Variety (May 1924)

Wednesday. May 88. 1984 NEW SHOWS THIS WEEK -iV^ rfTiSvu^r 33 Th« vocalist. aft«r a change costume, retuma In hoopaklrt eaa tor "Crlnolln* Dmys." The jicer appears In similar costume, Bd they duet a minuet, which Is [lowed by a solo toe dance by the ncer. "You Never Can Be Sure," after ^•nother double change of costume; Informs lyrlcaUy that a "surprise" la in store, and Is followed by the unw'gglng, a revelation as far as .the singer Is concerned. The dancer ■htippeaxt mannish In spots, and his (.Identity Is guessed, but the sex Ulu- yalon Is projected perfectly by the other. His falsetto voice Is the best heard yet An aversion to ges ,' turlng. and an uneasy stage deport ' iner.t are faults the sinjer will have to correct The act at pre' ^nt will make good anywhere on the "surprise- flnish" ' due to the singer. It drags a bit in ■pots as now routined, although «nly running 14 minutes. The Ori- ental dance appeared a bit drawn out. although the dancing memt>er Is unusually versatile. At this house the act made a pro- fessional tryoat appearance, and should have no trouble keeping busy in the neighborhood houses. When smoothed out it will ha%e a big time chance. K . Co*. i- HELTON. TYLER and 8HARPLE8 Songs and Talk 19 Mins.; One . i 68th St. Previously "Monkey Shines" (Co- lumbia burlesque), the trio have per- mission to use the latter duo's mate- _rial to the extent of the political crossfire of the two "Senators" when Interviewed by a reporter. It's word for word with two of the men In this trio closely resembling the "Music Box" team (Clark and Mc- CUIIough) fn makeup as Well. ; Showing at this hoose the ac- quired routine is spaced by what may be original squibs that are strictly secondary. Other Insertions Include the soloing of the Mralght. man, who returns to do an exag" gerated English caricature, while a ' duetted parody is us^d foi^ a flnish. — The act is in need of pruning. ' Otherwise It looks well able tb.as- j, sume Its responsibility throughout i^'tbe smaller houses, where the audl- •" • ences dote on "hoke" of the low ' comedy vein. Bkig. ■ •TID BITS OF •24" (6) Sons* and Dancing 18 Min.i One and Full (Special) 58th Street Average lower middle flash act pertaining mostly to dandng, but carrying a girl songstroaa rendering lyrics appropriate to the Involved material, and a feminine pianist who does not solo, but Is outstand- ing through her unobtrusive man- ner «f accompaniment A sister team and another girl comprise the dancers, spaced by the one male representative, who also steps. The miss who singles with her toe work overshadows other contributions, while the slstefs ad- here to conventionality by singing before the act Is over. The team closely follows the simpler routines with an insertion of time stepping, done In toy soldier costume based upon wooden blocks, as their best achievement. A costume number, burlesqued, and aimed to depict former styles of dreSJ, was particularly appetiz- ing to the Third avenue throng here assembled, and it served to roll up a substantial total that otherwise might have been lacking. A special drop is used for the introductory song in "One," While the full stage set consists of drapes. The act should meet requirements If kept within the speclfled bounda- ries. Skiff. HIPPODROME WHEELCR'S POLAR BEARS 15 Mins.; Full Stage (Cage) Hippodrome The six animal.s in this act do the usual routines of their fellows, but In a slow, uncertain manner which Indicates lack of training. They perform the usual pyramiding tricks, etc., but are always jumplni; off their perches seeking the exit, and the trainer is forced to the use of the gad and whip, which does not look pretty. The climax Is the mounting of a ladder by the bears, to a platform from which they slide down a chute to the stage. In this stunt the trainer was compelled to contin- ually flick the bears with his whip, ' and at the flnish to mount the lad- der himself and prod the bears with the gad until they took the slide. As In the case of another animal act on the same bill, the fault lies In trying to put the act on before the animals are ready, or have been sufllciently trained. This is a big mistake, for various reasons, and In a conspicuous place, such as on a program at the Hippodrome, Is to say the least bad judgment The act may develope into a good one, but no deflnlte line can be drawn on it from the Hippodrome . showing. ►■■■ 'pi LEE AND ROMAINE Singing 11 Mins.; One 58th Street Two men wafting melodies In high pitched and nasal voices that seem destined to be continuously heard within the middle class the- atres. The vocalizing soon begins to grate. Where they don't espe- cially care for oft used melodies the boys are going to' flnd themselves completely inundated. Obviously unable to handle them- selves and making for awkwardness, more so with one than the other, the act relies on one of the men's jazz clarinet mimicking to register with this method closely rresembllng CUtf Edwards' manner of delivery. Dressed in dinner jackets, the duo offer a simple routine entirely cata- loged up to the minute. Coast time, and will stand comparlslon to that provprblal baseball ..hrasi of a pitcher having little els.