Variety (Mar 1928)

Wednesday, March 7, 1028 NEW ACTS VARIETY 37 PONALD BRIAN witK imd Fred 8antley and CLASS Harry DeCosta 8onoa» Talk and Comedy Two Palace (St. V) Spaadomlc axe therettirn visits of ponald Brian to the Palace or ifaude. Bach time though Mr. Brian jb a bit different and with an al- •irtiys pleasing stage presence, so he's guaranteed for the variety audi- ences'. Harry DeCosta, as previously. Is hlB pianist, but rather his comedian.. Hr DeCosta opens nicely ,as a sub- stitute pianist. He Indulges in erossftre with Brian, the latter in- forming the audience that Mr. De- Costa is his regular pianist, and also the arra^nger of many , of his musical shdw song hits. After the opening gaggmg talk, Mr Brian proceeded to a medley of bis song hits, mentioning George M. <Johan as his introducer to the suc- cess he has achieved upon the legit stage,, and singing "Give My Re- gards to Broadway," from Cohan's ■ "Little-Johnny Jones" show, thence > (foing down the line, concluding the medley with the "Merry Widow Waltz" and using an introductory to each rememljrahce, Mr. Brian lightly stepped during the singing ar.i tvaltzed but slightly. r After telling a couple of storie.s, he mentioned a song written for him by "my pal and club mate, Walter Donaldson" for the Palace act. It was called "Mary," and. Waltdit can tell anyone to go after it, with a . rtlght touching, up. Then Mr, Brian iaid he would sing Mr, Donaldson's latest hit song, one, he stated, that v.). MANNING Wire Full Stage Palace (St. 1923 Variety's New. Acts flics dis- close a. wire act called Manning anJ Class, with the notice referring to two girls. Speed Manning and Alotta Class, of the present turn, may be the same. .In those days it was nothing unusual for a wire performer to don skirts for eftec- tlvehess. It is still being done by circus and foreign aerial turns. . Here, however, there is no need for disguise, for Mr. Manning makes the strong hit of the turn with his leg work on the wire. Pro^ gram claims he Is the only man to do a. Russian :ballet .oh the! thread. He does it extremely well, also other hard and fast wire work, with and Without an umbi-ella. Miss Winlhrop. is a heat wire walker, u.sing the parasol, and feat- Airing a foi'ward split. . The featur- ing is accomplished through an easel card. Cards also . mention other ti'icks as performed. .. Lively . novelty opening turn, .sc much so here they held up the sliow through bo\v.s. MAY JOYCE and Co. (3) Hawaiian Revue Full Stage (Special Sets) 5th Ave. (V-P) ; "I'll Introduce you to my little brown piano player, Mr. Nainian," said the girl on the 5th Avenue stage, She had- to be May Joyce as no othier. girr is in .the* act. Miss SOLLY WARD and CO. (2) "Off to Maine" <Comedy) Four (Parlor) Palace (St. V.) Solly Ward carries this, his latest act'Skit, to Its laughing success, through hlB Dutch mannerisms dJid accentj along with the splendid aixl of his support. ^ Of the latter Marlon Murray, of course, shines. She has been a vaudeville associate of Ward's so often, she works as a straight to his very best advantage and that mean,*; a great deal where the straight is a; woman. Es.telle Wood, playing a simp ■ h( : omaid, made tip . wp.'i ... .o;irrvi ..• a dead pan as well as any of the male comics, perhaps just a bit. bet- ter. Miss Wood looks good as a pic- ture Comic, of the Polly Moran kind without Polly's agility pejhaps. Mr: Ward works hard in. this act. written by Gus C. Weimberg. It's about the family taking a trip to Maine for a vacation, with every- thing, holding them back, includinji the Dutchman having been gypped f, his tickets. In the melees, grips are packed and unpacked.. Ward loses "his golf sticks, the m.aid wants to phone her mam and pap,, arid Miss Murray, as tfte wife, becomes grief stricken. ■ ° . - In the choice No. 3 spot at the Palace for a comedy sketch, the Wai-d groiip slainiined over a homer. They will do it any other ..place where they like to laugh. : VAUDEVILLE REVIEWS PALACE Joyce had entered alone at the open would rivarifnot^e'tter Donaldson's I .l.ne. walking from the first entrance "Blue Heaven." It was "There Must Be a Silver Lining," and Brian doe.s iiQt appear far off in his estimate of that number—It's very catchy. ' The act; could have ehded there and would have gottfen anyone's "ok. But^DeCosta said at this juncture that the management had requested the repetition of a bit dpne by Mr. ■^firlah with Fred Santley at a Lambs' Gambol. Messrs. Brian and Santley In costume then sang "The Broad- way Swell and the Bowery Bum." In the number Mr. Brian is dressed In ia covert topcoat and cream colored derby.. Santley made his bum quite genteel, but .