Variety (Aug 1928)

Wednesday, August 29, 1928 VAUDEVILLE REVIEWS VARIETY 43 PALACE (St. Vaude) In March, 1921, Variety's New Act records have the Three Michon Brothers, acrobats and tumblers. Tn Mav. two months, later In the Sme^ year and also in a New York Sll time house (Loew's), there is a New Act review of the Mlchoh Brothers, two. Both reviews were favorable, rec- ommended the iwo boys especially as deserving and noted a certain style to their work that seemed to strike the reviewer. Over, seven yiears later, at the Palace this W€ek, and as far as known the nrst time since. 1921. the MIchons have b6en in New . York, reported west meiantime, they arc next to closing as the peach com- tdy tumbling act of all . time—anfl are booked with a Shubert show. This is their only week in New York vaude at present. . Vaudeville lost . the Michon Brothers because. Sam Kut Kahl the former scissors of , the Orpheum Circuit, let this exclusive comedy turn slide through a difference 6t $25 in salary. It's no wonder that when the list of let Outs was made up for the Chicago bunch, Kahl's name headed it. Kahl is now out, but that much explanation is due him and his firm sponsors. Couple of headliners in the new jtlcCarthy .SisU vuo turn and Ethel- Water^, the colored star of her race. The. McCarthys, backed up by the dandy Harold Leonard band of- 35 pieces and i.iat unexr celled violinist, Harold himself, al.s6 three specialists, ran clOse to 50 minutes, closing the fir.st part. Two of the , boys in the band stopped the fict dead. One, Jimmly O'Brien, with his mick pan and red hair could have been singing yet. The other was Al White, a boy With twisting acrobatic feet and a few new ideas in each. While Pete Woodery started all of the spe- cialist commotion with a ballad. • In between the chic McCarthy girls did thfeir • stuff, singing and dancing, in different costumes each time, always looking attractive .and sending theniselves over. The Leon- ard band a.lso had their instru- mental numbers, L.eonard soloing with "Angela Mia" (if that's it) and making a smash out of that, while again the whole band greatly pleased the house with a medley of the "Black Bird" music. .. • The turn went to a dancing finish and about nine pieces of flowers for the girls Monday night. It ran the 'act onward for about three min- utes, holding the intermission cur- tain. .The McCarthy revue turn, h.ew, malces vaude. easy and will do as well in picture houses. For action, song and music it can go in as a whole for a talking short just as well. - That Ethel Waters gal from Har- lem was there with wraps on arid, admitted it. The music was hot but Ethel was cold. How that girl . can control her cooch should be re- corded somewhere. Nor would she Bing the "Shake" thing, observing that 200 bookers couldn't be wrong when it was called for. Nor "Take It Back," another of Ethel's lyrical scorchers. But Eth had "Handy Man" and "What You Did I^st Night." They were plenty. Chances are Elmer Rogers couldn't be found during the Waters turn.' And another chance likely if they had cut out any more they would have cut out Ethel from the Palace for the current term. And that gal can walk into any "T. B. O. A. house, hang up her hat and col- lect $1,500 on Sunday. To stand off the spice Miss Waters sang "Eli Eli." It s the Jewish hymn or chant. There was a colored Scotch - Jew- -with .-H.arry-^ Lauder which may square it. And she also: did the colored black bottom, a iium- ber in which she displayed the hip control, Comedy, besides, as Ethel suggested what .she couldn't do by simple movements, up- and down. A panic all through. However, if. K,eith's wants this kind of lyrical sOiVg, therp arc son?? writers who can flood them with it overnight—aiid singles to sing it. Besides, that sort of stuff is oppo- sition to the Columbia, btit (Joubt- lessly great for the family trade. Joe Browning wa.s No. 4 with his topical monolog along the. familiar lines of marriage, love, etc, All of his .stuff got over for the old fa.sh- ioned monolog is now nowad.T.y.s. Browniiig slams his points over much the same as dops James Thornton. He fitted the spot. Previously were Allan Dinehart and Co., a girl, in their two-people skit, "Meanest Man. in the World," an evcrgrepii It socm.s', though it ran long for all talk. STATE (Vaudfilm) Semi-finals of the Macfadden's Miss Physical Culture of 1.928 elimi- nation contest fetched a capacity house Monday night and a remi- niscence !of tlic stage door Johnny era with the b.f.'fe out in full force at