Variety (October 1924)

Wedne«d«y> October 1^.1924 vf ^VAbnDCiVlULE' il£ VlIi^WS ■7T?tv?-v"Tt»w«r. PV^mUfWI'MM if*' 39 VERNON - OWEN ORCHESTRA (10) K«ith'» Hlppodrom*. Perhap* the tUtt* for the act wUl W tell the »tory. The Vernon-Owen I «rche«tra may be 'The Pride of the & Middle Wert." •» the program telle ?: '^ but It ta net for New York's big j .time vaudeville. «;. No reason other than the muel- 4, ^lane go In heavUy on the-braaees 1/ and havent th* modem vaudeville B Jdea. For one number the leader % ftopa leading a»d struma a banjo. ff- Borne of the boys can play strings I as they 41d afterward In the Nina I; Fayne turn. f' ' Here were act-numbers: '^ana- h- 'mana," "Doodle-doo-doo," "Sleep In I ithe Deep." "The Roaary" and "West ►: ^olnt Review" (nuirch) for encore. % In the "Doodle" bit the boys sang S a chorus through small megaphones. In the "Rosary", number, a back 'scene was revealed with a slet*r be- fore chapel's, doors. Another scene was In the "Sleep" song, and for the jencore march, tt^K Hip girl* came on as West Po|nter8. ' Also prQgram-termed "Ohio's Own," there (sn't the least doubt but they are that In Ohio and should be content with Ohio and vicinity, but not Including Chicago. It's a possibility that Ohio ruined this band tor Broadway by think- ing so much of them the band be- came satisfied. That eould be and could have been too If ao many other bands had hot hit the Hip and other big time bouses flrst. As the act closed the applause, iiever nolay, simmered down quickly, iind but on^ entore was taken, the one prepared. Nice appearing group of young fellows and holding ransiciana, but without (^set or novelty. Sime, k JOYCE LANDO and BOYS (8) Dancing, Singing and Piano 14 Mins.; Fall Stage (Special) Fffth Ave. Joyce t«ndo and Boys differ from the conventional dancing act of its type only in one important respect; there is a taale singer in addition to Miss Lando's dancing partner and the accompanist at the piano. Whether this addition Is to be scored as a profit or loss is a problem. The vocalist's voloe la strained and far from meloaious, and tlyise minutes in which he is performing are the dull ones in an otherwise bright enough turn. Mlsa Lando is up tj scratch at dancing and her floor etuS on her toes during a solo specialty is the big moment. The male dancer scores, tOQ, in a speedy solo, and as the partner of Miss Lando in waltz acrobatic and Jasa stepping. The headlong dives taken by the girl into his arms at break-neck speed appear to be basardous. The pianist has an adequate solo, handicapped, however, by a lighting eflTectf which illuminated only the keyboard and left the rest of the stage in total dai-knesa. Here the absence of l^ht provd InefCective but at th« tlnish a radium number by all four 'in the dark gave the turn a neat send-off. The costuming Is adequate but' the set hardly that in view of the many beautiful drapes and cur- tains seen now in all sorts of full stage dancing acts. The turn closed the bill here~to fair results and can repeat at any inteVmediate house. But the Important spots and tha big theatres are as yet out of reach. (28) K h PAN FITCH'S MINSTRELS k Two-Part Minstrals f- M Mina.; Full Stage (Special Sats - 2) ■1 Royal V Fitch's Minstrels are something ti hew IB vaudeville. The troupe W pi»y a regblar vaudeville house I taking the place of the usual bill y^ and give a performance running i^ one hour and a quarter.« At the 1;' Royal two other acts were added. |> breaking up the Fitch specialties I but the Fitch iMrsonnel accounted f. for flvit acta on the program. Tlia aet opens as a minstrel flrst ^art, IS of the men In minstral termatton with four ends uaSar cork. Seven'are musiclana. Tba solo alnglng and gags of the ends get over with Fitch pulling an in- <llvidual applause- hit with an ec- centria danca A girl stdps things cold when she sings a pap number and later duplicates and unwlga. Her short cut hair makes it appeaa k. she la a female impersonator. This W portion qf the Fitch turn runs- S( minutes and was spotted third. Two dancers in white face, Reilly- and Lewis, also from the Fitch cast. Were the No. '1 aot. Number Ave on the bill was the Florida Ramblers, the Fitch }axs band in tuxedos running through a conventional routine of pop ntim- bers. The girl did her nnwigglng In this poftlon for a wow of a sur- prise. The Ramblers rambled for 1< minutes, closing tTie flrst half. The Fqur Aoea of Harmony, a Fitch, quartet, also did ^ singing specialty in this portiofi, landing neatly with fair close harmony. "Mandy's Syncopated