Variety (July 1922)

r Friday. July 21, ^^^ NEW SHOWS THIS WEEK 10 8t«0« CONSTANTINE Acrobat. 7 Min«.; F«" •^smgle man doln« »ina]l amount wf excellent ground tumbUng such !; back twl«tera. and a connider- tbU routino of novelty handstand work on queer kinda of apparatus. His r»eg<ng« »»•« sha^'^ looking and S,e familiar red velvet trimmlngB threadbare. By the way. thoy are Inarked "Henry" in gold embroid- ered letters. . - , „* One device is a pair of grips at the ends of what looks like base- ball bats. The bats are hinged Into the table with a rubber between them Taking a haadstand, the ^worker spreads the grips slowly apart until he is able to take up a handkerchief with his teeth from the rubber line between the grips. The other apparatus couldn't be do- It make.s one think rather complicated mechanical of ^ube Goldberg. The only complicaled, not and one cannot tell Bcribed. of these fooleries devices are Interesting. trhether the feats performed on them are skillful of not. Smallest of small time openers. Rush. "THE INTRUDERS" (3) Audience Act 20 Mina.; Full and On« &8th 8t. The billing, ""rhe Intruder."!.*' ia In- tended to mislead. When the card is shown a girl appears and makes an announcement in the full slag© set that was "one" previously that one of the acts has disappointed. It is the cue for the two plant.s, man and woman seated in the audi- ence, to start a row. claiming that they came to see a real act and did not want any subatltuteH, and that the mainecnient is lo blame f*»r permitting an act to play an out.sido club engagement and hold two jobs at one time v/hen there are a num- «ber of real good acts looking for work. This line of talk continues for .sIk minutes in the audience. It i.s much too long. After this the pair in the audi- ence get on the stage and go inlo a singing and talking routine that con.sumos another 14 minutes. For the greater part it ia an act that i.s built along the familiar lines of thi.s type of offering, wilh nothing in It {\uxt would recommend it particu- larly. It is small time. Fred, for MOORE and DAVIS Musical 14 Min3.; One City. . , ^ Ctpital rovoUy mu.sical turn gmall time bills. Two men in eve- ning clothes walk on cold and seat themselves. One has what he an- nounces i.s the only eight-stringed guitar in the world, and upon this he achieves some Interesting musi- cal effects, particularly tho.se har- monics a.sHociated with Hawaiian native melodies. The other man has a larger guitar 'With two independent keyboards, used mostly for a "plunk-plunk" ac companinicnt to the Hawaiian fects. The player of the guitar also sings, but why he pick on "Donha Mobile" for a tenor 80I9 in the middle of a freak m-J.^i- cal turn Is one of those my.steries. Maybe the idea is to contrast wilh a sentimental ballad which he al.so 8in(;.s. For the finish one of the mon fir.st and then both play with violin bows and xylophone hammers on a hand aaw. When only one plays, the sus- picion is that the partner provides the music off-stage, but the duet with both men in sight discounts this idea. It was a whale of a hit at the City on No. 4. The pair were called upon for a speech, following a demonstration for an audience of the City grade. Hush. ef- larger should SILVANOFF DUO Dancing 8 Viins.; l-uti Stage H. O. H. IMan and pretty, well formed girl 0|»on with "adafjio" double. The girl has youth and grace. The m;fU .';eems awkward and misplaced. He is in Rusisian costume, the girl in ballet attire. A mild Ku.Hsiiin solo dance by the man follows, while the girl changes to knickers for a graceful toe dance, fairly well executed with good ele- vatksn. Her uncertainty on several spinfv v.as proliably due to nervous- ness. He follows with a "hoch" .solo d.ince that passed. A double Hu.ssian folk dance with both in native dress concluded. The girl would pa.s.s in a dancing act. .She nood.s experience Hor partner don't hold for anything but the .smallest of small time. The combination is fulureless as now constituted. Con. LYNN and LOCKWOOD. Comedy Character Comedians, 14 Mina.; One. City. Two character comics doing old Rube characters. A dark stage entrance has one carrying a lan- tern. Some switching on and off a^ the house foots to the cueing of « whistle gftve an excuse for cross- fire. The pair, seated on a beer case, whtoh one terms a "hope chest," then proceed to crossfire and mal- treat each other. The rheumatic gout effect, a standard bit with this type of turn, was good for laughs, as was also »ost of the talk, which was well bandied. One has a high tremolo voice