Variety (March 1926)

Wednesday. March 17, 1926 PALACE Neatly hidden away all over the orchestra Monday night »«N man) emi>ty seats. The boys in the box- office did rood work In that re- spect. Tiiere was about an so p«r " r .,u attendance, maybe loss. .Nan Halperln is headlining this week and is said to have insisted upon the headline spot. Leo Car- rillo also wanted the top. from re- ports, with the booking otrlce want- ing to split the position. In consi - quenee some single .sheets were gotten out for Carrillo as the squati r, and to square some of the others on the program, apparently, the lobby was full of frames. As one walked into the Palace it looked exactly as the Bijou at Elk- hart might be expected to look. With the only difference, possibly, that the Bijou has one admission scale anil the Palace, .New York, ban four sets of scales for any one week. One of those scales is for Sunday night, when it runs to J3.I10 top all over the orchestra. Nowadays it Isn't whether it's capacity at the Palace; it's whether hist week was good or bad and how did It do Sunday night? Last Sunday night the Palace had ca- pacity and about 40 standees. On other Sunday nights it has had 300 standing and a turnaway. Last week was fair—better than the week before. That may have meant a $2-1.000 gross. For $3.30 people might expect more than a common frame display in the lobby and six return acts out of a bill of nine on the stage. Some one connected with the Palace might look over the lobbies of the picture theatres along Broadway, which make their Interior decora- tions attractive through making them artistic. And, also, some of the bookers, or whoever looks after those things in straight vaudeville, might compare the picture house stage shows on Broadway at S5 cents top alongside of the Palace at $3.30, or $J20 week nights, besides the picture feature on top of the stage show. With the picture theatre giving a two-hour performance. The Palace Monday night ran from about MS until 10.45. Thai includes "Topics of the Day," that must now be written by the office boys and for which Charles Leonard Kleteher need have no regrets for selling or being pushed out for $5,000 and a route. That's all he got. Some one else just grabbed it and. with some one else having a piece of the Pathe Exchange, that will explain every- thing; also about some one else who can't get good pictures .be- cause they never knew that Pathe distributes only—doesn't produce. The same thing goes for Aesop's Fables. When it's figured up. why vaudeville is flopping and fading, don't overlook the small things. The bill this week at the Palace just escapes being a vaudeville nightmare. It was bumped at the start and never recovered. Three turns out of the bunch held it up, and then not any too strongly. The feature of the entire program,, for novelty, is the rapidity of Nan Halperin's changes. Nothing like them has ever been seen on either side of the Atlantic, with only light- ning chanre artists having a chance alongside. In her "Women of His- tory' Miss Malperin changed from Lucrezia Borgia to Martha Wash- ington in 11 seconds, taken by a stop-watch, and from the instant she disappeared into the wings until reappearing; from Martha Washington to "JSans-Gene, Miss Halperln did It In eight seconds, ami from Sans-Gene to her seat at the table, upstage center, nine sec- onds. The wait at the opening of her turn while they were clearing was longer thin the entire time she consumed for the three changes. Miss Halperin's turn, new. but repeating here, is another novelty, fr< sh in its lyrical worth and made better by Miss Halperin's handling of the material. Next to closing on t'>P of a dull show, and with the return within three months in mind. Miss Halperin made a splendid Im- pression. The laugh was .racked out by tli" Charles Withers "Opry," the wvme old setting, but now in the way of a vaudeville bill with new Stunts and gags. This Withers act never will grow old. Mr. Withers doesn'l just let it. And how this bill heeded that one: Tie- previous comedy turn that the first part needed even more so were itrendel and Bert in their old act in "one," apparently having left Jack Lait'S "(Jus tin- Bus" skit out tor their present return. The act ran along as usual, with Brendel Betting plenty of haws. Put he is forking the breakaway suit too fasl to secure as much as lie for- ' " rK «••< out of it M1sc |{ert rtpenpd with "Sitting on Top ol the World. ' with which she copped, and h peach lyrical number in "A Small Town Girl's Impression of •\ew fork." opening after Intertnlstaon. '''" i. *. Derlckson is making an- try at saud-ville, and this "me with more chance of success. 