Variety (Nov 1929)

Wednesday, November 13, 19558 NEW ACTS VARIETY 53 HYDE'S MODERN MAIDENS (12) Band, Sono»» Dance* ^ 20 Mins.;. Throe (Special) Metropolitan, Brooklyn (V-P) This time Alex Hyde has a class act Femme band consists of 12 lookers, .Two of the girls, Frankie ^ooth and. Tony Genaro, are fea- tured in solo specialties. Both «ood. Other girls do almost as much, mucli, and also okay. Tn one bit seven do a song num- ijeV with studded megaphones. Cos- tumes are pleasing and Hyde does a violin solo which clicks. - ■•-let Is a mixture of tunes and dances, including an exercise drill with chairs by the entire group. Solo fllP-floPPlne^ and songs, and a tap dance by five of them also pro- vided. Closing number Is Tchal- kowsky's ''1812," with pit crew assisting. • Closing spot here and good ahy- • yrhefe'.- ■■ ""' . ': ' HARRY GORDON , Scotch'Comedian 12 Mine.; Two and One Palladium, tpndon . . ■' Liondon, Oct. 29. Lot of talk around: the Palladium of cdaslrigf for the time being, the Importation 0f American acts on the gr.oilnd they axe tod expensive and ndt a suifflclent'percentage make good. That may, or may not, be so, but if they don't Import acts from across the pond, they certainly won't get. them from Scotland, at least In sufficient quantity to .keep a circuit of that importance at top epc-.tl. ' : ■ ■ ■ .-..' . . .1: pf which is. anent the London premiere of Harry Gordon, ah alleged Scotch comedian, brought down from Aberdeen to make his . first London appearance iat , the Palladium. It was., claimed be .would be a con- tender. for the post of premier Scotch singing comedian at present ■ vacated here by Harry Lauder; and ;Wlll'FyIfe. To make sure'their local favorite. would receive suitable ap- plause, i350 residents of Aberdeen made up an excursion train (at re- duced prices) and journeyed I'o Lon- don to attend yesterday's perform- ■ aiiTO.s. , At the theatre last night pande- monium reigned and comments rained. Audience was divided be-. 'tween the friends 'from Abordeeh and the enemies from London, : Of .all the pitifully pathetic, In- . competent arnateurs with little _ or no'ma^tecial-r-tand the little being bid ~Harry' Gordon, proved the worst. He sang two numbers in exagger- ated, garb; both with monologs at- tached, and even went in for read- Iiig jolces from a ne.virspaper, suph as: "Wanted—A woman to wash. Iron and milk cows." He even pulled: "Every time he sends his pajamas to the laundry, he always puts, a couple of shirts In the ■ pocjcet,,"-. . This .consumed 12 awful minutes, Including the - terrific applause on his first entrance and the pahde- inonfum of mixed applause and dis- approval at the finish. After... several attempts Gordon finally, managed', to make a speechi In which he t^ald it was the first time he Had appeared in London and h,ot>ed to have the pleasure of appearing "before you" many, many '. Jolo, EDDIE PEA^ODY Banjo 20 IVIins.; One Academy (V-P) After lengthy service m. c.'ing on the coast and finally. getting to irh- pbrtanl^ territory in a Fanchon & Marco idea, Eddie Peabody now does a single with his banjo and effec- tively.' He preciedes the click banjo playing- with fiddle and guitar, but after. all he's a banjolst, and the ekrly section is so much'nothing. More tlian 20 minutes is quite a lot for.,a single musician to remain .on a vaude stage, yet Peabody fin- ishes wJth such strength the time consumed isn't noticed. At least not at the Academy on. 14th street, where ;P^eabody." was applauded into , a pair of pncores. Academyites are cinches for Peabody. Added to his peppy style, the i "Western banjo strummer grabs musld. out. of one of the. most uh- musical-: rrthmJ.c Instruments. *1H|.H0 BOYS" (3) Songs^ Gonrtedy . 12 Min«.; One Lincoln Sq. (V-P) • Trio of high voices, one alternat- ing at piano, with nothing to rec- ommend turn except that they try hard. Two comedy numbers are attempted, too loud and lacking mu- sical quality. Each of trio wears afternoon out- fits with white spats, and displaying «oats, trousers and vests of differ- ent cuts. Played second spot here on three- act bill and got good applause on comedy and on exit. <t PI C; K AR p-a n cl-Pa IT-———— Seal Act 7 Mihs.; One Riverside (St. Vaude) Plckard has been playing picture nouses with his seal for quite some time. This may be his first met vaude appearance; ,f^al goes through the routine ■without an error: Should be able to deuce or close oke. CLAIRE