Reception," the minstrel second part, closed the show. The second part gave all pf the Fitch Iwofers an opportunity to step solos and ensembles, the routine Incjyding buck and wing, essenoeb 'tecehtric, acrobatic and with a whirlwind dancing finish. AH were under cork, the special set fhowinc; a southern plantation set With an "effect," a Missippi river jtteamboat going down stream with ip°.practical cabin the stage prop. ' The Fitch turn was broken up and sandwiched In among act^ on the bill at the Royal, but the specialties were strong enough to stand up and compared favorably with the average intermediate vaudeville turns. As an ensemble the Fitch entertainment rates high. The act gives a regrular minstrel street parade and ballyhoo before the matinee and is touted as being a strong draw In the vaudeville .houses in which it has appeared for Keith's. At the Royal on a Jewish holiday night their wasn't a vacant seat. ■. It, is a corking bet for once nround the intermediate vaudeville houses _^^where it replaces the regular bill. Con. JACOB ^EN-AMI and Co. (S) '^amsan and Delilah* (Dramatic) 23 Mins.t Full Stags Royal "Samson and Delilah" was pro- duced about four years ago by Arthur Hopkins and was a success- ful legitimate vehicle for Jacob Ben- Ami. Ben-Ami has condensed the second act for vaudeville, the adap- tation credited to Robert T. Haines. Suen-Lange and Grossman wrote the plajr. Ben-Ami for vaudeville is decid- I ediy in. He has a sterling vehicle' and a roTe which gives him ainple opportunity for emotional pyro- technique and in addition he will be a strong draw in most of the houses of the metropolis. He is csHi^bly supported by a-cast of five, all un|»rogramed. Delilah is a splendid opposite and the other worthy of mention, although Ben- Ami is at all times dominant Tha story parallels the legitimate version in construction and ooncems the play of a' young author iBen- Aml) "Samson and Delilah." The author's Wife is rehearsing as De- lilah. She is secretly in love with the indifferent actor ckst for "Sam- son." The author suspects the com- plications and to prove his suspicions directs the rehearsal. Becoming dis- gusted with the interpretation of his "Samson," he takes the role temporarily. As he kneels at Delilah's feet on a dais she pours out her love. £<0Ok- ing up suddenly he sees she is read- ing the lines of fire and fervor to the actor who is standing close by. In- furiated the author attackr him but is prevented from doing any phys- ical damage by the others. The act concludes with the author exiting heart-brokenly after allud- ing to suicide as the only balm for bis tortured soul. . The playlet ends a bit abniptly. leaving the audience wondering whether the playwright will really take his own life and if so, why he' is allowed to leave unattended by the director Who had previously pro- fessed undying friendship for him? (^Tie sketch was thoroughly en- ^yed at this house and should prove a v.'elcome and olatisy addition to the best of the bills. Ben-Ami and 1v.1b excellent company can remain In vaudeville Just as lonpr as they care to on the nhowlng at this house. Con. PALACE The Palace ahow this week Is toned so high it almost chokes Itself. An Instance of a good comedy act getting a great break was the Hickey Brothers; who rocked 'em plenty. At that the show-stopping episode came early, Karavaefl and Co. (New Acts), who flounced forth No. S. Nothing equaled that presentatlon'a reception either before or after. And if there is any doubt that the leai!lng house of the Keith Circuit is not becoming a Park avenue prop- osition, witness the patrons strolling downUhe aisles in evening clothes at nine o'clock. It's juSt as annoying in a vaudeville theatre as within legit confines. Possibly the names on the outside billing drew the displays of white shirt fronts and sumptuous evening gowns, but it is undoubtedly true that the avalanche of "class" on the stage went overboard In aligning Itself as strictly good vaudeville. Arnold Daly and Justine Johnstone, Belle gtory and Eric Zardo. Cecil Cunningham, and violin soloing in the Kar^vaeff act gave the evening a benefit atmosphere that needed a strong hoke wallop to pull It out. The Hickey Brothers came the nearest to it and benefited thereby, and the Jewish holidayj had a de- cided effect upon the box office, for the theatre was Jammed. Evidently the matin<^ had its dis- crepancies, as the evening running order, according to procram listing, routined similar to a premiere of one of the major rev^ies. Miss Story and Eric Zardo went from No. 5 