nc..v: }<(. livu--ehold. • he other. r.i.t - t.ilk- A ad.joiiiii'g tails, an<l his Hebrew a com»M|y sensf. AftM- all. hurle>Vpie hasn't changed so mucli except for a toucii of pol- ish,, and tlie production has become more expensive and elaborate, but the spirit is the same. In most resi)e('is the revision has l»een for- ward and upward, Robinsons per- formance was sprinkled profusely w i t h -damns' and 'hells." It struck the ear strangely and drove home the realization that that par- ticular curse of the ancient bur- lesqne Jias pretty nearly disap- peared. This particular reviewer hadn't heard so much profanity in a per- formance in a couple of years. It struck him as astonishing that Rob- inson .siiould damage an otherwise spirited and intelligent performance with a device so cheap, when he was able to tie his audience into knots with a thoroughly laughable rendition of so worn a business bit as the monte game with its money changing and hokum. No better bit of absurd l»uffoonery has come through in a long time. It is the Old Stufi', but done in a genuine way that comes only to the experienced burle.<*quer. The same was true of tho courtroom scene, just as old, just as threadbare, but, as done by thi«» comedian in tramp makeup and with the trained seal impersonation. It is burlesque low comedy at its most hilarious best. Robinson belongs to the old school and he does best with the old stuff. Late in tlie second act he used the "lie-and-falling-applc" bit. which is of comparatively recent coinage, and it skidded. But the Hebrew dialect and the military' travesty wa.? going to 14th street to see if vou qu iliiie.i for an Old Home week. Robinson is the whole show. He is a real, even if antiquated, burlesque comedian, but he has surrounded himself with some mediocre people, especially among the women prin- cii>als. . Ralph Smith ifl a mechanical .-.tivtight. He has a certain number of line<« to deliver, and it Is nothing i.". his life wb.etber they are heard beyond o'row, if only he can get them off his chest in the shortest possible time. Irving N. Lewis had a few funny moments in a cliaracter fairly suggesting Dave Marion's hair-lip cabby, al^^ough he uncon- sciously V>roke intt) a vague German dial*>ct-. a.^ though he had been ac- customed to working in the latter medium and forgo: himself occa- sionally. . . , . » T The otlK^r man principal is Ana> Martini a daticing contortionist first of all, but showit.g signs of some talent in other bits. Martini i< only general utility man, but he did rather well with an A. K. who wante-i to learn to play tlie ukelele. He his a naturally funny face, with a thin mouth and a chin like a snow-plo\v. His specialty with the t .ble^ ar.d a barrel in the lirst art got avvloi-^o. and he also figured ill several comedy male trios that were liked for th.-ir sugary 'barber shop" hirniuny-more Old J>iufl that Th- worvn do not ma.ie a strong Mac Bernhardt gets capital in the i.rogr.im typ"- ^ear- rostlv clothes but (b.e.^nt much'and is rather li^th-ss, agreeable enough in h'^r li imb.-r-. Mabel Lea. if that i^ the natne 'of the l.runet girl who doe. sonbi.'t- these programs are v;ome- tiinev4 V.I tiler feugy on ideiunie--- tJ... d.ineing biird.-r.. She i■^ ;.• jierson uith a g 1 <l'ai US- and animation f«»r her bulid. and managed to g»'t I <-nri»r;slr.g uin-niiU of. action ;nl.. .4. .She had ari impre<;- l uieU asid her Voice was The Engkw,.d owned by K. T. Beatty, and whieh has l»een oi>erat- ing f'T the i)ast nine years with a biirle^i^ue policy, Mud intil this st-a- son running Ainerieun v.iie'M at- tractions, is now opt-rating wi'h a Inirbsque stock. In addition to the block tlioi'o are two acts of vaudeville, booked from the Shul>ert ^'v*e^/!ern otlioe, u^ed and feature pictures. The policy of the house is continuous from 1 to 11 p. m. Jimmy O'Neill is provid- ing the vaudeville turns f-r the house. ANOTHER B. B. 0. IN CHICAGO The Burlesque EiXikinj Ofiloe is to add another house in Chicago sdiort- l.v, negotiations now being on and due for con.summation the end of the week. The B. B. O. will retain the Haymarket, Chicago, if the new house is secured. CABARET The Rotefandf Amusement Corp.. which operates the Roseland dance hall, was denied Us -Injunction against Si.xte Busoni, operator of the Balconnade.