Variety (May 1922)

ws Tms"wi i^» tmmtawf^mnmmr&ma msm Friday, May 19. 191 :■■ - '1 AINT DONE WRCM^G" I By JAY BRENNAN •Jay . .ennan did the dirty work, I'll bet a million francs, And poor Bert has to stand for It like for all Jay's funny pranks.** Tbem is your words, Lil Lorraine, but them worda is not true, "Poor Bert" doesn't take the blame for anything I do. He does so many things himself his conscience la a wreck* And anything I do falls down on my own neck. What r e had to contend with! I'm not one of those prudes, But Lil, I swear my nerves has dashed to seven different moods. For of all the awful seasons! I don't like to chat; Tou know, I say nothing, and very little of that; But last August Bert saw Maurey Green, and said he'd lik« to linow If bis little girl friend Margie couldn't Join the show. Maurey '>ut her In the chorus—she was there two days and then There waa no more peace on earth nor good will towards men. Of all the trouble makers! That one's no one's friend. She cast that show in a panic clear up to the end. With her, "1 heard this and I heard that and what so and so eald about you." Bvery one of them belles was unconscious before that show was through. Qloom was certainly riding me when I arrived in town; If someone threw an adjective at me I couldn't slam back with a noun. So for a little recreation I decided to go Over to the Palace to see a vaudeville show. / I dodged half a dozen people, I was in no mood to talk. I Just wanted to take my nerves out for a little walk. I Just got to ^he lobby when Belle Baker switched along; She said she Just come from Berlin's—she was learning their new song. Then sh-i talked about the baby, and about her Maurey. and then She talked about her Maurey a^d her baby all over again. Baby this, and Maurey that, and baby that and this, Colic and teeth, and syrup and milk, not a thing did she miss. I listened and listened as long as I could—my nerves were flying like birds— Then who should I meet—Jenny Wagner—a woman of very few words. Well I dashed out of that theatre—you'd think Ouija had me by the hand. For I rambled unconsciously into the promised land. Around the room sat old man Moran, and old man Hartman was there, Old roan Mullaney with the old clay pipe—all out on a tear. Well, we rippled into real scandal! My dear, what shocks! Never since the Nan Patterson case were there such brilliant knooks. All the dirt of the season, they didn't miss a thing! (I bet t at night they had to put their Jawbones in a sling!) When I got home Bert was there, making an Irish stew. And we sat over that table and, my dear, I'm telling you We sat and dished and dished and sat (Bert was tickled to death. Tou know how he likes scandal.) Well, I thrilled him with evei-y breath. Well, after he got the earful—of course I night have known— He calls up Liongacre and gets Margie on the phone. _ ^ . . ■ Now Margie'll repeat everything—she can't keep that trap of hers shut— And Moran and Hartman and Mullanoy will pile down on our but; And they'll blame me and I'll blame Bert, and what a time there'll be. And Bert will be in his glory—no one likee messes like he! PALACE The lower floor was a complete sell out Monday night, with a thin line of standees back of the orchestra. Only the boxes showed vacancies. A real variety show of vaudeville standards pleased the attendance. Every act got nice returns with the lion's share going to Ruth Roye In fourth position and BcEsie Clay- ton's company of dancers, sin: ers and musician.s, who closed the first half. The Clayton turn ran 38 min- utes. Ruth Roye did 32, while Gu.s Kdwards and Co. got on at 10.35 in the closing spot for another long spell. At 11.02, when they ra. g down on the "When Old New York Was Young" number, they blasted for the exits, but the irrepressible Gus walked out in "one" to announce a new song and to give thanks for the applau.se. This checked the walkout somewhat and transformed the stampede Into a dribble. Miss Roye sang six songs, four clean and legitimate. The other two were of the "smoker" variety, and actor proof. Just why a comedienne with an established reputation must use published numbers that depend on smut and double entendre for material is one of the mysteries the writers of restricted songs must answer. Ahead of Miss Roye, Mtehan's Canines gave the ghow an interest- Ins start. The leaping greyhounds and Meehan's earnest showmanship put the turn over big. Its always an interesting opener or close Claude Golden, the card manipula- tor, deuced it merrily and my stilled with his tricks. Golden makes an audience entrance, first occupying an aisle seat and getting