^^'s a surefire bit in this day and closed a very pleasant turn very plea.santly. (2). SOL GOULD and Co -Spain" (Skit) One (Special Drop) 5th Ave. (V-P) Most noticeable In the Sol Gould act Is the young woman plaiylng.the straight. Gould's character's wife. She's a dandy straight and comely, ■omewha't taller than Gould. The other doing a Spanish girl not bad Mther In a bright looking way and an odd attractive make up.. Gould is a semi-Hebe with a red nose schem6. What the red n,pse la for he probably doesn't know himself, unless someone told hlm.it wa:S used In England arid liberally years ago. Gould helps himself but little in the comedy wS-y. It's the girls who do the most for him. His talking line is the retort on cross-fire with a tiny, thread to hold the skit to- gethci'. Billed as Sol .Gould at the 5th Avenue, there's a chance this Is the Sol Gold, who came out of burlesque ■om* time ago, first doing a single and then a double turn. NOw he's into a full set, and banging an ukeiele. It looked black even that early and it was early, as this was the opening turn. The manner in. which May sings and uses heir - hands looked Ha- waiian, it all- seemed and sounded so simple, but when and latej-, Miss Joyce came out in straw skirt look- ing very new, to do a hooch, either the straw, May or the hooch didn't seem .Honolulu or even the- beach. So that let in a suspicion that May .loyce is no Hawaiian, though she thinks she's playing the uke. Mr. Nalnain, If that's near his name, played the piano very gen- erously, also a steel guitar, and later on a piccolo. In between were two. dancing, boys. On their first entrance and doing a buck dance, they, were dressed In the Spanish tango style and another suspicion arose—that someone had slipped them the wrong scenery. . Later they did a step dance In close formation much" better and were dressed more b.e-' comingly. . Miss Joyce, camti out again . and in darker clothes biit with a string skirt also looking new. but she must have left the cooch In. her dressing room.. Always remembering, of course, that perhaps the manage- ment asked her to keep the hooch in. it's place. . And earlier In the turn Miss Joyce sang "Dear Heart," still using her hands as. gestures. And really If they like'this kind of a turn in Hawaii, it also seems an error to leave there. Ai. VAN and GANG (10) Jazz Band 20 Mins.; Full Stage. Acadeniy (V-P) Group of 10 Jazzlsta, orchestration istrong on brasses with four saxes and two cornets. No strings, so the soft effects are out, but the brasses are handled with discretion. Excel- lent syncopated results, running consistently to pops. Nice looking lot Of boys In tuxedos. They fall down hard on talk be- tween the leader and one of the saxophonists who does a sort of po- lite Milt Gross, missing due to the terrible material they use rather than the .method ol getting it across. With, the right line of gags this young Hebe comic probably would register. Leader's feeding riot so forte. Routine, of talk and numbei* fur- ther broken up with the Introduc- tion of two specialties, pair of danc- ing boys, Introducied as Leonard and Albert, and girl contOrtiOn dancer. Both appear briefly and do well. Act looks as though It comes from dance asslgrnment and is trying to find Itself on the stage. Not well knitted and probably nothing will smooth It out except experimenting and playing. With Intelligent guld ance It has promise. With the ma. terlal presented on this showing as a start, there la no reason why Van and his outfit should not build up to a music and comedy.unit that would be valuable fo» the picture houses; As It stands they have a lively finish for applause getaway In black bottom