Variety (Feb 1929)

60 VARIETY NEW ACTS Wednesday, February 20, 1929 PHYLIS POVAH and Co. (3) Sketch 21 Mins.; Pun 81et 8t. (V-P) From legit, Phylls Povah takes a chance In vaude by slipping tho meaty role of her sketch to another ■woman. The other does a gem char- acter and plants the Interest. Miss Povah and heir stage husband carry out the action after the old lady starts it off. ; v .. Title may be "Superstition." If so, it isn't a new title in vaxide, nor is the central idea newborn. Superstitious young wife ■ is. laughed at by her mate. Ensuing events, based on the wife's super-, stitions, get uhder the . husband's skin. . At the curtain, he Is tossing: salt over his own left shoulder; . No heavy dramatic work required. Played lightly dnd pleasantly by- the three. if big time, only because of what may be made out of the nam6. Bige. . the VERNA DEAN and CO, (3) Sketch 14 Miiis.; Full :125th St. (V-P) Old. style office sketch for neighborhoods only. Story of a hard-hearted judge re- fusing a young, lawyer's plea of mercy for his client, later to have his hard heart melted by the pris- oner's little girl.: Judge's excitable nature provides the only telief from out and out sob stuff. Performances no . better than the material. .Where full, stag'6 action in the. smallies is needed, this one will do. Bige. LIBBY HOLMAN Songs 12 Mins.; One 81st St. (V-P) Libby Holman needs material and plenty of work. She has about every other requisite necessary to a big time single woman, a position Miss liolman should lind well worth striving for. Big time single women are gradually becoming as rare as good booze. Among her present possessions, in their probable order of imporlance, are iboks,, voice, and a distinct per- sonality. Looks ' should come first, because Miss Holman first impresses as a looker. After th^t she Is a vocalist. . The current rep of three numbers was not happily chosen. Encore and fourth socs best suited to her type and voice; should be the pattern for the girl's future selections. . She is a low-down songstress and, perhaps, awful mean under the proper con- ditions. A future should be gained with the right coaching. Miss Holman's only previous role of repute was In Ned Wayburn's re-, cent aniateur "Gambols," and she shows it. Bige. MARGIARET SCHILLING (2) Songs'. ■ 10 Mins.; Piano, in One 5th Ave. (V-P) Corking soprano with good voice but no act. New to'vaudeville after .iiavihg appeared with "A la Carte" and "My Maryland." Operatic medley onener shows voice to good advantage, but subse- quent couplet of pops suffer through the singer's poor enunciation and the pianist's hawk-eye supervision vin a nianner that figured he was lip reading. So-so In opener here Thursday night, and. needs plenty of rferoutln- Ing before the . erstwhile musical comedy gal will have anything sale- able for vaudieville. Edha. FOX LORRAINE Serenaders (9) Orchestra • 18 Mins.; Full (Special) Englewood, Chicago (V-P) Lorraine, drummer and leader— probably Garl Lorraine, who for- merly played In Chicago cabarets. He has a good novelty orchestra turn for secondary houses, using two full stage sessions, with sepa- I'ate scenery and a comedy, number In one. . Opening Is cowboy bunkhouse, the eight niuslclins and girl at piano singing and playing a mixture of western and pop tunes. Then to "one," five of the boys doing a mu- sical satire on the old-time school act for good comedy returns. Final full stage period had thie orchestra in tuxes before a seaside resort drop, with Lorraine displaying a clear, ringing voice in a ballad Rest of the tunes pop novelties. More than a straight vaude band act and should satisfy In vaudefllm houses. • Bing. (4) STEPPING FOOLS Dancing 12 Mins.; Full Academy, Chicago (V-P) Four youngsters suitable for small time while becoming seasoned for something better. Series of routine dances. Several -tap variations by the two boys, toe and contortion solos by the two girls, and pop ensembles for start and finish. Boy.^and girl pair once foi' doll dance. No ilasTr aflcmpTca In scenei-y or costuirie. Dancing just fair at present.