Variety (March 1923)

3« NEW SHOWS THIS WEEK vjf,'- fv-Kl^**'"?',''**'*,'? '■■I'f^'i *• '«^'?'-'^»r^""^«".«*-''t»"*;*»^"*-»-'-' Thursday, March 1, 1922 81 ST ST. Nlco running vaudeville fir.st half -^r«ce<lii»tf th* ♦icreen feature loiiped by two i>Di)dueiion turns and pliy- ing to a well liUed hou.^o despite dreary weather. Wood and Wyde and Mabel McCntie held the ma- jority ot the space in the outside hilhng. The length of the latter offering ])rol)ably was the eauso of the bill being held down to live acts. The McCano interlude took away a »ubotantial quota, although a conclM<lii:K speech was not abso- lutely necessary. The clothe.s of the feniitiine lead caused more favorable conmient than her emo- tional interpretations. Her male support, of which there are four, registered nothing unusual but suf- liced in getting the main idea of the theme across. Wood and Wyde, No. S, have played thi« house at various inter- vals since presenting the current vehicle, but repeated for their usu.il complimentary returns. The act is practically ideittlcal as with its Initial showing around this locality. with the "All right, Eddie." satire continuing to flounce across as a corking comedy bit- Alice liamilton wa.s spaced be- tween the two scenic incidents j.nd so far as actually concerns api)lause left off on an equal basis with her contemporaries. An amount of iJi- serted material listened as being new and was of additional value. I'receding were Russell and Mar- coni, violinist and accordionist re- spectively, who have done away .with the entrance of the latter frorii th« front of the house besides also eliminating their formerly used conversation. Rather backward in getting started, the routine built up. due to the pop melodicft, for an amount of appreciation that seems capable of keeping this team busy deucing around the smaller houses. In presenting the fllm attra-'iori this house has Installed the idea of a prolog instead of flashing and going right into the picture "cold." A aeries of three inserts, represent- ing youth, marriage and after, served as the prelude to First Na- tional's "The Dangerous Age." Lighting effects might help the idea along, if it is to be continuetl. At present the trio of tableau.x: needs embellishment generally. The Kios opened. Sk'iff. BROADWAY The Hroadway has achieved an individuality in the presentation of its Phows that is being discou'ited at the box oflice, the house dJing consistently good business. Its bill this week is just an aver- age vaudeville bill taking the acts individually, but they have be:^n se- lected with an eye to varietv and topped <.ff by the clowning at the llnish of the Krnie Golden and Band act that has come to be a trade- mark with the Broadway .shows. The audience eat the ad lib up. veil- ing with gleo at such old stul^f as "burlesque ventriloquism," done by Ray Conlin, with fat Abe I.eavitt on his kiiff. Felix Adler ha?^ been identified with this bit, but at these ad lib affairs it seems evervthing goes. Lcavitt was master of cere- monies, clowning with band, lead-' ing a quartet composed of his pianist and two stage hands, and introducing the other specialtits of two girl dancers, Sammy Smith and another song plugger, an.I tlio dingo dancer from Bob Albri;;hfs act, who was vociferously d(>nianded. The clowning ended at 11 p. m.. when all stood at retiuest to sin'4 the national anthem, which ptoxed to bo, "flow Dry I Am." The bill itself op»»nod with Aki Kuma and Co. (Xew Acts), a List magic turn. Kay Conlin was sec- ond with his v«'ntrHoquial specialtv. working to solid favor after a slow start. The enunciation of ih > "dummy* is e.xceltent and the ma- terial ttkay. Klklns, Fay and Elkins. nnxt, got 'cm with i1h» sure fire finish. The three m.n do a minstrel litiish one tiiple handling a tambourine for time l.'tp.s by acrobatic worlr. The other pair stick to bones and piano. The singing ahead was passabl--. the turn, despite the mod.-rn .all ire of the priiM^ipals and a flossy looking' spevial drop, smacking oi" the old sehool and cork. They likcl it for an encore and several bends here. Leavitt and Lockwood followed. Leavitfs vehicle has be(v>int> most familiar through constant i)la\iiig locally, hut it was evidenilv now to this bunch. The "before .