Europe’s greatest woman juggler. This is without a doubt one of the best straight juggling acts we have had here this season especially her work with the hard, rubber balls, and billiard cues. In the 13 minutes that she was on she only missed one trick and considering the place she was on the bill she certainly made good and held the audience until close without any trouble. She closes her act juggling the lighted torches which received a hand all the way through. This act ought to make good anywhere. F.S. Wood 13 minutes.
Mr. Deagon is assisted by Eva Bennett, and Percy Bronson. A sketch entitled “The Perfect Man.” As far as the sketch is concerned it is very bad as there is absolutely nothing to it nevertheless Mr. Deagon has an unusually good voice and is a very clever dancer. Miss Bennett and Mr Bronson have very little to do more than to fill in. The act closes with a tough dance by Mr. Deagon and Miss Bennett which scored very heavily. The act received five curtain calls at the finish. C.D.F. 20 minutes.
This act has improved 50%. The man who acts the part of the clown has improved so rapidly that now he s in a class with Rice of Rice & Prevost. He has succeeded in getting closer to Rice’s falls than any other artist I have ever seen. However, I was compelled to cut out his somersault from the apron to the aisle. There is no doubt that it is quite a difficult stunt to run and jump over the heads of the musicians turn a complete somersault and land in the aisle, but I doubt if the people sitting in the aisle seats appreciate this fact. A very good act. F.S. 17 min.
“The Swashbuckler”. This play was written by William G. Rose, Dramatic Editor of the Cleveland Plain Dealer. There are three people in the cast, two men and a woman. The play is of the 17th century type with the scene laid in France. It might be called the “Three Musketeers” boiled down to fifteen minutes. The play opens with a duel beneath the lady’s window between her lover and the Swashbuckler. The act of which the furniture is upset and things are generally torn apart. This sketch if properly handled would be an awful knock-out. It is not too serious of Vaudeville because of the great amount of action that the author has injected into it. There is not a speech in the whole sketch of more than twenty words and the dialogue throughout is quick and sharp. Special set in four. 14 min.
Singing and dancing and contortion act by a man and a woman entitled “The Happy Pair”. The man’s contortion work is the best thing in the act. His comedy is very bad. The woman had little to do. Drop in one 12 min.
Undoubtedly the best American acrobatic act ever presented. They are keeping up their reputation of former years and their work today was full of new and different tricks. F. S. 10 min.
Singing and dancing act. Both boys working straight. Their singing does not amount to much but the dancing is very good, and carries the act. They closed to a strong hand, and the audience seemed to want more when they had finished. Drop in one 11 min.
Two girls singing and dancing. This Philadelphia act proved to be quite an entertaining little offering and the girls did so well that I will push them down the bill two places. A good sister act. 11 min. Drop in one.
Spectacular pantomime. Two men. One working as a clown and the other as a skeleton. They carry two sets of scenery, an interior and an exterior. The interior act represents a picture gallery. It is all trick stuff and work similar to the old Hanlon act of Fantasma & Superba. The man who makes up as a skeleton is probably the contortionist I have ever seen. The act seemed to thoroughly please the audience this afternoon for everyone seemed perfectly willing to wait until the end. A very good act. 15 min. Two special sets. F. S.
In “Things I Have Seen on the Stage”. This act opens in one, goes to interior in three, and closes in one. Simms is giving us about the same line of work that he has always done in Yaudeville – Imitations of chorous girls, the matinee idol, prima donna sopranos etc. The audience today did not seem to quite understand him at the start and his first song, “Burlesquing the Matinee Idol” following Hartford’s act seemed to be a direct “crack” at Hartford.
The audience soon realized that this was not intentional and that it was part of Simms regular act in imitating all classes of artists. A good act but a little suggestive in spots. 20 min.
