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“Swimming Among Ice Cakes”. On at 4:11, 14 minutes full store. We have built a production around this act and this afternoon it held the audience and sent them away talking. The curtain rises on a dark stage with moonlight effects over the ice fields and ripple. Moon sinks out of sight, and ripple disappears, and then there are aurora borealis effects. These are reproductions of paintings made by Stokes, the artist who went with the Peary expedition, and are different from anything previously shown. This afternoon it seemed to be the opinion of the regular patrons that we did not give enough of them. After the aurora borealis dies out there is a sunrise effect over the ice fields, the light gradually coming up to the working stage. Mahoney makes his appearance from the tank where he has been during the time required to show the light effects, about four minutes, and he got a big hand this afternoon on his entrance. Then he sits on a cake of ice while he brushes the water from his legs, immediately sets up and begins to illustrate the exercise by which he developed himself, interjecting some explanatory remarks. All of which held the audience, and after which he returned to the tank. In the tank he swims among the cakes of ice, throws them about, dives over and under them, for several minutes and then comes up. His final exit is into the tank going down with the curtain holding a large cake of ice over his head and as he disappears under the war the ice he held comes down with a splash. The entire act went very much better than we expected this afternoon and not only the novelty of the ice swimming but the light effects got the people talking as they went out.
Source:
University of Iowa, Keith-Albee Vaudeville Collection, Manager Reports, 25 October 1909-30 May 1910