^ but a prayer and a glove. Skig. With the exception of the open- ing and closing acts, this weeks program at the Hippodrome was an individual hit There certainly can be no question of newness or novel- ty In the names, of Eva Tanguay, Pearl Regay and Lester Sheehftn, Seed and Austin. Lewis and Dody Arnaut Pros, and Rae Eleanor Ball and Brother, while Pred Lindsay and Co. (Australian whip-cracker) and the Charlssi ramlly have been frequently on the local vaudeville stages. That accounts for eight out of the 11 acta Which is saying a great deal for the permanence and solidity of vaudeville as entertain- ment ^^ „,. , The newcomers are the Ghezzls, hand-balancers, and two animal acts, Wheeler'8 Polar Bears and Ringling's horses, both of whloh ap- pear to be understudies of similar acts now playinK with the Barnum- Balley Circus. They are both Rtng- llng-owned acts, but require a lot of training before they can class with those now with the Big Show. The exquisite settings are built to fit the turn using Ihem. and the gorgeous wardrobe, all made for the Hippodrome especially by Brooks and Mahleu, is beyond mere de- scription. . , There is a chorus of 32 girls, who, in addition to their shapeliness, have been trained splendidly by Allan Foster to fit Into any act which the spectacular and aug- mented personnel will beneflt The wardrobe and outfltting of these glrla alone must have cost the HlP- podrome a fortune, as there are no less than 20 changes of costunae in this week's show. Julius Lenzberg's Harmonists open the bill splendidly with musical ac- companiments to the News Reel, and the Rlngllng Horses in a num- bered drill start the vaudeville. The Horses (beautiful stock) appear to need a great deal of work and training, as they several times broke formation and otherwise slowed up iWe act. But they finally did all the tricks that they were asked to do. Undoubtedly tralnlnK will bring the necessary speed, and working before audiences is the best method to get the required re- sults. The Arnaut Bros., with their musical clown stunts, and the "Lov- in« Birds" duet, went over big In the second spot. Fred Lindsay, the Australian whip-cracker, and his company In a fine special setting, had the act augmented by 18 of the Hippodrome's Girls. The effect was that of a pretentious musical com- edy scene, and won blp returns from the audienc* as well as the Intricate whip-cracking stunts of Lindsay himself. Rao Eleanor Ball and Brother re- peated their successful musical act, she with violin and Brother with the •cello. Both are masters of their instruments, which fact the audience freely recognized. The two Sams—Lewis and Dody— also pulled off their usual winnlnK hit. opening and closlnur with their heavy artillery, "Hello! Hello! Hello!" ^ , . Penrl Regay (assisted by Lester Sheehan) had her art augmented hy the Hippodrome Girls, who inter- polated four different dances be- tween the team's sperlaltles. The routine was precisely the same as thev have been u.sInK around New- York, including the It.-illan Emigrant number, which Sheehan ante-cli- maxed and practically killed by overacting the Insppotor. But there was never any doubt about the act being a Mg-sized hit. especially with rrnrl's acrobatics, contortions and toipsirhorcan ef- fforts, all of which received volleys of apiilause. ^, , . After Intermission the Charlssi Family, In a suite of Creek dancr;^ and po.