Variety (August 1924)

^V-- .Wednesday, August 6, 1924 .^ —. NEW SHOWS THIS WEEK :t : I ■ VARIETY *«• iEAL O'HARA iBoSton, AU|r- >• ■ A, an ftctbf Neal O'Hara li< pne of ftf funniest wrUert In the ne*B- f?f*Lw after' dinner Speeches that i*t.t bl(t regulted' In the thesplan SUtIng out all over Neal Afver S Boston -rr&veler" and New fork "World" told him they thought '•might increase circulation, and v.. "Bob" Laraen promised him a Sofemg. Neal had his suit pressed. S^ght a bow tie. eome SUk-um, a »"«t»ck, rouge and found a chorus Xl who taught him before the Ktlnee "how to kiss and then make ""oHara explains In his monolog that he resembles Cohan In that Be talks through his nose, but that he SI much more to talk through than SThan, the crack being based on the bounteous beak with which he was Uessed at birth. He has a high- pitched and well-cracked voice which, however, carries wejl. His stuff is high voltage comedy, iach of It being muffed a la Julius Tannen. In hia patter he states lat he was given a tryout In Lynn, ass and asked his audiences t.T write him in case they didn't hce •ny point to his remarks. "I've re- ceived more nnail than the Gene'al jiaectrlc Company every morning 'Tnce then," eays Ncal. His beet stuff concerns hImsoK jd his ipail and his experiences In reaHing into vaudeville. He is an ;nquestioned draw wherever tiU tuft is syndicated, which covers gite a bit of booking area. The jughs he gets makes It a gool jonolog for any prOfeselonal when Jeal plays out, his territory as a celebrity name." Liibcv. RAWLEY and MARWICK Ibngt and Talk • Mine.; On* Itt 8t. tfilll Frawley not long ago Btrced from a.«kit by Pfkul Gerard Mtb and a show by th« fame ■tbor which also had the same kit Included. He has now turned tlibe himseU and, according to togram announcenr.ent. pepned this irrent vehicle. Assisted by Irma (trwick, a personable blonde, the (^.follows convention, but has-been Ibri^tly pieced . together' to align Nlf under what ,1s termed stand- ee clasaiflcatfon. .,Bree«y .arid fast delivered chatter Mugurates with Frawley as' a ateiman. The conversation leads Itb a trio of melodies before the bnclusion Is reached. Frawley h.-.s f'^en the dialog more than one out- Undlng remark and the firing is iith rapid and. consistent. Hiss Marwick is an asset through 'ocallzing and appearance. She In- iludes a brief dancing bit appro- >ri«te of worth to the cause. 'Frawley's intimate manner of de- Ivery got to them early at this ipuse. Spotted No. 3 the couple Mre readily received at the half- fty mark arid that left no doubt p^the finish. ;,'The act amounts to a neat anij »iU-»chooIe 1 p&lT, offering suVi irantlal fare. Skig.' XWORTH »n4 PRANCES ngt and Dances- Mint.; One d 8t Colpred team. Pep. Stronger on e hoofing than the vocal work, 1th the man In particular shbwhig lass with hie' feet. The act ap- jears to bo "special," judging from *•'lyrical construction of "words ■•d between nuin)>iBr8 and from the <■ trie of numJoere. • The songs are in the malii snappy ^ M run to jaaz, giving the duo a '■ »»ce to strut and show their peoai I luff. The woman makes several oanges of drees, and shows no de- ' T« to lot up for a minute In her I Wrk. .The act was a hit at the 23rd St. ' «■ . Mark, f NDER and KNAPP -1ft Act ^"•1 Stage (Palace) ^d St. Two men In an ordinary lift act. y could s't-rve as the opener for smallest time. The only thing their favor are that they dress " robatic tights and don't try to rise anyone by starting with _ omime. ,^ try at the tricks In the spot in- J**'! of the full light might help. •»'8 is the first act of its kind to f'.'i, .muscular di.splay with the ^*Mncr» on. . Simc. PALACE lool.» I '"^""' ■*'"W' that must have "«ea gooj ag written down an( about played as well. Certainly a capacity downstairs assemblage enjoyed the evfihlng especially the first half. While the lineup failed to invoke a clamorous outburst, still there was enough applaui^ to ^o around. Probably the feature, the four- sheet pamphlet, was the front page ! announcement of "Madame Sophie Tucker" due at this house . next week. It's there, on the page, in bold face type and caps, so the ad- vance rumor of Soph having switched her allegiance carries some weight, and the fireworks display may be Imposing when Bayes hears of it on the other side. Soph has probably Invoked a vaudeville epi- demic of titles. Julia Sanderson, currently top- ping, remains plain Julia in the bill- ing, and placed next to closing, pre- ceded by 10 minutes of Frank Crumit, offered a medley of her former hit numbers, following which she wa.s joined by Crumit for a couple of light lyrics that took the pair away riding the crest. Miss Sanderson appeared delect- able from the back of the house, wa,s at perfect ease throughout, and nothing was forthcoming to upset that morale. Assisted.by a pianist, Kddie Weber, both Crumit and Miss Sander.