that made for comedy. An old song nicely . harmonized also clicked. The rest of tho act consists of crossfire, dancing, a comedy boxing bout and fife and yodle duet that corraled them one of tho hits of the evening. It's a sure-fire spot holder for the intermediate bills. Con. male a girl GUNTHER, TENANT and MACK Singing and Dancing Revue 14 Mins.; One and I'ull Stage Special Drop and Cyclorama H. O. H. This trio, consisting of a singing and dancing team and dancer, are dDing a small time edi- tion of tho former "dancing duel" turn of Beth Beri's. The turn in the main follows the other offering. Both boys open with a double song anent having an appointment with the girl. She makes her appearance In time t prevent a duel and decides her favor will be distributed to the most talented of the pair. A singing and dancing duel of double and solo dances follow to the tied finish. The turn will prove acceptable for pop houaes and was evidently pro- duced for that division. They closed a long show at this hou.se, getting as much as any. Con, and VENUS Full Stage GLADYS Acrobatic 10 Mins.; 58th St. Two girlH presenting a fla.shy routine of acrobfitic tortionistic work. Two tricks prt'.sented by one of l»ho I.s of the slighter build Of the two. They are apparently foreign- er.s and work with a snap, usual in the imported turns. Opening the hhow at the 58th Street, they im- pressed. It is a good opening turn for most .-^ny of tho .smaller bi); time fa.-^t and and con- corUing the girls. bills ;•'/ cd. t.'xnil n d nOEDER and DEAN. Comedy TiMpczc Act. 6 Mins.; Full Stago. H. O. H. Two mon. om« uttimd a.s a of the .s-,r\iltvvom;»n typo for Purpo.sfs. The piir do iho : trup(.;.e routine.s. avera.<rin,T v/ith the tnrns of thi.'^ clihro A roikinfj fini.sh i.s ;<<•(, rod l.y Tho ^<^mir swinKinj,' ovor tho pit. fin.illy '^'"t'PpMiK to a MJttifjM: po.sition on the *^':M;e It',5 a dandy f.ill. A good ''Mber cn^^r for any (^f tho i»op bills Con. LA BILLINi (3) Handcuff Escapes 10 Mins.; Full Stage H. O. H. La Billinl was the first of the try- outs. He carries an announcer who preambles tho tricks with the stock patter, handling the talk but fairly. The tricks consist of a "pillory" e.scape, an escape from several knots In a rope while the subject stands atop a tray of spikes in bare feet, and the Houdini milk can trick terribly executed. All of the sttints wore amateur- l.shly attempted with frequent out- bursts of laughter from the hou.se when the locks fell apart and other .slovenly mishap.s occurred. Tho an- nouncer attempts to alibi were al.so greeted by kidding from the gal- l<Ty. The turn is hopele::.sly amatouri-di. Con. JEAN MORGAi Song, Dance and Talk 13 Mips.; One 23d St. Jean Viorgan is a jriorson.ililo chap .soothing .sonthorn droll that oxrrllont tliinr; to comrnor- via p.Tttor a)id incid<ntal .ilk. As it in, he doo.s ron- v/ith u i.M an cializo .small sJdoraMo talking, tJsing som'; more or les.s familiar d.irky .sfoiir-M th.H won returns. Ol»onins with a pop .'-nng to in tir»<»Mr.- his li'!;t <l,in^c ^oln, he sf»rt dl jo:-hc(l ihiuuKh th;ii TiunilirT r<ly- in!5 fni Tho ensuing nuinlior, an- nouHor.l ;» .v-h'ifflo (lanof iinii.'jtion bf a Missi..' jiipi l"veo d.irlcy ' irjn<-thin^ .Sf.r.io juor( into a :-..nMl danro. cloiiitin with 01 encore arrob.itic danro No. 2, Mr Moinan did nirely at tb'» '.'.M Street. Ilo, lf>ol'..s lil:o n xt.tndajd early Hpot- tor on the big three-a-drty. AbrI It r^Mt stories l< d PALACE The Orangeade Act during inter- mission was encored repeatedly. That was about the only thing strong enough to awaken the audi- ence from Its lethargy Monday evening. The house was unusually apathetic, and although comfortably filled by the end of the firnt act. they came with the idea of sitting back and let the rest of tho world go by in the heat. As a result, Herman Timber^, the J600 No. 2 act. succeeded in stopping the show to comparatively milder in.sistence than had the hou.se been more am- bitious and energetic. It was only to be expected that Timberg would hang up a neat score even in the early position. Topline honors were divided be- tween Irene Franklin (New Act.s) and Van and .Srhonok. althouKli the bill i.s laid out in time-table f i.shion. The two-act, in their third week at the J\Tla'x\ ha.s h;id a new catohline coined for them. 