Variety (April 1926)

Wdttt ^y» April 7> 19g6 ijew^Itate, N. a OPENING BIG EVENT VAUDEVILLE REVIEWS VARIETY IS New Orleani, Aiirll The dedication of Loew'a State the b\M event of the season lo and In these uncertain times, you knuw how It'Is. iSoph hopped on, with Ted Hhapiro at the piano, In the next-to-clonlng spot, and what she did to them with songs is nobody's bu»IneHs. i^he gav« them "It Fv*'\ii Good to Bo Kuck," "It Goes On Like That," "I Certainly Could," "So Does Your Old Mandarin," "Always," with a _ j patter version having to do with the ^TT ^ith the town still talking jgemixed love birds that nearly raised t^^* -1— -4 *w-. Krvw ihe roof. She whs forced to rosi)ond ^'sending In »1«> at the box opening Saturday brought « £o©w and other executives !^^SS^ciS!\Thl%, Also Nils Gran- ?'T «nd his usual array of stage sV^La ce^rMBB, who In one STnother contHbuted The dedication cerMnonlea were .f«Ve managed and planted for re- !SSr. Much of this credit Is due Turner, head of the Loew ex- ploitation department, and his aides. £ho w?nt after bUllng and stunts like a circus, and Rot results. Topping all was a street parade •itH the ruest performers, beauts Sd screen celebs In line either In SflatT or decorated autos. The •vent gave the localities practically another Mardl Qra« In spring. The performance also was cork- InKly good, with the regular acts enhanced by many of those who had made the trip with the Loew party tTasslst In sending the christening ever with a bang. Vlsser and Company opened the show and clicked with their danc- ing eccentricities and acrobatics. Frank Whitman followed and scored with his diverse violin playing, pease and Nelson held the trey and got over as well as the predecessors. Toney Grey and Company project- ing blackface merriment garnered more than their share of howls and applause, with Leon and his death ray gun mystlfler closlnff the regu- lar bill. The wlndup of the regular show was Nils Granlund's cue to hop up- on the stage as master of ceremo- nies for the beauts and celebs to follow in an Impromptu entertain- ment. ^ , In the latter division Buster Keaton and Lloyd Hamilton copped the show with some Impromptu stuff In the aisles and later In a stage box. Rita Owln and Juliette also did their stuff, the former click- ing with a dance routine and the latter contributing her familiar footllght Impressions. Then some BO screen celebs were brought on and Introduced by Granlund, with the show running well Into the morning hours, but still untiring to those present, most of whom never budded until the final stunt had en^'cd. The State, spotted at Canal street, occupying a square between Ram- part and Elk placet Is a magnificent edifice, said to represent an outlay of 12.000.000. Its architecture Is of the Spanish type, with outside walls stuccoed In white and capped by a red tiled roof. It has a capacity of J.600, with the gallery entirely re- served for colored folk. The theatre was designed by Thomas Lsmb and erected under the personal supervision of Ann Dornan of the Lamb offices. Rodney D. Toups, formerly In char'^re of Loew's Crescent, has - I r-r\rtpointed resident n.anager ef th-^ new State. The house Is belnp: Jointly oper- ated by Loew's and the Sacngcr Amusement Company. Until the advent of the State probably New Orleans was the only city of Its size in the country with- out a regular theatre on Its princi- pal business thoroughfare. The most Canal street has ever had has been a sfoi^ show. Th«»atros here sro .side street houses of limited ca- pnclty, with a couple of them hid- den away at the end of an alley leading from one of the sld" streets. fJnmtwU PALACE (Straight Vaude) A sell-out audience greeted one of the season's best bills at the Palace on Monday night. But leave It to the boys to gum up the works. At least a dozen people walkt'd out in disgust during tho collection which was taken up after intermis- sion. At this house the actors were eaved the humiliation of having to take up the collection personally. The task was wished on the ushers. One occupant of a box who walked eut wanted to know why an $80,000.