WINDSOR and Co. (9) Dancing 15 Mins.; Full (Special) Albtee, B'klyn (V-P) Claire "Windsor, pictures, is mak- ing her second try at vaude, this time going for a semi-dance flash In contrast to her former sketch. Build-up is okay and puts the screen actress over a$ effectively as any- thing could. Popularity rather than material does it. Miss Windsor has surrounded herself with a seven-plepe mariniba band and a mixed team of dancers; Georges Clifford and Ruth Mayon. Clifford Is daiiclng partner for the screen actress, while Miss Mayon snaps across a couple of torrid.step- ping specialties that get oyer in a big way. .. . At opening Clifford announces Miss Windsor, stressing, tha;t she has never appeared , in anything but wholesome assignments on:. the screen. Miss "Windsor follows in and engages in a waltz number with Clifford, somewhat a la Mae Murray. •The- boys trounce the marimbas for a spacer^ with Miss Mayon romping on for a jazz acrobatic. Then Clif- ford for an eccentric acrobatic. The marimbas again, and Miss Windsor and Clifford for tango, worked for a flare-up with Miss Mayon, sending across another fast one for an ef- fective finale. . . • . Back to"one" and the usual thank you stuff from the star, with the walk-off to-plenty of palm smack- ing... .■ ■ . Good for a screen star who can get over on her popularity. Edhd. BILLY MAINE and Co. (5) "The Groom" (Skit) 22 Miris.; Fiiir (Specials) 86th St. (V-P) ; V . -, Lopping a few minutes off the running time would strengthen Billy Maine's act a lot, taking away the tendency it has about the middle to drag. ' J, .. ^ Good vaude except for this. Act has plenty of comedy, singing and dancing of the grade calculated to land it decent dates on Keith's or anywhere ejse. Skit Is by Matt Kennedy, with special songs by the author, and staged by Eugene Carey. Jobo. k. , Maine en tiers as the loudly dressed wop, framed by friends of his girl on ah invitation to. a party where a prince is expected. Showing up in yellow shirt and accoutrement to go with it, he's- taken out by another juve and dressed up in disguise of the expected prince, phone call hav- ing brought message, unknown to girls, the royalty couldnt come. Lat- ter changes mind, complicating the situation. . , Specialties include Maine's song and,dance near openfng, well done; acrobatic, high-kicking number and a song sjpeclalty topped by a tap dance by Annabel Little and Helen Ardeell, .both above average in en-, tertainment value. . ; Setting, Miami home and at- ■ This act shouldn't have a bit of trouble, with or without the prun- ing that could be judiciously done, FRANK SALT and Co. (10) with Steve Savage Band and: Specialties 20 Wins.; Three (Special) Academy (V-P) Awkward staging of attenipts at alleged comedy besides the quality of the comedy attempted comes dangerously close to acting too -strongly against whatever good points there are to this band and specialty act. „ ,^ j Frank Salt, formerly Salt and (Jack) Pepper, harmony singing kids, has fortified his own talents with an eight-piece jazz band, Steve Savage, eccentric dancer, and a dancing and singing girl. A short tinie ago he was out in a mixed two- act with a girl dancer, probably the one of this act, referred to as Peggy, doing a waltz clog on her toes and later harmony with Salt. The way several comedy bit? are. tossed in to pass out in the very best prattfall manner, appears the act was staged iii a hotel room, verbally, Rehearsals should have shown th^ bits'deficiencies.. Salt, isinglng much like bis ex- partneri falsetto with his own. uke accompaniment. Is beaten to turn's best number by Savage, who does a souse and a stew dance. - Band .(8) warm enough and bet- ter musically than when actjng or trying to. Bige. "THE CHEER LEADERS" (13) Band Act ^ 22 Mins.; Full (Special) Lincoln Sq. (V-P) Another collegiate revue but mak- ing the; grade with neat youthful pep and neat instrumentation. Frank McCormack heslds the turn, acting as bandmaster and dishlnig oke legmania. Chorus, six, in ultra short skirts and college sweaters. Chorus routines are the weak spots and "need fixing. Too simple and meagre. -^<3i.ehe&tration--and=wiuJtding=,ptth^, band takes up most of the time. For only .six pieces instrumentallze nice- ly; Pianist supplies a few. laughs with dead pan and buffoonery^ Boys have no valuable harmony vocally, but because of strong tonsils, sin- cerity and looks It falls on the right