“Rose Revue,” on after five o’clock, has rough going at that hour and wasn’t strong enough to hold and wasn’t strong enough to hold the people in. The feeble singing of a man and woman, whose only right to appear as public entertainers was their agility as dancers, failed to keep the audience seated until they got going at top speed. And directly they did, they went off and permitted their pianist to do several selection for what seemed an interminable number of minutes, This act was badly placed – in fact the whole was topsy-turvy.
Jim Toney was accorded a reception and the audience was palpably glad to welcome the return of Toney and Norman to vaudeville. Toney is one of those rare eccentric dancers who can sing and talk equally well. Their familiar turn earned then a tremendous hit.
Henry Santrey, with his band of 10 reduced to 9, did not seem to be as spontaneous as usual. They consumed only about two-thirds their regular allotment of time, with relatively little demand for more.
Ed and Birdie Conrad in songs of Ed’s own composition, with costume changes and singing and dancing, were mildly pleasing until their Chinese finish, when they ended with Ed’s sensational acrobatic stepping.
21 Mins.; Full Stage (Special Interior). Allan Dinehart may be the meanest man in the world, but it will be a long time before he manages to make anyone believe it is his present offering. Allan is a nice boy and it seems more or less of a pity that he shouldn’t manage to get an offering more fitted to his talents than the present piece. He is a comedian, pure and simple, and a comedian who can convince an audience in a serious scene is about as rare as a snow-ball at the equator. T present Mr. Dinehart is not of the type of actor classified as a rarity. He is handicapped in the matter of support, but that was an error that should have been rectified before the act was shown. “The Meanest Man in the World” is a lawyer who self-styles himself thus in order to convince himself that he can be a regular Simon Legree and wield the black snake over the small debtors of a large corporation evidently is one that deals in women’s wear at wholesale. One of the creditors is J. Hudson & Co., who conduct a small shop in Kingston N.Y. they owe the corporation $200. The meanest man in the world is sent to collect or to close the establishment. On his arrival in the little office at the back of the Hudson store he encounters what he believes to be the firm’s stenographer, but it isn’t the stenographer at all, she really is the whole of J. Hudson & Co. (the audience is in the secret all the time) but the meanest man wasn’t wise even though there wasn’t another soul in the store. He tells what a bad man he is and the supposed stenographer pleads for time for the firm, claiming there is to be an Old Home Week Celebration within a month and the shop will make enough during this period to take care of the indebtedness (but anyone who ever lived in Kingston and managed to get away could not be gotten back to the burg other than in a coffin). The meanest man finally awakes to the fact that the stenographer is really the whole firm and has softening of the heart and incidentally of the brain, telephones to New York and borrows enough to take care of the firm’s debt. He also learns that through some legal manipulation J., Hudson has been trimmed of $20,000, and he is about to start out to collect that for her, when the stenographer suddenly shows she is more interested in the meanest man than in the money and there is a happy curtain. The act will do as a feature turn on the small time.
12 Mins., Full Stage (Special Set). The Dancing Mars, three in number, two female and one male, have a neat and rather refined dancing specialty, but one hardly heavy enough to hold down a big time position. They opened at the Colonial and just barely reached an encore. The act is composed of a young boy and girl who hardly look over their teens, with a third (woman) filling it at the opening and finale. The appearance is excellent throughout, the boy displaying two changes, sailor suit and evening clothes, while the others make several changes during the action, which is set with special scenery. There is nothing exceptional to the dances and at times the routine seems disjointed. They could fill a small time spot and get away nicely. But the speed is a bit fast in the two-a-day. The boy is limber-legged enough to suggest a production, but otherwise it’s merely a passable number, scenery and all considered.
The Equilla Brothers closed the show, giving a five-minute exhibition of equilibristic acrobatics that gives them rank with the very best. The understander displayed remarkable strength and the top mounter remarkable balance. The house was in a mood to walk at any time and did so frequently during the performance. But none strayed from the start to the finish of the Equillas act.
The Chung Hwa Four is still another turn which has been in and out of the bigger houses for a number of seasons. That act, too, made good finding excellent going on No. 2. The Chink harmony with the newsboy quartet number, “Roll Dem Bones,” done without the orchestra, is as good as ever offered by an American four. The Scotch finish was surprise and delight for the house.
Middleton and Spellmeyer are back in big time, offering “Lonesome Land,” a western sketch which they used in the smaller houses for some months. This couple were standard for splashes of western color for a few seasons ago and they are just as welcome now. Mr. Middleton interpolated his usual vocal solo, but his voice was off Monday night. Yet “Lonesome Land” is interesting throughout its 23-minute length, with a stirring pistol play finish.
Lois Josephine and Leo Henning closed the intermission, with Earle Browne accompanying them at the piano. The turn fared well enough, though more dancing seems natural from the team. The routine of songs is reminiscent of musical comedy.
