“Social Maids”

Singing and comedy.

"Busy Little Cupid"

"The Social Maids" combines all the necessities of a great attraction with a singing chorus and cast that runs second to none and a comedy book, handled by the male element mostly that is productive of one continuous laugh. The opener is called "Busy Little Cupid," with Mr. Stone in the principal comedy role; William Baker, Martin Seamon and William Foster in chief support. T bulk is shouldered by Stone and Baker, who make a fine combination for this particular style of amusement, while Foster carries individual honors with a somewhat different German characterization. Seamon is best in the burlesque where he essayed the "straight" with excellent results. Miss Pillard, featured in equal prominence with Stone, is conspicuous in the female division with the Jewell Sisters and Jessie Hyatt taking background position, although the Jewell girls were assigned to considerable number work for obvious reasons. Miss Pillard is the perfect combination of soubret and leading woman with a fund of personality and a wealth of versatility, something that in all comprises a rare find and burlesque has but one of its specie, Etta Pillard. She is the life of the aggregation and with her acrobatic encoring stands out in the cast women equally as prominent as her partner does in the male contingent. The Jewell Sisters may or may not be new to burlesque. At least they haven't acquired the flippant manner of the seasoned burlesquer and the numbers they handled were accepted on face value. Every single number in the musical division received from four to 15 encores, and while this seems incredible it is nevertheless true. "Bom Bom Bay" led the list by virtue of the chorus business, with Owney Gagan taking top honors. Owney is probably burlesque's best chorister from a vocal standpoint. The book while kept intact is light in theme and heavy in "bits," the majority of the latter running along original lines with Stone's impromptu comics gathering the desired laughs. The numbers show a trace of novelty is staging, the credit for which is divided between Stone and Victor Hyde. The costuming is far above the first wheel average of the current season, although Hurtig has kept within reasonable economy while getting extreme value for his expenditure. It's a good all around show with plenty of legitimate laughs and a sufficient musical score of popular numbers to make a great balance. And with Stone and Pillard in command of their respective sections, it could hardly be otherwise, for they are, without a doubt, the best mated couple in present day burlesque.

Variety, 40:9 (10/29/1915)