*! Ballroom (above Healy'.s), to restrain the latter from employing two musicians in the Arenii>hls F'jve bind, formerly u'ork- ing at the Roseland. Justice Bijur held that Philip Napoleon, cornetist, and Milford Mole, trombonist, were not sufficiently unique to warrant an injunction. The Roseland consider.^ the Bal- connades opposition. York), when that resort open.<i tlie last Saturday in April for i!s sum- mer season, with Bill Werner man- aging. The Central Park Casino is now solely owned by C. F. Zittell, whj bought last week the interest held by Harry ^u.-skind in it. Mike J. Kelly, Company Manager Mike J. Kelly, who oi»erated the "Cabaret Girls" on the American wheel earlier in the season, in con- junction with the B. F. Kahn Ks- tat«\ is managing K. T. Beatty's • follies of New York." Itv th'* bus- Miss Clare Their i <•- husb.tnd and ot 1'irtn. rs, Kf>n.» otT to the theatr". t'Tn *'^ tio {]ify spring house- -^■3f aud ihia situation wra3 MARRIAGES Neli .Stanton to Robert Sh-fTleld. March 7. Miss Stanton is of the^ Joe LeBlang ticket ngeiicy. Mr. Shefi[leld is a real estate operator. lilanche Fagan (vaudeville) and Rube Smith were married at the First Congrt'gativnal Church in Los Angeles. The bride is ihe daught^* of Lawrence "Noodles " Fagan. She was the "plant" in her father's act. Ro.se Timponi (vaudeville> to Bernard Granville. M:ir«-h 5. The couple are at home at 145 West 55lh street. It is reported Bobby Gossans, minstrel and circus clovvn at present with Lasses While Minstrels, and Inez Fi.sh, lyceum piani.-t, were married last November in TiOuls- ville. Tho cotiplo open as a team with the RobiiiiOn Circus this sum«i. mer. Mildred Sherman, assistant treas- urer of the 49ih Street will be mar- ried Kaster Sunday (April 16) to Christie Hagendorn of ihe Globe theatre forces. group, letters a lot att'-ini»' although of • Mrri'-d a com* of ein- stoeuy i^er >»"pl sive foi',\ ar» Fr. l»u: da Lel.r i o'oi'.es"^ i" le m -1(1 .(> set lor tU" elaborate and pro'nt'^! inseT-imca: gi i< id I'l.t'- The IN AND OUT Jo-.To and Harrison and Morton and Glass, out of Proctor's. Mt. Ver- non. N. Y., first half. lUness. Case and Main and Gibson and Coi.ielll substituted. I'aul and Georgia ILill withdrew from the Rialto, Chicago, last week, due to illnes3. I*»cplaccd by Lyle aiid \'irgini.u Illness removed Clara Howard from the Maj«-stii\ lllmira, N. Y.. Ikill last half la'^t week. Ctiad and Monte Huber substituted. Sharkey. Roth wid Witt out of Keith's, tiyvjit'usf*. X. Y., thi.^ w^ek, due to the death of the litter's father. Kennedy and Kramer oc- cupied the spot. f Kirb.v au'l .<^(iumm withdrew from iCeiths 10"in .street, Cieve- laiid, Monday, due to the d*»ath of S'rumm's father. Bell ^and Kva substituted. Pietro cancelled ICeitii'.^. Cincin- nati, current wet-k. Illness. Kight Bli;e Demons suhstitMted. Howard and Br )wn out of tb.e .State, New York, ritter Monday; ill- ness. Mos-.:ni iTi 'ind V.mee repl.iced. .lames Carlisle and Isabelle i..im.il out of the H imiiton. New York. Tue<d.ty. riue lo position, Nat Leip- zig filled the vacancy. The Flotilla Revue, proiluced by Percy l!Ikeles at the I-'Iotilla restau- rant at Sixth avenue and 5r>th street, owned by lieputy Police Commissioner (Traffic) L»r. John H. Harris, opened Tuesday night. In these days of ."''parse novelty enter- tainment in c.ibaiets the Flotilla show is .vplendid. It has a variety of turns and numbers; carries a chorus of 12 eKceptionally good l.)oking girls who are always well gowned, and the production Is led by 10 