to open- band, listed as Uklng up the continu- ity after the Interim, followed the soprano; Cecil Cunningham was pushed ahead from next to closing ito fifth, and the Hickey duo moved ba» a step. The Hip's former prima donna, Miss Story, and her accompanist ran away with the applause In the second half, the only act to threaten the dancing turn's supremacy In that respect. Miss Story sang four num- bers, with two changes of costumes, supplemented by as many piano se- lections from her partner. Individu- ally and collectively the items clicked to the point of necessitating a bow following the blackout Mr. Daly and Miss Johnstone did 26 minutes In their Shaw vehicle to a restless audience.' The Shaw name may have frightened those present, but, whatever it was, the patrons didn't evidence particular interest, and the performancea of the couple were inadequate to square the aUl' tude of the saUrical writing. Mlsa Johnstone's cold personality and something of an utter disdain In ac- knowledging such applause as was forthcoming failed to help the sit\m- tiOQ. Here is one girl that will never acquire the twice-daily habit of bending" upon the least provocation. Ray Miller and bis 14 places tors through five selections that bumsd up everything the acoustics oould reach and unquestionably ranked itself as the hottest of the musical KEITH'S HIPPODROME Enough newness on this week's Hip program to lead up to the thought that the Hip la being nursed at the expense of the Palace. Five new acts, with four of them foreign and any suitable for aa good a dis- play at the Palace, seemed to give the Hip the way the best of it On top of that was the A. C. Pageant, that bunk beauty stuff, w»>ere the girls parade in bathing suits and, after looking them over, you wonder if they were selected as champ beauts |>ecause of their faces or their suitst However, the Pageant, closing the first half, made a big stage picture that would tell Al Reeves almost at a glance why he was let out of the Columbia burlesque wheel. But in the days when your old pal Al was ■lipping beauts over in tights they didn't call them bathing gowns, and Al never saw a stage as big as the Hippodrome's. Still, when the Hip is through with this collection there's many a burlesque show that can use them if the amateur champs are not charging too much to show what they won with. Otherwise it's Just a gag and worth a laugh,-but a flaah at that. Three of the imported new acts were of the flock gathered by Harry Mundorf on his last round-the-world tour. These three were in the last half. The other two lyew turns played in the flrst section. The flrst was the Vernon-Owen Orchestra frpm Ohio, which didn't do so well, even with the assistance of the Hip girls. Those girls were busy Monday night, but late in starting. They seemed to get on Al Hemtan's nerve. Herman was next to closing, and showed his nerve plainly. While opening, he looked over to the left of the orchestra, saying: "Are you leav- ing. Judge? It's ail right, though; the girls won't be out again." Whether a phoney or no, it didn't sound nice and because the Hip Isn't the Broadway. Vera Lavrova was next to closing the flrst part. She's a soprano, and has been receiving a little booming through the Keith's press department as a baroness. The singer can stand the booming. She was In a Broad- way musical last season. A viaudeville attraction Is P. T. Selbit the illusionist from London, but be was unfortunate in selecting his flrst big trick. "Thru the Bye of a Needle," It may have been through two other tricks he has (or slMwing OJTW here delayad In arriving. The "Needle" trlok, however, runs with a hak. and the halt is fatal to it An importation closing the ahow waa -Colleano, wire walker, and a bear at it For that turn Al Her- man really did soniething. In his encore Al mentioned the closing act, suggesting the audience remain solid until Colleano's flnr'. trick and they would be Rewarded. They were, and again less people walked out on the wire walker than they did on Al. so who will -Al faave for the rest bf tbi week to si>eak for him? The other new act was Nina Payne, dancer, an American, booked from abroad. The Payne act re- :ceived a production setting. In fact, the Hip stage showed up prettily throughout, either with stage* num- STATE A five-act bill this week instead of the usual six, with the length bf "The Covered Wagon" (Aim feature) responsible. Monday, a Jewish hol- iday, the house was Jammed to worse than capacity most of the day. and both night shows went solid, which meant considerable in