'The Tiffany Song- sters." Tlio Four Bard.s opened with a haricl-to-hand routin<\ done some- what differently, although running a couple of minute.s slow through the stalling to play up .some of the feature stuff. A sort of nip-up triok. with the under.stander support intj another, looked llashy, as dul a couple of HyinB leap.s with the interchange of top-mountera propelled through the air. Timberg, No. 2, had a lot of friend.s In the hou.se, wise to the r('ason for his deuce .spottinj^. When he Vfr.silied, "An imitation of AI Jolson 1 can do; maybe that's the reason I'm playing No. 2," it struck .some as exceedingly witty. Jol.son is a Shul>ert star, and Timberg h.as been Higned to at age two .Shubert units for next season. Timberg elaborfttod a little on his cross-talk with the orchestra leader, Denny Itobert.s, who fed like an almost veteran. There was so much in fact, i»OR.sibly the baton wiclder wa.s roidinp; it off hl.s m»jsic st.'ind. Frank Klli.s in "A IHe.ss He- hf^'ir.sal," a one-act travesty, made No>^ a brif^ht spot. Tlio bvirlosque characteis of v^imp, villain, hero .and heroine are delicioiisly bro.ad and non.sensical to make it sure- fire for big or small time. Kills, as the author directing rehearsals, does his ad libbin^ and wise cracking convincingly from the audience aisle. lie was not the only one to do the audience thing. Frank Van Iloven wandering up and down the house, opening the 47th street lire exits and saying: "^Vhy pay to go to a .show when there are more actor.s out there talking about Albee and Beck?" and "Whatts wtfonR with vaudeville?" and per- forming other shindigs In keeping with his character. And, of course, the usual messing up of the stage in the cour.se of the burle.sque magic was sure-fire for laugh returns. Van Hoven was one of the comedy highlights of the evening. Marga Waldron reopened after intermi-sslon, assisted by Geot'ge Halprin In a unique cla.ssical offer- ing. Miss Waldron handles the terps with Mr. Halprin at the grand. He is more than an accompanist, however, proving an addition to the act. Ho tickles a cruel ivory, the audience en masse falling for his piano work. Mi.ss Waldron, one of the best cla.sslcal steppers In all show business, was a terpsichorean delight. Magnetic personality and 1 .synchronized motion are happily combined to the nth degree. The tragedy dance in Oriental trappings. In opposition to an unwanted suitor's attentions, did not require a program note to Interpret it, al- though most .interpretative dances have everything but interpreters. The loe danco eccentrique for the getaway won repeated acknowledg- ment on each new move and stop. Jack Wil.non, assisted by Charles Forsythe-Adams, Adole Ard.sley and Willie Ward, a midget, clicked pretty with their "nonsensical re- vue." Wilson is in blackface with Adam.s doing straight. The Latter look.i like a former member of Krne.Htine Myers' act. lie is a worthy straight man doing a light tan to Wilsons cork. Miss Ardsley is al.so slightly tan hued; Willie, the midget, appears in blackface bell- hop get-up. -idams does "Ma- cushla" for his solo, the .spot show- ing off the silk gloves strikingly and calling attention to the fact he would make a better appearance without them. Miss Ardsley en- gages in a money Tiit with Wilson and Adams, the fornwr pulling more than .1 cou)»le of niftio.s thrf)UKh .ad lib repetition of lines used by tho preceding ;icts. Tho straif^ht asks him "What are you doing here?" Wilson returning "T was in the iieinlitinrhfiod look in;.? for sorno re.al estate. " which wa.s the j»layed-uj» ( nlranco cue for 4he hero In the Dres.s lUh.arsal" act When Wil- son )iu1I(m! .somelhing about Fr;ftil: V.iti Iloven. the latter entered with a c«k<' of 1*0. will'h w.'i.s an iinpnr- t.iot i>r(tp in Ins act, ,ind j»ro..oMt»<l it to Wil.soii. Van r>rM\ t^i leiick ;r'f ounled f«»r .worne of ih" di iv.-. juduiiig from the • •nir;tMcf ackiiowb'dmrifnt. The liMV-; aie triily inimil ibb* in .sr lling ;i j..)j» or r<'strMto(1 .wong. ;•.nd th(rejn lici then di.-i'iiKt lun Toon and Co closed with a fir.^t* rate m iki<" act, including a niimlK-r of illusion, th.tt mystify. F<dith Packard B-'si.st.«H ns the dis^'pear- Ing .subject in a number of flashy effects. The act held like a viae, losing nary a soul. As |i closing turn it's surefire, although it would play just aw prettily on some lay- outs in No. 3 or closing the first half. It l.