Variety (September 1924)

JOSEPH E. HOWARD'S "TOY •HOP" (IS) Revue 30 Mint.; On« and Full Stag* (Special) Palace Joe Howard's new revue look* the coin reported to have been spent on It. In addition to a beautiful production, Howard ha* secured some corking specialty people,.four of them dancers ,a good Jams band eight), and a buxum singer who does an "Aunt Jemima" in "one" between two full stage sets. The act opens full stage, the set a conception of "Toy Town," with the principals rigid an dolls seated atop toy blocks) Howard entrances as the Toymaker." singing "Toy- land," with revamped lyrics. The dolls come to life, the band plays and the others get on a lyric for an ensemble bit. After Mammy Jinny stopped the proceedings with her singing and dancing specialty in "one," don* under cork, the act gees to another full stag* net. The Mississippi Levee." Specialties consisting of all kinds of dancing are introduced by Janette Gllmore (a marvel), Mammy Jinny, Lew Brown. Edith A Dickie Barstow. Ed and Miriam Root, all dancing to melodies of former Howard songs. The dancing runs from waits clog to acrobatic eccentric, and would put the net over with out any other afct ■Miss Gilmore's stepping I* sensa- tional and -marks this girl as one of the finds of the season. Her Rus- sian and acrobatic opening dance and kicking specialty in the Levee scene were uproariously acclaimed. Howard has a revue novelty which will average with the boat revues of the past three seasons. It Is lavishly costumed and set and looks like a lot of money in pro d uction and salaries from the front The Jazz band la a corking good musical aggregation, .probably identified as The Saxophone Sextet. At the Palace the torn went heavy. Con. MASTERS and GRAYCE Comedy Skit RYAN and LEE Comedy Talk and Dancing 10 Mm».; One Palace Benny Ryan and Harriett Lee. the pioneers of a school of vaude- ville talking acts which afterward developed Laurie and Bronaon and others, are showing a new routine of bright crossfire in their latest turn "One and Won Is To." Harriett Lee as the dumb dora Is the butt of Ryan's "explanations" the turn opening with a comedy wrestling match when Mis* Loo tries to take a book away from Ryan and tosses him around for a minute or two before ahe succeeds. Ryan tries to explain the myster- ies of the book, a "Dictionary." to nor without much success, Her de- sire to look up an animal which she has been called meets with no success until she explains that It is eaten for breakfast. A moment later Ryan discovers her idea of It is Canteloupe, the nearest she can come to Antelope. Another bon mot dumb crack is the girl telling about a man stealing ♦10,000 and "bugs." Much cross examina- tion reveals she read a headline "Where a bank cashier stole $10,- •00 and flee*." Ryan wrote the act. a worthy successor to "Hats and Shoes'* and their other standard talking turn. They held the next to closing spot at the Palace and can duplicate on the best of the bills. Ryan and Lee are one of the most distinctive and original turns in vaudeville. Con. FRED HEIDER and CO. (4) "Up A TraV (Mustesi) " I*** <1 1» Mine.; On* (Special) Fifth Avenue •This skit opens with the man In knickers and sport make up: the girl In an attractive red can* effect over an accordeoa-piaited dress. Tn* map,rides a bicycle, dragging the woman la on a low cart attached. Behind is a comedy drop of a tour- ists' park. ... - Throughout the man plays a love- sic!: boob. Although- both are capa- ble vaudevllttans.'their material Is weak, holding no new gags and plenty of old ones. The gist Is that tho man hasn't the nerve to ten the girl he loves her, but when h* does it is a set-up. They close, arm In arm. with a special set of lyrics set to the tune of "Bicycle Built tor Two." Despite the quality of tho performers, tho turn rates as being suited for noth- ing better than the small time, for i at the Fifth Avenue, before an ap- I plauseful audience (to the other ' acts). It got little better than an even break. What the tarn did get was largely duo to the personality of Masters and Grayce—and accent on the Grayce. fits*. GEORGE LA TOUR Juggler 10 Mine.; On* Lincoln Sq. George La Tour appears to be an Englishman, possessed of a like- able personality and the knack of < potting ever a story as welt-a* neat Juggling. In the Utter h* runs from the simple stuff with a racket and two tennis balls to some clever work with three clubs, concluding With throe cigar boxes. It is while working with the clubs he gets over Irish stories, clever enough and a* wen pet over as to detract from his Juggling, although the latter on a difficult trick well executed caught a round of ap- plause in the midst of a story. WILSON and STRAIN Colored Songs and Talk 14 Mine.; One Man and woman, perhaps from one of the colored revues. 