Variety (October 1925)

VVednesday, October 21, 19^5 VAUDEVILLE REVIEWS VARIETY IS PALACE t „|j timers' Week at the Palace r. fraUBht with many changex f!^ its ..rlKinHl layout with the ^"roD out (.f Weber and KielrtH nnil Mme Trent iiri before the Monday Matinee and the eleventh-hotir Hub- iiltution of May Irwln and Yvette Kugel plus '^^ addition of a cloHer. Jutty Valey and Co. The bin thus restrung ran until 1140 Monday night, much of the overtime due to vociferous rccep- tlovM and recalls accorded the vct- Iran favorites, such as Miss Irwin, CiMle Loftus, Marie Cahill, Mario Dressier and the added (and wel- come) interpolation of Frankie Heath, the guest-star of that per- formance, who opened intermission. It was a day of tribulations for the management. The Weber-Field.s withdrawal, said to be the first time in the history of this hoary team that they *ver missed a billed per- formance for any cause, came shorl- {« before noon. Miss Irwin was hatUly reached by phone and, de- ■prte protestations that she "wa.'^n't prepared," was induced to open, do- ing a single with a few hurriedly selected stories and two of her itand-by coon songs. Then word came that Trentini was in. Mi.is Rugel, who is also in the Club Rlchman (cabaret) and who liad retired late, was awakened and told to hurry Palaceward. It was a great opportunity for her, the first sinKle appearance at vaudeville's foremost stronghold, and she chanced it despite the rush act. Weber and Fields were programed to close and Miss Dressier just ahead of them. When Miss Dre.ss- Jer heard that the clewing act was out, she insisted she would not usher out the bill, so a .silent turn was pulled in from another house and made the matinee. The high spot was a double by Misses Cahill and Loftus, sprung as an encore to the imitator's routine and following Mi.ss Cahill's act by otte spot. An old-timer recitlled that Miss Cahill had done .qomotliing eimllar in 190S at the Herald Square theatre. Playing two flower women of Whitechapcl. the two artistes crowded Incredibly high-power laughs through what must liave been quickly prepared material, shone In character work as only two such Teraatile players could, and finished with a duet of Chevalier's "Old Dutch" to a sensational handburst. The bill, with tho booked solo women and the added ones, natu- rally was almost entirely feminine telngles. In succession, broken only by Intermission, came Mlases Rugel, Cahill, Loftus, Heath, Irwin, Dress- ier, and all except Aliss Irwin using ki grand piano and male player in lux. Miss Dressier, brought out by Miss Irwin, who had just concluded, came (n for a crash of greeting. She re- sponded by doing "My Best dal" to » "Charleston," and pursuing with tome running talk supposedly about her recent trip to Europe, not all of It big-tlme stuff, most of it appeor- Injr rather uncertain and some of the craclcs raw. She closed with a flap- per stew ditty, put over by her facial acrobatics and a "hell" at the exit, a privilege not accorded younger Palace luminaries. Miss Irwin, obviously at a los.s what to do, sailed easily on her quick wit and per.sonallty. She talked of the other "girls" on the bill, told several corking iinecdotes and sang her classic frog and bully songs. She did but 12 minutes, whereas Mies Dressier consumed twice that time. May did not push her bow.s or encores, and let her good-bye Wend into the Dressier hello by bringing oiit the next comedienne, holding her hand and presenting her. , The Cahill reception was as heart v *• any. She, of course, coming off an extended vaudeville tour, was up on her material and worked smooth- ly from the rise of the baton. Wear- ing a semi-formal frock that wnuld have graced a Texas Guinan cntle, ^11 tinseled up and pink and short, i*fc® ''"Shed Into her opening talk, With nifty pags sprinkled through at the appropriate iunctures. She was over" by the time she started her nrat song. "Keep Away from You," very good. .. ^ "lonolop with a telephone ran WrpuRKa flp^v of wise rrarks .supcr- 1^ indivirhial way of Hollirig r. jealf which has never been" HuerpHH- tully imitated or approached -even i-'ssie Loftus, who had the t'-merity W rollow her and do an Imitation of ner, used only a song, "Why Did. 1 f^^ve Wi.sconsin?" It was a rrown- a"rM '^^''^^'' ^"'' ^'''*^ Cahill, with an aaaed and oven more lustrous gerr, "n the return with CUsle for thf- uouble to rlo.se the first part. II v'"" ^■''^'^ttis. wearing a mnrreled jlgnt brown wig, looking voung and "'8'"'iiifying fettle, drew no srt.all saivo htTMclf. Khe did some of her lamillar imper.