into an ar- gument with his straight man, who is gumming up his opening trick. For a finish he deals four hands of bridge whist, giving himself a per- fect sequence of trumps. This trick is a pip and unless a switch of a cold deck occurs it's a real mystifier. For an assistant Golden is particu- larly fortunate in having secured .in excellent foil for his sarca.t^tic kid- ding. They liked it much at the Palace. Cressy and Dayne. third, with the Cres.sy sketch, "Without a Will There's a Way," got intermittent laugliter. The sketch is an excellent vehicle for Cressy's rural character- ization, with a surprise finish. Bar- ring a slight tendency to become over-talky in the early portions, it is a worthy successor to his former standards. Blanche Dayne is her usual helpful opposite. Cressy's homely phiIoso])hy and common sense methods of Ironing o"t the legal difficulties of two half sisters was a sympathetic role that scared. After intermission Powers and Wallace, in a clean little talking, singing and dancing novelty, put over another distinct impression TM act is a vaudeville fabric written around the reunion of a boy and girl from the South. The dialects are delicious, also the humor and comedy. Both have splendid voices that showed to advantage in two special numbers. The closer an impression of how the couple would be marri-.d in "Pros- perity," Ga. was a bridal double, but away from the usual. They were "in" after the first two minutes. W. C. Fields (New Acts) followed, with the Edwards Co. closing. Con. Harriet, Rempel and Co., with Tom Barry's "Heart of a Clown," was second after Intermission. There* the colorfully set playlet held attention throughout. The program was confusing to those not knowing Miss Rempel, she being listed as the clown. That part was played by William Wood.s, though he was set down as the singer. The latter character and that of the dancer are at no time made clear as such. Miss Rempel is supposed to do a protean, bit, playing both the Italian circus performer and the old lady. The name of Anita Day ap- pears as the dancer, which makes the billing all the more a puzzle. MLss Rempel's work was interest- ing, but her dialect did not sound Just right. She gave the impression of following Lenore Ulric in man« ner and style of talking. John Bal- los as the boy served excellently, the lines allotted him never failing to count. Handers and Millls opening inter- mission provided a comedy punch. Since last seen here the routine has been considerably pepped up. The use of eccentric clothes was a right touch to start with and the business inserted has pulled the team up to an after intermission standard. Minis' business with his hands was made very funny. A loose frock coat without pockets and tight "pants" that reached to the chest was also minus hiding places for the digits. Handera and MiUis are comedians and dancers. Team step- ping was used only at the close, and it sent them off to hearty returns. The singing beauty, Al Shayne, plus a good "wop" in the orchestra, held No. 4 in handy fashion. It is actually a two act, the "musician" having dialog both from the pit and on the stage. Their song number, too brought the assisting player prominently into the routine. Shayne's measure of comedy values of course is the paramount feature. He warbled but one straight num- ber, that at the encore close. Herschel Henlere was elected to shut the show (eighth), with the pictorial hitched on afterward. There are some bits in the Henlere routine that made their rendition hazardous in so late a position. The poetic explanation of the concert artist who lost his right hand in the war is a good prelude to Henlere's left-hand number, but those in the rear of the house could not or would not hear and fidgeted about until he again started to play. Henlere's comedy bits were amusing, and he closed strongly, proving that even an act of this type can turn the late trick. Gordon Wilde and Co. were for- merly known as Mr. and Mrs. Gor- don Wilde. The company is their daughter, who handles the opening section of the ehadowgraphs, then appears in front for a song number. Several Utile changes and the talk from behhid the screen display showmansnlD. IlPee. HEUM RIVERSIDE This house generally gets its au- dience in fairly early, but ,the long day.s. longer now through daylight saving time, makes for tardy ar- rivals. At overture time, about 8,10, there were few persons seated, though by quarter to nine attend- ance was goo<l for the big capacity Riverside. That means about two- thirds downstairs and a heavy trade in the balcony. A Friday switch in bookings brought Ted Lewis in