Variety (Jan 1928)

39 VARIETY NEWi ACTS THIS WEEK DE 6ROOT (3) Instrumental Trio 25 Mins.; Two Palace (St. V.) . Do Groot is. a stalely vi'olinitit who knows enouKlv to stay wilhin Uic bounds, of ■ conutiori undcrstarifiinp: As regards' that stately idea, he's tall enough to niake a violin seem t(> bdiorig.under his chin minus any physical exertion to keep it there Besides that, he wears "tails" and plays With, his heels: together. A . military vioUnlst Military or other- wise, he's a yioliriifit and knows how ■0. convey that idea. Having played »t the Piccadilly Hotel, London, for . .'ears, be Grciot is here ''on spec," 0 to speak, with his cellist and ianist from the West- End. For a straightaway' Instrumental I'io these men unquestionably hung ip an endurance record on the Pal-. :c!e stage Monday Jiight by holding ^ t .for 23 minutes and stopping the ;hbWt : It. finished with De Groot in ■'one." as his accompanists played :.iehind the thin material drapes as the stage was presumably being set. Take it or leave it, that's the an t swer. There aren't enough two-ia- 'lay houses in the east for be Groot :o play to make it worth while, arid oiit west they have a habit of be- ';bming impatient if. there's not a . liot 'cornet, blaring at least^, every other nurhber. But there iare other cypes of theatres, and a string of .class hotels. Besides which, De ."^rbbt's ensemble is perfect for ■ .-adio.- • "They liked it here andi they'll like t in certain spots there. But what light happen at the Jefferson? ■l' 8rd: •RED BfeRRENS and Band (10) '-3and'- ■ 24 Mins.; Full Stage (Special) Audubon (V-P) ;. , This. Is the same Fred Berrens who used, to offer a novelty musical act with a mystery-playing me- chanical piano billed as the Athpico. Berrens, with his fiddle and the "ampick," proved quite a novelty, as well as dishing up musical enter- tainment, . as Berrens knows his violin pretly well'. . By way of working up a new act Berrens has : 10 musicians, dressed in the arniy aviation outfits, the outfit occupying positions in' a big specially made airplane, a stage; prop that, with the old. paddle whirling, and with picture effect of a flyltig machine, giving it a real flylnff start so tO; speak. A young woman also comes in for 1, number, singing only, a blues and •vver uptown. ■ "There are vocal numbers by the baind, but the feature after all Is Berrens and his Amp.ico piano. They scored as of yore, and It seemed a pity to waste the band, yet Barrens Is giving them a new turn. The act could stand revision; )• are t.iint.; it goes along slow- lyi B irens has made a game try at. something new, and even as t stands it will ride aloiig nicely. It Is even .strong enough, both musically and as a novelty, to stand up in the picture houses. .Berrens appfeared to get the big- gest results with; his old side kick, the mystery Ampico and his violin, Mark. Wednesday, January 25/1928 ALLEN CORRELLI and "Jean" Athletic .:0 Mins:; Full Stag? ■ 3pbadway (.V-P) AJlqn Correlli and his feminine partner have a neat bookable turn built around the trick of making the body unii'ftable. Varying with the house or town. It wlU bei. used Just. as. an act pr as capable of exploitation.. Especiiilly for. the smaller cities and the split weeks are the p.ubliclty poiasibilitleis valuable. While not new the stunts are sxif-' flclently. novel to rate as such. A committee, probably pre-ar- ranged, Is brought tp the sta.ge to test their strength against Mr. Cor- relli and Miss Jean, both slight of stature. The Interest-stlmualtlng; possibilities of the thing are ob- vious. Enougii humor £o keep the proceedings lively is lnolude<l. GORDON BROS (2) "Gohtor-tionist8^,,.^^_i^^^-^^.,^^^^^^^^^ 6 Mins.; One Broadway (V-P) - Team makes a slow, start in frock coats and top hats, atte>mptlng song, comedy and hDjojpjtig and flopping on every angle. lEocent^lc tumbling and contortion work, especially when working together, is smart ozid fast. Last three minutes gave the boys the opportiinity to come back and close to good returns. Suitable opener. Mori. DELL O'DELL, Strong Act . 