'be tenor h is Utirton P.rown « «he puno, Mr. Brown sceom. VAUDEVILLE REVIEWS VARIETY 13 plished the seldom; his solo forced another by him at the instrument. Mr. Derlckson sings well but not easily, although he may have been oyernervous Monday evening. He did crack on one note, but passed safely over several much more dif- ficult for roundness of tone. Either he w is nervous or tai ks poise. Bungling of the bill started early, with Irmunette (New Acts), a danc- ing vloiinlste, sharply conflicting with Kdythe Baker (New Actsr with MillH Biker .No. 3 and the Sin- gle girl No. 2. opening were the Pen Hassen Troupe, a lightweight Arab acrobanc turn which covers up the shortness of as acrobatics by attempted comedy, including talk. This ran the program to No. 4, the Brendel and Bert aet. bifore a snicker came. Meehan'a dogs closed the performance. The ironwork roof of the Para- mount theatre has been set in position. = = HIPPODROME Maybe it was the advantage of numbers, but Irving Aaronson and his 10 Commanders, whose entire troupe probably falls shy Of Anna Case's weekly salary, and Johnny P.urke. an even less fruitful salary grabber with his comedy "single," were responsible for the money's worth Monday night a* compared to the "name" from the concert stage. Not that Miss Case (New Aets) didn't click, but it's just a Hip act and limited to certain au- diences, whereas tried and true, dyed-in-the-wool vaudeville (and picture house) staples like Aaron- son's Commanders and Burke can be depended on to seorc In any en- vironment under any circumstances. Burke, next to shut, followed Miss Case, and contributed a desirable quota of laughs with his wartime nionolog. This marks the come- dian's last appearance before join- ing the Mack Sennett flicker fun- sters. Aaronson and his Comanders did 27 minutes, and can play a stock engagement at the Hip. It's an ideal Hip act. made to order for huge auditoriums, as witness their past performances in the picture houses. The Commanders come into the Hip from Loew's State, Boston, and re- turn to Loew's State, St. Louis, to resume their picture house touring. Despite obvious physical handi- caps by two of the entertainers, the act still qualifies as the greatest aggregation of versatile Instrumen- talists extant in show business. They do everything from comedy to jazz, sandwiching in show-stopping stepping and $5 vocalizing at pop prices, overlooking only a dramatic interlude to round out the gamut of stage entertainment. Phil Saxe uses his reed only as an incidental, Judging by his solo comedy efforts, although this is not disparaging to his instrumental ability. Clifford ( Red) Stanley, a long. lank, limber Charleston exponent, is a sure-fire show-stopper. Sal Cihclli, the vio- linist, tenor soloed .like a concert artist, the physical handicap of John D'AUessandro. banjoist, elimi- nating that warbler from his usual solo honors. The act is progressive to a de- gree, one being certain of new num- bers if not a complete new routine between intervals. As for the hoke "encores," they constitute a corking comedy act in themselves. Preceding the Commanders. Hoy Cummings. doubling from the 5th Ave., scored his usual comedy suc- cess, subbing for Chic Yorke and Rose King, temporarily out through laryngitis, but due to return by midweek. The Pour American Aces and a Queen, with the latter a recent ad- dition, opened. The casting act now features Miss Richard as the only girl flyer. Her contribution is ade- quate but not terrific Harry Smith and Jack Strong, vocalists, have a good picture house routine with their atmospheric song produc tion. The George Han- neford equestrian net clicked. Intermission was marked by Frederic Kinsley's effective "Sun- ny" medley, Kinsley impressing right along with his telling musical settings for the comedy short sub- jects. Whoever cued the numbers tor the Roach and Paul Terry ani- mated comedies hit it right on the appropriate selections. Julius Lenzberg and his Hib< rnian clan celebrated wiih "Kchoes of Ireland" is the intermission offering. Three NltoM, continental acro- batic comedians, have a unique style of Contortive and gymnastic comedy. The woman is surplus baggage, contributing a Jew somer- saults that only mak'-' gne wonder why they have not been effective in reducing her avoirdupois. Miss Case was followed by Purke. Danny Hare's "Petite Iteyue," a class MaslV for the bigger houses, closed and held Up, and held th'-tn In, Virginia Watson lind Harriet Cole are "exploit* d according to the billing, clicked In support. Dan's own darn e stuff stood up and out. Another highlight of the aet are Carolyn Smith and Kddy duzart. formerly less ceremoniously denot- ed as Carrie and Eddy. Their first adagio specialty is-highly creditable, but the second number lets down. for all its "choosing" of ultra