- 000 corporation, made from actor.«i pnsfsed the buck to the patrons who paid to witness a vaudeville show. He arjjued It would have been better to rairte the admission prices for the we^k and not embarrass people who didn't happen to have small change In their pockets. The bill Itself was a triumph from start to finish. This was due to the lack of repeat acts and the real ^•'^'th it contained. The sell-out business came to see the show, he.ided by Sophie Tucker, who was pinch hitting for Norah liayos. ^'o^ah had refused to follow Soph St thp mntlnoe when Soph was a suipnse" volunteer. A couple of ^ ' ^ l^s QKo vaudeville couldn't see ^f'pb at the tlgure. Mondav nlsrht •t not only saw her, but billed her "lirect from h«ir Pliyccround." l'l;iyurronnd is a nipht club. 1 "'■ t\i It h-,\ llic e riiTult Is Hil'^P'iSV'J t'l \. iy tivi h oi.T)os' (l to playiiitf ac;- fn.ifi nicrht clui-s. but In a pinch with "So Is Your Old I^ady" anil "Virginia." Mistress of delivery and expression, Miss Tucker does more wlih a lifted eyebrow than some singles could with a one and a half. The other sensation was Joe Fris- co (New Aota). The former side kicker of I^oretta McUermutt and i*jddle Cox Is now going It solo, and how! t*or about a year everybody In show business had been touting Frisco as a great bet, single. None of the big-time bookers believed It, because .^Ylsco showed a strange re- luctance to play those gymnasiums where thoy "show it" and pay off In sea weed. About two weeks ago Mr. Josephs uncovered his sin^jje at tlic Winter Garden and created such a furore back of the railing he was up to his knees In agents for the next half hour. The upshot of It was the Palace decided to take a chance. From this week on the Kleth book- ers will work feverishly laying out a route for Mr. Frisco before a pro- duction or those large motion pic- ture boys hook him. Monday night Frisco started to tell a gag* he had used at the mati- nee. Benny Roberts, the leader, was supposed to do straight for him, but Benny informed Frisco when he started the gag, "It's out." Frisco said "They didn't tell me," and pro- ceeded to tell the gag, which was about Philadelphia, not P-A but P-U. He topped that one by telling another about an old man who ap- proached his berth In a sleeper to llnd two girls In It and said, "One of you girls will have to get out." Frisco showed no respect for the Palace and acted Just as though he were slumming. Incidentally he was one of the biggest hits In the house in months with the first new thing vaudeville has seen since It started copying the revues. Brooke Johns followed Frisco and kept up the tempo. Frisco walked in on Johns for a finish, doing a bit of clowning and hoofing. Johns has fmally got openers. He has devel oped assurance and personality. He still plays a banjo fairly well and tries to sing, but makes them be- lieve It. The Oklahoma Collegians, a Bclf-satlsfled musical unit, and Goodee Montgomery, an unusually clever dancing girl, round out the combo. Just ahead of Frisco. Olga Petrova was the first surprise act. She sang two sonij.i to big returns. The sec- ond surprise was Charley King, spotted opening after intermission while the collection was on. King whammed over four numbers to heavy applause. Jack Benny then took over the regular bill assignment. Benny gagged topically, thawing them with his excellent material and delivery. The biggest wow In his turn Is the one about the actor who was so averse to early rising he was 40 year:# old before he heard of Quaker OjUs. Benny 'm -ff^ -about pJa^ inf, Eric to break his Jump from the Coll«:eum was changed to breaking his Jump from Newark. They think of everything. They started tough for lionny, but wound up with round