-onaiiona, plus several new ones such as the Cnhill, rmillne *^rd, Duncin .Sisters fmarvelou'i!) ana a peachy Fay Tompleton. The y*ars have cost this genius nr.tinng *'Jir •i.'j an audi«nce can diMf.ern. Wt h er m v oi r e nr g r acious glflw , .S he J* still the world's foremo.at nnd •jy«st imitator, the only one wlio h;t.s {le talents of them all with whiih lo 'roitate them all and do all that they ail do as wellas all of tliem can do /il: • ^ ftopliie Tucker to the finewl 'etfitunate star. Sandy Lanir ard Co roller sl.a'er= revues. Sunshine Jarmann, sliuke.s a shimmy as tremuluus as ;iny of the liigh notes of some of the col- oratura sopranos on the bill. Htrr- nian, himself, is going better than ever, but he didn't give thcin enovigh of those mean fiddle gym nasties. A third hit was Carl Scikenk and Son (New Acts) an obviously Teu- ton eciullibristic importation of great merit, and a fourth was Hirry Uoye and Billee Maye wlih their Colorful terpslchorean presentatif)n Srhenk opened after Intermission, tho dancing turn closing tlie first half. Since U cairies four kIiIu it- self and is so lavish in stage de- tail this is one act that hardly re- quirles the Foster Girls. All the latter did was drape themselves around the stage and try to look In the picture. The Hip Girls' real opportunity came in the Timberg interlude* though they also appeared for brief specialties with Crandall's Brazil- ian Circus (New Acts) and with the Mexican singers. The operatic vocalists waded through a heavy routine of "Pagliacci," "Carmen," "Traviata," "Rigoletto," and othej familiar stuff. Each of the quin- tet has a cultivated if not remark- able voice, but tl»e turn doe.sn't im- press as dead-on for any of the big houses except the Hip. Here, however, it was aided by an elab- orate presentation and by the out- of-towners who believe that a cer- tain amount of undiluted opera must be taken in their menu of Manliattan entertainment. Kcene and Barrett were third, scoring on personalities, appear- ance and dancing but missing with most the gags and intimate stuff. Keene's wise manner Isn't always becoming and a more subdued style might help. Miss Barrett is cute and graceful and the travesty acro- batic finish might be labeled okay. Rose, Ellis and Rose opened to strong returns with their thrill bar- rel jumping, followed by Marglt Hegedus, now established as one of the best vlolinistes on the two-a-day. Mls3 Hegedus played three di.«creetly chosen classical selections with rar» skill and wa.s the artistic treat of the evening. The Hip is showing a new idea in stereoscopic pictures, described as Burkhardt's Plastic Chromatic Film "Men or Illusions." It proved to be novel and attractive, though not particularly remarkable In execu- tion. Herb. (man and three girls), opened. In- troduced with pleiia on slides to have the audience appreciate and take seriously the artistic phases and difficulties of that art. The propag.'inda seemed to help, and the turn was beautifully taken, making good on tho preachment, and reveal- ing some showmanly nenso and in- vestmejit in the way of costumes and productions as well as a varied and intricate set of .skating tricks. Foster and his clever dog "Peggy" deuced, amazed, amused and held the house gaping and gasping. The little beast worked perfectly, and Foster, with no affectations of an "actor," handles the turn to splendid effect. Patterson and Cloutler started the piano parade by working with an accompanist on the big coffin, who talked some and played some and tempoed the team through three sprightly numbers to a good finish. Wells, Virginia