the 46th street exit. A dark horse won, the "Miss Graphic" who went to Galveston for the "Miss .Unvi- erse!' competition rating fourth in the eliminations and proving a poor also ran. Peculiar mob psychology inspired a re-call for a'petite "Mi.ss Rohied" whoso ~ off-march >\'as ordered only bGcau.se of the tepid response. The boys ;Changed. their minds,-however, but ultimately the diminutive gal was wafted away again. The Staters tie-up reacted well Frank has switched his nut routine, but whether to its bettermen is a question. Instead of the dance im- personations, he now does an imita- tion of Charlie Chaplin in the tight- rope bit of "Tho Circus." The day has pa.ssed -when a Chaplin imper- sonation can serve as the finish of a comedy single. McConville can d.ance more than a little, and some of his nut . ideas are not at all bad. The trick of poising himself on his ear to sing, and then repeating tho stunt whoniever the .audience fails to respond to his antics, could" be. worked. In' a score of other ways this comic is almost there, but not quite. One reason may be that he did 18 minutes and then departed with seeming reluctance, Helen Johnson's "Glorious Girls" (New Acts) don't quite coine Up to that billing, McCoy and Walton, man and at. the g;ate, .the "Miss Manhattan" woman low comedy skit, supplied choice being slated to compete at the Hotel Nassau, Long Beach, fin- the only interlude, of honest vaude ville with their rough business of als in th<? nation-wide com^jetition swapping socks, boob man's wise- which will bring <a lO-week. FBO contract .for the winner At $^150 a week. Also present at the Monday night semi-finals were "Miss.Tulsa," cracks of the hoke order and the fast stepping of the squab-like girl, {ill contributed to a strong number. Act is based on the domestic argu Winner of the 1927' MiS3 America mcnt line, that never fails when it award and lier equally comely if is Capably handled, not quite as symmetrical twin sister. Then the 20 minutes plus of the Martin Starr, Introduced as one Gihh twins for the close. : 'T.urn has of tho youngest Macfadden editors, veal class for a number of the liind. litely and efflcienfly. and doing his I feature^ under o^rrv consistent utmcst to give /'Miss | J^we.. ^.whore it has .to carry the Graphic" a look-in. What -was mpsf against her, however, was' the an nouncenient of her piast perform- ances and her over-prof essiomvl inanner, although, it -was stated she was. eligible through not having ap peared on the stage before.-; The show otherwise was well balr anced and smoothly playing. Clark and Bergman, topliners, opened a Loew tour and scOred with their songology. Paddy (not Laddie) Cliff, heading a femme jazz band , of nine with Elsa Free, contortive dahseuse and violiniste, co-featured, was a de cided click. ClifE's own skatini? dance and difficult squat buck and wings, as well as Miss Free's limber limbs, impressed individually. Con- ducting the jazzists, he also gave them fulsome mdividual opportuni- t'es. . , ■, ^ Kemper and Bayard with a load of hoke were the comedy highlight. The comedian has possibihties with material and coaching. The doggerel finale listens home-made and can stand improvement. ■ Opening was Billy Barnes at the console in lieu of the usual orches- tral overture. He delvered an Ager, Yellcn & Bornstein plug. Gautier's Toy Shop Introduced withi their ani- mal fol-de-rol. Craig Campbell ten- ored effectively in the deuce, top- ping off with the "Pagliacci" ana, done with particular impressiveness. Ned Sheriff and Co. (New Acts). Clark and Bergman In the body of the bill recalled their old song siic- cesses, "Turkey Trot" anl "R.agtimc Violin." . -r> r.^* In the Kemper and Bayard. act following was Included in burden of the bill and snaPPy. con- trasting entertainment is lacking. Rush. wheezes: "Staten Island miist be heaven for the ferries come from, there " "The Cossacks" (Gilbert), feature. ADCl. 81 ST ST. (Vaudfilm) Nothing •\yrong. with this first half show outside of three of six iacts being almost exact in repro- ducing dancing routines and only' one comedy interlude in. Lorin Raker and. Co. (New Acts). There were supposed to be two, but Billy Purl (New Acts) got over on the strength of a colored boy's hoofing. So that made rnore dancing. Whatever class this, summation, on why not to attend vaudeville shows held was displayed by Bobby FolsOm next to closing. And the best way to kefep 'em away, from vaudeville is to take 'em in. The modern sphere of variety if. among the few exponents