Oliver and Olp, with a stage full of furniture and props, tortured out some laughs. The act, “The Bee-Hive,” was the second sketch on the bill. The program says it was written by Mattie Keene and Leo Well. It doesn’t sound as though it took two authors to write it, though it looks as though it took wagons to haul it. A rainstorm finish saved it and it took three curtains here.
Doc Baker made his first appearance as a big-timer here. Like many another he had to travel far to make the home folks believe it. Baker proved a good entertainer and quick worker at changes, but he was snowed under but the other features of the act, “Flashes.” First of all in credit for the handiwork of Menlo Moore and Macklin Megley, the producers. Second was the all-around stellar showing of Polly Walker, the niftiest showbrette let loose on an unexpected public this year. If “Flashes” must go plural, the little one must at least be recorded as main flash.
Moore stands alone as a vaudeville producer of girl acts. Like Ziegfeld in higher-priced revues, he has that something – and that something is everything. Class tells it about as broadly and as comprehensively as any word. The corking good taste in costuming, setting, staging and routine; the freshness, the crisp animations, the cleanly sophistication – they mark a Menlo Moore product. Miss Walker typifies every attribute of her manager; he selects as he creates. Baker is a masculine looking baritone, excellent in ballads, lost in comedy. The turn assisted by a flock of assorted babes in an assortment of delicious costumes, held the Palace mob in to a man, closing the matinee, and drew applause.
Billy Earle, single woman, followed in “one,” before a special black and white dilapidated, wrinkled drop with a cut-out in the center of it. She chirps one ditty, walks off and returns in bell-boy attire for another songs, walks around the rostrum paging a Mrs. Smith, then into cut-out of the drop, where she makes a quick change, and finishes singing “Sweet Sweeties.”
The Three Melvins held them in to be a man, and with a spot on the bill could easily stopped proceedings. The three men exhibit some extraordinary hand-to-hand tricks with a display of showmanship par excellence. They finish with a flying hand-to-hand catch, one standing on a high pedestal and without any rebound going clear across the stage for his catch. Took six curtains and could have taken as many more “bends.”
Samuel Leonard and Co. (late week appearing at the Hippodrome under the name of Pete, Pinto and Boyle). This is an audience act, two of the men working from the audience, both taking to the stage later on. They work with Italian dialect and mopped up. The finish of the act has a straight man singing while one of the two character men plays a steel guitar and the other plays a tam-tab.
Browning and Davis, two men in blackface, next with well routine comedy crossfire material. Though their talk is bright and snappy, it runs a little long before they go into their singing. A ballad by Browning and a comedy version of the same number by David sent this pair off to big returns.
Portia and La Flure closed the show. The woman opens the act with a back-bending stunt, going into a Roman ring novelty, where both display excellent feats, also a little iron jaw work. It is a crack opener, but too weak to close, although they held ‘em in pretty solidly here.
Poster Pirouettes, six girls in a classical dancing novelty with a pretty special full stage set, danced their way into three big curtains. They dance toe, classic and several other ways, in singles, duets, trios, quartettes, and finish with all six girls dancing a snappy Russian dance in very pretty costumes, The girls make a change of wardrobe for every dance, but at times the dances become monotonous. A good flash for the small time. This act was formerly the Ruloff and Ruloawa act without the principals.
Blighty and Nolan open with a weak song that puts them in for some tough sledding for a good part of their act. They go into a dance that in an extra long one, the audience beginning to let their attention go astray. They dance several singles, then a double, the girl making two very pretty changes, and the man changing to comedy makeup, doing several comedy steps, and hop off with a poor finish, getting almost nothing. With proper routining, this part could easily hold deuce spot on the better small-time bills, both being good dancers, having looks and personality to help put them over.
Al Barnes and Company opened the bill, the company being a woman in clown garb attempting comedy. Barnes went through a routine of magic tricks, the tricks being exposed by the woman, most of the conjuring easily detected by the audience before the tip-off. He has several good tricks and got a lot of good laughs, but his finish was weak and he walked off, the audience not knowing the act was over.
