Variety (Aug 1926)

Wednesday, Ang:u8t 18^ 1926 REVIEW5 yARIGTY 63 VAUDEVILLE REVIEWS PALACE (8t. V«ud«) Ko coollof «ystem at the Palace, M they booked Frank VanH^ven and.his ice-carrying plants. They could have done worse, for Van- Hoven stayed them in the ncxt-to- closlng niche, winding up a iong bHl that held nothing startling, but ^Ich played smoothly, with plenty of variety, an unusual virtue In *}iese days of drab sameness. The bill got a break in having 'discovered" Dora Maughan, jingle woman, who tied the show lYi knots. The Palace press agent "discovert-a" that Miss Maughan is a recent im- portation from London. That'll kill Jake Lubln. She played I^oow's State for Jake two weeks ago, and has been aroutid trying to be "dlfl* eovered" in her current single for a year. The girl wfll next be discovered by the musical comedy scouts, for ■he holda. plenty and has a great routine of sbngs by Harry Ruskln and Dave 6 tana per. Murray Fulam fa at the piano: MUis Maughan is as fresh and wholesome looking as fresh milk, and has a voice, also a delivery, that will carry her into the big league. She clogged up the show in opening after Intermifiion apot. Gregory Kelly (New Acts) In "The Honeymoon," by the late Aaron Hoffman, followed, and did better than the usual legit when taking the vaudeville plunge. The first half held two show- atoppers in the Dfxle Pour, colored quartet, .who stopped the show No. 2 with their "itcla" dance finish, and Dave ApoUon and Co., who stopped It, closing the first half. Marjorie Iiane, the . contprtion dancer in tbe Apollon act, stopped the act ItMlf with her dance, the applause con- tinuing half-way through the fol- low toe specialty dance of Dorothy Charles. Just why Miss Lane wasn't trotted out for a bow to quiet the outburat* unless it was unexpected, wasn't revealed. Apollon himself scored singly as a musician and dancer, and bis Manila Orchestra of atrings also tickled the music lov- . ars. It's a whale of an act and lavishly pro<^uccd. Sylvia Loyal and Co. opened in her pretty novelty act, in which she features the two black and white poodles and the pigeons, in addition to her own contributions^f hat Jug- Sling and wire tvalking. P*erry Corwey, the musical clown, was third. Corwey scored strongly. His pantomime and comedy bits were ludicrgua,: funny and smoothly developed. They liked his musical offerings also. Al Coogan and Mary Casey also fode into the once sacred Palace on the heat wave. The act cOntalhs aome very fiuiny dialog, also plenty of familiar* and :hoke. They liked the turn here, and it went better than it h^ in many of the snf^fl- tima* houses, proving o^ce again that the Palace bunch ar» "loft^" as the acts always conten^d. ^ **Parihlan Art," one of the most beautiful posing acts in vaudeville. Closed. The act features Beulah Stawart and May Day in 12 studies, each one good for individual ap- plause. It held them in unusually ^U. Business good. Cmi« didn't re;ich across. Some of tho patter is bright and they leave an agreeable impresaion. Apparently he .«inme formarljr known ma ^exas and Walker. Morlen and Mason ara man and the turn I musician who insist upon NEW ACTS GREGORY KELLY (12) '*The Honeymoon** (Comidy) 18 Mins.; Full StaQa Palace (St. Vaude.) Gregory Kelly, late juvenile .star tion, and as presented limits itself to an early apot within I ^ ^*®y uncertain in tlu the intermediates. I eonversatibnal exchanges, but when Bob Anderson and Pony opened, p^^^ ^et over this material and got sretiing across neatly, aided by a r^^^'" music on the woman's vio- few snickers, resulting from com- ^^e man's piano-accordion I of the "Butter and Egg Man," is edy asides. Nell Roy and Co. (New '*'^y protjress. Tho izz linlsh was makln# bis vaudevillo debut at the Acts) cropped out fourth, whence h^ *^!^ *'«-^eived, but tlio flashy operatic pj^j.