side. ' Went nicely hfere. With a little going over could build for better results. BACLANOVA (2) Singing, Talk 10 Mins.; Three (Special) 86th Street (V-P) Baclanova first appeax*ed in vaude late in the spring in a playlet, "The Farewell Supper." It was suggest- ed at that time in "Variety" she would be bietter off with songs. She noAv has them. The famed film vamp, accordingly, is working in a big set (black eye), with ai, pianist (uhbllled),. doing three numbers. She opens with a standard Italian operatic coloratura number;, follows with "Cherle, Je; Tainrie," . and .closes with another French, song. All nicely done and showing Baclanoya's voice to dis- tinct advantage. An unusual thing about the Rus- sian's singing Is that she seems to lack the marked foreign accent no- ticeable when she talks. This evi- dent oh her. middle number, with Engllsb lyrics, but not iihusual in trained voices. Baclanova precedes her song rou- tine with a brief announcement be- fore the curtain in "one." PRIMROSE SEMON Songs 16 Mins.; One 86th St. (V-P) - .. As a single woman without the former aid from Arthur Conrad, Primrose. Sempn ■ IS just singing songs and talking lyrics. . Most of the material sounds special and probably is, placing Miss Semon in a class that grows smaller yearly- singihg single women with their own material. » Among the singing singles Miss Senioh la up near the top when just singing. But When talking lyrics she's just like anyone else needing something to talk about The stut¥ In,this act on the Whole is good, but there are too many lulls and puffs and groans along the way. The rhyming here and there Is. atrocious. Basically sound stuff, needing some .polish by one who knoAvs how. Irf that way only will; full va,lue be procured. Miss Semon sets off her red hair withi a green gown. .One change is made, into an apron and wig for-impersonaition of "Al Jolsbn's mammy," followed Immediately by return to the original gown for a final bow. . Besides looking, good Miss Semon 1|3 a,s peppy a song- stress as ever. • BiffC; HENRY SANTREY and Soldiers of Fortune (18) i^ngs, Dancing, Band 40 Mins.; One, Full (Special) Pelade, Chicago Series of flashes built around San trey. Now running slow, and easily sliceable td 25 minutes. Lacks strong feminine talent, and couldn't stop the walkouts after 20 minutes in the closing spot. Absence of . smart dialog Is no ticeable, aggravatlngly so In the minstrelsy attempt. This Is saved, however, by the dancing of two bandsmen. Jack and Bob Jordan, and by two songs from the guitarist. Negiro SpirituaLl finish, lasting six minutes; would be more forceful if medley were replaced. , Santrey drags out "Mdanin' Low" and "St Louis Blues," with bandsmen chor- uslng. Band specialties are,good, but no apparent reason for aged pop num- bers. Four of the. tooters have nice voices for quartet work,-but aren't given full opportunity to demon- strate. Only femme angle is a Spanish burlesque and a cooch satire by an unnamed comedienne who could do more In'the act. Short ballet bit by one girl during a Saijtrey .solo. Loop. RAY and NORD Comedy 18 Mins.; One. Fox's Star (V-P) Perhaps these two boys think their billing, "From the 'Hello Yourself Co." will help them. It will, in houses like the one in which tliey were caught aiid that is just the type of turn they are. Small time neighborhood stuff. They like this kind there and that's where the boys ought to remain, unless they change their material for the better. Both garbed college, with one big and fat and the other of opposite physical build. . i?art of' the . time is given over to crossfire, embalmed years ago. Their attemptied laugh ditties, delivered with. the smaller of the two at-the piano, is oke in spots and good small time stuff, but that's all. . Boys, should give more time to the big boy's playing of the banjb. He strummed out a neat double melody! Comedy legmania poor. Boys look nice and are person- able. With a change bf material could promote themselve.s. Act Is strictly small time and oke for a good spotting there. JOE. HOFFMAN'S Ragamuffins (8) Hapmqxnca_Band _ _ ■ ^ 12 "Mihs.; Two (Special) ^--^ Jefferson (V-P) Street scene to fit the raganiuffln title.and tawdry clothes smacking of back alleys. Bunch of pseudo-kids with harmonicas, plus one accordion. Okay , for opening on Its novelty and idea. Not better than pas-sablc entertainment. Also a rubber-leg dancer, brief and fair. Land. Antonio and