money, considering the advanced scale and the steady sale. From the reception which the "Wagon" picture received It was new to most of the audience. Lola Brava and Co., a Spanish singing and danring turn, which formerly worked around under the name Brava, Michelena and Turl- Jlllio, opened nicely, with the danc- ing of the man and woman counting for 90 percent of the turn's success —the songs going for little. The vocal numbers were apparently Spanish folk songs, unfamiliar to a degree, and sung hardly loud enough to make those in the back rows un- derstand. Wilson and Strain, a colored man and woman act, twiced and scored. With the woman a high yaller and. the man blacked to several dippings better than natural, their songs and talk dialog fitted and clicked. The woman's song was of the "right man" order and the man's dialog indicative of the fact that he wasn't the "right man." Hence the com- edy. The Versatile Sextet, augmented for this engagement, on third, stopped the show so cold the house was frozen for the first tew min- utes of Billy Dale's age-old turn of the ambitious roue in Paree. The Dale turn is the same as usual, with some of the lines decidedly unfunny and others good for a yell. Steele and Winslow, standard skating team, offered a partially new turn on closing that was. with the Versatile Sextet the hit of the show, and placed In any other spot could have tied up matters indefi- nitely. By all odds the best oomedy skating act shown around New York in many months and with lU present elaborate setting should b« good for the big tlma BUI, combinations that has ever played. '»«r? oy the Allan Foster girls or Mr. and Mrs. Dave Flnestone at their home in Bogota, N. J.. Sept. 15, daughter (second). The father Is manager of the Riti theatre and "Ritz Revue," New York. "MAMMY'S FOUR" Songs 12 Mine.; One 68th 8t. • Colored persons, two men and two women, relying upon harmony. One wonfcn sings a topical ballad. The four work with animation and close with a number which has them dancing in unison. There Is one fllns at comedy, one of the women stopping the song when someone Is off key. A good vocal aggregation as It stands, with better results when It has worked longer. Several times one of the voices seemed' out of melody all!?nment which de-, feet can be quickly remedlefl. A hit here. UarU. this house. Danny Yates, vlbUnlst drew a reception when out front to •olo for a waits and fulflllsd the implication. Other members pre- dominating In the orchestrations list Miff Moe. trombopist; Ruby Bloom, at one of the pianos, and the saxo- phonist forn^rly with Bestor In Chicago. Three Ice daflers. Tbs arrangements arelntrlcate througfar out with the tricK stops and breaks being GouiUIess, while one sslsction in particular brought forth some triple tonguing In unison by the reed seetion that was miraculous. One number listened as being of doubtful merit in so extenslvs a rebertoire, and Miller might over cofaie the habit of holding np one finger to the audlance In qnestlon- Ing for another rendition, (or that bit has long baen oopyrigbtad br Ed Oallaghar. Forced into a speech at tba mati- nee. Miller included mention of Ms opening at the Arcadia hallroosii this week, but the "plug" was ruled out at nfght, when the leader said a few words In appreciation. Six num- bers in 19 minutes comprised the band's performance to a cause and effect conclusion thaC should make a holdover date more than logical. Tom Davies Trio opened, trailed by Lucille and Cockle, who had difficulty in maklnr the birds audi- ble, due to entrancing patrons. On a bill of long acts Mclntyre and Heath topped the list with 83 minutes of their "Georgia Min- strels." The veteran couple were materially aided by an acquiescent attitude that carried th«m through to a satisfactory cllma... ^ This is their 49th season as i.artners. Miss Cunningham, looking as good as ever, delivered five interpreta- tions to reeponslve manifestations following the blackface couple. The Hickey Family members were on velvet all the way, finding nothing but pie alone the route. The prop, mlnd-readlng Insertion hit the top spot, while the remainder of the material was assuredly appropriate Kor. the occasion. It's doubtful if this type of act has ever found a more Ideal pqsitlon. The Ambler Brothers, top mounter perfnrmlng on a ladde? resting upon a foot balanc'i, closed. Bk(o. with attractive settings. No doubt the Monday night audience expected something like it, as they had been charged the holiday scale, $2.20 top. It was a holiday, mostly for those of the Jewish