^^ ,; ^^ig week in "Th<» Honev- the Raymond and Caverly duo in plumber didn't Impress the crowd es- L^oon " bv the late Aaron Hoffman I urn, followed by LewU and the | iH'^ ially. The man does a faint dia • by tiie laie Aaron nt u a sketch that haa seen much aer vice in vaudeville and lut used by Gil>son and Corolli. The act nts Kelly welL It la an excellent skit for hia mlld-man- IJritton band. ' I 'ect cftiaractcr at the start, then The latter act Is about the same, '?oea into straight for the body of r.ewis' dancing: huidiuf^ attention '^''e act. The comedy la tho weak besides drawing salvos. The band. Part. a nine-piece outfit, mostly goes in It took Irving Edwards some min- for warm nielodie.s, and in this di- 'Jtes to got into his pae% atrange I nered "sap" characterisation and rection the brass section is effective, for this brisk young man, as his halting manner of speech A low-down arrangement for an fresh" line of chatter ought to • ccentrlc by Lewis was p.irticularly click at the getaway. Probably the lieated. Tailing the show, the act device of a preliminary straight found the navigating easy, and announcement by what seemed to h( c*«hed in. 9kUf. la house attache, did him no ^od. It la uncalled for. Oui^Ar\\l/AV I announcer read what pur- DEK\Ji\iJwjJ\J, , I ported to be a letter from the house physician to Manager Gene Meyers The story concerns the honey- moon trip of a young couple who go to tho same room in the same hotel the girl's parents did, years before. The girl Is a selfish, spoiled, wilful darling who la running her tnlld-mannered apouaa ragged un- til he asserts himself and makes his He SXAbXfi ~^:L-.... . (Vau(la-Pets> Vaudeville as vaudeville Isn't so not on the 45th street corner this week. But backed by "The Waltz Dream" as the picture it can't be auch a bad show. At least that's the Impreaaion to be drawn from a lew lobby remarks as the custom- ore exited. They likod the show and they liked the prices, and at 10.30 the patrons were still niakint? squad rushes down the aisles for front lo- Ications. A muggy Monday night nad the only downstairs vacancies in the last five rows along the side- walls. Business? Verily! And they bad to i^top selling tlckeU twice Monday afternoon. No particular punch in the six- act lineup generalizes the show. The Xjewia>Brltton band combination, clo.sing, gingered up the action a little, but previously it was methodi- cal presentation. Jerome and Hyan (New Acts) "milked" tliemselves into a speech, while Raymond and Caverly, topping the acts, did their -L)utch for 22 minutes to apiwcia- tion. The finish this veteran coui)le la using smackswof being not overly strong and could stand br u in^. The argumentative crossfire flashes out new l.inguage twists every so often, although as a wliOle tlio a< t lollows the trail it always has been on. Perr«)ne and Olive, llie forjn'^r carrying a "Count" allixed to tlic outsido billing, were No. 2 with ^^r^ight songs. The woman pi'>nist bifiika away to harmuni::o with her nialo partner, tho refrain thence be- coming a mutter f.f puu-cr. The use of ♦'Valt ncia' wns pre- ceded by an announcement the number was fi-om tlie Slrib'-rfs' "Great Temptations," which may b^' the penance asked hy the Shubcrt office for of th^ k Tiff. Tbrf p. tunes aad encore suiliced. Tlie show—If that can be fi^^^fi^ exercise and recommending points out that her mother niade [.^or one thing, the ^.^ "^-f ^i^^-^^d^^^^^^ father a failure beoauao he ilS't^l^lf^"^ --^t himself in time, and (Vaude-Pcts) i • u i Individually good acta combined l ^r^."'"^ * ^^^i^*^" |'^^claration of independence, to make a poor figured out. 1< Broadway, with , ., After his poor start Edwards plckefl, ^, , , ^ » . up steadily for a rousing flniah with his subdued wife melts into his the uke. ^ - j arms he confesses that her mother Marion Clatre haa two things that I tipped him off to do it. iiisure her returns. One Is her fln( Lsabel T.amcn as the girl bride voice and the other the double voice ^as excellent, and Tom Fadden as trick. She haa a range that rcachest tlon and over-abundance of cigar and cigaret smoke, is a pretty un- comfortable place, and with a poor movie. "The Mystery Club." interest in the vauilevillo poition of the bill was almost killed before it started Added to that Was the lackadaisical method of some of tlie performers \vl)0 talked and talked and talked and laughed to themselves, but didn t tip off the laughs to the mugs who had good hearing, but weren't able to use it Terrell and Kemp, a corking acro- from female baritone to brilliant so- prano. Her performance of using l)oth singing tones in Tostrs "Qood^ five" will be an applaupo asset any- where. Besides which her amiable