Variety (October 1924)

Wednesday, October 8, 1984 VAUDEVIULE REVIEWS VARIETY 41 t^Band ••»«• ••"«* .'fVC*^.; >> uMin*.; Full SUg* ThlB comblnaUon fr»aM ap M IM B^ cent amall time. The clz mm ^ toir enouch «a mualoUns. but !am they Udtle tliwlnc and try uTeoiBady. they mn aU ««t. Iht act o»w» Witb « b»le« minute ta -one.- three pt the memhera ot 3i e«mblnaUon mar<;lilns on play-j iS taxophonai, then alone conea M tromboie pl»y*r and th* ban- u|st The ptaaevlnyw ^ dlacloaed ZZn the cnrtaln coe« op and the iMii CO to fnU etace. . One ot the nx pl4yers doublea on the dnuna and laother with the comet. The mu- lU that they render Is Just average, Uthough as long aa they stick to playing, they manage to get by with MpuUir stuff. However, In their second number. "California, Here I QaMC," they break out into song. iiUh rather doleful feoult. ,<iL little later another tong fs tried. 1^ here there are four members of tA« band that go In for comedy, the piano player taking the lead of the nnrnber and the banjolst acting as n seranader. with two of the others i impersonating a colored mammy and , Her daughter. Pretty sad. ' 'The men are all dressed In white users and wear piirpIe-coloDed its, 80 that the dressing is rather illaah, remindful Of the old mln- t«I days; but as an act, this eom- inatlon, as it is at present con- itltuted. cannot hope for- anything ,. tetter than thennall-tlme houses. Fred. PALACE 5TH AVE. & LANDICK . le Impersonator ■ '' •'' •iMins.; One (Speeikl) ■ Street ■' '■ " ' ' ' ■ oThere is no doobt that Olyh lAn-' W( fooled a good many In the audi- ee when he proved to be a female ipcrsonator at this house, in fem- attlre he looks decidedly well. Bs wig. however, leads to suspicion. Is entirely too curly and "flossy" appearance to look real. His confirms the suspicion, al- h to many It will merely seem be unnatural In pitch. Xandick ' Is a good impersonator has an act that is O.K. for the of the small timeJ A few ges and Improvements should to bigger things. The running should be sliced almost In half the material needs revision. At lent he° Is doing Intpfesslons. of gh cabaret girl and a tlre^ com- ng Hoboken housewife, as well .-two special songs giving 6pj>or- ity for comedy bits. His vocal ers are- nil, but he talks the ibers and gets away with them, these impressions contains the Madame Sophie Tucker (New Acts) back In vaudeville after a brief whirl with Earl Carroll's "Van- ities," took the nett to closing spot at the Palace and made it sit up 'and beg for 42 minutes. Sophie elung a new act together on short taotloe,.aDd before she left the stage she had stopped the show with her oWn specialty and Introduced a violinist pH>digy in Milton Splro, a ont« blonde girl singer, Alice Bul- lard, from the Bl Fay cafe, and the 1* Roy Smith Orchestra, from Con- nor's, in the darkest part of Harlem. AH of which meant that Soph is going to open another cabaret and wanted to first get past on the Pal- ace audience with the talent she has In mind. She put the gang hep to this In one of her speeches. Another thing' that Soph did. which deserves brackets, was to sell them a ballad seriously. In fact, the song was IKlven a production and atmQ^phe^e Ahd called for a foil, an unpro-, gramed flapper vamp who's desire to' have Soph step out with a couple iof oil men inspired the lyrical ad- vice. Anyone In the vicinity of 3roadway and 47th street at 11.10 Monday night could have told that Idadame, Sophie had returned to her first jove. ! The bill had been all switched around after the matinee. Little !Bllly came up for air in the deuce spot after the mli-up fcom opening pfter intermission, and Jack tA Vier iwas shoved down number four from deuce. La Vier certainly makes them laugh when he ascends the trapezek but the monolog that pre- cedes his comedy business on the bar leaves much to be desired. The talk aloft Is blended with comedy business, the latter portion getting all the returns. ' Ivan Bankoff and Co. (New Acts) originally carded to close the first half was fifth when another act was lidded to that portion. Bankoff has a "Zulu" in the turn who does a ''native" song and dance. , At the end of the act the "African" jumped down into an aisle and run out back of orchestra, where he was captured by Bankoff, not Bailey. The man- agement vouchsafed the informa- tion that the "lulu" hddn't done anything like that at the matinee. As Madame Sophie Tucker hadn't sung any of her