of the m tto that one swallow cures, and will fUlflll the guarantee. ■They hoofed No. 1; they; hoofed No. 3, and they hoofed No. 6. Pitty No. 6, a hard working while boy who -couldn't follow his dark skinned contemporary placed third and had a male team to stand off in the opening sppt besides. It again had some of the drop-in resi- dents smoking in the lobby waiting for. the picture, "The Head Man" (F.N.). It teven seemed that the half a house sensed Mvhat the. final hoofer was up against With sym- pathy running throiigh the ap- plause. Maybe the backstage legit the I shows and pictures are educating ACADEMY (Wired) (4 ACTS—4 TALKING SHORTS) The souiiders are cllcKMng heavy at this New York aco of tho Fox circuit. Wamor Brothers "Lights of Now York" toplining, the mob. ca- pacity and nine deep in standees Monday night. : The vaude show also is a half real-half reol combo with the lat- ter talkers and containing the real names spotteil on the bill.'f ho Acad- emy has heretofore projootod eight act.s in addition to its films, Tho split iMondav night of four acts in the llosh and the other foUr on MovIbtOn.e proved an oxporijnont that :may be contihuod down here. Johnny Elliott and Co-Eds, a five- people flash, contributed and clickod with some fast dancing in tho opener. The act, comprising feature male and four girl assistants, packed everything to be. desirable in,a dancing way and got over big. Zolaya, ' male pianist, next wan another score with his piario selec- tions and comedy gab. The latter, a denunciation of jazz, was perfect moat for 14th St. They ate it up and tried to hold the rotund comic- pianist on long past the allotted time. Bert Gordon and Louise Squires were the outstanding com- edy cleanup with Gordon's anemic Hebe cowboy getting them from the walk on aind holding throughout. Miss Squires is the class and an Gxccllent feeder. Harry Crirard's "Indian Fantasy" Closed with a colorful song onseni- blo. Tho act nun\bers 16 trained voices, male baritone and the rest girls with Glr.'ird oillciating in the pit. The eh.semble h.as been colored :=^^-An o.t h or-=--l on g t h=t iirn ==th o,u fih==b.ui^|.^'~^:,^^^^^ 15 minutes were Rillmari and ('"<^''>> I pouplo next to cU^sIng furnished thO omorgencT turn for No. 2 (New (,nly pigglo.s. , the lays, Marjorie Hallick and her two boys opened. Conventional enough but not a total loss on the. stepping and sight end. A coniedy gag cur- rently used is disastrous. The gag Is bad enough but the manner in which the trio handle it emphasizes the deficiency. Evidently staged it themselves and. so prolonged that the audience is a full 60 seconds Unfunny,, out immediately. Bruno Steinbach (New Acts) was No. 2 and brought a certain amount of concert atmosphere trailed by the Purl interlude and then Kaker's outfit. Bobby Folsom is again a brunet and, single.:. _She'.s pulled back . her Pri.scllla number and maybe one 3^ other for the present act written The Gtbb freak^urn is_a Lo^ew-act I by Neville Fleeson. Becomingly ■ gowned in yellow. Miss Folsom makes no unhecos.sary costurric change while singing of a bride's maid, possibly a published number, and a dumb cigarof girl.;. Her punch souse, tacked on to" the 'modern Prisfilla lyric, finishes. This girl continues to be very good vaudo ville and could have stopped, the running ordftr had she dn.slred to return. . "Ah Array of Youth" closed and was the last straw on the dance thing. Ann Le Verne and Fred Sibley boar the brunt In front of a chorus of four girls and a tenor given to familiar melodies John Charles Thomas used to warblo. Its set is superior to the routIno« with ■ the act just ambling along, not building to a puncli or appar- ently having any specific dostina- iinn. Sorely handicapped hero by tlie preceding similarity and might =lTn^Rmbl3r=-lWlr-bCfti^=-OTr=aTinthT'r^b1ilri HIPPODROME (Vaudfilm) Say what you like about the ar _ tisfic status of headlming ^ mexro- ^y^^^g^ ^Yie answer politan vaudeville.bill with, the oidd ^^^^ should go Siamese Twins, it Pays On a count ^ steinbach of customers at the Hip Monaay night the publicity that f^ccrued^to the Gibb kids patcly pePPed up the 6th avenue box office. 1< Hied dcAvn- stairs to within a row or two of the back, with a goodly portion of the balcony occupied and the MV^}^JX^ .shelf .opened on a Monday for the first, time in weeks The Gibb freak ti - - by all accounts. There is something peculiar Irt its circus fe-?-t"ring^at tho Keith barn at this time. I rc- Rumably they draw doWn a suh.