approach to the audience makes TriendH swiftly. Opening Intermis- a nosfcy hotel clerk bellboy, also scored. Kelly can atajr around in vaudeville. Con. batlc team, opened with a conven- l^'^^n she made her own way and left tional routine of lifts varied by an I ^^^^ calling for more. exhibition of muscular control. Both men worked smoothly, but the slow- pace of their routine is a disad- vantage. Lorraine and Neil, in the deuce, wore a two-man singing act, in which was the usual imitations of .lolson. Eddie Leonard and Pat Roo- ney. The pianist In this turn was fair enough as a pianist, while the peppy singer tried hard enough. But Jimmy llyan. with a company of two, has a new turn called *'Ten Oollars'* (New Acts) that needs pol- sbinpf. Then came the Temple Pour with a riot* next to closing, and Three-and-a-Half Arleys, perch balancers and acrobats, a sightly '.losing number. This quartet (the fraction Is a diminutive boy top- makea an uticommonty MAR RONE and L'ACOSTA (5) Dance Production 17 Mins.; Full Stage. (Special) 81st 8t. (V.P> John Marrone and Alfredo D'Acosta have been concerned In a number of combinations, but here they have two pretty girls and Mat a^trlted steppers. They are young, slim maids both and fairly efrervesca with spirit and verve. The program sets them down as Slgnorlta Carllta and Mile. Galla. An older woman ac- companies the quartet at Abe piano. All four open in a brisk routine of a few steps, pairing off for duets mounter) while the turn had fair success, it I ^mart appearance, still reminded the steady vaude- The stage (downstairs) for the villians that Healey and Cross are Arleys represents the deck of a bat- algo good. Big hit next, "All Over j Heshlp and tho three men and the Town" revuo (New Acts), fol- woman (the last in brief pantalettes I imme<llatelyi The f.rst is an aero iout^ine^Vws nct^u^^\\^ aTd'weiH white'sUk*^ M aallorti, all in Uatic Argentine that Ukea in a lit- Hkid," stumbled VerrMondayvnl^M The feature is a head balance oc j i-lli^Tf,"*?; * J^l^^ij?*!!!?*o!lLt by not telWng loud enough. A dance.U perch 18 feet high, bringing the ^^^^^ ^ ""^"^ i ? k revue called "Charm-ol-ogy" and balance clear to the top of the high lofty tumbling by the featuring Hazelton and Klatos, fol- proscenium arch. The band-to- | S^^^i ^^^^ ^^^^ lowed. hand work of the two man knd the [ The blonde followa with the other It was a handsomely produced af- [boy l.q In faultless gymnastic style [ man, doing muc hthe .«iamo routine, fair put on by Dan Caslar, The | and form and the whole turn i^ trim 1 but this time franred in a waltz hangtngH 'were of black iHtk a>ur- fond attractive In hiannor of preain- I tempo and In ballroom costume In- taln in the center of the backdrop. I tation. The boy top mounter Is an | g^^j^ii of briof skirt and bare legs fTi'if acrobat, and all The routine involves stunning from wmeh atopa led down. Between, four are attr&cttvo young peopla. ' the.se steps the pianist did his chores. Three girls opened the act, followed by a prima donna who wasn't so good. Then the featured team, who did a familiar routine with no eapecial akitl. Tho three girls had their specialties which were strictly dancing school rou tines, while the prima dohna also got herself on a couple of times 5TH AVE (Va«do-^ota) Just before a sample of Mr. Proc- tor's Idea of a 75-cent vaudeville show was introduced, a film trailer For a flash, the black settlngi were I heralding the advent of Dorothy changed to gray and this trick ef- Icish In "Nell Qwyn" (British pre- fect was well received. This dance revue's performers are In Inverse nitto to the excellent aeenery car- ried Kramer and Boyle followed «and duction) had it that "'Variety,' the leading theatrical paper, says" ao- rind-so about the flicker feature, re- lying on this family journal to "sell" P9t a few laughsr while the Ballot the picture's merita to the audience Troup'>. four women and one man. While on tho subject of that "six closed with weight lifting, throwing bits," the vaude Is bad enough, but and Iron Jaw work. This turn waft | why complicate a poor proposition. accorded a real applauae at the con- clusion. As a film novelty an early Bio- graph, starring Mary l^lokford and Henry B. Walthall, was shown in its reissued form. The house howled. 