'The male wears comedy evening clothes, the woman a red opera cape. Opening with crossfire anent her attendance at a ball, he secures laughs im- mediately upon apper ranee and alow' .dialect delivery and comedy car- riage of body. "They'll Be No Changes" Is their first comedy doubt*, the girl singing her desire to switch to a modern model lover. He. Interrupt* with comedy remarks about the lover* fate. Shedding the wrap the girl re- turns in red evening gown a single n u m ber, giving it a big league de- Hvery, sung In purest Afro-Ameri- can with the necessary Jazz tech- nique. Some crossfire that followed held one or two released fags and wes the weakest portion of the turn. IS Mine.) Full Ml Riverside On* of the throe or tour "produc- tion" acts annually produced and written' by Harry Charles Greene and Charles M Smith. It Id one of the best not only of their turns, but Of all the similar ones In vaudevtil* and It should be good on the big time for many months. The set representing an orchard tn full bloom with an effect of rippUng water In the background, drew applause wheal the curtate went up. It la simple and yet In extremely good taste a* are the cos- tumes and staging of the turn. Spe- cial lighting arrange-jent* are uti- lized, and the Whole act la artisti- cally presented. Holder, a vaudeville performer of considerable experience, plays the glib salesman comic type with a heavy line for the girls and a com- plete assortment of puna and wise cracks. A smooth, *ssy-working co- median, he has no trouble getting laugh* out of material that la not always as funny as he is. In addi- tion he Is a splendid eccentric dancer, at one point twisting up the act with , a eerie* of phenomenal splits and loose steps. HI* support includes three girls, all peaeherlno*.' and knowing how to sell their pulchritude without re- sorting to the cut-rate*. On* is a comedienne, slightly suggest Ive Of Helen Shlpman at time*, and work- ing capitally with Helder ftt novelty dance* and comic bite. The other two are specialists also, with the love Interest upheld by one of them and Billy Jackson. They sing a couple of duets and snoot the usual cooing line about "asking father," The names of the girls are Lillian Akers, Louise Channlng and Juanlta Wray. The singing is not up to the rest of the work, but satisfactory, as are the special tunes and lyrics pro- vided by the writers. The. act gets W. O. POLLARD Juggler • Minn.! On* At first tho audi—Of thought W. D. Pollard was kidding them. But Pollard waanU kidding. Bow he happened to bo booked Into the Riverside In pUce of Dippy Dl*r% programed but not billed o ut sat*, la something only tho bookers know. A* a Juggler Pollard may be dismissedfrom consideration by saying that"* whether using bans, clubs, billiard cue* or anything else, hs shows nothing new or dif- ficult, even for * parlor p et f or m er. In addition he has talk and gage that he should have copyrighted as the champ collection of hud pun* and unwise cracks. . Pollard, large Of stature, and affecting a sloppy material he might get by on the vocal side. He apparently realised be was flopping classically and mad* sev- eral side remark*, la effect, "It's hard to keep an audience spell- bound," "It's a good thing I'm not flopping," "They usually put me. on before the theatre open*," "What a nice quiet bouse." and other similar observations. Monday night Pollard took no bows at all." But there la some- thing about him one cannot help liking and he apparently bed the audience's toleration If nothing HE8TER BAILEY and CO. (4) Song and Oanca Revue 14 Mine.; Full Seeps (Special) Lincoln 8q. Something different for the small time. It Is a classical dancing act with a modern, touch. Two girls Iand two boys In addition to Hes- ter Bailey, billed. The boys indi- vidually contribute as much to the ED and MAE DAY'S Talk and Songs 19 Mine.; On* This team looks like a winner for the mediums. The .man, doing straight, has appearance, and the girl handles comedy well a* a hick dumbdora. The flirtation opener Is worked up for a bagful of laughs through the girl's clever comedy. A duet half way down an* another for closer balance nicely. LUOILLI and COOKIE Bird Act It tsr Always noted a* an exceptional sbowwomaa. Luotll* la reappearing la tho Mast with hoc birds, prac tlcally a new acL stnee It must be. three or four yean since this novelty turn played around here. Lucille herself ha* not changed, barring a bobbed hair cut and very attractive, too, for her strictly bru- net comllness. She- continues to faultlessly handle the two birds, opening with a radio angle, ask- ing the "talking" feathers what they hear through the ether. It give* the turn A ale* touch at the start and provides an easy lane for the "con- versation." One bird on a perch drew first comic get-up, ha* a very fair sense attention through a laugh-getting- of delivery and wtM any sort of Jtaugh and a crying bit, worked up by a Jealous play. Tho other bird on the arm of ltd mistress