-ind after marriage" bit and Leavitt's comedy aimed at his weight were sure lire. Miss I.^)ckwood has picked u|i con- siderable poundage since first seen with the ex-burlesque comic and author. The I.eavitt-I^ockwood turn, while all right for the int»-rrnedi;it^ Imuses-, is about played out for the two-a-day. Dorothy P.yton and Co. (.\c\v Acta) followed. The act was spottril just right and. due to the scireity of women ahead or behhid. got ri real break. It proved an oidinaty ballet en.'-emblc, evidently of I'n^- llsh exira( lion and truining. ^ QklahniH.I Boh Albrlpht novt With s'M-.gs .and stories, tlu* lattii- the cream of those b< inu heard around, llo.wever, when Monfacju*- Crlass anfl lr\in Cobb c.an .veil them as original and recent they are any- body's propi- ty. Albright san;; and talked Itis w.«y to Sinety. then trotted (Mil t1^ o c dored I»m\ s. tun; of whom proved to be a "hot" dancer. 1'he other went to the box. The dancing one hopxied a Jazz buck fidl of faked 'wings/' and the other fake hoofing that makes the real dancers throw their shoes awa.v ,but which is sure t\ve for the uninitiated out front. At his .sl.sle he ia there. A waltz dog "reeiuested* from the gallery while tho trio were stalling in "one" was gracefully ducked by Albright, and th<* kid did a repeti- tion of his one dance. In the clown hnl.sh he repeated th«» same routine of steps but they liked it better the third time than the hrst. "Shades of Milt Wood!" Krnle (Jolden and Band closed the show and furnished background for the clowning. CSohlen is going in for "effects," having three in his arrangements. "The Thief." which i.s a published, continues to be his best number. Cou. STATE Klein Brothers, jiexf to closing the hrst half kIiow at the State. c.-ime as near to overcoming the State's odds agaiiKit a talking turn incidentally as it seems possible to do. They did it Tueiiday night with- out shouting or talking beyond a natural intonation. They could be heard clearly tnough to make th»» whole house laugh. .an<l that's .some achievement for talk at the Stale. The straight man wasn't up to his usual laughing form Tuesday even- ing, lie onI.\ laughed at the come- dian's gags and null isms SO times during th.e act. Ordinarily the straifiht man on past performances should av<rage 20i» taughs on his own, so if the taller of the Klein Biothers doesni watch himself Mrs. .Iimmie Barry will edge him out of the laughing - ai - your - partner's- comi'dy chatnpior.ship. yet. The Hii»podrome rn.ght possibly he wttr^e for a sketch than the State, but n«)t much. Notwithstand- ing "In Wrong." a comedy playlet, did very well in llie llrst half show. Plenty of lively action—good old- fashioned farce .unfolded the plot us plain as if it had been a moving picture, and the sketch held atten- tion and got all the laughs in sight. A cast of thoroughly competent players give '"Ifi Wrong" a toJie and finish in playing and presentation miles abo\e the small-time average of acts of its type. Fraricis aa<i ^Vilson were the upenei.-i. An acrobatic turn, man and woman, with the woman a g(;od tumbler and the man showing a line of tricks that rate with the best. A standing jump, half soaiersault, with the man lockigg his feet in a foot hold with the woman's feet, the latter suspended from rings, made a Hash feature stunt that clicked neatly. Dorothy Wahl, second, with songs, pianologing and dancing. Usual in- troductorj numbe • with orchestra, with repertoire including ballad nicely done, .some average piano playing, brief bit of comedy verse, and a short session of simple step- ping, maih^ liUoaole No. 2 turn. A cold seemed to hamper Miss Wahl's vocalizing Tuesd.ay night, but. she waded through courageously with- out alibiing. Renard and West, third, with "I'll Tell the King," a novelty comedy turn for a mixed team that should have graduated long ago to the big time, wluie it would lit perfectly in the early se<'tion. The man is a Hebraic comic of the modern sfhool and the woman carries abbre-viated costumes like .a Ziegfeld "Foilie.s" entry. They made the grade surely at the State, the spaciousness hold- ing down the laughs a bit naturally. The Skclly and Melt Revue closed with Hugh Skelly's nut comedy and dancing. Mi.'