medley, wltn the boy hoofers, the girl bender and the leader footing It hotly and the boys getting with wriggles as they ijlay Hoke, of course, but sure fire. Turn fared well here, No. 5 on an eight act bill. It's a big-time vaudeville bill at the Palace, even If the change comes too late and temporarily. On the program are nanies, comedy act£<, talent, class and variety, with but one black spec. Nanies must have drawn quite un- usual Monday evening, as the. or- chestra Was near-capacity or else the new treasurers are commencing to know their spreads. Will FyfEo, the Scotch funnyfeller, when speak- ing on a curtain, said he noticed some friends in the hou.se, looking into the front rows of the orchestra. Since he's one of the names, Fyffo must ..have - niddc .«iomo American friends since over hero. . Another of the big shots came in Clark and . Mp.C\illough,^ who very soon. may. .say . they have played everything, since but recently, they headlined also at the picture Capi.r tol. While a couple, of the minor turns can tell the bUnch that at last Un\v :ir.o (lilt ii'J lisTht I'u'ld, as Jack C: - .i, iiv v/niil.l s;iy- ■ .Still a third name is Donald Brian (New Acts), with Brian seomingly undecided whether to amuse the avidlonco or . plug the Lambs. Club and his pals. IIIs first aquarer was mentioning that Jack Norworth, at the club that noon, had suggested that since audiences knew all of the rieW gags, he'd belter tell them an Old one, which Brian did, Very good story. Then he mentioned Walter Donaldson, twice, arid maybe Wal- ter's his poker mark.. Yet Mr. Brian said nothing about the "Poison Ivy-Motherrin.-Law" gag told by Harry De COsta, his comical pianist, it's Clark arid Mc Cullough's , own, so the C&S team must have said yes, since they didn't need it in their old Music Box Re- vue routine of the girl reporter. Another former M. B, comedian on the Palace bill is Solly Ward, with, a new skit (New.Acts), Ward making t laughable and- trying to be him- self all of the time In hla "l^iif-^^" role. ... The class turn is the Ledova bal- let-production bit, with the Four Manhatters as a-good-looking sing- ing quartet, and two male .pianiists, Bobby Roth and Burdett Soule. They did a double solo to ward.the flhlsh foi* a wait, ^ith the pianns and themselves at least 25 feet apart on the stage. Synchronization perfect and no mean feat with what they were playing. ( , Ivan Lutmari is Ledova's handler, doing but little, however, for Ledova on her toes handles herself to the terrific satisfaction of everyone. As Bush. iilcely set with these gfrTs arid had •better hang onto thehi, for with this present three-act he can go into any vaude house. ■ Here'the turn was next to closing iind fitted Into the position. TOMMY CHRISTIAN'S Band (11) 16 Mins.; Full American Roof (V-P) Tommy Christian and band have been playing hereabouts but for ■ome reason have not hit Variety's New Acts files. Christian wa.s at a Brooklyn house for longer than a ■Pllt week and . acted as master of ceremonies. Band consists of piano, druni.^, three trumpets, bass tuba, throe .■^Ses, banjo, trombone and Chris- tian doing a mu."3lcal nlte. There Is a short- try for comedy through the Introduction of the Which he Imitates both male and lemlnlne voices. Band does a few topical numbers and acquits Itself admirably. Not great, but good, •^nty of brass handled expertly by vhrlstlan who seems to know his direction. Can hold its own in present com- ^^"y." - Mark. MALI A, BART CO (3) Comedy Novelty 9 Mins.; Full (Special) Academy (V-P) Two men, with a woman figuring incidentally, in a knockabout acro- batic turn, spotted fourth at the 'Acade1fhjrnwRd"~Bti^^^ spotting on any bill where - tlx re are more than five acts. Number three would be okay for. a five-act lineup. Use a small express wagon drawn by a trick pi-op horse. Crates marked "eggs" and "glass" are care- lessly tossed about in an Infectious and easily recognized burlesque of tlie baggage smashers. Bits 'of business are ingeniously dovetailed and executed with remarkable tim- ing. The turn clicks every minutf with plenty of laughs. . Land, (6) MARIE WELLS Songs 13 Mins.;. One American Roof (V-P) Marie Wells on gcnerai