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Singing and musical comedy.
"Stop Your Camouflaging," "If All the Babies Were Like You,"
A scene reproduced from Hitchcock and Goetz's "Words and Music," with a special toyland setting and six principals. The principals are Maurice Diamond, Helen McMahon, Francis Doregan, Dorothy Curtis, Sammy Burns and Dick Watson. The characters are toys - Jack in the Box (Mr. Diamond), Raggedy Doll (Miss McMahon), Toy Soldier (Mr. Doregan), Jumping Jack (Mr. Burns), French Doll (Miss Curtis) and Baby Doll (Miss Watson). The toys come to life, with spooning and love complications, all returning to toys again at the finale. It is musical comedy, with numbers and dances, duos and trios, the piece starting off with a pretty double number - maybe called "Stop Your Camouflaging" - with the soldier and French doll. This song, perhaps as are the others, came from the production. "If All the Babies Were Like You" was another. While Raymond Hitchcock is billed with the title, Ray Goetz staged the act for vaudeville, and both produced the original "Words and Music," a $2 revue that did not linger long. But for vaudeville this turn is pleasantly agreeable in everything - its personnel, music, characters and setting. Besides its pleasing qualities for any audience there is an additional matinee attraction about the act with its fanciful coloring and animated toys. The act looked new at the Fifth Avenue Monday night. With work, when speed with be developed, the running time will probably cut down to 21 minutes, and this should be done in any event. The Raggedy Doll character for Miss McMahon permits her to legitimately do her scarecrow dance, handled by Mr. Diamond, and the girl is doing this better than ever, having added the bit of having herself thrown from the stage to a boy seated in a front aisle seat. Mr. Diamond has varied his Russian routine of dancing, and while not making it as fast as formerly, is dong it differently. That is surefire. Mr. Doregan as the soldier and a number singer, also straight dancer, fits in very well. There may be three vaudeville teams in the turn. Each of the girls look well. While from the outlook at the beginning a chorus could be expected it did not appear, and as the turn starts into its running is not missed.
Source:
Variety, 53:10 (01/31/1919)