principals. It Is quite pre- ienti«>us for a restaurant show when other cal.»arets catering to the pub- lic through entertainment depend upon an orchestra only, or a name dancer or straight vaudeville. Yerkes' orchestra, a standard com- bination, furnishes the dance music at the Flotilla and also plays the show. Two of the numbers are decidedly attractive In costuming. "Through the Ages" is very dressy, with the dozen choristers land two of the ]>rincipals gowned to represent the various type of women from the cave days to now. A couple of the costumes are magnificent In color- ing. Jay Mannes, tlie juvenile of the ca.st, lead the number. Martha Throop is at the head of a whistle number, with small whistles given the diners to join in the chorus. The opening song, "The Pirates," la the other nicely costumed bit. A "fortune telling" number, with the girls distributing horoscopes to the diners holds interest. J'^ach girl represents a month. The novelties are Bacon and Fountaine, who do a Spanish dance on roller skates, and a snake- movement dance (arms) including a .•■rlight wiggle by Princess Flotilla. an unusually adept young woman who is not far away from Kyra In this line. Juanita Mean.s, Xela Sharp an<I Lessie Nazworth are the other principals, A singing turn is given by the Carleton Sisters, one of whom (Billie) was a Broadway favorite In musical comedy. The choristers are Yvette DuBois. Helen AVynn, Margit Troppman. Bernice Bean, Adela I>acey, Kvelyn Gerst, Florence Allen, Mimi Verome. Gene Livingston, Helen I'^an, Madge Lorraine, Katherine \a >ntIno. The Flotilla show i- i)erformed twice nightly, at dinner .ia<! at mid- night. It was staged by Karl Uind- .say, with music by Ildward Cul- llngan. A restaurant revue that finds 22 or 24 people on the floor at th^ finale is a big show. It looks ex- pensive in production and salary list, and appears to bo quite a g.imble for the restaurant manage- ment and Mr. BIkeles that should bring result*. George Rector filevj a petition iii I»ankruptcy last weok, acknowledg- ing liaVdllties of |7,»5oO, with no as- .set.M listed. The bankruptcy in said to have been the re-ult of Rector, operating as Rectors the former Healy restaurant at Broatlway and Ooth street, New York. George Rec- tor took over the pl.ice some months ago. Rector wa.s first interested when coming to New Y'ork, with his father, a famous > aterer, who had his equally famous lob.ster palace on the site of the present Hotel Clar- idge, which the elder Rector built. CSeorge later became interested with Paul Salvin with Rector's at Broad,- way and 48th street, now the Cafe de Paris. His agreement with Sal- vin provided that hi? inteiTst, given for the use of his name, said to have been one-third, should con- tinue in all of Salvin's restaurant operations. Differences arose be- tween the partners, with Salvin pur- chasing Rector's Interest, paying him, according to reports at that time, $24,000. It was said to have been the cheapest buy ever passed In the restaurant and hotel business. Prohibition looming in the distance Ind'uced Rector to make the sale, no one then foreeseing what the future would bring. Immediately afterward Salvin, with the group of men now associ- ated with him. commenced to branch out, until now the Salvin string of New York restaurants reaches to eleven In number, with three the biggest cabaret money makers In this country at. present. "With the exception of one or two that have about broken even, tho Salvin res- taurants have been money makers from their start. / Salvin Is reputed to fee worth over $2,000,000, drawn out of his busi- ness, besides the value of the res- taurants' properties. When start* Ing in the restaurant traffic on Broadway, Salvin was supported only by his credit. His first pur- chase was furnishings and carpetJi. He received a credit of $30,000 frofh one of the biggest New York firms in that line, to be paid In three