^ . Bing. JAMES anid BAXTER Comedy 13 Mins.; One (Special) 125th St (V-P) Mixed chatter team of personable appearance aiid fair ability.' The act depends on its talk,. and the tallc is.small time stuff Special "one" drop (ship disck) Story suggested with the man i sli'ip's officer and: the girl a pas songer,. Majority of laughs derived from the girl's ..sarcastic cracks. Pleasing small time timber, but no better. Bige. BISHOP'S HARMONISTS (6) Vocal 11 Mins.: Two 5th Ave. (V-P) Two men and three women, one of latter at pi?ino, in formal attire and-^singing-^classicsr^one -pop^tune excepted. Looked like a break-in hu-re. "Rather lacks finish, and members seemingly not too much at home in vaude. Singing excellent throughout. In divldually and collectively. Too bad, though, tli.at such vocal ability as this, while in vaude, will hardly progress beyond the intermediate time, and cl.iss singing in that field i.sn't always sure-fire. Recital .aot Bige. "ON THE RiVlERA" (8) Song, Dance Revue 6 Mins,; Full Stage 86th St. (V-P) Pretentious quality . musical turn with pretty stage, pictures, Fbiir men are tenor and three musicians, two piano accordiians and a guitar. One' woman violinist, other two singers, one soprano and other dou- ble voice vocalist. Fourth woman is a specialty dancer, Cleo Pergaln, good to look at but depending more on /looks and clothes than genuine dancing. Opening has four men and three Women grouped in drape setting, with landscape vista through win- dow and balcony, and dressed for masqueradCi They are Gustav Goodr wyn, tenor; OlgaBoehm,. prima donna; Mrs. Paul Durand, alto and pianiste; Estelle- Adams, violinlste;, Anthony Kairoly, accordionist and baritone; Louis Sutherland, accor- dionist, and "Vincent Madugna, gui- uarist. All musicians do brief solos, with woman violinlste especially good. Soprano, tenor have solos to com- bined accompaniment and between numbers principal dancer does Oriental routines, wearing about as much clothing as the Columbia run- way girls. Double-voiced woman warbler gets featuring and scored as these, soptano-baritone voices al- ways do in vaudeville. Ensemlj^le singing, finish with principal dancer in sort of Oriental Charleston (all her dancing is sort of cake-walk Charleston) to make stage/picture of animation. Closed bill here and. Is capable of doing that almost anywhere. Rush. Bob and Gale SHERWOOD arid Their Entertainers (10) Versatile Band Act 14 Mins.; Three Albee, Brooklyn (V^P) In 1925 when the Sherwoods with their band entertainci's came into the Palace off the Orpheum, they were. Justly scored for their provln- ci.illsm, their act and their evofy- thing. In the Interval, hay|ng seem-: ingly; cued themselves from cohtem- poi*ary stage band standards, the Sherwoods have developed a routine fcir themselves entirely unlike> the previous turn. The personnel seemingly has un- dergone a change. . Leon Le Verde, presumably the female inipersonaLor, and Bob Sherwood, Jr., are.co-fea- turedi :Who the latter Is fexactly, is Irideterminate; possibly that persoh- able guitar-strumming, .youth- who give# out some mean indigo chords. Miss Gale Sherwood is at the Ivories for the accompaniments, also contributing vocally in. "Ready for the River." Bob Sherwood seems to be the trombonist althoiagh, except- ing for the vocal quartet or instru- mental specialty groups who come forward, hg reimains In the ranks with the rest of the bandmeh. Act Is built for entertainment, with th^ band thing secondary. Plenty of versatility. Drummer for Instance clicks. heavily with his trick tenor and also his fancy rhythmlb manipulations. Fentme personatoi* is a complete . fooler, especially on the toes; studiously graceful and poised and effectively getting a;way with the impersona- tion. Therie are also freak Instru-: mental combinations of jew's harp, rhythmic demijohn, hot, guitar and an elongated brass Instrument which Bob SherWobd manipulates. Act runs 14 minutes and gets plenty into it and out Of It. tomrhent on the costuming of the act three or four years ago when the Sherwoods .first hit the east dwelt on their sack suits. NoW the costumihg Is fre.akily stagey, with severe Russian blouses making it a, matter of . personal i-eaction. Re- gardless, they have enough diver> tissement to apjpeal generally; Head- lining at thei Albee. Abel. STAN CARTER (1) Talk and Songs 12 Mins.; One