12 Mins.; One and Full Stage Hip (V-P), Baltimore. Doll O'Rell enters in "one" to music. Wears a short skirted pink creation with largo feather fan to matf-li. Sings "Boy Friend" under a spot., Voice hot remarkable, but successfully projects a.pleasing per- fionality. Applause ahd dance for encore. Miss O'Dell, doing her own an- nouncing, steps down to the foots and tolls of her sofa, lifting stunt She injects some quiet comedy into this announcement and then ex- hibits the piece of furniture, an- nounced as 126 pounds at the welgh- In. More comedy as she feigns a slip in lifting the sofa, Wise cracks nicely throughout the lifting feat, done In' low. light ..and. music pianissimo. She then turns to the wings and 5ay3"May Cleo Have a Pjrramid?" and Props totes put an eight-foot step ladder. BalaJicing the sofa on her foreheiad, she shakes oft ber feather, skirt and begins the ascent of the ladder, descending on the op- posite side. Good applause on the stunt. The rest of the act is given over to comedy with two boys In mes- senger unifoi-m planted in the audi- ence and responding to her call for volunteers. Response too prompt to create the Illusion ot impromiptu. Once on the stage, the juveniles feign shyness very well. Miss O'Dell then seats the boys In a. heavy, straight back chair on which they ai'e asked to sit, facing each other. The equilibrist then prepares to lift the chali" and boys after the fa.,shlon of the sofa. At this Juncture a third plant in the audltoriuni • interrupts. Posing as the assistant house manager, he' Says thS't the stunt is barred and cites mishap when she did it at last stand with serious injuries to the boys. . This is a cue for com- edy on the part of the youngsters feigning extreme itear. More argu- ment between Miss O'Dell and the third plant, culminating In the latter's cUrt ultimatum to either stop the stunt or quit. Miss. O'Dell decides to quit and makes a quick exit, leaving the boys struggling to extricate themselves from the chair to take the curtaini Not a wholly satisfactory ending. The comedy misses at the. finish and an unintentional touch of ju- venile mistreatment creeps into the scene, marring thie comedy effect. The finish could stand some correc- tion when the excellent stunt earlier would be balanced by the comedy ending for this someiwhat unique turn. Tael. WALTER and BETTY REDDICK and Co. (2) Song and Dance 11 Mins.; Full Sti^e Academy (V-P) Just a nice looking pair of young- sters, boy and girl, who have cum- bered themselves with a sketch as jin excuse for their dance routine. Introduction of talk into a specialty of this kind Is haz;ardous. It works only Once in a score Of times. ..Here It is almost fatal. They've tried to make a. graceful background for the dances but the results don't stand up. Opens with boy''courting girl in parlor set. In the background ,paln_tedL por.traIta Qf_ ancestors is a tip-off. 'They have a~ neat SeirtlT acrobatic dance and girl Is off. Boy falls atilcep while dames of por- traits come down for exchange of talk, all to no purpose. One is a dancing girl again and this i.'5 cusc, for another dance. Comedy finish with girl's aunt sending suitor away but making deal to meet him later to get some of his flask .supply; Weak finish. Couple would be better *ff with straight stepping specialty. Sketch material Is deadwoof* ■Rush. PEARSON and ANDERSON Comedy and Songs 15 Mins.; One Riverside (St. V) Gone Pearson and Bob Anderson are female impersonators. The lat- ter does a broad "dame," but Fear- son's femme is generally unsus- -pected,..™=hl3;-.=.