^s Hclt*.^ vocalixing. Mildre(l I..ivirmston's excellent leg- mania dancirg. and some jlngly jazzing by anotr.or of the gitis com- bining for a like.iblf mixture. About three-quarters of a house Tuesday night. "Jav.i Head" was the fea- ture picture. UrU. FIFTH AVE, An "aft'M pic'«" for good measure at the Otli .Ave. the lirst half put the periorl to a very entertaining hill — for the r-th Ave. The bill-end's travesty was contrived by Larry (Joidie. v\ iio boaks the house, and r.ill Qua id. who manages it. Us new to the lith Ave. as it is new to the metropolitai: section, although the Colonial had a week of the mix-iti mmibcr for a llnish. Most of these bits this season have been strictly mix-ins — artists going into other acts on the program for additional clowning. The .iiih ,\ve. .afterpiece, Hioui,'h. was cohesive- it was an adapted burlesque bit, with a "wild woman" lo(.>king for her 'iong-lost lover." The same bell was rung, once for a kiss, twice for a hug, ";n.d it never ha^^ been ktiftwn to ring three times.'" Florric Bi-nni-tt was the "wild wom- an," making it pretty wild in the way fho swung tlv^ men about be- fore h^aditig th«m behind the hack diop for the bell stuff. I'tiul Cun- nitif^hain did the straight and ox- planatjons. with llariv ila>den, Mr .Ma(k and Mi. Miller (Milk-r aiil M:iek) the come-oim. Millef ni hI.' the finale by- starting the hill on riotous, rinuiriij streak. The audi- ence ate it up, liking the r^uigli ctunctly and the people in it as they had previously while the various niembers were doing their regular turns. Opening the afteri»'M'e werflfc, bits, songs by Frances Arms and Mr. Carroll (Carroll and Sedley>. These were preceded by an announcement by Mr. Cunningham for the after- piece, he fii'st Introducing the Cun- ningham-Bennett orchestra (Broad- way Entertainers) for the opening number. A previous mention of the extra numhtt- to conclude the even- ing was made by Mr. Cunningham when acknowledging the applause for his own act, and it served to hold nearly the entire house Intact for the finish. The bill came in Monday without having before played together. Messrs, Goldie and Quaid framed it on the paper billing, informing the turns aii^ booking but eight acts for the first half. The bill proper ended with Marie Cavanagh and Co. (New Acts) in a dance turn that did well, leaving a neat opening for the Im- promptu bit that followed with hardly a wait. Some of the people in it appeared in the costume of their turns. Headlining were th.e latest Cun- the dialog. The man carries the greater part of the comedy and the offei-ing looks like an Ideal one for the better pop houses. ■ Jess I.,ibonatI seemed to get hot feet from hi« own playing on the xylophone, but he got over with a wallop at the flnlsh with his popu- lar rag and Jazz tunes. Next to closing Sully and Thomas held forth. Here is an act that hasn't overlooked a bet in "old hoke." It's all there and for great laughs with pop audiences, but there are one or two little touches that go just a little beyond the line for "reflned vaudeville," The comic of the team has everything in the way of prope that suggest things. A pair of red suspenders for a fieck- tie. a pair of drawers for a muffler and a pair of women's corsets for another prof) laugh. All of this goes, but the back bone naming stulT should stop where the cross Is made; beyond that It gets rough. Closing Mme. Doree's ottering. 'Here, There and Everywhere," a . ningham and Bennett act, with an ^ ^^ ^ ^ ^^ .