Academy» Chicago (V:P) This boy knows good material when, he sees It and has collected enough tried and true stuff to put him in third rate houses. Talk Is composed . of . personal chatter and stories, almost all of It recognizable as part of various prominent single routines. Prob ably they didn't originate It them selves, though, so what of it? Fin Ish is a song, just like Ted Lewis would sing if he were Stan Carter Can this be the boy who caught Cantor on the radio for nothing? Bing. SCOtCH and BOURBON (2) ; Female Impersonators 14 Mins.; One American, Chicago (V-P)- Two female impersonators In a dialog and song turn. Comic doesn't try to deceive, and straight just makes a light stab at it. Talk goes from bad to worse. No chance with present material. Title of act apt to antagonize Vol- steaders. Bing. WILLIAM SEABURY and Co. (17) Band Revue . 53 Mins.; Special 81st St. (V-P) William Seabury's latest is a flashy 53-minute band show of the modern type, capable of going it alone iix the intermcdialte vaudttlm- ei's and serving as a, first-part unit in the big time places. At the 81st it. followed four other acts In an over-long biU .and In its few- slow moments seemed slower than it might under ordinary cir- cumstances. But if Seabury would make sure, he'd better eliminate the lethargic . portions ■ and take no chances* Turn is split In two sections. First is a i)irat6 idea and includes a ship set. A Solo Ini "one" separates to allow for* a change. Six specialty people. In addition to Seabury, specialist himself, and the lO-plece band (including leader): Hardest worker is a peppy brunet soub billed as Miss Harieltt.: Helen O'Shea Is the troupe's peer looker and a graceful toe and whirl dancer. Viola Blaney is about as vet-satile' as the balance of the compiany Com- bined, playing the fiddle, singing, tot dancing and buck dancing. Mixed comedy dance pali?, Skeeter and Ray, funny in harness, but the girl, peachy clown, works well enough alone. .Dinney McCurtin, sweet- voiced balla.dist, rounds out the sup- port, : Bige. "LONG, LONG TRAIL" (2) Comedy iO Mins.; One (Special) American (V-P> . Title of this iabt is an imniediate fault. ,It partially conveys the idea, but two girls do the. work, are the act and should haye personal bill- ing. It would sound better for the girls ahd the acti . .Otherwise It is an exaniple of a good comedy idea that died in ^the writing. - If the lines were up to the standard set by the plot and the participants, this would be a relia- ble turn for any. theatre.' Talk Isn't there. Thought of two youthful-arid per- sonable girls in straight comedy talk is, In itself, interesting. . Some icoaching in feeding, and crossfire and plenty of rewriting badly needed. At present, paissablc. .• Bige. EVELYN WILSON Male Impersonator 6 Mins.; with Band Capitol, New York Evelyn Wilson wears tails and stovepipe for a fashionable drunk characterization. She is easy, nat- ural, does ndt strain or mugg, pos- sesses clear diction and qualifies as a novelty act of wide utility for pic- ture houses. Also .okay for vaude If properly equipped with that type of act.. ■ Deft comedienne. Land; "SOLDIERS OF FORTUNE" (9) Song and Dance 20 Mins.; Full American (V-P) . Good idea, spoiled by cheap and shoddy production. Opens with ap"- pearance In one of man. In uniform of FreriGh Foreign Legion. Makes . ela-borate bally declaring the men aire teat Legionaires. Tlieiice to full stage, where eight men in uni- form go into a rharchntlmber. Two of them come down for a; - session of unison taps. Girl in "Cigarette" get-up Is on for aimless talk and a : song. Spokesman an- nounces next number as love song this Legion has sung, for a hundred years and they go Into that in spir-. Ited fashion, ending With the battl^ cry of the desert fighters as they go against the RliOfs: One of the group solos a senti- mental number, announced as coni- V posed by one of the boys. Whole eight are back, this tlm6 in tin hats and o. di of the late war for an- other recitation,..dorie.. too energeti- cally to carry weight. Girl plays violin and others play guitar and ulte...'' ■■ .Whole thing looks phoney. Only true accent in the lot is that of the announcer. Boys look like a lot re- cruited