Variety (Nov 1928)

64 VARIETY Wednesday, November 7, 1928 What The London Dailies Think Of AND THE "DAILY NEWS AND WESTMINSTER GAZETTE," OCT. .9 VARIETT BY WIRELESS MUSIC HALL STAR TURNS TO BE BROADCAST VAN AND SGHENCK TO BREAK THE BAN Negotiations are practically con- cluded between the JB. B. C. and the General Theatre Corporation for brpadcastine a performance by "Van and Schenck from the . Palladium .on Oct. 22.' ' ■ Van and Schenck are hiRhiy paid American vaudeville artists, who . harmonize songrs. at the pian,o in ,'the manner made familiar by the colored singers. Lay ton a-nd John- stone, and the Englishmen, Flotsam and Jetsam. The signincance of the. arrahgc- meiit (writes our Radio Cqrrespohd- ent) lies in the fact that it will be the. first broadcast of excerpts' from the variety" stage apart from the Royal Command performances of 1926. and 1927. In the. past, the leading theatrical directors have been against the broadcasting oC ''turns" from va- . riety- shows, ■ and artists . signing .agreements for the music halls have been banned by the management from performing for the B. B. C." It is hoped: that the Palladium broadcasts will see the beginhing of the end of this ban. In a statement is.sued yesterday,' the B. B. C. 'says: "The possibili- ties of arranging further broadcasts at Intervals from the stage of the Palladium are being discussed by the B. B. C. aHd Mr. Black, of the General Theatre Corporation." "EVENING NEWS,"" OCT. 1 TWO SHY AfflERlCANS Secret London "Try-Out" of a Very Expensive Variety Turn .Frorn"The .stroller" .. Amorica'+ri liVost exponsiyi-doublor act vari*.;ly turn, knosvn as \'an and Schenck, has arrived in En.^l;viul. Ncrvou!3 of app<>arii5g. before a i;rilii5h audieiicc-, the arti.sts scuiglit the aflvico of Mr.; Henry yiierok and .appeared unlioraltled at the Wjin- bledoii Theatre -on Saturday niKht, their turn boihg interj)olaled in the revUe from the Duke of Vork's The- atre, "Many Iliipijy. Returns." Mi-. Sherrk toid Vnti and Schenck that some of Ihoir sonprs would have to be rewritliM) .to niake. them in- tellif^iblc to a Krilish audience. Tlie .names of President Coolid>J:(> and AV Smitli disappeared from their mate- rial, nnd Mr. Baldwin and Lord llii-kenlK-ad were subslitulc-d. The iuidience pave the two artists an excellent roc(>pO()n. \'an and Schonek appenr at the London Pal- ladium find at the Kit Cat Restau- rant-Jtoniglit,.. "VARIETY" Real Vaude This Week at Palladium Jjondon, Oct. .2. This week's bill at the Palladium is regarded here as vaudeville at its ircst",' 'witirfVon and • Schenck easily liie best hcadliher the: hou.so has held since..returning to variety pro- gram.s. Latter team, opening to a reception, woi'kod into .a riot, doing encore after encore and finally .winding UP by. singing, a couple' of huinbers from . the orchestra pit.' The boys are booked on this, site for. two woolcs, but should be hand- cuffed to the theatre. Van and Schenck. are currently duubling at the Kit Cat, where they are booked for four woeks/-' Prac- tically • offci'lng an all-Yiddish routine on this restaurant floor last night, the pair scored the biggest hit since Soph Tucker's final ap pearance. • * ENCK SUNDAY "REFEREE," OCT. 7, 19i28 .It has so freciuently happened that farhous American variety artists on making their Loncton debut-have minimized their chan.ces of corai- plete success by lack of wlsdotn in the choice of their material that. I have oh many occasions urged all such to ta;ke coun.sel on this very important subject before facing a London audience. ' I was; therefore, very . glad to he.nr that Van and ; Schenck, who . come to us from. America with the reputation, of be- ing the most popular double singing act In the "United St.ates, and whose preliminary piiragraphihg had. led us. to expect a turn, quite but of the common "\uck, hnd .tried out their songs at a suburban place of en- tertainment before, opening at the Palladiuni last. Monday. . *.