hecLs. He and Al Birns (Stanley and Birns), the deuce act, did one of those ad lib things that the cus- tomers love. Birns asked permis- sion to tell a story In Benny's act. Benny's comments on the story were real funny. It was likable nonsense and a yell when Benny stopped him as he recognized it us a stag story. The Klewnings, a fast three-man trapeze and horizontal bar turn, opened, doing five flashy minutes, followed by Stanley and Blrnes, a good dancing duo, who clicked. Robert Emmett Keene and Claire WTiltney, returning to vaudeville after a legit r.ppcarance. were third. The pair are using their former sketch, "Room 909." The act hit and missed. Some of the lines Just lay. The playing saved It from utter rout, and the spot didn't help much either. Lloyd Nevada and Co., the black and white magic turn, held them un usually well. Nevada gets some weird effects by working in front of a black velvet eye. A whale of a .show. ^o**" time to celebrate the resurrection, somebody resurrected Marie Dress- ier. Spotted In the second half for the matinee, she apparently was moved up for the rest of the week. She came on billed as "X. V. A. Surpri.se," but announced by Ar- thur West. Miss Dressier seeincil .Hurprlsed at something, for there was a tbree-mlnute stage wait. But her own big surprise came at the end, when she walked off w ithout a sound. When Miss Drcsslur returned i'rom Europe some moutiis tmo ana got some space on her "reiireineni. stating she WiLS going into ^'lorida real e.^'tate, the t^uiace played her a ' farewell" week on an old-tiinerH bill, and she got over fairly well, xiiis lime, wita the same material, no hurrah and only her ob.si»i<'tt nielboU.^ and pivy.sical exaKgeraiion'^ to rely on. Her talk was amaz- ingly tanateurish and dull, and even audience didn't warm much to the N. V. A. propaganda. It's pretty hard to crowd any new holidays Into the American calendar, espe- cially personally declared ones. The Idea didn't register here except to ilelay the proceedings. West, ns an announcer, made no t'ffort for laughs beyond one or two stuK^ors. He sang one song and forijot to announce himself. I.oit. STATE (Vaude. and Pots.) With B. A. liolfe s orchestra. lT\e headliner, yet to come. s«)nie of the audien(*e breezed rather than stand lor the N. V. A. tap which thoy sen.sca with the flashing of that Not Very Appropriate reel. It starts off with a plea for the wlilcb besides the lyric held patter. With tho papers so full of Gerald Chapman and Connecticut's ruling that he pay tho extreme penalty. It would have soemetl discretion to have at least held this number out early in tb« week. liiit it '.vas ust d and a '8:weral uneasiness w im th« r«'sult. Sk-io. 81 »t ST. (Vaude. and Pets.) A good routine bill for il»o iyp» of hi)use save in a few j^oia tiiis week. A gt>o(l house in with N, V. A. Week and the holiday M« uday. KuK«'n«j und Willie Howard, sur- prise fi»r Monilay night, proved a veritable life saver in the No. 4 despite cutting to about six iiuniites. The addltlt»n.il oomedy destitute and needy actor and then strength was sorely needed and . flashes Fred Stone and his pros- helped lots, for minus the Howards the Babbitts at the Hip couldn't get I Parous family amid a scene of com- the comedy department burden in tune with it. \tort and plenty as the follow-up. would have rested entirely upon For »n old nArformer MIma Uress- ^- ^'^^PP^" ^as the extra N. the shoulders of Crawford und the way for a gracious plea for ville after a season with "Chariot s alms. Outside of that, the State Revue," clicked In the opener with bill this week Is satisfactory enter- their cometly acrobatics with tainment. A. Joseph Jordan with St«nviu't and Olive (New Acts), his trench musician-comedians cut mixed dani-lnff team, more than wnmon who eot UnHv on a boat she I "P ^^^^ » comedy Idea of a Vll- holding their own in following up. msd^^irr •xU t^^^^^^ orchestra. Harriet