«on sponsored for a delightful Interlude that assures them for vaudeville at their will and, com- bined, were on and off in 25 minutes, three less than Harry J. Conley con- sumed in opening the second half. Conley, now accompanied-by Har- riet Towncs (formerly with Tom P.Ttrlcola) can presumably take his time with the hick mannerisms ip the lesser houses, but In this the- atre, and at least on.this bill, where the running order w.'is pursuing an even pace, the length of the vehicle proved an impediment to the act and the show. Miss Townes does nicely as .a foil for Conley's rube characterization, and the routine has been arranged to give her an opportunity for a ."short dancing in- sertion, so that it isn't n too awk- ward break in the sequence. Elizabeth Brown and Sedano, fol- lowing closely their forriner routine, closed the opening portion. The car- rying of a string quintet is a decided asset. Besides playing for the. danc- ing of the couple, they solo twice to effect. Three numbers, a waltz, tango and an undressed adagio con- ception rounded out the sequence, with Miss Brown assuming a stock- ingless mode throughout. Prettily dressed and staged, the act is well able to fulfill a major house obliga- tion, although tho actual terpsieho- rean efforts of the duo would seem to reveal a certain sense of confi- dence as much as anything else. A glaring fault of Miss Brown Is a dis- position to continuously "point her heel," which disrupts an otherwise smooth and normal performance. The stringed jristrumentftllsts are refreshing during this era of dance orchestras and, besides. Is a neat piece of headwork by someone, for it in no way pretends to fulfill the Bame purpose of the average vaude- ville dance band and there Is no question of the advantage of this combination over the miniature orchestras sonie of the dancing acts are using and which are, proverb- ially, smothered by a pre-eminence of the brass Instruments. In this rase the orchestra did as well as the dancers. Two dumb acts, spotted one and thr^, were versatile enough and contained sufficient ability to over- come that obstacle, listing the Ki- kutas Japs as opening with Powers Elephants the latter episode. The rlsley of the former act was the principal momentum for carry- ing the octet up and over for two bows before the , drop, while , the four mammals .look to be as well schooled a quartet as vaudeville has ever held. The teaching of one of the animals to do the step with a tambourine that anyone who has ever been Inside a theatre knows, appears, to be a masterpiece of training and was good for a solid laugh and applause. Routining within 13 minutes, the act easily up- held the' spot, and Race Powers, working with the pachyderms, surely deserves that one bend he takes alone. Tho act of Will and qiadys Ahearn remain^ unqhafiged with the big bid continuing to be the under- slung stepping of the boy. The rop- ing and talk sponsored for a few titters and the girl, apparently with new costumes, offered passive fare. Tlie boys looks to be actually doing steps that would make a majority of dancers turn up their toes with- out even trying.,but the abruptness with which he goes Into them and the seriousness of his faeial expres- sion make It an unsalesmanlike proposition. To do some of those steps and smile \vhile doing 'em may be beyond the realm of possibility but at that it's worth a try, for as currently presented lt,is too cut and dried for an audience to dige.«t. and the effort Is worth more than it secures. Johnny Burke, fourtli. was on the receiving end of a rerepUun and met the cxneotations with his mono- log. Burke has inserted a minor number of new quotations and bit.s of business, but has al.eo eliminated a like niimb'er of the former cer- tainties to about even the total. p;ithor way it was five minute.