ma- terial. Why a worthy combination like they need "borrow" from others Is an anomaly. Their arm "lift" has precipitated complaint from Fowler and Tamara. but, as a matter of fa ••' If uny body should fee! ag- grieved, it is Moss and Fonlami. The continental dancers' aerial lifts, which captivated society at Mirador. are practically duplicated by Carolyn Smith and Kildy Cazart. As for the Po.vler and T.imara straight arm pirouette. Kddy lacks Fowli r's muscular development to complete the trick creditably, f*to arm being held close to the body and in an obviously cramped and forced position, with the other arm awkwardly extended back in a phy- sical effort to maintain the hold. While but a technicality, the fact remains that In the field of exhibi- tion terpsiohore there arc so few dance steps and holds that can he Identified and stamped with indi- viduality, it is too bad some pro- tection from within the profession Cannot be accorded the originators of these steps, so as to restrict ideas that have become trade-marks of certain teams, as with the arm- hold by Fowler and Tamara. As regards this particular similarity, it still is Fow ler and Tamara a trade- mark, judging 'by the attempted simulation only the- possibility Is. also, that with practice the trick may be perfected to rival the origi- nators, hence the recommendation for immediate estoppel. Carrie and Eddy do it twice. They open their second number with the hold and eloso similarly, the conclusion be- ing an apparent physical strain, causing him almost to drop his partner Monday night. The team otherwise are a likely pair, person- able, capable and well schooled. AbeU RIVERSIDE Three single acts were the knock- outs of the current bill- three utterly dissimilar turns, but each of the time-tried class. First, Jim Mc- Willlams, with his nut piano playing and wowish delivery, took the last half of the bill into his own back pocket—all that had been left by Kdith Clifford, who opened inter- mission. McWilliams was on next- to-Hosing and earned his cakes sev- eral times over. And the other sin- gle turn was Duel de KcrekJ.i rlo, classical violinist who didn't play either "Souvenir," "Humorcsque" or "Andante Cantablle" and who still had them beg him for more. Opening were Dire and Yates, Dare IS of the old Dare and Wahl comedy acrobatic team. The new act is like the old. Yates, the new partner. Is successful in build- ing up every comedy fall for a laugh. Nice as an opener and cleared the way for Sargent and Lewis, who sang some rather so-so exclusive songs In the deuce. These boys played the uke, mando-guitar, gui- tar, banjo, clarinet and harmonica and even sang a few bars of "Frankie and Johnnie," but It wasn't until' they began clowning in the Four Cameron's act, which followed, that ihey were in clover. In the Cameron turn, Louis Came- ron and his papa comeded around between the, dances of Cammle Cameron, while Mrs. Cameron mere- ly did a walkon to hand props to the family. With Lewis and Sargent and another fellow doing some well planned nut stuff, this act went handsomely, and especially good was Louis' Impression of Prof. Scopes leaving Dayton. Tenn., after the monkey trial. Corking, filled with laughs and liked. Kerekjarto next, in formal eve- ning clothes, with an unobtrusive accompanist and a routine unfamil- iar to most In the audience, but which demonstrated the knowledge gained by a man who has not com- promised with himself by playing the usual barrel organ tunes, but who made tho audience appreciate his skill and virtuosity. After two speeches, both of which were on the level, he gave a concert arrange- ment of "Carry Me Back to Old Vlrginny." delivered In the sad, sol- emn style of a dirge, but a set-up for any amount of applause. A real act of its kind, this one, and when they put a solo violin turn over Without the usual resorts to the phoney stuff, the skill is the McCoy, The "Rhyme and Reason" < West and Stanton) turn (New Acts) (dosed the tir.st half. After Intermission opened l>\ Miss Clifford, who cooed her way thmngb some good material and who took time out to slip across a hot one or so in the lyrics. Substantial hit. Carl Hyson and Peggy Harris next, and with Lddle Davis and Harry Akst Orchestra helping, did a pleasing act of exhibition ball- room dancing which didn't start any rlota of enthusiasm but which suf- ficed |i would have been belter ■ poUcd thud ■ j ii the hill, with cither probably the best dog act now In show business and certainly. In so far as novelty g.»ei, the best any- body is liable to Hash for some time Business Monday night Was little more than half downstairs and about three-quarters In the balcony and the Loyal dog act held them in almost to u unit, sf.iV. STATE A b< Iter bill than usual al the Si He this Week, or, III least, a Rlltl improved one. Nothing .