Nawrott We.sley Barry and Co. came next fho /nirJnr; thJ^. walked o^ Skaters, opened. with the kid movie star registering in the entrance, then walked ol£ m Primrose Four the heavv- hi**avler than his vehicle, disgust to the most reverberating I Vf''"^"*® rour, ine neavy- ^. ini** und V'uireno Howard nn- lenre ever heard in this theatre weight harmony quartet, followed >MH»« ana r^uj.ene nowara. an- lence ever heard »n tn s tnoatre. i ^^^^ ^ pleasant Idea of pop warbling "ounced as the surprise act walked Charles Withers* burlesque ©P although their catalog is rather ' °" proved perfect here, and banged In I an^jqy^ ,„ the^/i.p song Idea. Furthermore, a modernizing of wardrobe would do wonders for the quartet. A modern cut dinner suit, . . , ^irwu,v-» I * wing collar and a boiled shirt than the present old-fashioned tle- under-the-collar get-up. Withal. Yorke and Kins* trading places their voices blend beautifully and with Miss Dressier, went down to for the picture hou.ses they possess ri^n^ti^^-J^J**" An^^*ii!!v ; "i^'/ entertainment that should 1 il^^u^r Cr;w7oTd"rnr hWh''bV^^^^ '^^A 2ti^Lrfu {^""S panicked them In next bood. They had to work hard, fu- Yates and Carson, with their place with Miss Broderlck's nous and high, for there Is much standard routine, are a sure-fire sardonic wl.se-cmcks and restrained consecutive talk. But It Is fly talk pop house entry. Jay C. Flippcn humor holding them throughout, and it la crisp talk. It sagged only was erroneously announced as be- Davlo Jamleson and his Revolters, where York obviously was adding in|f currently at the Palace, doing the latter comprising Paul Simmons locals and nifties, going outside his a curtailed routine for his N. V. Sln^'ers (Now Acts) closed, material, and most of the secondary a. donation. The Girlies Revue. The N. V. A. "slug" was reserved cracks were stale and out of tune, cut down to Ave from a sextet, are for the Intermission. Edba. The finishing bit with the two boy a versatile assortment of femmes. assistants, clicked, and the turn got individually they won't fetch the I off nicely. production managers flocking but | 58TH ST. Llbby and Sparrow, assisted by as a fra^^-up for the smallles, it's | /WAimB a«^«« Mi^^mv the Foster Girls, deuced and had a variety flash, | IVAUDE AND PICT8) their ups and downs. The routine I Jones and Jones, another stand- I Jim McWllllams, who does a nut Is spotty, only the dancing being ard entry, mopped up with their planologue, Is a very funny guy worth while and Llbby's Imitation dialog. The colored twain are sure- That's probably news to not>ody of Errol great, but done too often, flre for anybody's vaudeville. who goes to vaudeville regularly The encore, a cat ballet (not the The B. A. Rolfe orchestra (New but he was so funny at the 68th St* Krazy Kat classic) came after a Acts) closed. Feature fllm, "Un- Alonday night that the enthusiasm of her wise-crack asides In this fam- ily house, packed with youngsters, were indecent, unnecessary aiUk rude. lier manner of delivery ac- centuated them. Finishing on a drunken bit, imitating a modest the laughs from the word go. Many of the Singer's Midgets' follower.' are not * regular vaudeville goers, and to them his famous business seemed new and riotous. Withers worked hltchlessly and earned his hit. nin;? and maintained good will with several minutes of punchy cross- lire and a vocal. Veritable show stoppers they held within 'a nix minute routine begging off and In- viting the outfronters to the Rlver- sde next week to see the rest of •their act. Pablo de Sarto, violinist, came next with a repertoire of Instru- mentals entbuslastlnally received. dead break, for Miss Sparrow an- tamed Woman" (Swanson); busi- HIPPODROME Big N. V. A. week at the big Hip Singer's Midgets, timed for a pub lie school holiday week, is drawing the trade. Monday night the house had more than two-thirds filled which Is hot these days. The midgets did their usual stuff with a *'Ben-IIur" treadmill char- iot race, run by ponies, as the new kick. The jazz V>and has Improve^ prrntfy. The kisnable little prim donna had a cold, but oih^TWisf tho troupe ran like a new wrls watr-h. Tl.o kids out front y.p).'