<tes. were a pnrll?ular hit, thr skill and grace of the youngstcr.s appealing especially io the women. Owen Jones efficiently conducted the orchestra through the difficult mazes of this act's i(>«ciai music. Seed and Austin (assisted by a comely girl not programed) went over OS strongly In the big house as in any they have ever played. The audience ate up this clever comedy act. Les OheuL two slightly built youths (also using the Hippodrome Girls—82 of them), did some ex- ceedingly clever stunts among the regular routines of hand-balancing acts. The flnish, in which the un- derstander does four rollovers while holding the mounter, regaining his l>alance for the final lift by a back roll toward the audience. Is a corker, and Is so well produced that the au- dience loudly applauded each single rollover. The girls and the special setting made the act wonderfully effective, and the work of some clever master mind of the stage is apparent in the staging of the spe- cialty. ' Eva Tanguay first surprised them, then surprised them some more and continued to do so until she. could do np more, after accepting three encores, the final one producing the evergreen "I Don't Care." Eva Is a wonder and'a whirlwind. Wheeler's Polar Bears, closing the show., are susceptible to the same criticism as the opening act. The bears jutit would not. mind their trainer and gummed up the action several times, but were "Induced" to go through their stunts event- ually by sundry pokes and slashes of the whip in the hands of the trainer. It might be as well for the latter tu bring his charges to a more obedient frame Of mind be- fore exhibiting them in public, while the poking, etc., is necessary. It Is a mystery why the top bal- con)#of this beautiful house does not get a profitable play, especially nn the price of a seat there is only 30 cents, while all the higher priced seat* are practically sold out. F.uslnees Monday night was prac- tically capacity downstair^ and In the first balcony, while upstairs Was practically untenanted. made history this season, came back and closed intermission with laughs and good concentration. This Is "Apartment to Let," with Violet Kemble-Cooper, Janet Beecher, Olive Wyndham and Harry C. Browne, a clever one-act play done with legitimate high com- edy touches and good vaudeville low comedy splashes by four art- ists who help to provo the fallacy of the superstition that the two-a- day requires something beside and 5TH AVE. An eight-act bill with the Fifth Avenue Follies girls, a dancing oc- tet, romping through four of the numbers in an attempt to provide a production flash such aj has been successfully done at the 'Hippo- drome. ._ The show, as a whole, was enter- taining and held a strong Une-up for an Intermediary, including at least two names and as many turns beyond honest comedi' and drama | g^o wing new viMcles. The latter values. , . This is a strong bin In namea, variety and action. Alonday night drew full capacity. The thow is out at 11:18 add up at 8:10, which is a good three hours' worin and some more, all of It the goods. Lait. 81ST ST. PALACE Clssie Loftus, her hair now bobbed and fluffy, but frankly gray, made an impressive figure on her vaudeville return to the Palace. She seemed In vigorous physical form and played With lightness and ease. During a change to her ilnale, a heavy Bemhard imperson- ation in "Yzlel." she introduced Patsy Loftus. an English niece,, a young girl with lopg blonde curls, who did a Dixie song and a figure dance with much entertainment value. Miss Loftus' best ImltatlonA were Mrs. FIske in a bit from "Mary, Mary." and Irene Franklin. A Lauder annd CantAr she would do better to eliminate, as they are un- worthy of her standards. Fannie Brice was her most amusing char- acter, in two numbers. She " also did Nora Bayes and Frank Crumit. Her reception was hearty and her getaway strong, though not as voclfarous as on her first appear- ance some months back after her extended absence. George Jessel (New Acts) ap- peared in two separate turns; b whimsical llttl* thing, with two young girls. In the first half and his box-act from the "Passing Show" in the second part, both stoutly received. He encored in "one" with gags to set Bessye Clif- ford in her slide poses for the closer, which held In most of the faithful, although the offering has been frequently repeated here. Two silent acts scored. Reck and Rector, oiDenlng, stopped It for ap- plause, though they were down at 8:20. Two well-dressed men in an iron-law combination, the strong man suspended by one toe from a hold above the grand drape and the other doing balances, spins and heavy maneuvers below while hanging from a bit In the other man's teeth. The work and dress- ing are neat and there are some touches of comedy. The finish is a thriller, a wildfire spin with Jerks, The other speechless hit was For- tunello and CIrillIno, foreign clown tumblers, switched late Into the second half and holding up the spot solidly. This tjam has been here before, also. Weber and Rldnor (formerly Weber and Rldnor Sisters) ran a fast and likely routine in full stage for the deuce, the opener closing in "one." This is Marion Rldner, the blonde of the combination, a pretty and fleecy Kirl. while Weber makes striking changes and dances hard and well. The