Catherine CANSINO (6) Dance Flash 19 Mins.; Four (Specials) 81st St. (V-P) A dance fiash- that's there and as proved at 81st Street, can > go any- where on the bill, even opening as here. A four-act show, with next-to- closing artist doing an afterpiece in an acrobatic turn oh the end, made it exigent that the Canslno act open. Its 19 rnlnutieS didn't have any no- ticeable effect, but whether or hot. It could be cut to about 15. Finale is a little dragged and first spot where a minute or two can be trimnied off. Antonio and Catherine Canslnb, from the dance family always spe- cializihg in the Hispanic, head. the act in Spanish specialties, appear-: Ing t^yice. First is nearly mddle of act, whch seems a little late. Lop- ping off a. couple minutes from stuff preceding wouldn't be the worst idea. ■ ' ' . / . . 'The Cansinos aPPear in first tango in Spanish costumes, severe for blackness, with less orange and red than expected in things Spanish. Later in number leading td finale, team brings on ;mdre color. An- tonio does a clever Spanish routine alone on a large circular , platfcrm representing a tambourine, carried on for finale effect. Partner joins and both carry out routine oh. this elevation. . - The Cansinos have- Murray Good- ner, Helen Thompson and Leonia and Al. The four do various l^pe- cialties that click satisfactorily. Best is that In which the two girls do a special number with boys led on; as husband playthings, each with a leash aroUhd his neck. Soft shoe, acrpba;tic, tap, eccentric. and allied forms, of dancing figure in the iape- cialties. An .a,ttractive setting for .flash that doesn't flash as brightly as some, perhaps, but on entertain- ment, is .strong. EDDIE PARKS and Co. (3) Comedy Skit 16 Mins.; Full (Special) Lincoln Sq. (V-P) A lukewarm comedy sketch, but the situations hold it together for the giggles. Scene represents two bungalows on-a beach. Three girls are told to, make the visiting collegians fall in love with one of them, ag the brother of one of the girls said' he could make the boy love orte of three girls he chose. Gag Is mistaking another boy^ B<Jdie Parks, for the victim. Parits pushes the turn along with a good delivery of weak lines. Three girls oke, but have pooi: hiaterial. Intermingled are attempted com- edy songs and dances. Leg work is short and falls short of mark and larnyx straining adds diversion but nothing else. Taller of the three girls was well liked In rolling out a' fast .set of taps. Parks winds up turn with hoke legmania. Some good crossfire and gag lines would help lots. Trey here and made the grade. NASH and FATELY Comedy) Dancing 12 Mins.; One Palace (St. V.) Nash opens this mixed two-act alone, seated In a toy auto. When he emerges from the small affair and stands up in his great height It's an Immediate laugh. When one can start off with a laugh it's a head start. And Nash' and Fately for a time Showed they needed It. Then a little later on, when dancing, with Nash's belght accentuated even more by the small Miss Fately, the turn speeds up and holds up. A dancing finish gets the pair off In. good style and they rate a spot on' the five-act bills. No. 2 at the Palace. The comedy talk, held down to minimum, Is weak, with the talk by Nash alone, when spinning rope, not as good as his spinning. Miss Fate-; ly's acrobatic dance, is better. The young people are pleasant performers. . They need some talk If they must. Stronger talk, stronger act. Bige. MARSH and Sailor Boys (10) Band, Dancing, Singing 19 Mins.; Full (Special) Fox's Star (V-P) Poorly presented band act. ^larsh, presumably Its leader, works better than the rest, supplying a fairly effective ebmedy^ tap and eccentric dance with a little side humoi\ Band is placed before a drop repr resenting a battleship. This is a laugh In itself as'the guiis are sit- uated In the middle of : the captain's pobp deck and poliit Ixiward; toward the ship.: Nine boys in the band dressed in . ■white sailor suits. Instrumentation Is not all it could be which may b© attributed to the poor selection of numbers. Attemipted laugh Ihstru-; mental work to "Poet and Peasant" Is an old re-hash of standard use among bands for cbmedy. One of the boys stretches his tonsils through a meg in a nasal tone and strives. to pUt a "cry" in the de- livery. ■ ■ A couple announced as Matilda and Weedo dish the exhibish danc- • Ing. Spotted thrice throughout the turn and couldn't show anything