<i short of » half hour before he got away, and the enjoyment was consistent and plentiful during that time. Bkig. RIVERSIDE Typical warm weather entertain- ment here this we«k, with comedy and song predominating and lack- ing only a permanent girl ensemble such as the Allen Foster Hippo- drome girl to convert It Into a typ- ical summer revue. One-third house Monday itlglit, undoubtedly due to the exodus of the neighborhood patrons to mountains. All Standards and no newcomers In the eight-act brace, with Johnny Burke doubling from the Palace to bridge the gap left vacant by Dooley and Morton, reported due to the Ill- ness of one Of the team. Dezso Retter, comic tumbler, opened with a nifty line of tum- bling, satirical posing and winding up with his famous shadow wres- tling, with all three angles scoring heavily. Helene Heller and George Riley deuced It neatly with a song reper- toire enhanced by plenty of per- sonality and click delivery. The couple never worked better than at this performance, selling their num- bers in typical musical comedy briefly ployed scene sufficed to send him off to applause. Miss Gould followed, and her old routine, new to the Sta^e, however, was wefcome. Especially good was a slightly naughty but clever song at the ooT.clUBlon. which sent her off, a'ter a full 25 minutes, to a solidly 'appreciative hand. She sails next week for Australia. Baraban and Grohs. followed and had the tough luck. "Wanderer of the 'Wastieland" was the film. Business 'was ^ood all 6ver the house. Biak. AMERICAN ROOF As a jhlubin summer bill on th» American Roof the first half, J. H. got together a rather good one. and the half house liked It. It's the same old roof in the sum- mer, with the breeze blowing from the south and the real roof garden for the soft drink parties to the north side. On a warm night the American Hoof should be packed, but since you can own an auto by giving a reference the chances are that the 8th to. 10th avenue crowd were style, harmonizing well and topping showing Riverside drive what real them off with a nifty production dance. Eddie Nelson proved a comedy ace In the follow-up, supported by a man and girl and crowding a wealth of nifty nonsense of the low comedy school Into his 15 minutes of run- ning time. Nelson held and.made them like everything he handed them. Juliette Dlka, who has now tacked a. "Mile."' to her billing, was wel- comed back and scored heavily. Miss Dlka .is doing a song routine such as she has previously done except for her having brought It up to the minute with new numbers. Her repertoire Includes a French song, a pop ballad, comedy number and for a finish she gives an impres- sion of the late Sarah liernhafdt singing "The Soldier's Dream." The latter gave her ample scope to dis- play the dramatic qualities of her voice as well as rare histrionic ability. ' Wellington Cross and Co. closed the first half with the tabloid ver- sion of Edgar Selwyn's "Anything Might Happen." which getp over despite the frothiness of dialog, suf- fering undoubtedly in the effort to crowd four scenes into its brief run- ning time. At its conclusion Cross remained en for some delectable clowning with Eddie Nelson, which wowed the,! and held them on for at least an additional 15 minutes. Cross topped the buffoonery off with a couple of song numbers accom- panied on the. "uke" by Nelson. The boys could have been going yet as far as the audien'ee was concerhed, which seemingly could not get enough of their nonsense. George MacFarlania arid Co., on after Intermission, also scored one of tl^e hits of the bill. MacFar- lane's singing was especially well received and the dressing provided by the dancing girl not only proved an eye feast but also lent a produc- tion slant to at least three of the numbers. Burke, next to closing, clicked as usual. Mack a id La Rue closed with their roller skating, featuring a .swivel neck twist that's a thriller. STATE The big Ja^igh at the Slate Mon- day night came when Baraban (Grohs and Co.') lofet his pants dur- ing an Indian stepping sciene. It was his second dance number with Miss Grohs, and as he was hopping on the left of the stage the trousers began to slide and got mixed up in his feet. For nearly a minute Bara- ban danced this wfay until the fly- man came to his rescue and dropped the curtain, thus throwing tl>e bill right into the picture hsow. • The audience howled. The U8t)ers doubled up, ftnd apporently .every- one enjoyed theinselves at the ex- pense of the turn. Which had done well up to the time of the mishap. The Five Pentleys opened the bill with their great trampoline turn, and in first place it tied with Rita Gould for the hit of the bill. If such an act carried encores, the Petleys could have used quite a few. Their routine was used, with the comedy bits scoring effectively. The Shuffle Along Four, a negro male quartet, were on second to good results, their barber shop iiar- moiiy getting returns. A song en- trance to the "Aida" grand march set them oft nicely, and a second number with vocal imitations of bells, whistles and banjos put the turn in right for a continuation of more or less familiar quartet songs. Klass and. Brilliant followed with (heir good comedy and music turn. This act stafids about as usual andl held up third .