Jazz songs up to then no one could give any explana- tion for the wild man's sudden .yen to do road work. If Bankoff thinks that it's a good "shlll" he Is losing the showmanship for which he al- ways ha.s been credited. That "Zulu" will finish a' similar run at the Regent or the Royal to empty seats. Ben Ami In the second act of "Salnson and Delilah" closed the first half of the bill, moving up from second after intermission. The char- acteHzation ot the young Jewish artist was highly appreolated at this house. It ia a. different sort of sketch for vaudeville and excellently cast. The support of Ernita. La iSalles, E. J. Burkell. Fred Conklin. Byron Lycan aifd IB, J- Brady was above the average. le of the bluer remarks might be litted. U the 68th Street, Landlck 'Was ced to take an encore and make a ech with his wig doffed. He said had first taken up mimicking emen professionally while in the ivy. of fertile Ideaa, but 'want •entatlon. IncIdenUlly, two or I After Intermission Dooley and ^RED BERNARD (t) ^ongs and Piano [1 Mins.; One th Ave. , .. ■ .. Fred Bernard is In blackface and Is his male piano-accompanist, ir. Bernard does the entire act, Excepting the piano playing. As liough to prevent the piano man ralking out on him, Mr. Bernard lings mostly to one spot while jlnging and the spot la near the (iano. Mr. Bernard clings closely to Iml- ations, ivilng Eddie Leonard, Ed- lle Cantor and Al Jolson, creating lo panic with either, and not do- Morton (New Acts) added a touch of youth, class and comedy that was needed. The house was hungry for comedy and ready to take the "ba- bies" 1,0 their bosoms. Martha Mor- ton looks sweeter every time around and Gordon was never funnier than in the new turn. The Test, Chas. B. Maddock s corking Jazz band and revue novelty, hit them between the eyes number three and gave the first half of the bin a much needed kick. The danc- ing of Glen and Rlckards, and the solo kicking dance of the good-look- ing blonde girl, and Richards solo work again stood out. The myste- rious opening had them guessing until the real nature of the act was disclosed. Little Billy did wonders In the early number two spot,' and Stan Kavanagh, the Juggler, made an un- usual impression opening. He had to return for a bend after the lights went out for the next act. Fred Lindsay took the slap clos- ing the show in his Interesting whip and novelty turn after the Tucker pyrotechnics. It Would have re- quired a quarantine to keep them oV Bg nearly so Well when trying to Just Fred Bernai'd singing a poiH'in that hour, but Lindsay held more than three-quarters of what lookeo like an absolute capacity house, at least on the lower fioor. . Con, a'4 ong. No. 2 at the 5th Ave. following po. 1 Monday evening can be used an excuse by Mr. Bernard. The ladience seemed to think there ras something needed that Mr. ernard didn't have in hh single. [Maybe Mr. Bernard needs a girl krtner rather than ^male pianist, Ither with or without cork. Or in font of a glrly act or anything lit will keep him off t)ie small ne other than this turn that is aded right for there. Binte. apl Ic thi lARGARET DALY and Boys (2) pngs and Dances Mins.; One and Three |h Ave. ■Margaret Daly and two boys In Ings and dances with a plush cur- pn, or maybe it was silk, opened bill at the 5th Avenue Monday, ►ward the. end of the turn it de- Jloped Miss Daly is really a toie Incer, but It never did come out ^at either of the boys might be Bt at. One boy tried being an Indian and making "lagoon" In four syl- lables rhyme with "moon" In two. It was a brave attempt even If It can't be done. And hfe wasn't such a good Indian either, something the gallery audibly agreed upon. But he had a nice white suit with moc- castned trousers and Miss Daly came out In Indian costume too. There were other items such as a trio number at the start that sug- gested all three may have been in a musical production that didn't go out, or If not, they should try to get with one that will, if only on' the one-nlghters, for otherwise if they stick around at all in vaude- ville, it is to be^he small tlmey end. Maybe some bookers book some .acts to go on first so that the book- ers may tfuthfully say they never saw It, blaming it on the good faith of an agent who can have.on out in claiming he tfid it for a friend. Mime. If tfte manager, l6in McQuald, and the booker, LAiry Ooldie, of the 6th Ave., doesn't object, let It be known that Monday