seemed indifferent to the fact ft was In an act and now working In "one" until its finishing contribution, the bugle ralmiclng, that was a surety and sent the turn over on the plus aide. Now 2 here Lucille made her showmanship count as well with the net. a well received turn. Hkig. its name from, the finish in which - Although most of the talk and an of the cast'climb a tree In the center of the atage and repeat the theme love duet from the branches as the curtain goes down. At the Riverside the act was ob- viously very new and did not run as smoothly as it will later on with a bit more playing, ~~* gags were reminiscent te the re- viewer the audience ate it up and the couple clicked as one of the two outstanding features of the bill. ' Held them la fifth spot here and should have smooth sailing on any of the intermediates. TWO ORIGINAL POWERS Pureh 7 Mins.; Full Stage Broadway Two men working In white tights, with the top mounter providing the usual trend of acrobatics while atop various contrivance* balanced on the shoulders or head of his part- ner. A tendency to drop to the stage With a resounding thud tails to aid the presentation, and the same might be said of aa inclination to hold the "picture" overly long. Opening the show at the Broad- way the act did nicely and can clars with many ether of Its type. MM* ruptlng for comedy and singing s parodied answer. The idea is car- •ut to the finish, the girl ding him about hi* figure and until he produce* a horse pWtol two-foot razor to explain what happen to her new kind of man when he gets through with him.. The girl enn sing the pop and Jazs songs with any of the dusky maidens and the man la a corking comic. They are a big time com- bination. In tiiis house next to clos- ing they scored the hit of the bin Con. / KEO TAKI and YOKI Songs, Oanoing and Juggling 13 Mins.; On* Vaudeville ha* long been accus- tomed to the Japanese acts with the came old opening, the same eld music and the same eld musical accompaniment to the Juggling rou- tine. Here* la one act from the land of the Nip p o n es e entirely different and not only get* away from the stereoptyped days of the Japanesy singles, doubles and three-ply com- bination*, but dishes up a lot of satisfying present-day varietylsm. A splendid act and with each of the trio doing modernised vaudeville work. .Two men and a woman. At first there Is an aspect of Japanese dress discarded for the greater part to the more conven- tional American attire. The older of the men sings a ballad and pos- sesses n pleasing voice. The woman also sings, and. while her vocal •range la not exceptional, she handles her number* acceptably. One of the beat "bits" Is on the ukulele by the younger man, who also plays the piano. This chap handles the uke better than the original uke strummers from the uke-land The girl does a song and dance -j.t displays skill. The older mi then mounts the piano and Juggles a barrel only long enough to give a dance Impression that lias the other man playing a timely Jazz accompaniment. The girl returns for a "flash'' with abbreviated at- tire ant* to do a little "seconding" with a bonjo" uke. • An emphatic hit. Afarfc. act as Hester does, and that Is what makes it a corking small time turn. Hester is a rather willowy blonde with bobbed tresses who leans to the classical and toe stuff In danc- ing. She has chosen two brunets to work beside her, making a good contrast. An Egyptian number starts the turn after a brief in- troduction by one of the boys. This Is followed*by a modertT'blt of step- ping by the two boys, after which the trio of girls offer a neat rou- tine of" toe stuff With some bends. One of the boys returns with a solo number, getting it across on bis personality rather than voice, after which Hester solos with a dance. That Is about the weakest spot, and because of the dressing In particular doesn't seem to mean anything. If she. could tackle it. this would be the spot for a Jazzy toe number. For the finish the two boys put over a number with the trio of girls doing a cboruL background for them. The dressing is neat and pretty, and the girls all work bard. Fred. 8IX ANDERSON SISTERS Music. 