* ;in(l yelped with Jmv. and the ii'ia'.t a scenic media^-val ro.siinne wid dinK. iDl'pcd .'ii.yt:.;M£; f!.e v(i--at)le and ever-busy J^ir;:'"'r nounced a wait, which was unnec cssary, as the girls came on almost immediately. But the speech let down the tension, and the post- script wa.«tn't strong enough to re store It. The hole cat number may be eliminated for the good of these sprifTiitly performers, who make good without it and have a hard time getting away with It. Mary Cavanova and Otokar Ma- rak, celebrities of Czecho-Slovaklan opera and with a record of some engagements with tho Chicago ness capacity. Abel ported the tambourine was making irand ppera Compftny. had* ratto l^;^?;/^" *£^^^^ ''hJi"«Ai?'?!!; ^«o..i»,^^„ „ n>irnt, tnit not so hero at the BROADWAY (Vaude. and Picts.) A full two hours of vaudeville over here this week but the sur- prise of tho bin was the abHence of a pa.ssing of the hat despite tho N. V. A. banners outside and the presence of a "guest" act. In this Instance Harry Breen. It was re- h;i« .•-h"'.v;i in soas(>ns. It l.»-ini? desultory time of It and a rather perfunctory appreciation. They have Kood voices, but surely don't know how to sing in vaudeville, espe- cially Marak, whose single solo, brief and in English, was deadly and pathetic. Some unexplained and not easily understood islaster number, with the Foster Girls, clo.sed It to poor returns. This pah- has neither the great thrctats nor the small graces to qualify for star competition In this racket. The opener. La Kremollna and Darras Brothers (New Acts), con- nected, and closed brilliantly. Next to the Midgets the most auspicious of tho acts came last, a combination of house producing and outside art-staging, with Margaret Severn interpolating some estab Ushed dances with the spectacular stuff for surroundings. It Is the Benda Mask ballet which broke In last week at the ^(Ist Street, with the new Foster outfit of 1% and the IS that go with the Hip lease. Otto Gygl and Allan K Foster produced the works, star- ring Miss Severn. It Is a flashy, different and' at moments highly delightful presentation, and would go well in a high-class picture the- atre. With tho girls on In several big numbers earlier the effective- ness here was not full up. The staging is done with an eye to beauty of scene and flne taste in wardrobe. Miss Severn's dances are sure-fire, but not new. The act In Its present bulk cannot tour In vaudeville, and with half as many girls will have a hard time paying for Itself, not because of quality, but because of quantity. It Is good enough for any house, but the salary clippers will have n Uoman carnival with It If It tries getting a ri>ute. Roger Wolfe Kahn and his band contrlbMted the N. V. A. "snrjn ise.' It worlcctl neatly and stral;:htaw;iy \vlf?ii>ut any trie Ics or irit"/tw/lMiion.s four niinib« rs enrl i:r»'»il-by whlN- th«» cii.stc^njors Wf pf' hot. With the h;jt-p;.s>^ n-. fbo N. V. \. Murh on .'jIM^s '<r,il a - ri-". h r.n \ fY.o pul.'ffl by Atlhur VV.'-L. Ih final night show, unless during the picture. Right acts counting Breen and a pretty fair layout. At least the house thought well of It and espe- cially Fred Ardath (New Acts) and Jay C. Fllppen. The latter was next to closing and only managed to beg off by Introducing Breen al- though bis nonchalant delivery con- tains nothing that he hasn't done before. New gags and current pop lyrics comprised the makeup which sufllced to give him a generous slice of approval. Immedl.itely ahead was the Ardath act which followed the Wilton Sisters, those two girls routining -as of yore plus a supposedly comedy song for a finish that left much to be