evening about the best continuity of entertainment on the blU happened after the bill had fin- ished. n>at was when the amateurs happened. It was called Carnival Night or something like—«11 the amateurs had to wear a masque or carnival suit. One of the amateurs, evidently near-sighted, thought he was at a stag. He told how Rastus had kissed a girl and made the audience gasp. As they use no hooks at the 6th Ave., the misguided young 'man had to be warned off, and should be ruled off by the ofiite which books his kind of amateurs. Probably concentrating upon his routlh^, the next young man, who was tall and had not listened to his predecessor, and not so young, either, sAng about the buttons on his carnival suit, saying they were berry buttons. He was also ruled off. After tiat' a girl start-d on a ballad, and they may be th^re yet, but those two blue boys, following a colored man with a crimson mask, likewise an amateur, gave a funny (sic) finish to a very bad show. The first three acts Monday eve- ning could have done their turns In th^ alley and taken a night off im- mediately without the audience ever caring. Before the "Folly Girls" (new acts) came, Robinson and Pierce, a mixed two-a«t, that sounds as though it came from the small-time and is going back to it. They talked about a saloon, a quarter and then they quarreled as a man and wife might do, but they kept It up. A theatre like the '5th Ave. should have programs to tell who could write stuff like that, and th^n put it together so anyone would brelleve it could be delivered. The man made a speech for an encore and wound up with another quarrel with the girl. After the "Folly Girls" were the Arnaut Brothers, with, their "bird act," same as usual and ever, and then Tenvpest and Dickinson, ditto. Although Homer T>ickinson stuck in an ad lib the audience applauded. As the pianist (man) walked off at one Juncture, he remarked: 'This act will be one short tomorrow*," and then added, "^In fact the three of us could go out of it without any harm." whereupon there was ap- plause. As a delicacy in dialog shortly after Mr. Dlckinspn. said: "What did he call me. A quinc or q——." Maybe the butich of In- nocents at the 6th Av*. behind stage never heard of a "q ," or Dick- inson didn't use It at the" previous performances. Gattison Jones and Eilaie Elliott, with the Hal fisher Orchestra, did a nice dance turn that pleased (New Acts), followed by Al Hernjan, who easily mopped In the next to clos- ing spot Mr. Herman had nothing against klmself all evening for laughter making. He used Mabel Burke from the audience for a plan:, and then. 4rew attention to the charming May 'Woods, of the Kel'h booking ofllce, by alluding to her as a "wire walker,' while Miss Woods was minding her business of watching the show from a stage box Herman got the most after his act had closed with the pick, when he brought on the "Folly Girls," the only other time they appeared dur- ing the performances. Ruth Mayon, their leader, did a rag number quite well, and showed how well she looks out of her ballet costume. Novelty Clintons closed the show with a miscellaneous collection of stunts by the man, starting with high kicking, with tumbling In be- tween and "stilt balancing closincr. Clinton balances his entire body on top of a stick as he hops out to- ward the exit. The turn would have been better placed here, opening. May Daly and Boys opened, which Is about all that they did do, while Fred Bernard, with a pianist, failed to completely fill No. 2, even with imitations as his other assistants. A good house, perhaps drawn by the amateurs, although Al Herman must have been the headliner since he occupied the top of two out of the three signs In front of the house. A U. picture, "Fighting Fury," with the screen also announcing coming attractiens. If an act In vaudeville believes Itself famous, they should get onto that "coming" glide—it acts the .same down there as it might in a blind asylum. Bime. mania stuff overshadowing all else by a wide margin. Nina Payne, a retainer from last weeit, easily dup- licated her approved return with a clever routine embellished by the augumentation of the Hip dancing girls and the Owen Vernon Orches- tra. The latter also contributed an offering of their own spotted No. 3, changing several of their numbers for their second week here. Al- though not shaping up in compar- ison with some of their predeces- sors at the big