in- stallments of $10,000 each, /the first payment due the following January 2. Salvin made it January 2 to l>o protected by tho New Year's Eve receipts. As the work progressed it became doubtful If the rest.Turant could open on time. Salvin was In a desperate state of mind, and the work was finished the morning of December 31, with equipment In- stalled. The restaurant opetied that afternoon, picked up ffs reserva- tions at night and, on the morning of January 2, Salvin walked into the office of tho firm selling him, taking up tl^e $10,000 note in cash. Salvin established his credit for all time and for any amount thereafter through this single oi»eration. Prohibition and the expiration of its leas© will cause tho Tremont Hotel, Toronto, to rlosa^ shortly. The ho felry wa.^ a favorite rendez- vous for traveling professionals, jiartleularly \ audevillian^. Its bar v.as the biggest in Toronto. iM>v fo ll.*it»n lo- t;i!l', sU-n»l.'J' girl. ♦•\.M-y thing ^he doe-, Tne «ho.v li.as a fairly eo..iun^"^ and -.••ttii"u'.-<. s.^ennd aet wd^ a rather .■•xr.-r.or, neatly execut^-d ■y reiU'esciitiiig a ree.'iil , • f ^ Ui e proportions, i a good piCiier. The Frank Hall ititerest^, build- ing a number of thoa'res on the j.-rsey side of the Hudson, have ta.ken over the He.'pe. a new house in Jersey.Ci'y '.\liich op«ftried iti the f.i'!. It is now caller! tlie Ritz. I rider the t\ew rn iriaiiement. the hoiis<» ii t 'ported doirtg excellent bU'iue-^s and is usins a s'og m 'try iral get in." Tii*» 'rio'!-.f» is '.ookel ,v .' >\r\ Ro'>>irs. o: The chorister*—l»i in namber—are to the RobinsOM grade. That up pr>»dufer and coTr.ed; iti a A.'«ys was Liquor prices commen.-cd to drop last week in .Xew York. Scotch was down to %'Jj a ca.-fc, dealers' piices, and rye around i'ii and $'J0, while good Scotch could also be had for $'♦0, If buying friendly. The New York market seemed at the same time to be overrunning with gin, at all prices. No established gin brand Would be guar.an'.eed. Wlule the gin might ha\e been niade any "A here or by anyboily, It was pronounced good. With the ?now breaking up in the northern part of .\ew York .State, it is expected that heavier and more loads will commence to come in from Canada, wlien anotlK-r price iireak Is looked for. The bre.ik in quot.ations la.'^t week was acrounte<l f.ir through the top price of late for whisky ($i:'0 for Scotch and $10,' for rye) ha.irg held up '•>0 long, discouraging buying. '"Dinty" Moore arid his band wiil again play the music for tiie Ciia- teau Laurier a: City Inland l-\ew Colotimo's, Chicago, has taken % new le.ase on life. The Soutti .Side Italian cabaret has as Its host Gus Frdman, who has assembled a cast of cabaret entertainers to again liven Iho famou.^ place. The enterlaineri are Irving Foster, local favorite; Buster Lehmann. operatic: Lillian St. Clair, ballads; Amelda Victoria., who has been there f.ir some time; Trixle Rose, soubret; Charlotte Pedro. Irujonue. with a lat,e addition of Ruth Ktting, ' i)lues." I'he ope- ratic work falls upon the slioulders of Isidoro Protl. t-^-nor, an-l (•'ui-epim De Lui;hi, burilone. There is .\ fiance fM'ehevtia of ^ix pieces, under the direction of Petro De Quarlro. Eight bands are r»!a:. ing in .nul around Los Angele.s under tli*"^ M.ix Fisher banner. This is the lrtrg»'st number of orchestras jdaying the coast under a single leadef a .-super- vision. I'isher himself i^ supplying the music at t!ie Huntington, Mary- land and rireen hotels at Pasadena^ .Toe Cornftlatt is doing tho rausi- cians bu>ines<. Besi.fes t'lsher the city boasts of .\rt Hickman, who Is filling a limited engagem»-ut at liie Ambassador, and of Weidoft's or- rljestra, playing uruler the wings, of tho ori;ani/er's l»rotlier. Two bootleggers from Nev Vor'x Ci'y ieirned to their sorrow the meaning of the old phrase, 'the irony of fate." They had .suc- cessfully smuggled 400 Quart i of (Continued on i>age 2S>