faith who like to duck their Joba on the excuse and sec shows Instead. Clark and McCullough were the laugh sUb of tbs flrst part They did "The Politicians" in "one" and "The Bath Between" in full stage, both from the "Muaio Box Ravua," with the bedroom skit from their former burlesque sbbw as wall. The stage and house were a bit large for the tremendous personality of Bobby Clark to get away over as it usually doea but it got over anough to land the pair, that and Clark's Jumping cigar. Bxchanglng p^gram places with Herman, Bert and Betty Wheeler were aeoond after intermission, do- ing fairly but seemingly not enough to please the Wheelers, who wouldn't return for a bow. and the audience didn't insist Al Herman came on with bta blackface and atrident voice, mak- ing him perfect at the Hip or in Central park. He had hla Jokea, a plant and a colored pick dancer. Al had it cinched three ways, and they liked him or his company—perhaps both. At intermission Julius Lcnzberg at the bead of 20 men in the pit gave a stage act of his own and right in the pit Julfus had to take more bows than the leader of the Vernon-Oweil Band did on the stage. Going back a little and when Mr. Lenzberg was conducting either at the Colonial or Riverside, he was the flrst house leader to take his band upon the stage and do an act. Maybe there are a lot of band lead- ers in stage acts who should be thankful that vaudeville leaders, believing the Jazz band thing but a pasnlng fad, did not take to the stage with a combination. Julius is one ef those. Opening the show were the Jack Uedley Trio in a snow setting and some head balancing. Following were Russell and Pierce, two boys In sack suits (at night) and doing acrobatic dancing with some at- tempted comedy. Their dancing waa far in the lead at the flniah. Bimt. 5THAVE. W. D. Pollard, Juggler, opened to " a house as dead as most of his re- marks Monday night He squeesed a few chuckles. The Three Amauts followed with one of the few bright irterludes. The younger members offer a bright Una of fiddling; while daneing and singing with several novel tricks. Mayo and Devise (New Acts) wars third with a turn about SO-SO be- tween small-tlma and burlasqua.' •The burjesqus tinge was retainad with the following tuna; Maddock's ■'Son Dodger," which has suffered much deterioration In the two years since it was flrst prodoasd. Cast changes (or the worst, wear and tear on oostiunss ard aet and k t*A-' eral let-down by averybody con- cerned' makes the turn. onc« rated a fair enough "flaah" act, a second- rater. Tbers.are atlll a few laughs, but the comedy bita went flat an4. the reat mt the routioa seemed aeedy. The radium aesna Is still' eye-fllling but the affect Is damaged by the unnecessary singing of tba chorus In the dark. liCW Cooper waa flfth with talk and aongs. The blackface comedian suffered from the general depreaalon evident by this time and bat a small percentage of hla gaga brought any- thing. Hia nuntbara were better, but the Fifth Avenue regulara have seen ao suny similar comics of the Jolaoncantorherroanholts category there wasn't much excitement "Ths Folliaa Oiri<" house stock, presented an Oriental number at this point, ordinary in Itself, but dis> tlnguished by a 'remarkatle solo dance >|>y Mlgnon Laird. This was the smash and it Indicated Mia« Laird has her graceful toes firmly planted on the road to bigger things. Cooper and tba oomlo of the lM|.yo- Devine turn then clowned with the gtrla in a ptok-out number, ones again auggssUng 14ib street and productive of meager results. After Chase and I>a Tour had scored neatly If not sensatio&ally with their Paul Oerard aWt Around tt\% Comer," Michelena and Hillebrand, headlinars, bad tha task of holding an audience 4ired by a long and uninteresting bilL The start was slow and Hlllebrand's wise stuff didn't get by aa it does a mile further uptown, but the clever material and Mlaa Michelena'a alng- lng flnally aold them by a aafe mar- gin. Hillebrand pulled a nifty de luxe when he aaid he had never before played below 4be Macy< Qlmbel line. ^ The Lanoff Siatera (New Acta) cloaed to a rapidly emptying house with a dancing turn of genuine merit deaerving a much better fata Edward L. Stanton, of Albany. N. Y.. aecretary to Senator James J. Walker, waa married Sept 20 to Margaret A. Dempsey, of Troy. After a wedding trip into Canada they will take up their residence at 845 Park avenue, Albany. Mr. Stan* ton served In the navy during tha war as an executive oflloer at (Im Hoboken naval station. He Is prominent in Albany pa« Utical circles.