hguse. the boys got over exceptionally well. Another delectable flash was con- tributed by D. Apollon and Co., also having the assistance of the Hippo- drome ensemble in addition to the 10 people carried with the act. Dancing predominated here, with Apellon scoring as a soloist in both the terpsichoreari and instrumental divisions. By way of contrasting the sub- lime with the ridiculous James Watts all but panicked them with his travesty on ballet dancing and Toto, tne clown, clowned his way through a burlesque Apache and a ballet number In addition to his usual routine. Carmela Ponselle. sister of Rosa, and an operatic singer in her own right, contributed the weekly con- cert feature, offering a well selected repertoire which was amicably adapted to her rich mezzo-soprano. Her list Included Bacarole from 'The Tales of Hoffman," Musetta's Waltz from "La Boheme," a num- ber from "Naughty Marietta" and "Sol Omeio." Rath Brothers did their sure-fire routine of balancing and athletics, while Rome a©d Gaut scored as usual with eccentrh: dancing. Cole- man's Police Dogs opened (new acts). , .. , Business ttood Monday, With about four-fifths of a house present. EdBa. Fedoras la the funniest bit of.busi- ness these boys have dug up In years, and they are working It Just enough to get every howl possible. ' The Canslnos were Jumped back from fifth place at the matinee to third place in the evening for pur- poses of bill lay-out and to bring Miss La Rue closer to her sketch.. Miss La Rue at the niatlnej looked and sang tired, and the lobby chat- ter was to the effect that the double act was beginning to be too heavy a 16ad to carry throughout the season. The Hedleya opened in a head balancing act, creditably done and extraordinarily staged, the winter scene, the snowman that opened up to give the girl her entrance and the llgting wall all going to prove conclusively that lots can be done with dump acts with a touch of showmanship injected. Henry and Moore deuced It and made the grade with ease. This chap, Henry, has the makings of a much bigger act if he will start dropping XhAl portion of his patter which IS meant for laughs and dbesn't briilg them. He )s a neat ■ but not Spectacular stepper, quita versatile,' and ' apparently capable of doing much with a violin, both in comedy and straight. Leo Becra strolled on and off- In four spot w)lh his customary ease and with hlf!i customary quiet way of going over solidly. The Thre^ Lordons c'losed In a trampoline act' cleverly camouflaged and ' holding almost solid. The Mr. and Mrs. Hale Hamilton (Grate La |^U9) sketch, "Dangerous Advice," (^potted between Leo Beers and Claytoii and Lennie in the eve< nlng. went well, but not heavy. At the matihiee, howiever, when It was in third- place, it crashed over In Its old-fashioned way of last season where It played the circuit' ias a sure-fire amash. . Z<en liitbtfy. RIVERSIDE About as poor a vaudeville layout as has been seen at this or any other houve that quallfiee as a regu- lar big time stand Is at the River- side the current week. The off busi- ness was the^ cue Monday night, and is unlikely a turn for the bet- ter ■will materialize with the progress of the week. Of the two "name" topllners counted on for the ^draw;, one la sadly lacking in quality. The other, Clark and McCuIlough, comes on and mllke 'em dry as would any turn of average comedy quality In view of the dearth of laughs on the bill. This is no reflection *n this partlenlar team, but a ba. rometer ot the jaughleas condition of the show. , Tho disappointment was Robert Warwick and Co. In a playlet. It was ludicrous and boresome and a liability to the good name and fame of a performer like Mr. Warwick. Tlhe show as programed was switched around. The Dancing Wonders (New Acts) were switched from No. R'to open. Curtis Burn- ley (wasn't It Mrs. at one time?) twiced. as slated, with her Impres- sionistic monolog. Miss Burnley had some friends out front whos en- thusiasm approached the annoying "claque" stage. Her offering was mildly pleasant, but the encore war theme was too much and boomer- anged. Corelli Sisters (New Acts) thriced, switched from reopening after the siesta. Harry Holmes and Florrle l/eVere officiated as scheduled in the fourth hole with their surefire comedy skit. Their efforts were not wanting for appreciation. The Warwick sketch closed the first half. To complicate matters, a tardy stagehand decided to sneak in