8iak. AMERICAN (VAUDE-PCTS) Monday night, rain, nearly capac- ty upstairs and down and an un- with that impossible U alleged dicker entertainment, "The Mystery Club,** which for no rhyme or rea«> son calls things quite in a merry lushion after committing an as- sortment of mayhem, arson, larceny and kidnapping, omitting but one or two of the card^^^ln|M^^|c course (tt that'MM^^^^MfMWNi^VM! .v'inding U)) with an Inane blow-off. Opening were Cecil and Van (New .Vets) and okay. Iver and Sills, not so good, with conventional musical even show saved by ab;indnnre of Mf^mie-up that has possibilities of ' orogress with application and bought as to routine, comedy, all conspired to provoke a near-riot at the 42d street corner F'robably the srn-riMl ujjroar of thf evening was that attending tlio per- formance of the Remple Four. Ro bust li.n rnony and a binclcfare f lov.i make a combination for tho Ainci ican that can't bo beat. This black- face comedian is iirobably tb<^ most energetic clown working with n iiuartet. and the harmony Is of that robust kind that Inspires gales and hurricanes of aj)plause. Almost the only dull spot was the • rittor J'attej- Revue" (Xew Arts), I six-girl tab-revue just before in- termission. It hadn't a laugh in it cxeept the disn^roemont with tlu orehestrn, whieh wasn't jnt» ndfd. so a kidding .«?crtlon of the audience did Its own comedy. The TeA-ans, rope manipulators. *— Tli"j r e xt. 1' 1 in th e lp np" eially. IImHi iti hi .and wi.m.in hav' igrceabia manner, but hindicip ihcmseh^S with a dead opr-ning The ri.'^o of the curtain has th' rti posed in tho ronff^r. The worn -oes Into a Hat kind of song nSTi prdiniin iry to a f:iir s.miple (if turn mondi-i on V,*i!l Ko;;«*is'. .^onio (»f the talk was too fast, but much more 'peninf item Is not a happy selec- fell flat because the man's delivery George Ford and Flo Cunningham "n a clever vehicle credited to Jack ait and J'.l iir Treynor hr-ld up. Thr ct has class and intelligence In ;«resentatIon. It's a vaudevllb' .;t;indard. Al K. Hall and a new vehicle was a comedy smash. Naomi Olas^ (Now .\cts) preceded Hall. The five .Jansley.s. a class nulntet in the art of risley, wound up snappily. Aha. JIM AND FLO BOQART Songs and Talk 15 Mini.; Ona American (V-P) Mixfd tf-am, not out of the u.su il run. Man in "goofer" makeup and w I pI look i ng noft t In wh l t si Th e t a lk not ;;ood. is suprrflurjMs, with both r. ]> inu on vocal t'llent. U.sual flirt dialog Ih followed by song.% all of which .score. A sentimental num- ber closing Is helped by some well »lon" niur?L,'incr Tty th** man. Aet !s '"nt'^rtaining and for small time ' only. Well liked at Uio Americah. leaps, twists,, benda and throws, managed with atartling speed, but still in tho waits time. The quartet are together again for an elaborate version of the Apa<;be, worklnga little story out In dumb idtOwa.^lrst girl and first man have a lover's tiff. Girl flirts with another man, coaxing him to drink and give her money. Ftrat man takoa money away, whereupon the second girl flirts with him, lead- ing to fight between the girls and ending with the familiar Apache dance, this one being one Of special violence, in which the assault the girl is remarkably vividj The pan- tomime haa tho hovot feature that It has comedy worked in. Tho wliolo act seema to have been built aruund thia Apache af- fair. The dancers are dreased In tho familiar red and black, and that is tbe eoloi fieheme of the box set- ting, which gives a vivid effect. The act ia richly dreaaed, both as to the men although the latter are bare legged and scantily clad. For a finish the blond girl and partner go through another H«Ti<'S of dizzy leaps and catc hfs, whlrly and spins and all are on for some brisk |tepping for tho curtain. Closing the bill the act scored aub- stantlally* as It should anywhere. WERNER and MAf^Y ANN Songs and Comedy 14 Mins.; One Riverside ^St. V.) Werner ia refi rrod to in the act aS I-'reddie, and Iho Variety liles reveal a l-'red Werner of some time back* who attempted a single without get- ting far. If this Is the same man. thoa hla stylo of atufC has changed con* sidorably, for instead of being stout as the back notice described him, thia Werner ia thin, doea a paitr* faeod iMtp comedy routine, ualng a trick chair with rubber legs and a knock-around 'cello for the laughs. Working with him Is a girl called Mary Ann, rather buxom and shrill in her singing, but nice looking and .satisfactory as a feeder. The turn opens with her tiong and after sho finishes the light goea to the ao- companlst and reveals him as Wer- ner, lie immediately goes for the 'cello, falls around , lil!