^^^j^ flash'act orchestra of six. besides two colored dancers, boy and girl. The colored couple jazzed it up in their stepping and made the act's llnish a big one seems to have poseibilitles. What it needs is a little touch of comedy. Also a bit of snap to the Chinese scene, which is a little too much r.ilhcr by with the regular vaudeville audi in song. In the afterpiece her con- tribution was "Far Roekaway." an- nounced as by request, but no longer in her repertoire. Miss Arms should restore it. Outside of Jimmy Hus- sey, who hasn't been on the big time while laying off on the Shubert cir- cuit, and Fanny Brlce. who may have used it but slightly, "Far Rock- away" is new to the east and west, although Miss Arms employed it last season. This girl can take booking as a big-time single without every- body asking how much she Is get- ting. Another laughmaker was the Harry Hayden sketch, with Its nice- ly balanced company of three sur- rounding Mr. Hayden's comedy. It drew good laughs and they quickly remembered Hayden when he en- tered In the closing skit. No. 5 held Hampton and Blake, with a couple of quite good songs, the songs stand- ing out beyond the talk, as the gag- ging .cross-fire, through an o'er- supply. commenced to lose its grip along about the center of it. An- other song, placed earlier, might benefit, for there is enough in the talk to have it shaved down with the dross out. Opening were Valdo, Meers and Valdo in a comedy wire act, and No. 2 held Carroll and Seeley, a couple of singing boys with a piano, re- cruited from one of the recent "Am- ateur Follies." Business capacity, but no standing overflow. Himr. 58TH ST. The 5Sth St. had the lightest Monday night in many mootis. The slackness In trade affected prin- cipally the reserved f?ection and the boxes, while the b.ilcony had a line of standees and there were also a scattered few standing on the lower floor. The show in Itself was pleas- ing entertainment for this type of house .so far as the vaudeville wa-t concerned, but seemingly there is a now era being arrived at In the pop vaudeville houses, which in ef- fect is that even a great vaudeville show with a poor picture will not draw, while a nnvliocre vaudeville bill with a good pi<ture is sure of business. The feature pieture offer- ing of the 58th St.s bill the fiitit half was "The Hero." Th.e vaudeville seciit>n was opened with Pali Dassi .and Co.. a mixe 1 comedy acrobatic animal act that has as its strong piincli the boxinu pony. There arc seveial \ery good bits in the offering ami lh<Me were .any number of l.iughs from lh< ludietice. which setMiied to enjo\' the act f horouKhl.\-. Jtdm aixl .Mabel Dove ( \. w Act«s>. a blac k face team, m.in and wom:ui. scoi i d heavily with- what looks like ii nii£;:ht be developed into ;i big time ofTering of class with a little atten- tion to the comed.v. RoTland and R.iy with their .Xuto mat talking skit proved entertain- ing, getting laughs right along with explain itself. Dunn and Day were the favored act. Show had abundant light comedy, but was short on stepping. The bill was unusual in this respect, there being only one real dancing act in the running. Fairly strong on singing. The Braminoa, musical clowns, opened. They are using all the time honored Instrumental eccen- tricities, opening with whistles con- cealed in walking sticks and finish- ing with the wrist and ankle bells for Cavallerla Rusticana," and in between do a pantomime of a card game, ringing electric bells as they play the pasteboards, and other similar devices. The rotating ma- chine with music resembling a xylo- phone was perhaps the best. Act of ten years ago in material and dressing. Dunn and Day are just boy and girl with an exceedingly light rou- tine of talk and numbers, several of which probably are their own. But the gags are common property and there is little point to the talk. They have a cold opening and then go into kid costume, with school children quarrels and repartee. Just a couple of youngsters with their career all before them. The Duponts (New Acts) really began the rpal show, and although thing but a dumb rou- omedy juggling, they crowd. It was easier ilson, and he got away ng start with topical talk the guaranteed husband they have title ot tha wed for Ai 4 t m ife theme. Ills num.bers are nicely delivered and brink in style and the dialect talk and travesty songs at the finish got him away and back for a real encore. The finale is immense, illustrating the atmosphere and the sound effects of an old-fashioned German saloon after the sixth round of pinochle. It's a gem of a bit and the .ipplause was genuine enough, but that doesn't, justify a single man taking up 21 minutes. Including the en- core, Wilson can tighten up his routine to ground l."