and West danced to a goal. Buster had some new steps and is funnier than ever; so Is the old man. Virginia has changed her tune and no longer sings "Life's a Funny Proposition," which she clungth for mrlny a season, and the turn seems to step faster and more cohesively along than ever, making it the top-hole "low" dancing act of vaudeville wlthovit competition. Miss Rugel, likewise with a pian- ist, featured her "Butterfly" aria, as she did In the Richman act, and added one operatic and two ballad numbers. lier eccentric hair-bob caused no end of whispering when she flashed on, but it was soon lost in admiration of her true and pow- erful voice and her straightforward and highly trained delivery of au- thoritative music. Miss Rugel proved herself a single on her own, and can dismiss doulits about the remainder of her artistic career as long as she wants vaudeville. Frankie Heath, the vigorous, youthful soubret. Introduced by Ar- man Kallr (of the Weber-Fields net), hit like a pretty young cyclone, doing one song, "Butter and Eggs." a corking special number .ind as brilliantly done by her. The girl has a breezy, colloquial personality plus true dramatic punch, and when she switched Into the pathos of the butter and egg man on Broadway she got It across with as fine and full a fervor as that with which .she banged in the several hot lauchs In the earlier verse. Here Is another "find" for the best time, ready made. .Tutty Valey and Co., a mixed trio of two men and a girl, came on at 11.29, with a h.ard time stemming (he CKOdus which had begun at the twentieth minute or so of Miss Dres.sler's lengthy concert. Neatly dre.ised. they showed to advantage In unstrained work on parallelinir poles with crossbar for suspended traneze. A triple teeth fini.sh in a fast revolve on a cylinder was a breath-stealer for those who had the T>atience and good sense to stay in. Good enough f)r opening or closing the high-peak hills. lait- HIPPODROME The Hip is Qulte hl;,'h-brow this week with plenty of operatic mu.sic, violin solos, cla.ssical dances .and a genuine Madame on the headliner's throne. Madame Petrova did not u.se that title in the billing or program, however, but merely ' Olga Betrova, herself." The bill was diversified enough but not by any means was it a banner show. An almost complete dearth of comedy in the first half was one rea.son for this while a certain lack of balance was an- other. Then Petrova (New Acts) held the stage for 35 minutes, just a trifle too long, while the four acts ahead of her, all apparently ru.shing through their paces for one reason or another, consumed but a moment or two longer than that in totem. This opening quartet of turns was uneventful and it re- mained for IVtrova to stir the fir.U real acclaim of the evening. Mon- day niKht's business showed capa- city downstairs, the u.^ual thing thi;; •reason and a noticeable Improve- ment over last year at this time. Just before Internii.s.sion the first preliminary competition of tho Na- tional Quartet Contc-^t was held With three groups in tho running. Tlio first wa.s a corner, driigntpre .siiriiri.-jed. with ability. One of th'^m, a mixed qutirtetto froin some Sis- fit'.c Society or other, sounded too good to be amateurs and sang ♦h'! famous • Kigoletto number in a manner that compared very favor- ably with the way it was warbled liter on the bill by the M'-xican (;r.ind Opera C'.iiipaiiy. Tltf Sis'ine uaiig wore full evening dress», c.ir- ried their own leader and hhouhl .win iKind.s down if they are not "ringers." Herman Timberg, next-to-shui ;ind clo.s.ng with Ins two acts,, liad the .".oftesl pickin's following th»- con.sistent laugh shortage. Hi« fome'ly. fortimately, happr.n.ij to be of the t.vpe th.i» IS not .b.indif ,'ippe,l in thill cojnss.il hoiiye. The litlr- of I'ii.M n fl ^ r p l i'if Imm be ri i el i antfo .t from "The Ueljelli.n," ta 'The In- novation," a name that flttinsly dc-if-ribes lt!« origlnalityand flever- n'!.>s. Sammy T.mb'-rg. Bill i'ike'.