act, wisely, runs only nine minutes, all speed. Vera Mlchelena and Fred Hillebrand re- peated with comedy and songs. Miss Mlchelena looks charming .and Hillebrand has sweetened and fat- tened Ills ad libs. Tlic 16 Empire Girls, recently of Ziegfeld "Follies," crashed over. The girls looked young and kissable and worked like 16 cylinders of an airplane engine. With them was Chester Fredericks. the curly- haired juvenile identified with Gus Kdwards" revue, but liiie so m;iny (if Kdwnrds' proteges, outgrowinu' tliiU function. Krederirk.s needs diroition, as he t.iiks too much alioiit himself, which in a "kid" is mnre impudent than cut!?, His (l.iiicing is as it was before and Is done single between Itie Tiller Ijiibes' numbers. The four-star sketi-h, whiili One of the biggest laughs in the current Broadway show, "The Melr ody Man." comes when Sammy White, playing a typical smaU- tlmer, says that although he was a hit at tlie lajt house played, he Would have gone much better if he ha'dn't had to follow the trained seals. Sammy should run up to !the Eighty-first this week and reaiite that's more truth than free verse. It's a seal that gets the big lobby display and a seal that got the three-sheeting on the nelfehboeing billboards fbr .he past week. :'ore- over. It's a seal that is scoring the applause wallop of the bill, and, finally, it's the same seal they ail are talking about during Inte; oisr slon and after the show. And does the animal In question rate all this excitement? The., thought so at the Hip for Several \.'eeks, and it's a cinch they'll a^ree anywhere on this or any other cir- cuit. It is the "talking seal," pre- sented by Marcelle, who's nearly as good,a shownaan as his protege. The rest of the current show leans slightly toward a "dumb act" monopoly, but It's good vaudeville entertainment. Marga Waldron shared topllne honors with the four-footed ^r, although she didn't get the same billing. She Is doing two of ithe dances seen last year in "Scandals." and they have lost nothing of their charm or grace. Mme. Rasch's IZip- podrome Corps de Ballet adds much color with several specialties, and Josef Martin, a new accompa- nlM, lends musical distinction. Ed Lowry bore the comedy assl;,nment fifth, preceding Miss Waldron. jHis turn is still primarily the same as when, a year ago, he was hel-ald^d a find, with the sax and clarinet bits warming 'e.m u. and the stepping at the finish wowing, things. He hat added a number with a doll that Is funny and another a^out "pop" that is not. , . J Fourth. Pllcer and Dougla^ wore another «reIl-propoFtloned hit, with their smart dance offering, in- terspersed with bits of song. The Eighty-first Street Is not just the house to welcome Douglas' broad ditties to its bosom as happens, else- where, but the dancing of Miss Ptl- eer and her gi.'ted partner, George Raft, connected as always. Henry Regal and company deuced with practically the same turn for- merly done by Regal and Mojre. The acrobatic work is almost in a class by itself but it seems Reg.,1 is making the mistake of taking too long to get down to it. Mulroy, Mc- Neece and Ridge opened soundly on roller skates. The house was abouf three-quar- ters capacity Monday night, everj'- one remaining for the Universal film, "Fighting American." 58TH ST. A conventional outlay reaching not beyond the usual and topped by Freda and Anthony and "TId Pits of 1»24." The former pair, next to closing, drifted through to finish with all honors. Both acts spilt the outside billing. It b«lng left to the "Bits" (New Acts) episode to close up for the night The house held Its usual quota, always a goodly gathering, which remained negative throughout a major portion. The Italian duo comprised the only turn to arouse an active response. Alpbonso Co. (New Acts), was placed directly behind the overture, being in turn trailed by I^e and Romaine (New Acts). The opener, a manniktn act, drew more attention than the two boys following, who pushed tbeir way to an unearned encore. Nat S. Jerome could do little with the No. 3 spot, possibly due to an exceptionally mediocre vehicle un- effectlvely played. The two phases combined were disastrous, leaving the act a distinct small-time entry that Is hardly capable of holding Its head up within those bounds. It was presented neither fast nor well and as it stands can be counted upon to retard any normal vaude- ville schedule. Alexander and Peggy surprised with a couple of new wrinkles on aged gags, but consumed most of their time with punning, which may be styled liumor by some, l-ut seems a poor substitu'.o if fast company Is the objective. A long winded en- core by this corked mixed duo should he cut directly In lialf, for if the puns can work up that total it's needless to throw it aw.ay on what simply resolves itself into a lime consumer. I'"red;i and Anthony, nn before mentioned, breezed in easily, while ■■'fid l!i:s' (Id.