- •:: atkmijl, but good entertainment, •"> 1 :1 packed house Monday bight. Six acts and The Torrent" llllm) did the trick for the box office, From Joe Jordan's overture, "A Bit of Erin." to Raymond Fugan's Symphnntsts, who wound up the show, none of the entrants could holler about tho BOe. entrance fee. The Jordan overture was undoubt- ed! j assembled in honor of St. Pat- rick's week and thoroughly enjoyed by a mixed audience, which may also be the answer to why "Abie's Irish Hose" has lasted over four years on the Main Stem. As for the vaude. Al She.in and James B. Carson (New Acts) walked away next to closer with practically the same act which Slo an had done with Kd Gallagher. Preceding. Fein and Tennyson contributed and scored in s like- able repertoire of song scenes well received. The radio Introductory proved an excellent idea to plant ensuing specialties, all of which had special settings and costuming in keeping with the scheme of things. Five numbers In all were contrib- uted, with the majority doubles, which gave both members of this mixed team ample opportunity to diSplA) their quality singing voices. Another standout was Raymond Pagan with his symphonlsts, flanked by Mile. Vervna, dancer. They not only held them in, but also Coralled sufficient applause to make them dead-heat contenders with SheOn and Carson for hit honors. This musical outfit has improved consid- erably since last around, and has worn off much of the amateurish- ness which was then its main handicap. The combination, origi- nally 10, has been cut to eight, and the addition of the dancer has been of Considerable help, especially In- asmuch as her numbers click heav- ier than the Instrumentation, al- though the latter is also good. The boys accompanied and also offered several medley arrangements with- out the dancing girl's aid. Kate and Wiley, mixi d team, in a corking balancing routine, opened and grabbed more applause than" is usually bestowed upon an opening act of Ibis sort. The J.i Da Trio, male rathskellar act, with the men in sailor garb, deuced it fairly Well with a song routine that was more or less well liked. Howard and Lind. feminine har- mony Singers, clicked with a com- bination of harmony stuff and some comedy chatter In follow-up. The robust member handled comedy and knew her selling values, while both Were also there with vocalizing, and the blend of both making a great combination for the Inti rmcdiarics. The "Wedding Hells" number was the particular wow, anil gave the comedienne of the duo her best op- portunity for laugh grabbing through a succession of wisecracks am nt matrimony which hit the bell "Torrent" closed the show. Kdba. the Cameron turn or the "Rhyme or Reason" acls shili.-.l into the last section, McWiMiams, his bat and OVereoal next, and for l'd minutes, he held the! slave, finishing by a serio-comic po-l llttcal spec h which was not only I funny, but dangerously close to be-1 lug an accurate imitation of a; feather-brained ward heeler doing 81 st ST. Fair vaudeville and a fair house Monday night with "Irish Luck," the Tom Melghan picture, as the dim feature. Nothing special In the way of "names" on the hill, but Will Mahooey was loudly greeted and annihilated everything fore and aft in lfi minutes. Mahoney, nans the amount of con- versation he formerly spluttered. Is ci.imming plenty of laughs into his nverage 12-mlnulc appearance, the outcome of his comedy bard shoe stepping. Being something more than a normal hoofer the Stuff this semi-nut is now unrolling is both Worthy ami funny. He deservedly romped homo bedecked by plaudits on this six-act layout. All that happened next to (los- ing. Afterwards came d la rmoiiia," the old Singer net which formerly had Ina H.iyward and Doi'il M Ughn a, the principal.-;, ('in,.-nil, the act lists ilia lludnut Sisters, vocalising; Webster Taylor, dancer, and tin Puccini Trio, strln.'t threesome Three numbers l>) Die women, two acrobatic dances by the boy, and a couple of solo selections from the musicians shapes tin- routine. The feminine duo OfltClnt* With mc low. voices effectively, the instrumental- I: is have thi !r points, ami ihe youth delivers energetically between "lime" sleps, so it s e,,l I. ill ., more on the strength of the Wom- an s •swede" than any brilliance attached to tiic material. The pat- ter Is dc. idedlv spott>. sagging badly it intervals, but emm h force in the feminine half of the act to hold up for sd d returns. The man provides an adequate "straight." I'.' i : Kind was allotted the fourth nil ii" ami has changed around a bit siiue las) seen at the Pai.ice. The 'nuli.it'.;" nub assistant, who !",>•- in rly rang the gong as a query