to top the bill, though the Santos and Hayes Revue was the billing in the uds. Attendance Monday was bet- ter than first counted on. One rea- son was the nearby appearance of Gallagher ancf Shean, who doubled between the 81st Street and Hamil- ton, the Riverside being fianked by the strong atfrnction. Three KJngli.sh acts occupied first, second and tiiird positions on the I'rogram. Gordon Wilde and Co. opened. Jack Joyce, ijie one-legged, handsome Juvenile, was next, and then Rob Pender Troupe. Joyce landed a man's size hit. Ho started slowly, recognizing the tough job of ^working against the arriving audi- *ence, about which he mentioned. He handled his crutch as others handle a cane, and he made his dancing look astonishing. H e hopped down to the .aisle to shake hands with those in front and later returned ta fetch a girl to dance with him. Joyce is a polished sin- gle and can take a position further down on the big bills. His pleas- antly modulated voice made his "smile" chatter quilo acceptable, and he put over several laughs. He mentioned having a girl whose fa- ther objected to him because he is an actor, even though pop h.ippens to be a bootlegger. The Pender Troupe was slotted well. The opening ecc<ntrio acrobatic dancJng scored, with the novelty of the grad- uated stilt stunt, with its comic costuming made for nov< Ity, Tod Lewis started confidently and landed for the honors of the even- ing, closing intermission. It is rather unusual for an act to pull sustained plaudits in the spot, so that a speech was the only out. Lewis earned that. The routine was the same as at the Palace last week, when the going was not so good, at IJkablo little "piece of least on the opening night The Current Orpheum (Brooklyn) show would never grab off any blue ribbons in an ideal bill contest. It's a sort of slapped together arrange- ment, eight acts with little variety. Silent acts open and close, and the rest is made up of four singing turns and two talking acts. The only dancing In the entire show consists of a couple of steps done by Bes- sie Browning with one of her songs. Chic Sales, Peggy Wood and Co. and the Creole Fashion Plate split the top line, and the Seven Bracks and Norton and Nicholson divided the bottom in the billing. Business was about nine-tenths capacity Monday night, very good for this time of year. Lucas and Inez made a splendid opening act with their hand to hand lifts. They work in an easy, deliberate manner and the routine is marked with grace, agility and adeptncs.^. Yellow athletic suits are worn and they're the class. It would be ever so much better, however, to back up the yellow suits with a solid blue or black drape, rather than the figured blue sotting now in use. A solid background would bring the athletics out in l^old relief and make for a better aiHistic impres- sion. MacFarlan and Palace were sec- ond with songs. I3oth have real voices and both understand the ins and outs of harmony. The rep runs mostly to double numbers of the pop variety. A sort of sermonized inter- lude that went with a ballad was rather solemn and heavy for vaude- ville. The Jazzy stuff went over with a rush, following, the team doing much better than a No. 2 act usually doe.s. Norton and Nicholson caught *em easily with their comedy skit of a pair of poverty stricken store work- ers, putting a punch in the No. 3 spot that helped the show. There are numerous little human interest touches in the act. and it is played in the true spirit of travesty. Miss Browning, fourth, with char- actor song.*?, entertained pleasantly. Miss Browning has a trick of smil- ing and apparently talking to her- self that should be dropped. The rube stuff, a Chinese ntimber. with the pianist assisting, and a Foy imi- tation gave the turn solid values that landed it in the money. Peggy Wood and Co. closed the first half. Miss Wood brings nothing to vaudeville but a name. She is as- sisted by a male quartet and pianist. The whole makeup of the act resem- bles what might Ce considered vaudeville by the graduating class of the Keokuk high school. Ohe song deserves mention. It's some- thlng about self-expression, ven^ well done by Miss Wood, who, inci- dentally, scores on appearance. A number at the finish which has Miss Wood doing various character types pleased. Miss Wood should have a vehicle for vaudeville. She owes it to herself. Chic Sales opened Itie second half and stopped the show for a speech. The character stuff anent the small town school room with its funny types simply bowled 'em over Mon- day night. Mr. Sales appears to have dropped a character or two, cutting down the running time and