>tan- tial sum for the engagement, .ilso c.iishing in on thO same- lurid trick publicltv .so smoothly executed by their managers, who, such are .tho odd twists of, fortune, are also con- nected with the I-of'W, ^'•'f-'i't.' M„ Anvhow, they did pull at the Hm for 'there was nothing else m tho layout that could by any strotolr or imagination be cvcditocl with the spurt in . trade. Ortainly the gen- eral frame up of the .show, includ- ing the film feature, a First Nation- al weak sister made from the stage play. "The Butter arid Kgg Man, cou'ldn't have holr)cd much. Two Now A CIS give the .show more claim to Now Faces Week than the celebration of that feature la.st week, but the bill couldn't bo paid to have worked out happily. A Acts). Koo, Taki and Yoka, billed No. 2, did not .sliow. The Uossom.s, opening, got a lot for the spot; enough for. the .spoeeh but no speeches on this bill. On from the ranks of Girard's singing school in California and is an ear feast for any bill. Held them plenty here and. meritoriously so. . ■ Movietone vaUde section followed introducing Winnie Lightner; Pat Rooney and family; Gertrude Law- rence doing her serio-comic baiUad, and Clark and McGuUogh In "The Interview" for the windiip. From all slants the talker vaude portion eclipsed the others from a palm slamming angle which may give the straight vaude moguls something to worry , about. With talker trailers. On coming attrac- tions. Movietone neWsreel, "Lights of New York" didn't start until late but thoy stayed and what's more stood up for it—those nine rows that stood throughout the whole show. AMERICAN ROOF (Vaudfilm) American Roof orchestra got a break Monday night; applause from the coatless railbirds in the. gallery following the musicians' umpah Start of the second half, but several of the acts came right out and gave the boys a verbal hurrah, The Roof audience ran largely to males, youngish chaps. Several times they started to get a bit boisterous but when the lights were flared they soft pedaled. By way of wondering what hap- pened to Ted Marks who opened after intermission. Ted apparently got cold feet sizing up that gallery mob as he ducked off after his little dance and remained offstage. Hart and Francis opened. This act has been around considerably and the men haven't made much of a change in their routine although they did real well with their hat passing. Anna May is a blond and .she .swung into some topical numbers in rather a breezy, nonchalant man- ner that helped her with that up- stairs bunch that was getting anxious to roar out its razzcdy in- clinations. Fow and Rowland (>^cw Acts) d i (I" nlOTly -Tvith" son gs;~ • — • The first i)art w.as closed by Fridldn .and Rhoda, who had a mu- .sieal master of ceremonies. ' Ho alibied the absence of a band with the turn with a lusty announcement why should one be carried when there was such .a good one out front., The boys in the. pit swelled up. After Intermi.ssion .a comic hit was credited to Matthews and Ayor. TOvory wiseer.ack and bit of cross patter surefire and the turn was an unquestioned .success despite tho al)senee of their special seashore drop, left downstairs. Clean • cut, harmoniou.s working duo. H.'irri.s and Van. colored comles, mopr>ed. Their opening as to tho spelling of the note about tho piano, tho piano playing, the dancing espoelally that of. the little Negro a la Bill Robinson whammod the .audience, the.upstairs delegation jii.st a))0tit tearing down that sec- lion of the house they liked It all J ji g 1 .,nvLlch. ^ , TTarry and "May Scr.anton "and PROCTOR'S 86TH ST. (Vaudfilm) . This stellar.Proctor appear.s to bo fixed as a Keith shuwing hou.se. It's a break for tiio acts though possibly not alway.s for tho customers. The . YbrkvlMain.s are pleasant-naturod homo folk.s ready to laugli and quick to agitate th» paws. Any act doing a lloppo at this concert hall will liavo to think up a good alibi. Audioneo and or- chestra okay. • . George and Lily (^ardoiv: uylo- phonists. opened. Noat turn of elass: ■ Danny Small and Creole ZoUa (New Acts) deUood. LaeUing tlie'spood, pep and pr-vsonality ox- poctod from colored performers this turn niadc it a long IS miiuitos. On top.of Sniall's lS minulos the 25 minutes cop.fiuriTed by Jinnny Al,- lard didn't help tho show's tempo (NeVv Acts), .Florence MoorOj auLhenlic stuff in slick . comodicnues, nlonoUiged nio.st of tho tlnio, bringing out Jack CiurroU at the windup for a little kibbitr.ing with the piano. Three, or four of Florence's whoo/.es have an outcropping of fu/./. on tiieni that win doubtless develop inio svhiskers before the present vauuovilio sea- son is through. But in tlic main, tlu.