<rtrbngly. The most appIauRO was gotten with (he comic'si .ittempts to sing and the bnlconyj plant's warning to stick to the in- strumenfnl music. Arthur Ashley and Co., fourth, and hilled with Miss Gould, head'll.iing, didn't cot going until the short VM-- sion of "The Man Who Ctime B.'irk" was played Aphley's entry was preceded by an introductory picture reel, and with his ^ppqarancc, ,he[ went into .a seven-minute dry mon- olog. With th(« taWoldfd "Man Who ('am* B.ack" announced by hiB Tinrt- ner, Helen Clement, the center cur tain went up on a stage In "two. cars look like. Still the same flapper crowd from 9th avenue with their heavy escorts laughed at the show. Its high light was "Music Land," .1 seven-piece girl band or orcliestra and very good for the summer. Why the big time should dodge an all- glrl musical outfit that can play jazz and sing runs beyond hot weather rtomprehension. These girls look good, with a couple of excep- tional ployers. and the combination needs but little coaching to send it along as a nowadays novelty amidst all of these male bandsmen whose only, trouble In summer appears to be how to dress. The girls dress nicely and neatly, each with a dif- ferent fetyle Of gown, getting away from the uniform scheme. Can easily play over the Loew Circuit and repeat with a different re»^ and keep . on repeating while the band bug is around. No. 2 landed the hit of the bill, Tony Connetas and Co. doing a wop act with nothing in it but small time, but the kind of small time this Roof bunch wanted.' Its best bit was a sort of Chlrry Bee Hlnky Dee song, the kind that put liou Holtz in the $700 class, and the Roofers couldn't get enough of It. Lively for the No. 2 spot and should do as Well in repular reason In the same position'. With a little change and speed in the early section no reason why.'this turn shouldn't, be next to closing for Marcus. Rather a bright girl in the Tall- man and Renard act (names and titles, not guaranteed through litzl- nesS). She carried the two-act, do- ing a'kldlet (<nd running the hit turn closely for the honors. For the sketch and with all of the windows open were Raymond Barr rett and Cq. in an old neighboring flats skits done for ever so long but never long nor often enough to keep the small timers from believing It's funny. Ahother one Of'those Jolo c;ood fOF'the small time. Wood and something, two men, were next to closing, and Herbert .an<l Bolt closed the show. Ferguson and SmUh opened it. Either jhlubin is getting more lib- eral with the heat or the acts are getting better, or maybe it was just a break. flimf. peclally well dona. Th« main 8pe«d to this turn of Russian entertainers was Injected by Adeline Seaman, who was carded as "the human tap." If some of the Broadway musical shows don't separate this girl from thi^ turn It will not be the fault ot the scouts of the producers. She sure spins. Special mention goes to Verii Strelska and her toe w<irk and Lydia Hadoweka for her vocal efforts; ■ • No announcement was made as to the absence of the "try-outs" which were announced as a special feature on the advance sHden. Murk. 23RD ST. If appli^u'se is any '(Criterion that show at the 23d Street Monday night was A corker. Under New Acts appear Foxworth and Frances and Shannon and Iteming. The feature film was "Maytime." Tl^e show started ^ylth a Remick song plugger offering two Illus- trated numbers, "There's 'yes, 'Ves in TTour Eyes" and "It Had to Be You." The projectionists got the second number's slides under way too late to do any good, but the singer kept on until the second chorus was flashed. Foxworth and Frances, colored, have plenty of pep, never stall a mo- ment and wound up to a substantial applause score. The man is a hard- working softshoe stepper. Fean and Tennyson are operatic singers In action, have? gone in for a bit of novelty on their radio open- ing and (heir voices pleased the downtown crowd. After came Eddie Nelson In black- fc^ce. It wasn't the burnt cork and it wasn't tte monolog that Eddie has that piit him over for an unqualified hit: It Was Kddle'H voice. Nelson whizzed oVer "On the Road to Man- dalay." handed 'em "Old I-Vimlllar r'aces" for good measure and Ho.'^ed with a hang. Frank Ellis and Marie Wal«h had a tough snot following the Ne:«on .clean-up, but their .snappy cro-s.