8inging and Dancing 18 Mins.; Full 8tas* (Special) 58th SL A sextet of attractive young women displaying a wide range of versatility and providing a flash that should be sure pop for the pop • time. Opening with an ensemble in- strumental in which they display masterful handling of sespeettve Instruments, the offering later gives way to two of the girls in a neat precision dance, a vocal solo by the pianist, a dance ensemble by all six find a nifty Russian dance by the dancing team to the accompaniment of a musical quar- tet for finish. Grabbed hit honors in opening spot here. * DAVE APOLLON CO. (4) Sedjfis and Dancing if Mins.) Full (Special) Broadway Two mixed duos with Dave Apol- lon leading the way with his play- ing of a piano and a stringed instru- ment, although it Is his dancing which gives the act the final wallop. Two. girls offer Intermediate foot- work, while the second man Is uti- lized as a singer for three brief bite. There are four dancing num- bers, with the Russian Interlude climaxing, by far the bust It is at this point Apolton's fast twirl and low clearance stepping cleans for the night. The art had some trouble in hold- ing them due to a slow tempo In starting. There are episodes that can be eliminated for the better- ment of all concerned. The dressing Is appropriate, with the setting constituting a drape hanging. The applause was ttrong enough to bring the members back before the drop for extra bow*, with the greeting strengthening with the appearance of Apollon BMq. BARTRAM and 8AXTON Harmony Singing and Ballet Danc- ing 8 Mina; Two and PuMstaga (Special) Another picturesque^and enter- taining interlude conceived by this well-known team, which lives up to their excellent reputation here. The act is a Chinese pipe dream called "Bits of Old and New China." Bar- tram and Saxton In black- silk Chinamen suits, seated on a bench In front of a Chinese laundry set piece before the curtain, open the act with a Chinese harmony song after which they start smoking their pipes. A* the light fade* out. the laundry changes Into a goryeoua Chinese temple and the curtain parts, revealing a good loogmg pony ballet of eight girls carrying a litter en which the feature dancer re- clines. The feature dance with chorus seated In a circle around the dancer follows, after which the curtain close* and the set piece is changed back into a Chinese laundry, with Bartraaa and Saxton seated and finishing their smoke. Two feature songs "Shanghai Lullaby" and "I.imebouse Nights" follow with the stagers showing Oft their splendid harmony voices to good advantage. When the chorus of the second song Is reached the curtain parts again revealing the chorus of eight which sings'and dances before a China- tow n drop. The drop for the feature dance Is a brilliant Chinese tree de- sign en a bright blue field. The act te staged by Harry Gourfaln and rUns off with precision getting ex- cellent results. There Is plenty of "atmosphere* 'and the costuming Is exceptionally good. GARY and KIMBALL Songs ^^ 15 Mina; One Although especially featuring the singing department, this mixed team sandwich in enough instrumental to qualify as either a singing or mu- sical act. At present It Is a happy mixture of both. They introductory with a duet, carrying their own ac- companiment on uke*. The girl re- main* for a pop baited solo, with the man accompanying for the re- frain on a violin. Another solo by the girl, a march selection on the uke by the man topped off by some stepping by both rounds out the offering. A good deucer for the small-time bills. I HERBERT and BOLT Acrobatic 8 Mina; Full Stag* Two men tn dapper athletic cos- tuming ef black and gold, disclos- ing a series of hand-to-band acro- batics executed with a deal of show- manship apparent While the rou- tine Is familiar.* the manner In which the feats are displayed lend* a touch of distinctiveness. A demure mis* contributes an ad- denda Hi a physical culture way thnt aids. Herbert and Bolt are certain for • an openlng*spot In the very best of vaudeville layouts. Samuel. THREE ROUNDERS Songs IS Mins.; One Lincoln Sq. Typical cabaret trio presenting n nifty little singing turn certain to (be sure fire with the average small time nudience. The boys make a neat appearance in dinner' coats, opening with a souse number, after which they tackle some close harmony stuff running altogether to current popular ponrs and they put these over to the satisfaction of the audience. There is one slow spot, whore Jibe top tenor solos. This is not because of voice or delivery but through the number. When the boys get to the' "Hed Hot Mommer" staff they stmrt hit- ting ttwir strUlo nnd that was- what the audience wanted. The gaUti-y handed the turn enough to' have them ftop the show. Prod.- NEW ACTS Betty Moore (Martin and Moore), with four people, featuring Norman Ward and Ray Zeller. assisted by George Stallch. Clinton and Rooney with George Marion-'* Orchestra (8). .>ew Cooper, single. Walter Armln and Contour. Bobby O'XeU. .iew edition "The Four Queens." Including .Patsy De- laney. Dolly King, Agnus Purtell and Gladys Hart. Joe PWnilps (formerly with George L.C Malre) and Grace Ellsworth (Harry and Grace Ellsworth), two- act. Miller and Peterson, dancers, have quit the Prank Farnum Revue and will do a new act with Betty Moore. Second edition of 'Stars of the Fu- ture" includes Berta Gilbert. Dcreen Keegan. Florence Bristol. May Lu- bow. Josephine Mastab. Kocita. Paul Burns (Burns and Gran- ville), with Jack Janls, two-act. "Realm of Fantasy," revived, with 11 people. "On the Albany Night Boat." cast of 10. with Billy McCleltan featured.