*./• I understand that tlio try-out re- sulted in the rewriting of some of their lyrics, but that process was not carried nearly far enough, for quite- a lot of the.ir. material a,t the Palladium' would be more, or les.s unintelligible to patrons not of the Chosen Race, all classes of which have remained such faithful patrons of this music hall. Van and Schenck, who remind me somewhat of the Two Bobs minus some prbportion of the jbyoiis personality which per- vaded all the stagework of the lat- ter, pair, scored with that already hugely popular nuhiber, "Stay Out of the South," and I dare say they will become a great success on this side when they have become thor- oughly acclimatized. "ERA," OCT. 3 The "big noise" of this week's program is Van and Schenck. They justify the use of the adjective "ar- resting." At first sight they seem to have walked straight out of those daily cartoons about "Pop" or "Bud" which appear in American papers and are imported into England. Their voices and grimaces aro in keeping with this illusion;■ and one of-them—the accompanist—remairvs . so to .the end.' -But the. one who does, not pl;iy the piano becomes more and more' h\iman. W-e got to like .him so much that nothing will sat- isl'y us except to. stand by. his side at a bor and disi'over. what he will hav.e;' lie is that sort'of man. They are .very skilled in..byplay. ; .What a lot there is in "I'm Her IVcy Friend Now" cannot be guessed until you have soon caclv of thijm mourning for the other over this piece of Rihiitory g6od. fortune. l.Mck ] leinhn'son is tlie liie and soul of the . iKirty. lie takes, so (>asily to these ideas of "quiek- rdhnihg^'' and "introductions'.* that the audience Ceels as grateful to him .■IS if he were the host' and we were his guests. Iji his own act, he .shows what speed is; "other jokes will follow in ra;.i-d succession," he says in jest, and they do in earnest. "DAILY MAIL," OCT. 2 U S. SINGERS* LONDON HIT EX-TRAMWAYMEN By THE THEATRICAL CORRE^ SPONDENT. Two men who used to be a driver and a, conductor on American trol- ley cai's—tramway cfvris—made a big hit on their first appeairance on the London variety stage last night. They are known as Van. and Schenck and are at the* Palladium. They hav.e a. budget of good songs, which tliey know how to sing. They may become'a very popular pair in this couhtr.v. "THE. DAILY MIRROR" . LONDON WILL LIKE THEM The Kit Cat restaurant got into its' autumn stride with a. .sort of theatrical gala night, many well- known stage people turning up to w^^lcome Van and - Sclicnck, the American sini5;ers who used to be trarh conductors and now earn six hundred pounds and. more a week. London will , like . them. They make of their songs little charac- ter studies—Irish, Jewish or Negro, as the case may be. They are good actors and do not get monotonous) as do so many of the "jaxz" singers. ■The song which went down best was a comic love number, and Van told me afterwards that he had been , singing it in the States' for- fifteen years! "DAILY EXPRESS," OCT. 2, 1928 TRAMCAR MEN AS A VARIETY TURN AMERICAN COUPLE'S SUCCESS Van and Schenck, who started singing songs together while they were driver and conductor on the same trolley car In Brooklyn, topped the r-Palladium bill last' ..night, de- scribed as-"the world's greatest en- tertainers." ' . : Nineteen years ago they used to sing to the people driving hoine on the hist tramcar. ■ This week they are earning £600 by doubling at the Pailadium and in a 'midnight cab- aret. • They- are a white f-ay'ton and Johnstone, an American I'^lotsam and Jetsam. . One, with a thin tenor voice, sits at the .piano looking Ij'^^ a love-.sick -Melville <rideoh. The other, a much larger num. with a deep voice, sings, in dialect—^^Italian and Jewish. Sensation of the Season Both ore clad immaculately. evening dress. They sang five or six songs, scoring an enornioiii; siu e> 'V They will !)(?> tlie evening pariv ;n i-' sation of the season. . H. S. BOOKED KEITH CIRCUIT FOR A WHOLE YEAR^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ ~ Opening November 11, Palace, Clevetend iiiiiiH iiiM jiiM i iiii ii i ii iiii i i i iiii ii lii lll l i m ii m ii ni iiiii i iihi i iiiiK iii^ ^^ 11 lilt