-ifire and Kills' produ-tlon numlier, "OurK Is a Nice House Ours Is," added ty th(?hlt they BCOr<>d. Atop this*, how- ever, the acrohATIc dftnclng ofMl.ss Walsh was sur»4flre. EIIIh nppears wore certain. ,of his delivery artfl f^ljows, improvemciU over nlhcr y.ears. T}w(t, one nu.piber 0(f hia jit- one of the best heard In years.. The N.iKooncy Rcviie HupsO or 'Ru.'iklnry Dartre Reviie closed''with the work of rtevt-ral niemMers hold- In^ th« art above par. Two num- bers, the China Clock and the Music Box, slowed up the act Immeasur- 8l8t ST. The management nailed " ''Variety' Week" for a monicker for this week's hot weather bill at the 81st St. It was as good a name as any, but they could have called it " Times Square Dally' Week," and it would have meant the same thing, or even " 'Clipper' Week." The six acts ran to variety and built up nicely ihto quite an enter- talnirient. Added to PatMe News. •Which opened. Topics of the Dayf a prologue, and the feature picture, "The Man Who J^ghts Alone," which closed the bill, it made conaiderabis show. The hits were Ruth Budd, No. 4, Atrhur West and Co., following, and Marion 'Vadie and Ota Gygl an(t their' ballet, next. Miss Budd ex- hibits considerable versatility before revealing her real specialty on the flying rings and rope, singing, danc- ing and playing saxophone and mandolin. Her aerial feats remaia the strength of the act, however, and compare favorably with any. West has a thoroughly entertain- ing offering and Is a corking Show- mori. He is assisted by Lucille Har- man and an unprogramed assist' aht, who does a "nance plant" from a bo-z, then ascends the stage for ^ piano solo, and later a comedy ad- dress as a "dame." .This youngster certainly deserves billing. ' Miss Harmon is most restful on the optics and has a pair of "gams" that ars In the Tanguay class.' She pianos and pulls a jazz dance that clicks loudly, partlculorly with the males. Her.blonde straight bobbed hair will take the perm out of permanent. West eipgs two copjedy songs, does a "dame, and crossfires In between tlme^ They liked them muchly here. Vadie and Oygl closed, the turn remaining the 8an>« as last season and good for a repeat around the. big time. It Is one of vaudeville's most artistic, musical and daricing. crea- tions. Gygi's. tw<) violin solos, one a Krelsler arrangement of "Pals Moon," were good f<jr lri<lVidual tt<!t stopping. The solo toe work anfl artistic dancing of Miss 'Vadie arxl the excellent and graceful baUet of the six who surround-her, qompletfl a most delightful turo^., Tho Du Ponts, a ma^i and wotrian juprgling a<it, opene(), artd Two R<)- zellos (New Acts) were Little CaslnO. HayneS and Beck, third, had qnttei a battle with their orossftre and didn't thaw them out until they be- gan pulling knockabout comedy and rough stuff. Tho glr) Is a nuttesa but gives It so fast it's a gamble, with long lulls betweeri laughs. The male Is a corking straight with a good singing voice. It's a question of material here.' Business was unusually good, the lower floor being about three-quar- ters full, with the rest of the house about the same. Con. set with a table and chairs. This ably, both artistic and the latter es- KEITH'S, BOSTON ; Boston, Aug. S. One of those hot weather bills that should have been bOoked for zero weather. Neal O'Harai tho humorist, being featured by tho New York "World" and tho Boston "Traveler" (New ActsX, announced that the stage manager was stand- ing in the .wings holding a barome- ter to prove his suspicion that the shot/ was all wet. "The enthuslarm that greeted his nifty was so hearty it must have filtered down to the dressing rooms. Dave Kramer (Kramer and Boyle) coming on after O'Hara, said with no sugar in his tone to one of the boys in the pit: "Why don't you put on an act now that O'Hara has been given a booking?" Jack Norworth was hopelessly spotted next to closing by having to follow Mme. Bcrnice De Pas- quail, i)rim;i donna of the Metro- politan Opera Company. Norworth had little that was new and wound up an Indifferent bill apathetically, acting as though he knew he was licked going In. Mme. De Pasquall, for a heavy operatic routine, proved to be a surprising draw and won the hand of the nlnht on her entrance. She pulled some real money Into tho house and a lot of faces that were strange to Keith's but familiar to the pop houses and the second bal- cony at the Opera House. She played with a grand piano set for an accompanist, but with no ac- companist, a touch that detracted from her performance more than she probably realized, , Kialto aitd I..a Mont opened with a dumb juggling and novelty act that w.'is woro^me for itn originality. They caught the house from th« st.art. woke It up from its «*inmer slumber nnd closed to a good h.-ind. The butler pantomimist, playing an <Continued on pnge 51) .