hereabouts. . Costuming, is sloppy and routining; has no shape or pattern. In niid-blll just a fiash of stage full of people wltho.ut dis-; tinctive quality. ' Rushi JIM WILEY Banjo Boys (6) Instrumental and Singing 12 Mins,; Full American, Chicago (V^P) . Six boys In tuxes, playlnir pop and, ballad arrangements on banjos with several vocal choruses. Ap- parently a new act, but, qualified to play secondary vaudfilm houses. Chance for improvement lies In possible production setting. At present It's just six chairs in front of plain cloth. Numbers are selected well and show careful arrangement. Young act, with steady improve- ment probable. .' Bing. MANFOLD and CLAIRE Dancing. 11 Mins.;. One . 58th St. (V-P) Pei-sohable young man and trim, petite girl have neat light-stepping specialty. Crash on singing "Every- body Loves My Gal" and go right into dance, semi-acrobatic legmania. They follow this with a fast buck and wing. She Is off and he goes Into more eccentric tap routines while she changes to abbreviated trunks and tights and is back for fastest kind of tap stuff. In which style they al- ternate for a sort of contest that carries them to speedy dancing fin- i.sh, tapping without music. Not a word spoken and perfect for No. 2 spot, .here and anywhere in neigh- borhood houses. Riuih. KAVANAUGH & EVERETT Co. (5) Dance and Instrumental 14 Mins.; Full 5th Ave. (V-P) Not equal to the average flash and not forgetting the .state of the. aver age" flaslr today;-" Kavaniiu'gh -Eve r ett turn Is pretty bad until the whirlwind dance finish by the prin- cipals, and then just strong enough to avoid com pletie flbp, Kavanaugh and Everett probably are the same team heading a. diEince revue a. few years ago, with that former, act remembered as consider- ably better than the present. On the other hand. In those days a dance flash was a comparative rarity, Kavanaugh : and Everett now have three men, two playing m.andolins, and one a guitar, for accompani- ,ment. Team's dancing ranges from waltz to tango. Formal stuff. Bige. BUDDY HUFF (2) Talk and Songs 10 Mins.; One American, Chicago (V-P) At the American Buddy Huff Was doing ah m, 'c, besides 10 minutes of songs with pianist accompanying in fifth spot. Impression unfavm*- able. Most of his stories hskive been used around here by other .m. c.'s. Voice is fair, but gestures exaggerated and border on sappiness. . ^ Until the act has "an appearance of professionalism it would look out of- pl.tce In ^any . but- the smaller houses, Bing. TRACE and BERO Revue (5) Dances 15 Mins.; One and Full Riverside (V-P) Pleasing dance act. No. songs. Violin number by one of the wom- en. The standout is the adagio work of Trace and Bero', while a couple of girl3-"appear=in-=se.veral^:^kicking=and soml-acrobatic routines. Trace and Bero go in for two principal team routines; first a South Sea Island fantasy that had the man handling the small girl for some well executed adagio work; second might be labeled "Devirs Dance," done in Satunlcial atmos- phere with a backwiird leap from an up.stage appin-lonance by the girl that was a pip. Decidedly ef- fective. Mqrh. FAYNE and DICOSJA instruniental 11 Mins.; One 125th St. (V-P) Man's muslca!! versatility, shown in a parade of various Instruments, provides a strong finish for this mixed couple. Prior to the finale the man confines his talents to a saxophone while the Avoman plays an accordion throughout and does one vocal solo. Man, probably Fayne, plays sax; clarinet, flute, piccolp, French horn, trumpet and trombone in quick suc- cession, gliding In and out of the wings for each change. Reliable straight musical act wherever they still like that sort of music. ** Bige. MURREY ahd FRAYNE Dancing 9 Mins.; One 5th Ave. (V-P) Two young men^ who dance with skill and do hot talk. Wear. silk hats, black sack coats and creani colored waistcoats that Could paiss. with evening clothes. Four-in-hand brown neckties finish off this? scheme, which apparently has no comedy purpose. Set here to close the show of three acts. They did two routines, second announced as black bottom as It might be done by Indians, In No. 2 , spot boys-would serve well enoupli. Here they came and wont with no commotion whatever, JJiis/j, WILFRED DuBOI& Juggler 7 Mins.; Two American-^(.Vj; P)^ Personable yoUng man working silently and straight. Opens with novelty in manipulating two regula- tion tennis balls with a racquet. Goes into mild comedy with filled glass balanced In a pool ball tri- angle, held over the front rows on a billiard cue. More neat tossing of coins to be catight In the eye like a monocle. Satisfactory opener as hero .