desired. l*ho Junetros, acrobatics, opened with Merlin and Evans trailing to do 110 minutes. Merlin, at home In getting rid of comedy magic, probed plenty of laughs from the assemblage. The addition of his almost ruined Interest In the beg- ging N. V. A. Week reel, which an optimistic opemtor began screening the minute the lights went down on Mr. McWllllams. First there came the titles about Artist and Man- ager—then something about taking care of the unfortunate actors—but the mob weren't very much Inter- ested. The din of whistles and ap- plau.se grew so that McWllIlHms came out in th« dark and told them he'd come back later—which he did, having been ordained to explain the why and wherefore of tho plate passing racket Opening this bill were Louise and Mitchell, comedy acrobatic turn, with the woman as the under* stander. Good act of its kind but filled with too much stalling and at- tempted comedy which never got over. Harry Gee Haw and his part- ner. Lee Lee, In the deuce. This Chinese couple registered very mild- ly, Harry's attempt at wise-cracking being pathetic. He sold several songs nicely and some weak com- edy with the girl Just hardy lid across. For a finish the girl made a bow In her panties—that being her comedy answer to his rebuke for wearing a dressing gown In tak- Infr bows. In the trey was the Lorlta. King and Co . sketch called "Tlie Higher Tips." This one cnrrien five people nn<^ has a tough gal Interruntlng he^^ brother's call on wjme swells. The girl doing the tough stuff Is excel- lent, looking like musical comtvly or revue material. Her partner docs a good straight. Two other girls In wife In -the act may be new but I tho programmed team al'sV dFd"some the carrying^ of a '^plant" Isn't.^It flne harmony singing, putting the" away on the Ice and paving the In understood Merlin Is headed for Australia with this vehicle, and If so he should have as little trouble connecting un the "down under" side of the world ns on the 41st street corner. Merlin handles him- self well and "sells" neatly which Is more Important than the tricks In this instance. The Brlants drew a reception and lived up to the greeting with the messing about of he who does the dummy. Harry Breen as the Inserted ad- dition to the show stayed awuy from his "nut" antics but favored wsy for McWllllams r/ho did his flame torn for howls. And when he was through the ushers went through the audience for plenty, the plates looking to be wrll filled. It's down to a basis nowa<lays. Instead of making It look Impromptu by the pa.«<slng of tho hat, they're using ba.okets on the end of long poles. Just like the smarter churches. .limmy Savo and .Jojin I'Yanza f<d» Iowfe<l, the womjin being merely the foil to .S'.tvo's mug;rlng. silent com- edy and ."lapstlck. Savo also wowed tliose pre sent by reciting a couple | thr* nifib. being equalled only by f)f origin.*!! wor.;s off^-rf d strb tly In .M< ■Willi inis on t\\i'. bill. T'nurua'. a S'-rious vein. Both were faiily b-ngthy, possibly t'lo long, but IJreen's earnestness helped to salve aiiV rnm**d f#*eMni?H. Tho. Rose and Moon Revue (Svw Arts) <;lo8'"d, brlr g in turn siir- < • t ded by ' The (""oln-ns an-l Kelly.s ' the .'-•rniM'M ff.'iluic. Iiifbl ntally. to see two sufh first clnsH fomerllonH on the srirne bill In n. split work nflirb'nrhoofl bouse. )'()i)i vvor'<«^d li»'iirtiiv and didn't f'TM-nl Jnsl bpr.-nisJi the .' r-ab' was !"vvf r. r.iMl r'v':!:M ami Co. (\« w- A< ol'.'< d MiiifUy. '•'i ll'- r.ir Crv .1 riist r.'.idonal The show heM f,n" f.\'*'i" ! 'm1«.\v - i-r N i o r-nf Its li-'st Ww Yotlc ."^liOiV iPff Mt, and that tb * fn il' f)f IIh- ^'••i.se In n<»t ln^l li'i' ni'<in del' ti 'O. This bit w.tM "'I I:e I'TiV..!' \\ ■••■)< nd til*-. I - how r-tn pT^f 11 r;^ Monday. Tlf I ."-""riK" u-«'d durin;,' il ■ Aid.iili I i ! I ' I . TM ^^orpl IV. n'l-'ifif ps at TM rht ■|i ii i;y 'i/ i|ii't<- ;i f< \v vo' ts - ,i| nti Ik t«; "11 Tbii-d .'I'- onuts