-^ worthy of spot billing on Us merits and entertainment. Abel. RIVERSIDE Relno followed, with Johnson, Itenard and lOv.ms, Reynolds and billed. C. Wesley West, and Kay also tiime. Before a handful of people Mon- day, evening tho current lliversiile bill gained recognition notwith- standing two single women In the first half were permitted to use the same puldished number in their routine. Apparently priority in the use of numbers ha.s passed out of existence. That two singles both relying entirely upon vocal efforts should be placed No. 2 and No. 4 was sulllcient without permitting them to come forth with the same published number, which was also introduced for the third time in the second half instrumentally as a d.ance accompaniment. Monroe and (Srant with a novel tramijoline offering opened tho show. Tho boys worked diligently during the six minutes and hit a responsive chord. Maud Karl antl Co. (New Acts) No. 2 moved along nicely with a high-cla.sa vocal rou- tine. Miss Earl was the first to use "April Showers." later brought forth by CJrace Haye No. 4. Miss liayes relies entirely ui>on pub- lished numbers with the possible exception of "My Man" (used by Fannie Urice). MIhh Hayes diil wonders in the spot and was one of the ap))Iause winners of the evening. She was called back, but begged off, claiming she was not prepared. Spe- cial numbers would do wonders for this girl, who has a wealth of per- sonality and the necessary viva- ciousneas and appearance to make a go of It anywhere. Glenn Anders and Co. in "The Letter Writer" (New Acts) appeared No. 3, doing well In the sketch spot. (Jeorge I^ Ma ire a.snistcd by Joe Phillliis in "Tho New Dentixt" closed the first half and scored the comedy knockout of that section. Lo Maire brought forth laugh after laugh with the rough-house han- dling of his diminutive partner and the small audience howled continu- ally. Jan Rubinl and Mile. Diane opened after Intermission. Their routine overran the 30-minute mark, but was enjoyed all of the while. Rublnl's violin work held the audience. His chic partner added immensely vocally by her coyness and French mannerisms. Lester Allen, who followed, moved along slowly with his comedy, but never left a doubt when the dance work was introduced. Allen added several laughs by referring to the Rubini-Diano combination. and finally brought the couple out for a kidding bit. Allen topped off his work strongly and secured an ap- plause outburst. "The Little Cottage." a produc- tion act. closed the show. The turn has seen much service, but still re- tains its freshness. Frank Sinclair and Cliff Dixon handle the bulk of the work, with Ethel Russell fea- tured among the women. Marie Saxon and Kathleen Morris prove a good dancing combination. Hart. STATE Loew's State Tuesday night when tho final vaudeville performance started at 9.30 had two-thirds of a house downstairs. That would have been a mob In another theatre. The rain may have driven them In, but it didn't hold them in, for as tlie I final show started off they com- menced to drift out. perh.ips through having seen a part of the previous performance. While nothing much In a vaude- ville way, with a IJort Lytell feature and Keaton comedy to hold up the picture end, the variety acts ran somewhat evenly, for a I^ocw audi- ence, which will stand for a great deal. esi)eclally in the summertime. One of tho be.st acts on the pro- gram of eight had Sylvia Moro and Reckless IJrothers opening the show in full stage. One of the brothers does only head balancing on a tra- r>oze, in evening dress. He makes the most of his tricks, and the wide swinging balance brought consider- able applau.se. Miss Moro fills out tho picture with a song and dance at the opening. I'aramo was second, a young fel- low in a light sack suit who bore down heavily ujion playing a mouth organ. He had a couple of other .string Instruments, but the mouth org.in is his strength. He played It without l.indling, li<;tding R in his mouth through pressure for a couple of numbers. It's no doubt a Oitllcuit fe.u to so pl.iy, but still it I'rriairis a mouth organ. I'aramo t.liked a litib*. but not too much, nor did the t.ilk interfere otherwise. Cjuite a number i)rosont api*oared to approve of the music through the applause. No. 3 held Shea and Carroll, who .•'•••m to have .strictly a i-ummor turn for .sm.ill time R'« mostly pop .•-ong.i by Mi.ss (Jan oil and crosslire from Shea, of a medium quality for .