<;pc)tted Jliish. O'NEIL and CASPER Blackface> Talk/and Dances 16 Mins.; One . American (V-P) Fair stab at the Moran and Mack style of turn,' Pair never infringe, however, on method pr material of famous pair. Equivalent of straight ha.s some knowledge of stepping which helps break up the talk. Comedian fakes few steps in the Bert Williams manner and, also does a comic number in recitative deliv eryv Some of the cross talk Is funny, but they don't maintain speed. Quite a, few spots -are crude. Whole act needs the showman touch. As it is it Is short of first class. Ex- pert coach, could tighten it up for gro.it improvement. No. 3 on this bill, which is generous rating. KnsTi. CHAPELLEand CARLTON Hand Balancing 5 Mins.; Three State (V-P) Brief running time of this mixed gymnastic two-act and the mate- rial It packs Into the short space of five minutes establish it as com- petent to open any vaudeville bill. But keep it out of the closing spot everywhere. That islow motion open- ing will drive them out immediately. Chapelle and Carlton formerly did an aerial and ring routine, with the man the bulk worker and the^ woman as his illustrative prop. The present turn is boiled down to a hand-oyer-hahd up a flight of cen- tered sta,irs by thei man, meanwhile balancing the woman on his palms. Not a hew stunt, but finely executed by this pair. Introductory portion looks like byplay in comparison, but is neces- sary and fortunately short enough to be oke. Bige. ETHEL PASTOR Songs• 12 Mins.; One American (V-P) Buxom young woman of highly agreeable' appearance, who does fi strictly drawing room series of num- bers, lightened by bit of genteel hey- hey demeanor. • Dresses sedately in party frock* Girl has a good robust soprano with a high note of abundant volume, and has the trick of ending numbers in high register. Charming drawing room approach to audience that will help her generally, but got. Ititle here. But even at the American made a pleasing No. 2. Question of material. - Now merely does alter- nating jazz and ballad pops. Rush. GLADYS JOYCE and Girls (3) Revue 15 Mins.; Full (Special) -Hippodrome^ (V - P-)=--^=™=—== -=--r-= Quartet of fommcs, all young. Miss Joyce is pianist tackling one of tht^ Ilimgarlan rhapsodies for a solo. Second girl has high range soprano. Other two are of hcy-hey singing-dancing soubrolte type. Act moves bri.^'kly. Talent Is above small time flash act average, although not extraordinary. Enough light and shade to pot by. Little to speak of on the production end, ' La,nd. THREE RYANS Dancing 14 Mins.; One American (V-P) _.jrwo;bQy3 .and a. taU farmer and farmerette costume of satin for complicated tap iroutine by two while second man plays banjo. Girl is tall, slender and looks as though she might throw spectacular legmania, Instead of Which she does Indifferent taps. Sings also, but riiildly. For finish all go into threesome of dea,fcning flijor slaps -with' long kangaroo, shoes, which ancient appa- ratus also is made the occasion of comedy of a sort. Very little to recommend for three gi'own Pf'ople working in the middle of a# metro- politan bill. Rush. DONAL SISTERS ♦ Acrobatic 7 Mins.; Full American (V-P) A gem of. a. straight . arrobatlc turn. Two stalwart girls simply garbed in white tights and negligible skirts, spotless and trim, go throiigh series of hand-to-hand feats, all handlod.in splendid acrobatic form. - Single hana3tand--on --un(i.f-iLstivndj :, er's head is one of the features. Number of swings into h:nin-lo- hand, imii.sual for feminine workers, and fini.sh in head-to-head, J-'oats iare all simple, but the merit of the number is the grace of tht' pair. They may weigh, in at as much as 140 pound.s, but for all that they make an eye-filling picture of fem- ininity, more Diah.a than Aiiiazon. Closed this- show here, assignment they can fill anywhere. Hush.