> minutes and make it all meat. I'rank A. Burt. assisted by Myrtle Rosedale, took up the run- ning from there. Burt's offering ie< a capital quarter hour of fooling. lie iloes the bungling "Dutch " char- acter and gets over a lot of first- rate low comedy of the kind they fatten on at 42d and Eighth. Miss Rosedale Is a great little helper, doing her feeding neatly .and ener- !::etically and appearing to h.ave a uodd time at It. Burt ha;; .a dancing st.vie all his own, with semi-acro- h.itic and semi-eccentric stej»« that -;i.nid out. The .<^ample ;it tiie tiiiish (tut a clincher on 11. » turn. \\'arman .and Mack are a coui>le of likable young men. one ojjerating on the ivories and both singing popular songs. Clean-cut looking p'iir In trim tuxedos, working l>riskly and getting away in just 12 minutes. The last three, devoted to liberally aided bv the band itself, i p^Y''';. „„. c...iii.,o„ .„ o»,.t^ ^ ..» no mean one for its size, and the * ^•*'*'^'* °"^ Sullivan In style to get principals, of course, being largely. . , , .». .. » . 11 tfu nstrumental. Mr. Cunningham and - f"^^^- In singing the act holda with Miss Bennett have their episodical t ^«' exception of the rather baritone bit in lyrical form and characterize! ba.;S. who flats everything he tries that makes a healthy number for! ^"^^ has no stage appearance or them. The houing or applause l'*^''«""'»''^>;- Another touch causes thing is carried out quite far at the j the act to lose the effect of the final finale, but, through it Cunningham -''.-''^"t' ^ Pa^^'^t leather one. It i.^ .secures a direct line oi what and ! the bringing up the lights to full who pleased the audience from for the flnal few minutes of the act. among those in his turn, as he That patent leather stuff is meant names each in a'soeech of aeknowl-, to be u.sed for reflection purposes edgment. : and gains its effectiveness from the For laughter .Miller and Mack, No. ! us»> of iight« properly. With the 7 and following the production turn, [ lights full on It is cheap in appear- Bot the ribbon. Those boys wowed ! anoe. Keep 'em dim and use varied 'em good. This Miller is quite a I colored ones, going to the liRhter twisting, singing, dancing come- ■ hues if necessary, but don't come up dian. Its no late discoveiy for alliKclher on the v\hltes. vaudeville. For a low-comedy two- A news weekly and the feature act that dances without any bur- ; wcte the. film offerings of the bill, lesque stuff carrying them along in i ,. Fred. the comedy way this pair just about [ ; look to stand all alone in their cliss. j • . mjimi/^ a Xl As a single Miss Arms stood up. i AMlliKlL'AIN There's manv a worse woman single ^. . .,, .... .. . .. i in vaudeville who has made people '""> ^« ^"> ^° ^^«'^^^»' ^^^^" "^"'^' wonder how she got booked on the , business Monday evening. Fr.*me- big time. Miss Arms, a gortd-look- up rather uneven with strong pointa ing blonde, who u.ses too much i po^ipensating for weak ones and rouge, mixes her routine of songs., , . , , .,. # „ She sings straight and character. \ t'"'^' ^^ hole averaging up satisfac- one number a medley of aitnosi dia- j toiil.v. Small time billlr.g is ever a lect bits, in which her Yiddish is the ' mystery. Why they selected a No. 2 best. It isn't often in vaudeville j turn and new at that foT* third dis- you see a blonde doing Yiddish stuff i play over sure-fire turns doesn't a «olo dance, could be eliminated. They can both deliver a number in the breezy style once called "rath- skeller' atts, but the dancer can't step. George Randall and Co. wer» there for their periodical sketch called "I'ast, Present and Future" this time, (New Acts.) Harrington and CJreen, man and woman, are genuine darky entertainers. Com- edy colored i>eople don't fall down once in a dozen times. It is only when they essay polite that they mitis. These two, in their line of scrappy give and take, are a scream all the way. The man of the pair does an amusing bit of card game pantomime in the Bert Williams style for an opening, and from that minute