-ro's nothing but shouts of glee- ful approbation for lior . luatorlal. A lot of her'gagging is frDin her routine in "Artists an.-l Models." It's fly, flip, funny arid ..fu-st rate. She wowed.- » Harry' Uoye is program-credited for the TinOva and Baikoft act de- soribed as "a dance there with a bit of song and music." The phrase is pat and needs no expanding. The turn is classy (New Acts). . "The Head Man" (FN) on screen. Biz big. Land. BROADWAY (Vaudfilm) First, second arid closing acts on the bill are new. Opening act, Golden Dream, has^a team of acro- bats with a novel twist in presenta- tion; Shannon^and Gerio Bros., No. 2, cio everything, and Chang's Man- darins, in closing, are a Chinese musical quintette offering modern and ancient jazz (New Acts). Jean Bodihi, with his usual laii.gh- . tor provoking juggling turn, Was fifth and finally got the house going after a difficult start. Bedini has with him Miles Born, likeable song- ster in tux, whom he introduces with some mention of radio work. Following was Sidney Marion, Dutch comedian, holding down next to shut for a brief, faBt-movIng .12 minutes. Zermann, Farrer and Cantor. No. 3, have executed some Changes In the routining since last reviewed,, al.so chaniffing the last name in the billing fronri:. the original Walter. Hoofing numbers practically all reg- istering while comedy is a little weak., Riicker and Perrln, comedy team with some ability In the vocal de- partment, followed to good results. Film feature, "Romance of a Rogue," (Quality) slow and draggy. Charlie Chaplin In "Easy Street," added film attraction, brightened Up the screen end of the program. Mori. A Strong laughing bill might have dono .something to lighten the eve- ning, but nobody seems to have Ihouglit of that. A freak headlmer ilike the 'Twins needs expert ban- , . , „. . ■ ^ the bill though was the lighting up 1 ,iii„qr of tho surroundings. A-|atrieal offices trying to lor.nU of the McCarthy act at tho finish, i straight d.ahcing opener jind a girl'mother, known professionally a It brought out what lighting will jazz band No. .3 were not what the : j,farion K. Fox. Weingartner's fa .situation called for. If over a lU'o-. ^hf.,. dj^.d Feb, 12, la.st. It wa? not gram nei-ded strong comedy values, . ^j,,^^. ^j,,, f^^y learned that Verily, vaudeville whoro i.s thy I tlie'lr tight wlrew.alking closed. Ef- mit? .' ^^i^i- ! feeiive and a good eloser.' ILL AND INJURED George W. Howard, actor,- flrst vico-prosldent of the Catholic Ac- tons' Guild, had his left log ampu- tated last week, following septic poisoning. Jules Blod.soe, operated upon for appendicitis in Post-Graduate hos- pital. Now York. Daniel Haynes, understudy, playing, "Show Boat" role. _ - - ^ Roland Roattlo, superintendent Carroll theatro. New York, fractured thumb of left hand. McNally and- Ward are resuming their vaude dates canceled sover.al weeks ago through illness of Frank McNally. . Norman Whistler, stage manager , of Broadway Palace, T-.os Angeles, is confined to home with tenipor- ory loss of eyesight, caused by dia- betes. Evelyn Ilayno, .soubret with the Sohooley-Crollina roV4je No. 1, in- jured her log while playing Ionia, Mich., and will be out of the com- pany for .several weckSi Sadie Ranks ill for. four motith.«», has rocbvered. .She expoels to re- turn to vaudeville. J. H. Lubin, despite an attack of rheiim.atlsm, Is.at liis Loevv book- ing desk tills week. 'Die _a( tack Lueille Tyovey (Lovey Gir1.«). ex- peeled to ofu-n with If'er .•■■.i.ster with Charles E. Woingartner of Jersey | City ha.s boon In tho N(W York the- hiv I On the sereen "Telling tho World" ja i'libllx unit in. MDw/iukec .";;ept. 8. (M-rj-M). ^fnrk. ,ii.sio,.;,t,.,i ;i bip while, danein}? in [ '~ I praetice in New Vork .\fond.'iy after- George Lavihe,"-welter weit;ht nooi, arid was removed to I'dl.velinie do and the act .should have boon lighted thuKly throughout. Alavarez ynd Kadamova clo.<5ed at about 11:10. Capacity. this one ^»J'/-]J,^,--''^f,:j.;^":C,ts) il^lH father and Miss Fox had been Truce opened. Frank Conville deuced, I divorced. as I fighter, contemplates -y.'Lude produ(!- ing before ho quits <ho ring or im- mediately. George has been goiri.^c .^o well lately with the cuff.s that hi.s retirement may be postponed indof. Mosi)it;iI. Mrs. Tlionia.s Rooiu-y (Daisy l''i.rd) out for the fir.st time Mon- ;d;i.v after a three rw.-eks' sr-rlou.s ill- ! ness. I (Write to the ill and injured.)