condensing the acV somewhat. He could have stayed on for an hour had he desired to. The Creole Fashion Plate, next to closing, and another wow. Karyl Norman was in great vocal sh%pe Monday night and each of his nu- merous numbers' scored bullseyes. The costume array is gorgeous. What act in vaudeville can boast of a better one? Seven Bracks closed, with their ground tumblinir i^nd risley work. Bell 23RD ST. With Eva Fay headlining for a full week and an entertaining bill supporting, the 23rd Street failed to draw the customary percentage of business Monday evening. The picture end of the program had "In Old Kentucky" as the feature, with the Topics and news reel as fillers. The vaudeville consisted of the cus- tomary six acts, the majority of the standard variety. Marvel and Faye, a man and woman contortion team, opened the show. The combination is strong in its line. The bending work struck the fancy of the slim audience with returns gained throughout. Bernard and Garry». No. 2, were accorded the Initial applause hit. The boys in brown face with a layout of pop- ular numbers found the going easy. Gordon and Ray, man and woman. No. 3, let the show down from the fast pace it had attained. Given the first opportunity with comedy the couple acquired but meagre re- turns. Laughs were scattered through the offering with the results at the finish below par. Clayton and Grifilth (New Acts), No. 4, started real laughs, with Wells, Virginia and West, next to closlnr, taking the honors of the evening. The latter turn is a re- peat within the past few months. Moved to next to closing brought the desired result.s. The boy had the audience completely at his mercy with his dancing. Eva Fay closed the vaudeville 8< ^tion. Her exhibition of mental powers struck the neighborhood audience's fancy. The questions were answered without a hitch. The announcer is apparently new, being Jerky in delivery. Hart. 5TH AVE. A light audience for the 5th Avenue, but the usual summery decline, a light entertainment, a light orchestra (musician^.) and much light dancing at the first half. The held-over mixed orchestra that Mas girls in the pit didn't do much beyond spoiling a couple of the dancing turns, but that was to have been expected. Monday evening was only the third show after the Monday morning re- hearsal. Some day even the less cxpensi e vaudeville will pay more attention to the music and less at- tention to many other things, which will give a better performance as it will satisfy more acts. Besides the novelty of a new dancing two-act that danced only and did not talk nor sing (Van and Tyson—New Acts), there was Frankie Heath, next to closing, who did not sing her best song, "Atta- boy." It was Miss Heaths third performance on the day. If one of the shows is to be slaughtered, why not make it the supper show? The 6th Avenue was entitled to hear the usual encore number and applauded enough to get it. They liked Miss Heath after her first semi-comic song finish. It's a dangerous ex- periment, that "Gold Digger" pa- thetic bit at the finish of the first number, at least in some hou.scs like the 5th Avenue, where the up- stairs nearly ruined the bit Mon- day evening with laughter. They couldn't get it until the finish, and then there was nothing to get. Closing the show were Bernice Speer and Boys (New Acts) in a production act that meant very little to big time, though suitable for the other. It ran along in a drifting way for 18 minutes. Earlier in the bill, the running displayed quite some speed, through several of the turns in a row run- ning under 15 minutes each, start- ing with Van and Tyson, who did but six minutes. They were No. 2, after Dippy Dicrs with Flo Bennett had opened the .show. Miss Bennett did a spade dance, something Br adway vaudovillo has not Sf-en in years, Diers did his clowning to laughs when on the tables. No. 3 had Lob Anderson with his trained pony. Anderson uses good showmanshij), starting with his ap- pearance, with the usual "educat**!" routine, though he has a new trick in the addition oi a table of figures. also a bit of comedy besides flip remarks. The turn got Over nicely. Next were Weaver Brothers with their musical turn that takes in musical saws both brothers nlav one adding something to this h2 playing his brother's saw with xyioJ phono hammers. They have a mum sical pitchfork and use atoy balloon" for an( accompaniment, something now being done by another turn in another style. The closing ig a laugh through a "Jaaz" contrivancs that has a funny sounding cymbaL The couple open with the "Ar-kan- saw" song with the rube dressln* about as the others do it, al.so ihL 8am6 song. The Weavers durinr their turn lay claim to originality for all of their work. They bave reduced to finish to almost a mono- log with another speech for the second encore, both about "Cicero.