=jUXtt3.i«lI^_,cpr^^ stHtuesque beauty and above all Im- pressive soprano voice, fooling .'em. That's the snapper to the act. Pearson's soprano Is almost a true voice and not a falsetto. He "wears clotiics well, flashing some pert er- mine scenery with the act motif re- volving about Anderson's broad burlesque of the other's sartorial splendor. . ■. The personaition thing puts it over. AboL GILBERT and FRENCH Dancing 10| Mins.; One Palace (St. V.) .Two boys who don't seem to da much of anything but do It well. That- is, they're simultaneous danc ers who work hard and smoothly to impress tiielr efforts as being ef" fortlcss. Spotted NO. 2 on this All- English bill, the team did more than nicely and de.<?erved the results. One dance resembles the spas- modic movements of a routine for- merly done by Doyle and Dixori; another number is built around the neat handling of canes and the flrt- l.sh .ls a simulated Chinese impres- sion which has,the pair coupled to- gether by pigtails. ' The men are In tuxedos through- out,, coats being reversed for the last. Item, and all stepping lis soft shoe, A fast strip change, after verb all y introducing'themselves, starts off. Away fi'om .the usual but-and-iout hooting, with the audience healrtlly signifying apprbval! Sid. / SERGE. F=:LACH Juggler 11 Min^.; Full Stage Riverside (St. y.) Billed as Flaqh's first American tour. He has'a light^ novelty for either end qf an intermediate bill, preferably, .opening,' but there Is nothing in it to warrant, spdttlng No. 3 as at the Riverside this week, Flacji manipulates soft rubber balls about six inches in diameter, and juggles. Ved and white sticks about a foot long, using: both props together in a variety of novgl feats. The feature is balancing a ball upon a stick held in the mpiith like a cigar and this Is elaborated end- lessly.' He throws tlie spheres into the' audience and when they are hurled back catches them in bal- ance, tossing them into the air to be lofted again by a back or side kick, and returned to the first balance. . His dexterity is remarkable, but It is extremely light material to serve for a single act and it Is for that. reason relegated to the No.. 1 Bpotting. . Rush. FLORENCE HEDGES and Co. (5) "Broadway Hits" (Songs) 14 Mins.; Full Stage (.Special) State (V-P) Florence Hedges and Co. do Broadway musicals' songs effective- ly by taking the leading characters from the shows and having them warble the song standouts. Miss Hedges, .as "Rosie-Marie," sings "Indian Love Call," ''Student Prince," "Vagabond King" and "Chocolate Soldier," . also Franz Schubert" with the. Prince, King and •Soldier impersonated by costumed males who also render the malln song hits from the shows with Schubert doing the number from the second act of "Blossom Time." A young woman specializes in a; toe dance skillfully; Miss Hedges has a very high voice and uses It advantageously; the others also sing well enough to get by. It is a neat way of reviving the song hits. Did well at the State, Act can do as well in the picture houses as vaude. Not a bad Idea an^ rather pretentiously done. Mark. DON LEE, MLLE. LOUISE Co., Revue-——-—— -—- - 20 Mins.; One and. Full (Spec.) Broadway (V-P) With a little more attention and work this bids fair to be class, Don Lee Is a nice-looking, gracer fully behaving juvenile who dances well. Mile. Louise is a well set-up figure, sinuous and nlmible. Ilea .Frudina and Allys Wilson, In supt»6rt, are performers in their own right and make definite con- trfbutlons .to the act. As presently routined the a«t la Mbmewhat incoherent and pointless at the start but develops 8pe€id and class as it progresses. It has been artistically and richly dressed and mounted, whlOh sliould weigh heavily In Its favor. While many things were amiss when viewed the opening night at the Broadway intrinsic worth was visible beneath. ^a:^mTrMoimELL^:^nci x^orni Songs 10 Mins.; One Audubon (V-P) Clark Morrell is a tenor; one of the stripe that borders on the oper- atic, but he goes in for numbers of a more modern variety. For tho neighborhoods the pres- ent routine will do, Morrell's voice should score as effectively In the picture houses,- Markm HAL KEMP'S Orchestra (11) Hotel Manger, New York Hal Kemp and his youthful or chestra, are