they are over. A bit of stepping at the finish would im- prove the act, for 16 minutes of talk and song needs relief. Foria u,nd West have a good deal of individuality for simple comed.v acrobatH. They both wear dinner jackets and work without haste or parade and make no aggressive effort for comedy, but they get laughing results just the same by the simple trick of maneuvering: for the posseifiion of a cigar as they do the tricks. The top-mounter i.s slightly intoxicated, and from this circumstance they get a number, of odd catches and holds in ground tumbling and hand-to-hand forma- tions. "The World's Applause* for the screen feature. I'lti^h. BUSHWICK Little complaint could be regis- tered against business at the Bush- wick Monda.\ night when the nine- act bill headed by the I/apez Band drew (lose to capacity with weather conditions not in favor of the house. The buslrifss ut this neighborhood house has been holding up strongl.v since the start of Lent. In a scc- fon where the effects of Lent are felt In many lines the Bushwick ap- pears to have established a pnlic.v which ^•erves it throughout the year. The Lime Trio, a knockout novel- ty turn, opened the show, securing a number of laughs on the efforts o? the contortionist. The turn, novel and fast, got the bill under way with speed. Jack Little, with a straight, piano act. appeared No. 2. Little is a neat appearing chap and a corking pianist. His impressions of mechanical pianos are typically worth while and display an expert- ness in fingering that stands him in good stead. In addition to the trick playing Little registered easily with his straight efforts. Programed for second after In- termission Mollie Fuller in her Blanche Afenill vehicle,. "Twilight." appeared No. 3. Miss Fuller played with all of the feeling which has characterized her stage work for years and was one of the evening's brightest spots. In support she has Harriet Marlotte in a comedy board- ing house mistress role, and Edward "Mecca" Graham doing a Bert Savoy impersonation. Miss Mar- lotte has been Identified with this type of part for some time and plays it easily. Graham played for two seasons with the "Greenwich Vil- lage Follies" and was given ample opportunities to study the style of Bert Savoy which he has gotten down to a nicety, proving an able aide to Miss Fuller. Demarest and Collette were given an opportunity for a comedy punch No. 4 and delivered. The couple gave the show speed, making way for the Lopez band which closed the first half. The musical organ- ization was the outstanding hit of the evening with a straight routine of published numbers. The special effects used with some aided in giving a novel aspect to the straight musical work. The musical ability of the Lojiez musicians stands out. The combination has been together for some time and displays it in the playing which is of the smooth- est kind. As a vaudeville feature the turn hit the mark easily Mon- day night. The second half secured a good comedy start with George Watts and Belle Hawlej', Watts, a broad beamed comedian from the middle west, whanged over his comedy numbers v 1th telling effect. Miss Hawley remains at the piano ex- clusively, given opportunities vocal- ly which she handles In good style notwithstanding the fact one num- ber is a trifle long. Watts makes his comed.v numbers surefire. There is little talk but what there is proves produ tive. This type of comedian is an everlasting joy to Bushwick audiences and the Monday night crowd dis])layed their approval from start to finish. Marga Waldron the dainty dan- seusc with an artistic routine iis- sisied by (Jeorne Halprin at the piano appeared second after infcr- rnissioti. The trur- artistry of this youthful dancer m.ade .» direct ap- peal and the heavy spot was easily carried. < Clayton and Kdwards drew the next tf> closing assinnineni. The t\\" laii l earn experien ceil no uilll- (uli\ u i;!i the conieuy work. Th?^ laughs «:nne easily and continued until rhe finish. The routin"^ is identical to that visrd prior to their splittin.g. Kd an<l Jennie Rormey on the double trapeze closed the show, providing an acrobatic flash. .//arf.