the prop hanging lights by lowering them stealthily a« the performers were t.alking. The slow movement of the descending can- delabra made for some unwelcome tittering. "Jeanette" and Harrj Shields (New Acts) ripened, originally slated to close the show. Clark and McCuIlough with two of their Music Box skits sapolioed In the next.to-shut. Reck and Rector closed. Ateh HIPPODROME Not enough comedy In the cur- rent week's bill, although a good show that would undoubtedly have been a whale with a few more inugh-makers. Three holdovers and eight ■ new features on the 11-act brace, with Colleano, wire walker, out indefi- nitely through injuries received through a missed trick Sunday, and Ridiculous Recco bridging the gap in deuclng. Selbit, European illu- sionist, dlBcnrded his 'needle trl'>k" of the previous i^eek to Introduce two new Illusions, "Stretching Wom- an" and •Dividing a Soldier" (new acts). Aside from that It was a rollick- ing dancing show, and with lej{- KEITH'S, BOSTON Boston, Oct. T. It Is so seldom that this house has an off night after Labor Day that the box office doesn't even try to dress the house. As a result, a warm Monday night combined with a return booking on Grace La Rue resulted in the almost unheard of sight of a big block of empty seats on an October evening In this vaudeville gold mine which usually turns them away. Tha frank fact remains that Miss La Rue, who is a real Boston favor- ite, couldn't pull them in with her old act which played here only a few months ago. The warm night was a factor, of course, but despite the orchestra hand-organed over and over again her pet number, the applause did not Justify her taking the encore with the old red hat and she showed good Judgment In not trying it. The whole bill was a glorious break for Clayton and Lensic, who In the past have had some tough spots and ho ises wh«n they played Boston. Their new sketch was spotted soft on a laughlcss hill and it crashed over. The spinning of the • nsw ACTS ;., Clar^ Jpel, In vaudevUle A^^vt, with comedy skit and a «fM V^ |Hr% Grant and'Wing ifi ap^ «ttii Oao ■waifX and Mills In anpport^ and dene Debney aa musical direetor. Fay Courtney (stock) and Nor- man Hackett (leglt) in comedy aklt Harry Koler and Oene Rowland, two-act. ■ Kiaal) act, nlna people, (eaturtnc l4>ulse LaPKd«n CByron andlAnc* don), Al Martin, Jack DIHon and four girls. Another has five people. Including : the Three Jura SlstsM and Ai)dr,e and Renee; LeoBa,:'i«»io WnUams (Lasso eisters), jlngle. Colored quartet, Jole Anderson. Ida B. Sheftell, O. J. Davis, Cbarlea Msrrlck. Sam Mann and Co., three-p^pla comedy skit. "Co-Ed Revue," flva people, featuring Gatt Beverly. Helen O'Brien and Tom Keanedy, 2-act Raymond Wylle (Wylie and Hart> man) and Billy Mallen. >-act Bessie Barrlscale In "Scnibby" with Edward Tallman and Wlllard Barton In support. ^ Sherrle Matthews and Co. In 3-people comedy skit. • "Honeymoon Cottage," 12-peopIo fl^sh featuring Weist and La Voy. "Yes, My Dear," tabloid musical, revived with cast of 12. "Misses and Kisses," tabloid, with Arthur Bell, Wilson Sisters, Andy Rice, Jr., Muriel Wheeler and Mack Gordon. Getrude Moody (Moody and Dun- can) and Eugene West, songwriter. May Ward Is coming out of re- tirement to return to vaudevUIa laftfer an absence of many years. Ybrke and Adams reuniting. Nola St, Clalra in revue with S people. Frances and Three Georgia Boys In "A Breath of Old Southland." 'Xand of Phantasy," renamed, new east and new numbers. Cecil Bpooner is reported plan- ning to forsake stock for vaudeville In a condensed version of "A Wldoir by Proxy." one ot May Irwin's for- mer starring vehicles. At Jordan and Edna Esmerelda. 2-act. Ethelyn Clailr, single. Johnnie Moore (Rosell Trio) and Sllvefs Johnson, S-act. Tha Cola-Santo band will open In vaudeville shortly. Jta repertoire Is classIcaL "Pirates of the Air," with Al Phil- lips featured. Also Includes Sidney Pratt, Ellane Ambrose and Jerome Christie. Fred Sumner, who created the title role of the vaude version ot "The Show-Off," has retired from the act to be featured In a new skit by Mark Swan, captioned "Four In a Flat," which Evelyn Blanchard Is producing. Johnny Jones and Sally Sisters, turn Miller and Cunningham, 2-act. "Jack Inglls and Another Feller." Ida Mack (Regal and Mack) with Bobby Jackson, 2-act. Flo Rose and Elsie Carroll, 2-act Elslo White, single. Jack Freeman (Lane and Free* man) and Eva Lynn, 2-act.