University of South Carolina boys, a development ot their undergraduate miislcal actlv Itles at tho southern school. Young, ambitious, personable and jpollshed, this aggregation will travel far. Their . musical prowess reflects a zealoiiflhess on preparation and re^ hearsal that Is rarely encountered these days among the established professional aggrega-tioris; It Is the familiar psychology of youthful am bltlon. In he competition with more mature conteniporaries. Mayhaps Kemp, Ijke the others, once estab lished, will be content with an oc caslonal rehearsal, under a sutiordl nate's baton and the usual stock or chestratlon dance renditions. But now, Kemp has It all over many oi the New York dance bands on the matter of intricate preparation. Kemp is the lead sax with this band, which recently opened at the Hotel Manger,, succeeding Irwin Abrams. Kemp was bookOd in by the National Broadcasting Co.'s Ar- tists' Burea.u, which iaiso Installed a "VVEAf wire. Kemp has been an exclusive Brunswick recording-, ar- tist for a spell oh the strength of his prom popularity at the southern schools and colleges where his disks sell well. . - So much for the preliminaries. On Broadway in a spot many a, pro aggregation (although Kemp now rates as a pro with his diploma be- hind him) might wish for, the boys are delivering handily. Their jazziqiie evidences niceties In al- riiost everything they do. Familiar ajid. done-to-death tunes take on nuance under their. orchestral tricks. Up front he has '"Bromo" Sulzer violin-conducting. Change Bromo's name to Ricardo Alvero Rococo and he'd give some of the film boys .a tough battle on the male beauty thing. To vary the pace the Kempltes play original ditties such as the leader's own "Blue Rhythm" or Horace K. Dowell'a "I Don't Care," among others, ' If dance music means anything liko Vincent Lopez's- did tO . the Hotel Pennsylvania, Including the radio tie-up, the Moorish grlU ot the Hotel Manger in Times Square .•may become something beyond a flossy billing with Kemp's music as the lodestone for the steppers. 'Abet. REVEL BROS, and RED Dancing 12 Mins.; One and Full Palace (St. V.) Well, put together hard-shoe tap act in which the girl actually does something to- help along. Nlbie look- ing miss, too, unleashing a trlpllcp-t© series of taps which sounded very good. She ialso does a longrshpe dance. The brothers' punch Is a routine up and. down facing flight of ataiirs, A slow-tempped "stew" Interlude by the boys; includes d comedy fa- cial contortion and. drew substantial applause. As seen here the act was under a double handlcai^^havlng to close the show^ and follow ainother .male dancing teanx working similarly. If- It made it tough; , then this turn w.ai»' also good enough to make the grade. Only a few walkout^ and the rest were glad they stayed. Act carries a couple of novel touches and will hold Its own In any hou^ie that vaudeville cian offer. ■ ■■ Bid. ■ PARMITA and MILLETT (6) Dancing and. Songs is Mins.; One and Full (Special) 8l8t St. (V-P) Adagio teara offering two num- bers themselves, while surrounded by a sister team* Jazz harnipnica'. player and male pianist'Fair Enough for the present day yiaude houses. Sister tekm .opens before the drapes with |ja song and. are on op- posite sides of the rostrum to talk and half sin^r a lyric as the main couple unlimber in their first dance; Feminine member handles herself well, particularly in a later Apache; as the man tosses, .{jlifts and pulls. Set and lighting ayerage. Pianist hooks up with Osbbrn Sisters for one number and. Joe Clayton mouths his harmonica, ^o' fftlr. results. .