appoar- ances does not. Indicate that she has been In vaude very long. Her man- ner _ofjy{liL£^\,b^^ routine is proof. Miss Wells has a voice of high range power and she knows how to use It, But at the American she haid a hard time trying to convince the audience. Miss Wells did well in a way, but her ."ongs are not balanced for this grade of house. Mark. CARNIVAL.CAPERS Dance Revue 14 Mins.; Full Academy (V-P) Four girls and two boys, all youthful and spirited workers. Led by-girl -pr incipal -dancer :wh o i s ex -. ceptlonal performer and captivating slip of girl. Ensemble work is no better than fair, biit the youth of the sextette and the-brlght dressing gets them over. Setting Ifl. a drape arrangement in yellow, satin representing circus tent; wails decOriated 'with, bunches Of red, yellow and blue inflated bal- loon^. At start all six are in acr tlOn as circus -clowns, boys in grotesque white iface, girls a-s pierettes. Two girls do dance rou- tine and boys stall while change la being made. Principal girl does pretty .Gypsy solo dance In red boots and parti-colored dress of rib- bon.s. Boy and girl do bell hop number .and principal dancer re- turns fOr a pretty bit of tap danc- ing on her toes; Fini.sh is .one of those elaViorat'- illuminated effects tha;t makes on" wonder whether It's worth wliil' YpRKE and O'BRIEN Comedy 17.Mins.; One American Roof (V-P) Hokum fits this routine of odds and ends. Frameup comprises two men and a woman. It's doubtful if any gal working rough comedy these days steps Into any messier treat- ment than .the one In this act. She is singing and going Into the high notes when one of the men douses her with water from a seltzer bottle. The yelp of delight this brought was only a mild snicker compared with the . screams that went up when .she was slammed full in the face with a pie. And there yoq are, . . , Men build up some funny-.situa- tions with one posing as the great picture lover and the other acting as his secretary. Exaggerated make ups help. Before the turn Is over the men have worked in some otlier comedy costume changes, all for laughs. Any bill that can get a load of thii3 hoke need not worry' , about the laffs; the messing around of the. woman can't miss. . Not i n ni-a n y w eoka h .as an act scored such a complete hit as tfils one did at the American Monday night. : A few acrobatic tricks arc tossed in for good measure, both men doing a little of thi.s with the smaller male- a neat ground tumbler. Mark. . a cla.«is classical danoing turn with '■ vaudeville entertainment on th.e side and without draixjs,. Ledova has turned out something that only needs a question now as to. where site shall play it—in picture or vaudeville houses? Leddy Sihould go with the money. . Fyffo did three charaotor num- bers, again stamping hlrii.self, even on a holdover week, as a vatuiovillo . star of the brightest ghu-e. In a curtain talk the Scotcliman ex- plained that through liis rt^cont Ill- ness and tiie removal <)C a piece of bono from hi.s left leg, he ooiild not give the variation to his j)rogram he would prefer, since moving about as required in some other, numbers would hamper him. . But he made a Seotch laugh out of that. too. His biggest laugh, though, was nearly 60 seconds long. It w'aa in his Old man role, far from his best, but a couple of the gags, including the niai-athon sniCker, saved It. Since no one could -do it as Mr. - Fyffe does and then it would have to be done In chamcter,. and as Mr. Fyrct> can not traverse the .courir> .. try, it's pretty certain that his mid- section laugh wrecker may be re- peated here without hiis objection. Show ■ bu.