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In one of the nicest impromptu speeches probably ever uttered from the stage in an emergency of this sort, Mr. Elen again retired, reappearing almost immediately in another costume, concluding his act, without embarrassment.
In a pleasant speaking voice Mr. Elen said in response to the applause he would be "pleased" to sing “'E Dunno Where 'e Are" "with the audience kindly allowing me the time for the necessary change." Retiring to the wings, the orchestra, under the direction of Frederick Soloman, played discordantly to fill in the time while the leader vainly searched for the music of the number.
Mr. Elen appearing in the character for the selection, Mr. Soloman informed him the orchestra had not the music, neither had they rehearsed that song.
The Englishman gives to us types of the coster we are unfamiliar with, not the pearl-buttoned-Bowery-swagger sort of cockney, but characters he convinces are real by his forcible impersonations. Following to a considerable extent the style of Chevalier, Mr. Elen, who is in no sense an imitator or copy of his fellow countryman, will probably be more liked and readily understood by the vaudeville public. The rapidity with which Mr. Elen makes his changes becomes an effective part of his act, for it avoids long stage waits.
Mr. Elen is a. hit here and will probably increase his popularity on each return engagement.
Source:
Variety 9:2 (09/14/1907)