** The house went to the Weavers real hard. Bobby Watson with a new part- ner, Mabel Ferry (replacing Flor- enze Tempest) has improved ths turn with the change. In routine it Is almost the same. Miss Ferry doesn't wear boy's clothes and handles the dialog for points much beyond her predecessor. Sha ig a pleasant looking girl and may |>^ new to working with Watson, who plays much better alongside of her than he formerly did. Rome and Gaut, the tall and short fellows, were next, getting laughs on thSv contrast but needing a much better second half of the turn than the flute business to build up to the finish. iiime. STATE Anybody looking for quantity en- tertainment at the pop scale is rec- ommended to the State, where near- ly three and a half hours of show is obtainable for a top of €5 cents. Not so good for the reviewer, but it seems to fill a public need. Monday night the house filled up around 8 o'clock, with the best showing for the late show. The film layout is better than th4 vaudeville, which has six acts, la^ mentably short on vigorous cor-edy. The needs of this big establishment are peculiar.. Sometimes dialof passed without a ripple, and then again in the same show the chatter raises a riot. In all cases it's a cor- v^ dial crowd, willing and ever anxious to be pleased. There seems to be no rule about talk. The lines in the girl act "An- nabelle" (formerly done under the title of "Olives") never got anything, while the incidental conversation of Mario Stoddard provoked continu- ous laughter. Maybe it Just depends upon the style of delivery and the quality of the talk. It would be hard to imagine anything more aimless than the talk in "Annabelle." It doesn't start anywhere, doonnt get anywhere and while it is on its way it is purposeless. The singing of the young tenor and the number: of the lovely blonde prima donna (or may- be she's an ingenue) did extr(mely well, particularly the duet of the two, and the young man's solo, "Girl of My Dreams," scored unmis- takably. So did the bits oC dance, but the attempt at a loose sketch structure upon which to string spe- cialty material is misdirected effort. The six young people would do a great deal better offering their spe* clalty unadorned by a title and a script, both of which are haVidicaps, to talents that might be woven into a pleasing entertainment. Tho sketch ran 29 minutes and the ted minutes that were consumed in talk w%re worse than wasted. Marie Stoddard took 16 minutei with her little "song caricatures'* and held up the show. They de- manded more even after she had taken an encore and the cards of the succeeding turn were displayed. She has a breezy, aggressive .*^tyle of approach to her audiences. There is nothing particularly compelling about her material—Just a series of lampoons on various styles o* enter- tainers such as the concert singer in vaudeville, the jsiweet ingenue, the burlesque queen. Just burlesqne im- itations, but she does them in a good naturcd. broad spirit of comedy and they register. For the finish she does a neat impersonation of Marl- lynn Miller, finishing with a \o\ac of two of her popular song sung in imi- tation of a violin. This bit of famil- iar trick voice stuff clinched a solid hit. Bent and Clair (New Acts) did the familiar typo of sister turn, wlii' » substantial score went to Marshall and Connors, two colored men who wear dross sviits but deliver a >,'onu- ine routine of plantation stuff with tho strength of the routine in the singing of "blues" and the eccentric stepping of tho comedian. .Short on talk, but a meaty specialty. All their music is of the jazz and raK variety and it works into a fast routine Hubert H. Kinney, assisted by Martha .Shelby, closed the show and provided its scenic class. Tho pair, have a capital opening in Kinney's number, but the rest of tho act scarcely fulfills the early promise. Kinney makes his appearance in street clothes, carrying a woman's hat box. and after the first verse of his number Mi;?3 Shelby joins fur a dance wearing ,1 novel froi'k with th> bodieo representing a hat box. ►She strips down to a fiashy frock and dons a filmy cape produt.td fi'QTCi Kinney's hnthox for another bit of steppin;::. A piano acconiitaninient fills in an interval, with various im- pressions of how diff'^rent r'^p'JJJ* perform on tht.ivories, ^^l^s •''^"'''"^ returning for a toe danc«", Kmney I joining at the finish for a .•-atople ol '<ii3JJ