= Hand and the diler'.ible S <nla Mer''.ff .'iro still with if, while an^w- •rn'T from on? of I'le Br'...idwa/ con.edy skit, that Jit^t rtt, uito these hi! Is. 1'2 J, Mov>i-e oj.nned the acconil put With wlutt look.s lo be a new ai't for lifm. He carri<"s a plant rind does but three trak.-^, lalkiiiK his Way thi.nigh aiul doing well enough for what he's got. Tlie WaM.iiios. trio, acrobai.-i cloaod, with Terrell atul Kemp opening. A show that loolica better on the bills than it played, and not a heavy hou.so on a night suddenly grown cold, which mav account for tliat. Some may recall Mi>. Cornay. the very pleasant womjin who su- I>orint( nded tlie ciwar .sttind on the roof for many ye.irs. fr(un the Bill Morris days. The .siand is no more. She died two weeks ago. Sime. IlriKliwh iiutiistiih. One e.vprtv.-iion '(Jive oxer" .; ill pic'l>alily lie cop. (Mil by lie mciiiiiiy .students. The .Slauttui'.s 'lut yiMir.self a piece of cake," whii'h tln-y oriuiiuted and .'itill use. Was ribiisfil ple'v while they were in lOur.ipc. 'i'lie ji.iir Imd to work hard to th:iw tliem .t, but finally hooked with th.' like and lijiinioniia duet and the .h;.(ti'., Tom Brown and hl,s oi .hestra closed a long .'how and held them like the Army line. Business about thrce-nuarterB downstairs. > Con, AMERICAN ROOF Francis Renault "wont after" the Roof audience Monday night and got away with It. It looked a sure razz when Renault started and for no reason. After his first number with light applause, the audience then likely attempting to decide if It were an Impersonation, Renault remarked sotto voce but auc'ible to the rear of tho orchestra: ' Couie on, give us some applau»«w What's tho matter out there?" A titter, and he continued: "This roof. The audience dowtistairs is much better," and to another titter. He exited upon this and while walking off. s.ald: "You up there on 42nd street. You ought to be down on 14th street." And yet that notoriously tough bunch on the American lioof bal- cony never uttered a word nor re- plied when Renault reappeared. Finally for the finish Renault won them over and held the stage for 23 minutes, closing the first half, later starting to kid playfully and without viclousness. Still it may have been Frank Clark who brouKht his boards with him that started the reversal after Renault had sung "Brown Eyes." But Francis was burning up! And he burned right to the finish. II was funny in Its w.ay and also nervy. There prob.ably never ha < been a ft-malo Impersonator wlio would h.ivo d.ired gone after th'Tii the way Itentiult did and csiiecially ;i gallery Vet Ren.ault could have known the acts ahead had killed it for him before he appeared. Other than that though there wore two or three good oponinx.- for Cam^iVell's on the fir.-^t h.-ilT can nUvriys I.ii'w vi'iiievillc lioii-e for the first section of th»» program. They die on that statiding up. Two afts In a row pa.=isod out \Shite ;ird Claire, No. 2, a couple of girls, blonde and brunet, who sarig and played piano, while th..- other turn held Moon and Muilins f.Vew Acts) No. 3. The rnan of the l.itter mixed two-act could h tve hiM the hou.s'e bad he known liow. While he ijot a little something in the runniiii? with huch gags un he had- and hU familiar gestures, they were all through before reachl'ig their fini.^h. As usual the punches wr" vent in o this second part, with Shrlton Brooks and Ollle I'owers, c >lore|. n>-xt to closing. Brooltii .stopped h.r im-n -Iff onr-ft and thn mIi ow. .r-'iviUL' ALBEE No doubt tint. we<l< as to the va- riety in Internationa | iii and race of tlie Albee progra.ni. A European oi)ener, a chimi),inze<- deiirer. a Kus- .sian Cossack chorus, :iii Irish "Vir- ginian Judge" and an lUhiopian ;im- liassador comprise llie first half; .Swedish comedy. It ilian-American jazz sons,'slres.s and Sp'.uilsh- step- ping round it out m the second .■-tanzji. As good \audeville something Is lacking. Analyzing each turn and treating ilie offerings In sequence, there Is nothing Wanting, yet the (ouiposile running order finds that necessary jiunch and sjiarkie that makes or breaks a program absent. And yet, despite all tliis. the Brook- lynites come in droves, luisiness be- ing well nigh capacity Monday night. On top of this the Albee Is .'