either time. Appeared: uncertain of Steps during the tango number and the femme was seen, to shuffle for position. Cannot compare with the major-- ity of band actis around town. LEE MURRAY and Girls (5) Singing, Dancing ReVue 14 Mins.; Three (Specials) 86th Street (V-P) Lee Murray allows his four girls to do most of the work, with but two numbers hims.elf, both dances in the eccentric line, arid one a . drunk. Neither above fair. Turn nicely staged and mounted, Girls add class with looks and cos- tumes, but none ^specially s.troftg on specialties. One does a waltz with what Is supposed , to be; a ' strong finish. She rixakes a. circle, standing on one pedal, the other in the air a la acrobatic adagio, to give,; the effect of a Spanish fan or somer thing, but effect isn't there. Rather, the bit is inclined to be funny be- cause it's not artistic and in line, with the nice waltz routine that precedes. "End of the Road," song speclalt3%, ; carries too long a recitation bit register right, but the sister team • doing the "Breakaway" and later a<^ toe jazz have routines that are 6.1c. . as is. Act opened show here. It would . have had better chances if oh the other end of the bill, but five-act show could not have been. laid out * that way. DANCE PARADE (10) Revue . 10 Mins,; Full (Special) Academy. (V-P) Fair girl and dance flash, using one cyclorariia but series of costume changes. No outstanding special- ties, peppy, total. Long-legged male, presumably eccentric dancer, never gets beyond the presumption advanced by his make-up and style. He stalls end- lessly, has nothing remotely entitled to the description of a routine, and is entirely phoney as a comedian. Two other niales wear cutaways. Rest, of personnel Is feminine. Two brief and atrocious song efforts are thrown in. Kind of singing expected from dancers. Wi.spy, corduroy voices, with lyrics Indlstingulshab^f. Land, TA Y LO R-and-EPPS-===--™=^>^ Dancing 6 Mins.; One ... Belmont (V-P), Chicago Tv^ro colored boys, who would work better In a unit. Double bits, fair, but Individual tap.^ and soft Khoe above.par, though not extraor- dinary on routine. Plpa.saht per.sonalitles and wo)i dressed. ', Loop. Nitza VERNILLE and Jack HOL- LAND "Rhythm and Melody" (8) 18 Mins.; Full (Special) Palace (St. V.) Supporting Nitza Verhllle and help dancing partner, Jack Holland, in this terp fla^h are Al Ruskin, solo' dancet, and th© Verlaind String Quintet. As the singing member 61 the latter, Paul Hagan recielves in- * dividual mention. That line-up sounds like Just another dance flash with string music for background, and.it is but for Miss V^rnille her- . self. Miss "Vernille Is a striking tall blonde and a graceful dancer. Her dancing throughout Is much less same, but the sameness ' does not discount Its beauty. As an-act this is a one-girl turn with trimmings. Miss Vemllle may need the trim- mings to set off herself, though with stronger support she'd be an un- questionably stronger vaude act. This way It's waiting during the flll-In numbers for the dancer to reappear. Bige. ELBEY and SIBLEY Comedy and Song 12 Mins.; Qrie 125th St. (V-P) Charles Elbey and Olive Sibley shape up as a good two-act, the former having a keen sense of pan- tomimic comedy values and the latter, of comely statuesque build, possessing a fine soprano voice and a flair for w-earlhg the right kind of clothes. Both have had produc- tion experience. Opening has Miss Sibley singing a semi-cIassical number agreeably interrupted toward the finish by' Sibley's burlesque of a violin con- cert artist's performance with an orchestra. This and his fly swat- ting and spotlight chasing comedy business, while remirilscerit, ;iia3 been dressed up so well it all merited the applause score received. Sibley's dead pan dumb clowning and big shoe dancing and Miss Sib- ley's songs won out from the start here and they had to go to • the speech. j "LONESOME CLUB" (7) Talk, Songd and Dances 22.Mins,; Full (Special) Englewood (V-P), Chicago A family time flash turn that will satisfy. Built for laughs. Six femmes waiting for a man, and the lonaiJGaan- clownin g, to nic e .return s^ from a not too critical audience. " . Some good song and dance bits. Clowning by a torch-carrying fe- rhale and the man. Act tops itself by adding a bit which is antl-olimax., Should pull the curtain Jual whore they get to- .ETPthor and sing "By the Way." in- stfad of holding on the clcslng .shadow bit. '