■ E'er thO' trouble, pains' and'-ctitS^ that go with such a venture the dance team probably could haye gotten more money on a.'picture chain route by themselves instead of doing an act to pick up - Wrinkles by worry. Sid. MARGO and BETH (0) Dance Revuei SO Mins^; Full (Special^ 8l8t St. (V-P) This dance revue looks aa much like picture houses as vaudeville. It registers good for both divisions. Henri Margo and Helene Beth have two character routines, one Spanish and the other hybrid. They are a graceful pair ajid All the two spots substantially. Support adds considerable. Col- lene slster-s, alike in size and shape, open all eyes immediately by ap- pearing for a sprightly little dance In Just enough covering to make things -look better: They come on again with a little more on to demonstrate a few pop steps. Jay Seller, solo hoofer, has acro- batic tendencies developed to quite a degree, scoring particularly with high kicks from a Russian dance position .(squat). Margaret Fal- lenlua. stands at one side of the stage and plays a fiddle throughout, taking two spots for herself with meritorious vocal and Instrumental solo. in the darnlvar flhlah Mlss"^ Beth scores with a monkey Imitation in which she. rings In some apache- like tricks with Margo. Scenic backing Is pretty. . The Idea of figure display along - with good dancing is a sound selling point for- the act.. VIC LAURIE Songs 12 Mins.; One American (V;P) Man with an idea In the bock ot his head which he gets over. Idea Is a wop character singer, soft pedaling the dialect and getting broad comiedy effects. from the lyrics, depending in large part upon some rather:"blue'' gags In parodies. Got a bad start opening the lii- tprmlsslon while they were walking In. Has no special voice, but a good, vigorous approach and a brisk un'pP6tenti6BS'?tyi6r" ^-^^--^^^-^^^^ Parodies are gauged nicely for such a clientele as the Roof. Pretty much all hoke, but with a touch of "spice," Plays the mandolin uke tor his own AGeomipaniment, Some stale stuff In his. routine, but not enough to hurt. Doesn't work like a beginner and.seems to know what he's about Will get over with the right clientele hxit at this stage American is about hie grade. R'ttah. LOU CAMERON and Co. (4) Comedy Bike Act 20 Mins.; Ohie and' Full Broadway (V-P) This company appears aa two' acta, in "one" for comedy for 18 minutes and then golhg into full stage for seven minutes of bike wOrk. It Is good vaudeville fare; Lou Cameron, of the Four Came- ronsl starts aia a holie comic with a girl partner, getting his laughs tixrough mixed gagging; dc^nclng and comedy acrobatics. He works fast and gets over mainly on his acro- batics. He also makes quite an Ini- presslon for versatility. • Besides do- t Ing the straight his girl partner handles, two song numbers moder- ately. . The bike act is billed as Lou and Bill, with Loli's clownin^r about in this to good results. The other gent Is efficient at the bikes but weakens when he goes for humor. Lou closes this act strongly by demonstrating his actual msistery of the bikes, which comes as a surprise; The Intermediate houses can use this act best. POST 17 ORANGE BLOSSOMS Dancing 10 Mins.; Fuji Stage Broadway (V-P) A pretty, but rather loose and pointless all-girl act, suited to clos- ing-position, .Simply a. big, chorus lineup working without benefit of principals. '•An ensembles of 13 appear in two regulation chorine routines and finish with calisthenics on a huge rope spider, web. "This web number is taken from a defunct revue and has merit; The girls khOw. their. steps - well. Sandwiching the routines are two fair dance specialties by soloists, the best an acrobatic number. There are not more than 15 girls on the Stajge at once, although there m.ay be 17 in the company. The Idea of the act is somewhat vague and the lack of a central figure is a hindr.ance.. GILBERT and MANN Jazz Songs 12 Mins.; One - American Roof (V-P) Two girls, w;ho are hard workers *ind=-build--up-=steadily^from-=indif-:^-, ferent beginnings for a strong finish, They dress in tarn-b-shanters and sack coats over pleated allk skirts, neat, Material Is hardly more than fair) ar,d they get best results with pub- li?hed stuff. At times they are air most o.ver-lndustrlou9 In their ef- forts. But as they stand they rate as an aoceptable intermediate deuter.