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This sketch entitled “Breaking the Record” was twenty-four minutes long on the full stage.
Rube Marquad (a real baseball star who pitched nineteen straight wins for the New York Giants) plays himself and Blossom Seeley plays a dedicated fan in this baseball comedy. The sketch opens with Blossom Seeley talking to herself in front of a backdrop which looks like the Polo Grounds clubhouse entrance. Marquad enters and the two speak. He then walks into the clubhouse while Seeley sings a rag. Marquad is seen pitching in front of an interior backdrop while Seeley, as the enthused fan, waits patiently. The pair proceed to sing “Baseball” as a duet and then Marquad uses it as a solo. Seeley changes from a white street dress to a blue and pink gown and sings and dances until Marquad changes into evening clothes. The pair sing and dance for a finale.
"The Marquad Glide"; "Baseball";
Marquad's solo was the funniest part of the act and the audience made him sing it three times. They laughed uproariously through every rendition. The pair do an "endless series of curtain calls."
Seeley played her role well but it is Marquad's popularity that will sustain the act. Evening clothes suit him because he has the height to carry them. Marquad is a "revelation".
Source:
Variety 28:9 (01/11/1912)