^ stage, be« gina losing hia Otoithos, brings th tho ehair with wiggly legs, drops the bow a few limes, has it fall apart a few more, goea off stage and re* turns with a new 'cello, from whiell a dog springs, and a few MMNni f(il« tics of this nut type. He did one solo on tho instru* ment,but apparontl)r did all his flu* glaring on one string, for the vol- ume wasn't strong and the number went weakly. As a comedian, how- , evoir, b# 0Ot iMiglia* and the wo- man's attraetlve dressing, first in a simple frock and later in a gown of black sequins, proved attractlvow ' Bptttlsd fMirth IMTO, It Wi^ 1^1^ moderate applause and qtiallflai Ml okay for the middle houses. At any rate, Werner is new as a coMUaa; fM ditt thi»t ImuMs shoiM flnd.i*voc;---^ ' •. ■ -Jfukt-'' RODERO AND IIAM^Y Songs and Talk 21 Mins.; Ona (Special) 5th Avo. (V*jf^, / OvorhufdtMl witti i^Mr tpWr.wii terial it*t a struggle for ^ilis0:i1f« m«n.|i:oi}i the start Rodero, music- ally tncllaed upon strings.-la not a newcomef and It doesn't seem as thou|(h Maley is^ cither. The latter does ttit '^roi^ ellariietsr Insldo^ p phoanhofous suit for which (iMIlrt; are a couple of blackouts. The chief bet here Is l^lfUey's im- personation of Ooortb BiMoi tfMiiv a song. A ballad with the tears turned on, etc. And they liked it. That was good enough for an en- 'cora number, Rodero'AoctafpjuijrliH^: instrumMitallir Iter ihs s i^i laa tlM* for this. The 2X minutes is out of all pro- portion to tho itdifd ohtortalnment value. Dadly put together cross talk overboard with puns, gives the boys a grade to climb as soon as they- como on. Tho sttbiisv thli la >iror« come the better. The aet Is limited to.tho leaaor olass housss right now. Bkig. 3 SUNSHINE BOYS Songs at Piano ^ 13 Mins.; One 5th Ave. (V P.) A rath.skeller trio of cafe and ra- dio experience, Sharkey, Roth and RInge Jiave been around under the Three Simsbine Boys' name, livirig up to their i*ollyanna l>illing in the way of pop songs. Dave Ringle at the i>iano is a sf»ngwrlter, with "Wabash IJlues" liin liiggest hit. but lie is not the author or composer of **Memor>' Lari"," as en >r.f ouslV announced. Tint ;^ ig of ringing a phoney hit yccm.i to bo somewhat of an epi- demic aa a kind of applause-gett« r for piano players. S'b irlcy and Uoth .ire robust and ♦•n* rg"ti«: poji 8f)ng sal'>y.m' n. Tb'*y hop around and <'lown In ap'v i)t«d WILBUn 8WeATMAN and C;». (8) Band and Dancers ^ 19 Mint.; Full Stags (SlMOlnl) American (V-P) Wilbur isweatman Is the saxo* phoai artist Hi f^rmorlir dM * sas act with a company of two and /)f late has been populiur. 911 phono- graph records. Mr. Bweatman Is an eveellent os- ponent of tho sax wielding the In- Hlrument beautifully In slow time numbers and almost hotter than hot In tho fast onas^ In the present turn. Swcatman has surrounded himself with a fine company. It holds a slx-pieco band, including Bwoatauta, who leads with bis sax, two dancers, man and girl. The bandsmen are versa- tile. The pianist sings while a sax- ophonist plays the piano and the drummer dances while the banjolst plays tho drums. The banjo play- er's accompaniment during a vocal number Ktands out. Tho girl, well nppearlng, does a hit Charleston. While her later at- tempts at stepping are not above tho ordinary, her work In the one num- ber stainps her as a cai»a)>le spc- clallsL The winging of the male dancer fs good. A* trio dance, with the girl and man^ danc**rs and the l)arijf»l.st for it may be re lll.st), bad them yelling cn a hot eve ning whi«n I t ron e nut o f sl o w tempo Into one of Hp<'^d. .Swf'atTn.an tn a gor)d nhf^wmnn. Ills little jazzy touches are helpful. Ho has assembled a turn that Is slif'd, from nppearancca, for M|f t!ni«». Tlif^re ho f<hould sail e.Tslly, As a pb lure house prospect Sweat- cafe style. In total, they scored man has few vaudevillo productloa heaviljr OB Urn, ^ AbvU turn cosrpetltors.