-till a show place of the borough, many patrons seemingly making their flr:i,t visit, although the beauty and richness of it all \h ever a luxu- rious eyeful for anybody. Willio MaUss with his cycle nov- elty, "the death Wheel," was a snap- jiy four-minute opener, a speeding up over his Hip contribution last week by over a minute. His wheel stuff la a flash and a thrill. Joe Mendl, the educated rhlnip, seemed to go better here with his comedy than ever before. Gertrude Baum.an. a.s ever, puts Joe through his paces with consumm.ite showmanship. The Kuban Cos.>jack ChorU.s, under Stepen Shelukhine's direction Is a corking picture-house offering; ditto for the concert platform, lyceum or ch.autauqua, but wanting for vaude- \ ilio. It's a 16-people male choir of splendid harmonizing but not of popular appeal. Walter C. Kelly requires but a mention of the name to Insure sat- isfaction as a comedy highlight. Florence Mill.° clo.sed with her dusky octet and the Will Vodery band of 10. not forgetting that corking ec- centric male stepper. Miss Mills was a comedi(>nne first, last and tilways, but Is adulter.afing her stuff of late with more "serious" vocal endeavors. It's a question whether she shouldn't stick to her humorous knlttlnsr for the variety stage and leave the rest of It to the concert platform and the like. After intermisKlon the new Br.-tn- dell and P.urt art by Jack Lalt (New Acts) reopened. Miss Patrlcola was forced to extend herself with her vocal stuff. Her lyric Interpreta- tirms of pop ditties, as ever. Is popu- larly appealing. The DI Gata 'Nos, Spanish trio In characteristic terp stuff, closed and did well desjdte the late hour. Abel. RIVERSIDE him ft double score. .Take Ltibin hid belter givo this team a lor.i; tf-rrn contra''t. They have nothi."!;,- he'ter ua a next ta clo'ier on th'. tinio, and Brooks i^n go Into p|c- fjre hou.ies. The o*her second !■ <K turn was tie new Earl H ..;.■■ r<''?i The bill at the Riverside this week lacks a low comedy punch In either sortlon. hut despite this de- ficiency It played smoothly due to the variety .lay out. The comedy entries in the first half were Bron- son and Evans (New Acts) No. 4 and Cressy and Dayne. No. 3. Both acts failed to m.ake the «r.ule and as a result let the show down. The quiet reception of Cressy and'Diyne in "The Man Who Ite- rembered," a revival, didn't help Broiison and Evans any. The comedy hit of the first half went to Zelaya, the rotund son of the ex-president of somewhere, with piano tdaying and a Piiigliable rnon- 'ilog between nutnhers. The .South Americ:in with a quaint Balief dia- lect fini.shefl in luKh favor. He is .irr ac'^omj'iished musician in addi- Garl-Randill. assfsl'^ iTy .TaclTO Ilurliiur.t aiifl-Mary.,AV.ishbiiin, rloa- e,l the "firi^t half. Mis^ Hurlhurt -f..ied d.incing arnl Miss Washburn clicked at the fiiario. hut dest>ite the .ippliiise for Kardair.s hig league stepplnsr. the act is far from smooth. The method of intnKluclng the various sjiccialties ."tnacks of an •■: 1 lib turn thrown together. The method is for one of the girls to say "I wtnt to do SfirnethlnK." fol- iowd by h<T specially. Miss Hurl- l-iurl's 'Charleston" arid Band.ills Kolo cane- dance were the high lights. ■ After Infermls'lon >targaret Ro- nviine showed just what ;u) oper- .■it>; voice, winding' iiersun.ality and Crit app'.iran'e cm do in vaiide. vlllo v.'h<-n projieily' rlir'-'ted, t.'li irU:3 Lo'.cnl^e m -tjij j.'ran!; 1 in Graham s'dci leil Miss Itom'iliic ,s rio:;iber.H and they arc flawless. She I in to tv.o encores, V.I and Eifiie Stanton sliouldered a t'<u«Ji ah,-.i.,'r(neiit next lo shol and fiulV-d the first Hf-Iid liu-.'hs of th' .N i''it v.llh llieir bi i{M rro.'fi-e and STATE A good l.uigliing show at the State this week with four of tho six-.act brace CDUtriiuitln.g more or less to the yell department. Alto- gi'ther a f;«st, even running show and one that tiny intermediate would do well to pattern after. The Gaudschinidls, male duo at- tired as clowns, provided a llve!.v opener, combining