^ed. Skiu, were Richard Carle and Maude Eburne, spotted third, and Davis and Darnell, scheduled for fifth plac^. (New Acts.) The Plckfords, two men, pro- vided a lively start with a neat combination of juggling and acro- batics. They worked with a gusto reminiscent of the proverbial greased lightning and held the at- tention of the audience from be- ginning to end. ' Green and La Fell, mixed team, held the follow-up s|K>t with the routine planologulng and aonga The girl handled the five numbers, as- sisted In one by the Follies girls : and a specialty dancer furnishing ~ atmosphere for a South Sea Isle number. The man managed to pack In considerable clowning'that hit, and also an Instrumental that got over neatly, Mr. (?arle and Miss Eburne Were In third place, while O'Roarke and Jackson, those mwody boys, fairly ^ sewed up the show with their fa- miliar line of harm.,inlBlng. Tbf boys waltzed their way to easy Bailing with an opening double,' HMowlng with Individual aOlos and winding up with a medley number that em* braced the song hits from past and present Broadway mMslcala,: They were the legitimate s)io,w stopper, but bowed out rather than over- play. ' Davis and Darnell have discarded "Blrds«ed" for "Caterpillars'," and held the following spot . : Renee Robert and the Glers-Dorf mixed orchestra was the class hit of , the , evening. , Miss Robert's dances were well executed an4 ac- companied by the skilled orchestra whose symphonic renditions add their enhancing value to the dances ^ and were musical treats also. OC '^ the four dances contributed the In- "^ dian dance and a jaxa to* dance were easily the outsUnding fea- tures. , Between the dance* the or- ■ chestra gave a good account of It- ' self in instrumental 6ontrIMtlona / that a}so were well received. BUly OUson clowned his way ; through a repertoire of talk and '; songs. ' "^ Miss Mlachua closed with her fa- "i miliar slack wire act in ^i^lch she < does all sorts of stunts midair with- out the aid of either pole of um- brella for balance. Business good Monday night with : standees on the lower floor and the / upper Hers crowded. .:1 , ,<...-»M..r ..v«. STATE '"^^X ' ■ ■; Pretty dry picking as far as'com- ' edy was concerned In the Lo«w State bill Monday night until Phil Baker appeared. Phil got away to a slow sUrt with that vast audience : not seeming to realize he was billed • outside as "late from the 'Muslo '" Box Revue."' Phil, the accordeon'« and his ever-trusfy plant In an up- ,; per box, finally had them winging for a laughing score. Phil told the folks about a year's ' stay in the Musix Box and even '■ mentioned the Palace at the start, i as though he had momentarily for- gotten just what house he was in« since his return to vaudeville. His first laiigh came on the gag about the friend who spends like Flrpo, with the one about the many mort- gages on the car causing it to be called "The Covered Wagon." not going so good, and then Phil kidded his audience about having a good time right there, as there was no place to go since everything was padlocked. The variety section Included the Three Langflelds. Annette, Sabbott and Brooks, Phil Baker and "Danc- ing Shoes."' The Three Langflelds have their act cut to the bone, with the woman and the two men going into their main feats soon after the opening. The audience showed the most In- terest in the work of the woman as the "understander." Annette's range reverberated through the big house, her high notes registering strongly, although it was an Indoor pastime to make out what the words were of several of her numbers. Annette extended herself one number too many, but she seemed to think the applause justified it. Sabbott and Brooks for the State should have slashed some of their talk completely.' Once in their dancing routine they landed nicely, with that fast flnish putting them In big applause favor. Hard work- ers. After Baker, "Dancing Shoes" dosed. Barring the samene.ss through the similarity of solo rou- tine offered by the boys, the net was Well received. For the finish; they speed things up with comblna» tlun steps and individual efforts, the woman showing she is familiar with all the jiicpplng they do in unison. The show as a whole was i»aasably fair, with the comedy saved from olilivion by Baker's entry Into the proceedings. The feature picture was Louis B (Cnnllnuod on page 40)