--mall tune. .Shong piano jilaying and character dialor.s got In at mo- nunts ai>d lh< y flnishofl \vl<h rather a gof»d g*'tawMy number. The prrs- ent art for (be new season will hardly do It preibably will be brushed up in nongn and talk. The ♦•lectrical act of Fred La AMERICAN ROOF The roof is a pleasant place to sit on a hot night. The attractions are the fire escapes, the "ice cold " lem- onade, tho rt>ckers in the rear, and, if you have that kind of eye, the ushers. All this has nothing to do with the stage, though It must he yielded that the pictures aro not without quality. There ia also vaudeville, but lh'» first-half collec- tion this week could ,scarcely be list- ed with the attractions. It Is summer, and the prices on the roof are low. One cannot ask so many advantages at tho rates and an .all-star parade of hand-picked hcadliners besides. Jo Jo Dooley was on when the undersigned wafted in. Ho was In- visible, being "planted" in a box out of vlow of fully half tho house. Jo Jo (the "Dooley" is something new, and one of the rare instances of Jo Jo pulling a nifty) Is of the big time. Ho used to bob up and clown for male singles. One of the abuses of respectable vaudeville is the "plant," when he irritates an audience by puncturing what might otherwise bo entertainment. But when a "plant" becomes an act and has straights supporting him on the stage, this Is carrying a Joke too high up. Jo Jo's whimsies, when he was audible, which w.os about half the time, made tho houso tce-hcQ In that forgiving way that only honest small-timers can. The act died sitting down—If it can be called an act. Kennedy and Davies, carded to precede Jo Jo, followed him. Two women cavorted and labored, and passed away. The IJerkoffa, hard working Juvenile boy and girl, did well when they went into acrobatics. This is a good Loew act—good enough for any place, except that H lacks showmanship and that elu- sive thing called "cla.«js." A Duster Keaton two-reelcr closed the first part. "Tho Paleface," and very good. Freddy, Slivers and Ful- ler reopened the hostilities. Freddjr is a blackface falsetto singer with no low notes, a composite imitation of a dozen blackface yodlors and heavy light comics. The other two are "neat," and one sings baritone and the other bass. If the baritone will get down to a ballad of which he can pronounco tho words, and Freddy will get a halUd In his register, and half the bowing and salaaming Is deleted, this will be a passable No. t for fhe time. Monroe and Oral tan gave the show Its first touch of thought, in- telligence and vaudeville—any kind of vaudeville. With one of tho pret- tiest and most happy little produc- tions seen in a long time, revealing two adjoining stoops, this amusing "souse" and his prima-donna part- ner got over, the more credit to them, because they did not InsttH the audience with smut and mil- dewed barroom cracks. Kranz and White and Black and White followed, and finished it. The two Whites were not the same. Black and White are two athletic girls who played tho Morris circuit years age and are well known In the\mid- west, always O. K. to close, and now they have better clothes, besides. Hut Kranz and White, veterans of all known species and brands of vaudeville, though they stuck to the script of their talk as heard else- where, worked "down" to the moh, and the mob did not quite respond by working up to them -It failed to synchronize somehow, though the aT)plause winner of the show. Rut — maybe It was the weather. Foley and Spartan and Morton and Drown, the latter a colored couple, not seen, though this faithful watchdog of the theatre was wiping his brow on the fire escape by 8.SI. FIFTH AVE. The slim audience Monday night at the 6th Avenue told tho story of tho westher. If It were melting before the footlights, what must it have been behind thom. S^'voral dancing acts on the first half bitl told It with perspiration. Margaret Severn and Co. In a new dance production number were the hoadliners. the Max Ford Revue Hi>littinis the boards in front of the house. The Severn turn can hold over for a notice until It strikes seasonable weather. Tho I-'ord company danced through with Max's tapping going a long way tow.ird holding them up. I Next to closing, Mayne and War- ren showfd n nfvit lirtlo two-act, a triflle too long, but with a rough dance that wa-; well worth while. If not too hard work, this may he carried to any length. Kach of the coufde contributes, with Miss War- rei having the more opi)ortunltle.^ and even given the biggoat laughs In the cross-fire. The pair app< tx to have trained thoir volfes for the orchestra leader. Seldom does the full dialog reach the rear of the house, and the 5th Avenue Is a .♦<mall auditorium. The two-net w.as framed up last season and .should be good for many season.**. Another two-act held Flphcr and Hurst, No. 5. Talk about women's Iniimato wear, with Miss Hurst a model in some place that had a janitor, and Mr. Fisher, the jani- tor, without an accent. The mate- rial Intended for laughs at times im