tumbling and acrobatics aided by two. won trained c.inines whose uncanny precision and excellent cueing registercnl as heavy as ever and sent the turn away to good retin-ns. Bhoda and Hroslull (New Acts) followed and did neatly with a musical offering with the Uitz Brothers, m.ile trio, afterward, panicking them with breezy comedy, songs and dances. Their opener with all three in ex- aggerated btilloon trousers, short cotits and scarlet ties for "Collegi- ate" song.s and dance sent the mob out front into a s|).i.sm of laughter from which they were not permitted , :-, to recover for tho remainder of the tVct. The boys are without doubt one of the cleverest trios si-en here- abouts In some time. They htive da.ss, ability and .salesmanship that can goal 'em anywhere. Barr, Mayo and Wrenn, two men and a girl, next, also held their own with a neat hoka comedy of- fering registering mainly because of the suppressed manner of han- dling. The girl l.s a cute trick, the comic knowns his stuff and the other a conceited lady killer to a fiirethewell without i>crmittlng the assignment to become boresome. The comedy Is gleaned from the comic's bewilderment over the strange power this Valentlnoish person seems to wield over women and Is handled in a manner pro- ductive of a succession of yells. The Lane-Travers Revue (New Acts) compriHing a. boy and five girls clo.sed with an fntertalnlng _ and colorful dance revue. JJdba, KEITH'S, BOSTON Boston, Oct. 20. The first .',how, Monday, was to a house that hardly was hilf full^ down stairs. Tho novelty atta<hcd to the opening' of the two now local picture hotises was blamed for the slide in business. Due to the capture of the person who had been hurling missies In the theatre for the past several weeks a much better atino.'jphere was Noticeable, both among the acts and the house employes. For the first timo In a very long period acts that call tor a darkened house and a solo spot were allowed to ro the limit. Alice Lloyd was the headline act, getting the breaks In advertising and billing. .She plays with her own orchestra Iea<ler, Albert 1» - ley, who heljied out the act no little bit by the mannei- in which he coaxed over the half dozen songs Miss Lloyd sings. The songs are splendid material for thi;s English girl and with an audience that Is a bit oldcrr In years will go over big. Miss IJoyd seemed ti» do l>etter with iier last two numt>erH, one of which was the bathing song and tho other a chara' ter Itetn. The I''lorence O'Denlshawn dinc- Ing act, fifth, was all alone as far as dancing was concerned. The O'Denishiwn girl, with Nc-lson Snow and Charles <^'<dumbus a.'j Pitrtners and Morton Howard at the piano, put over a fast moving act. The turn Is well staged, beautifully costumed and Is of the liiKhest type, * Jimmy Nervo and Teddy Knox, with their comedy, had no difficulty la scoring. Tho Aurora .Troupe. thrc« men with a crom'bination trie k bi- cycle and .acrobtitic act, oi>ened.' Boudini .and Bc-rnard, a-'ordion- JtJtf, on Hcgpnti, ..was, tiJff il>t ("ark ilTn In the shf)W. The girl lost no lime In swinging Into a meilley of pop numbers. Itoudlnl ha" been li'-re b(-fore as n sliii,'|e and i-- pofiu- lar. Walter J'.ildwin .-ind Gci.ildine Blair, In "TJie .vlc^ejilng I'or' h, ' |.ro- vided several laughs. 1'he Clara Barrv and Orval 7lt- leihje bit wa-i spf-dv. but ttavi-Icd sotnc! divtari'e before the house wt tl.o drift. The vi e boys, l;.)-.\ < ver, wero with this Iiei.- fron. the start. Alice llamlll'in and G'orge ll.iyes «ii[»pli • another cjoe c ' those rcju- vcn tied ol'l tim'' a' ts which avfiear with .siiiiiling re^'Ularlty. * ■ Tho dance act fiatuilng .tack Uayta, .Sally Marsh and Lucille ll.ve.H tl'>s'"l. As lotiK as tlie tui ii st|(i;s to lb'' ^l' tipini; It l.s In (,'ood form, liMf. the ti ' k \i'>llM plii\iiig by 'it.^ ^ f tht' kUIh cr> uU' bo el i i iii ■ ri,i'''d niiriu* h•■^'(. The ■^how rm eirllcr thnn usual itii<) up to th.e flffie of the \ ji.liti hi' the house Hfiemed lo >>•■ s'hklng li.r Ho. fiiiixh, t,)«-y'ind '.r'llfi 4cy f ic i I''ith ninl ii.>.e fjud ''fe. " t. hh-'j. c •J