«?iness should hear it. . As the "oldest Scotch inan In Scotland," Fyffe Is made up heavily for age, and trundles in with the aid of two canes. Tolls that he's 100 years old and the townsfolk. h.avc given him a dinner. He Is thanking them,'using the audience O'S the townsfolk. ■'"iThey asked me how I have lived so long," said Mr, Fyffe, "and I'U tell you. I never smohjed, took a drink or werxt out with a girl until I was 14." . He then proceeds to thank the people for- their kindness and din- ner, concluding with; "But I have one great i-egret. My wife i.s not here. She died at 86. Poor girl. HOW she would have en- Joyed this. And what she had to SCO through. But the baby lived." Mr. Fyffe, as seems his standing, record, was a panic. There may be other'Scotch comedian.s. but there's only one Will Fyffe. and for this reason. If no other, he. is the only Scotch comedian who drops the burr when out of chamcter on the . st:igc. Opening the second part was Adela Verna, the pianiste who will play on nothing but a Steinway. A little, tough on some of the current K-A split towns where the radio is tho only instiallment instrument In the villalge outside of autos. Miss Verna is playing a "special limited engagement" on the program, prob- ably, meaning a full week, that be-, ing so surprising nowadays In vaiide, She ea.slly romped away as a succe.s.s, proven by her breaking tho three-bow rule, something that many of tho others did, with Mr. Ward doing a recitation to. permit of the set being made for Ledova. But had Fyffe been No, .4 where he siiould have been and the produc- tion turn closing the first part In- stead, the first section would have looked smoother In running, and Mr, W.'ird could have rested On his sketch alone. His recitation Isn't IS limny as he Is. Luca.s and Lillian in "An Act Classic," billed to close, with Man- ning and Class (New Acts) in a lively wire turn opening. No. 2 had Mickey Lewis and jlmniy Winthrop, hoofers, wltii a tapping waltz clog to siiow why they arc at the Palace. Now that they are in, a little atten- tion to dressing won't hurt. At present they looked clothed as through after a family conference. If they haven't heard of Ben KOcke and his fashionable clothes, at Broadway and- 51st street, there is no time like the present to find oyt, FREEBORN'S "FOLLIES" (12) Revue 28.Mihs.; Full (Special) State (V-P) Paci>.s its biggest puni'h In Its .'idagio team, Com -/^ and Winona. Pair .do more than iheir share in this turn, which has more of a re- vue pattern" than most of 'enji There is a diver.sifi'''d aspect due to thi.' series of S'^f-nes. One moniont tiiere I.'^ a dunce and the next a skit, era bit of travesty.. S.|)len(lid enter- irunnient;, althf-ugli .the act in :its I;';/kcMt. slit'ipe oippea'.-i to too lomi, on-dojte-stage=glrls^go^into^en« dance, Ughts coming up on their niu.st as it ,st?)rids. toe.s land heads and. At'the finifjli strings of. lights are •TOwer<'d from above. Costume, designed to car.y batteries for the toe and head ligliUs, are rather ugly in pattern. How- ever, small time audlence.s .seem to love the spectacle. Rush, Hlx K'.rl!-", known af--. th(!. paneliiAV lt(jcket.«, wbo show .uniisnril skill in their ei.i.somblo work, . Act made a fine impre.s.sion here. Elaborately staged and coHlumed above the average. Hard working arrcrefjation that d'.-liVerK. Mark. ACADEMY (Vaude-Pcts) Academy blli'flFst' halt lK^^^ expcnditiare, but that was only half the story. It had also first class blending of material, and.above all for results a headllner In Sophie Tucker, who was made to order for location and clleDtole. .She did 24 minutes in a; fast moving specialty show and next to closing, mailing a speech and leaving.them asking.for more. Ben Bard, presiding through ;the evening as master of cereiiionies, was an asset to this movie "fan crowd. .Show ran . like clockwork, with the laughs-running through It like the ticking Of grandfather's timepiece. Fiiyi feature was "Oasc.y Jone.^, starring Ilulpli I^cwis in a railroad eoiiiedv • melodrama deslu'riatefl a Trem rarr prodiietlon, Xot very strong for general run of lilin p.'il- jiees, but served here. With Sf)i)hie 'JMiekec-jjresen'f'it Hirtri't n'"-<l a film to brirn' Oieni in. lIou.-.<^ j-i.st■ short of e.'iiifu'ily (Jowi).sl.iir;i ' ..Mfii'dny nl(-'b.t. ■ --■(^■.ri.ley.-TNlo.-.(N<;WL-Aet.s.L:jO/j:ni:d...: \V:il.>.h iind Clark iirc - ;i • ••: \ abh) tiiivi-'l r'-'iir of g.ngtrer:-\ .•i'kI ppens worlir ))( tt.-r po.'^ition in or-linarily .■-•in.iH rinio c-Jiiipa.ny. -'"■nt -N'o. •J h-i'i-. '.vhere'th'-v f.-in-r] Wi-ll, espe-. ei.-illy with niiin's dnri. injr :in'1 croR.S. talk helped by >iiw,ni)j woman foi'd'er, .-Jiat-'lv -■!'■■ ■ ' V- I'fl ClUHB IConlinuf-ii iM- iJ.i^L' 30)