Whether or not there should he ic. thankful!) no timfc. In place is :. pianist who si. Us to his knitting. Krrol's hum! is are about as ol yore, nlthxip h iu> how does cue complete lyric; .vt'.itrd ,n tux- edo. Following this hi returns to the feminine costuming if war- ranted, Did very nicely here .md wisely finished by wot,is of appre- ciation In lieu of additional songs after having done 30 minutes i i ve either, hut okay foi this typi of house, and the m il \ like it. Lch I'ierrottys, woman, were the i V i ude sec t ion. lb adhering t<> the a log ground on tin The woman Is sup ii i ii i BROADWAY Nothing fr.aky or unusual about the Broadway bill .Monday night. The show ran unusually long, due to the late star! the variety section Kot following tho 8yd Chaplin pic- ture. "Oh. What a Nurse'." (War- ners). The show got a nice start with Frances and Frank (New Acts). f,,i- lowed by Warren and O'Brien in their rough travesty fol de rot. "What Price Revue?" Hilly Ulason got a hand when he Walked out, showing no doubt that (ilasoti h is made himself popular in the neighborhood through a com- bination of things. Oluson pulled one of his famous heart twisters in "Two Sides to IS very Story," and recited it so that the moral Would be as plain as the proverbial bump on the log All In all Olasoli w is well received at the Broadway. After the Solly Ward hit in "Hu- bes." Solly came back and raise.} bis batting average with six min- utes of encore in "one." and thero didn't seem mmi, t for nny comedy stuff to follow. "Flashes of Dam el.in,1" Is dressed like , c million dollars. The opening appeared not only off gear but four girls that did the dance with their backs lo the audience didn't quite create the fullstage impression that might h ive been desired. The Idea was all right but the lack of fem- inity seemed to mitigate On dancing strength this act i* Strong, especially through the work of the two principals and the four girls. And the dressing! It comes ( lose to real production cost inning and is worth a lot of vaudeville that has so many ads that sport only street clothes. The fast Charleston finish was lively and flashy and had the boys upstairs applauding wildly. Ethel Davis was on around 10.30, She has personality and talent and went about her- task undaunted and the audience capitulated completely. The closing act was Lou Sterl'H Surprises of l«t2«" (New Acts). A band that pleased. jf«r*. AMERICAN ROOF A good sjirlng bill of eight acts on the roof the first half, topped by Billy Swede Hall, who Is still mak- ing them yell with his Swede "dame" characterization. The Hall vehicle remains structurally the same as ■ecn last season, hut several new wow lines have been Interpolated. Billy's trials and tribulation* and his description of his "affair" tlekle.l Sth Ave. silly. Spotted sixth the skit mopped up the comedy honors The hiii opened smoothly with Law ton in a standard higgling rou- tine that inter. *s(ed, followed by Rogers and Dork In (New Ads). Mason and OWynne, third, man ami woman blackface and brownskin, copped the first comedy knockdown. The male is a corking comedian and the girl ati e xc el l e n t foil. Bin has an unusual singing voice and a con- tagious laugh which helps in her foiling. The mat. rial Is fa miliar but carefully picked and contains no boll weevils. They liked them a lot up stairs Case's Vanity Fair (New Acts) was the first half Hash. Us a fe- male musical combo, somewhat dit« f- n nt. After Intermission tin Fenwlck Girls, a'd.issy singing duo, pleased the customers with a well-Mended routine of popular and semi-clas- sical selections. The t il! girl has a cultivated voice of nice range winch should constantly improve With work. The,- show two lavish Changes of costume and altogether have framed a pl< :isingoct, It looks like a g I bet for the picture lioose i 'so. Following Hall were Anger and Porker, m If . iHir.icti r comedian and female sir.light, both well ice .• i ■ h 'be pi.of. They also si .red de Idedty with crossfire nnd Mi,',-'—' V ■ I " '•' nil tVV.I III ot.hflnder* lor i he Ing nicely when Tobntics but los- i umedy tnng< nt •i flu his, inasmuch as she Is USCd in JiUt one lift. The Fresne and Evans Bros. OVw Acts! his stuff at the district meeting. I were No. followed by lto*e and Then the ne.. dog act of Ah Loyal'*, 1 Thome, w ho seemingly got across a. k i "tup n es favorably with that of any of the wobbly legged tribe* I and lit" lo ilci.al in also there, ) Kcno' Sir t< rs and Co., two girls ,nd a boy. closed m an intricate fiiii ine of hand-to-hand and head M nc.air. The huskier of the two l-irls acts as the nnderstander. The trio woi i. ...ooothl, and have framed up .1 turn that can open Or close the host of thu bills. Business healthy. con.