The Nine Liberty Girls were the feature, closing the performance with an excellent musical routine. The first half of the offering has but six of the girls on. All play saxophones save the leader, who gets pretty results with a brass clarionet [sic]. The act stands out from other feminine musical turns, in hat there is little or no attempt for plaudits until the close. The numbers flow from one to another, and the net result is pleasing. On merit and flash it stood up on the billing.
[New act] Talk and songs, 19 mins; special in three. The billing calls it a sketch, “The Drug Clerk,” but it is merely cross talk between man and woman before a drop representing a drug store interior with a soda fountain center. The talk is dull and the singing not brilliant. At the finish the man displays a few steps of eccentric dancing that might be made much more of. He likewise had a certain unctuous delivery of talk, but the pair have not the material. “Paying as little attention as possible” is one of the lines addressed to the woman partner by the drug clear. That’s a sample. It is hard to see where the turn fits in any company but the smallest. It’s not rough enough for the slap-stick and is devoid of anything like high comedy.
[New acts] Comedy Girl Act, 24 mins; one. The comedy of the turn is based on the extreme fatness of one member and the comparative slimness of the other. The fat woman makes her appearance calling in a loud voice for “Looie.” A quarrel ensues with the slim girl doing a soubret number on the stage. The fat girl avers she can do better, and after much amusing give and take repartee goes upon the stage. More comedy develops in the talk. And while the fat girl performs on the piano the slim one makes a change to extremely short skirts. She holds the audience while the fat one changes to an ordinary street dress with a slit in the skirt which shows a calf that wouldn’t fit the subway. A final dance together gets them off more talk and a piano number. A turn of fair small time value.
10 Mins.; One.
Tim McCormick is assisted by a young girl at the piano, and an Irish terrier. Both Tim and the girl are clad in cowboy and cowgirl costume. He opens with a song and then introduces his dog and offers a recitation about her. After this he recites “Lasca,” a poem of the plains, and then tells of another dog who rescued a regiment in France. The latter is one of those patriotic appeal things that would be much better out of the act. Audiences are fed up with this sort of stuff. The turn as it stands is Just a fair small time offering.
12 Mins. One.
Sam Massey is but a mediocre ventriloquist. His lip movements could be seen from the gallery Monday night. All of the gags are “selected material,” and his routine of tricks carries the usual drinking and smoking bits. His biggest applause winner was the tooth pulling bit on the dummy. If Sam has decided to try further in vaudeville he should have some one go to work on his material and his English. With his act in the shape that It Is at present It doesn’t appear possible that Massey is going. to have any great opportunity to keep trying his routine on regular audiences.
15 Mins. One (Special Drop).
Harlem O. H. Huston Ray is a pianist using a grand piano for his playing, which is most strenuous at times. He entered in a velvet tux and flowing tie after Miss Dore had explained the routine and offered a toe dance. Among the numbers Ray announced an impression of a Liszt number as done by “the world’s greatest pianist,” announced by Ray to be Vladimir de Pachmann. Miss Dore had another number in “Fifi.” She is a very cute girl and looked well though her tights wrinkled at the knees. For the finish Ray, announced a medley of hits “employing 15 rhymes of syncopation,” Miss Dore coming in at the close for a toe dance bit. Ray attempts difficult playing and at times “slurs.” He has the appearance of being “there” with the ivories but a re- arrangement of his routine ought to be more effective, for he, doesn’t get the results that his hard work deserves.
Made her best score with “We Must Have a Song to Remember,” which introduced favorite melodies of other days. An attractive assortment of costumes, with a green spangled creation standing out, helped the general effect of Miss Fredericks offering considerably.
17 Mins.; One.
Here is a team of men that is due to be seen on the big time. They have appearance, personality and voices. The opening is a novelty. One appears and starts with an operatic aria, the other joining him and then as the audience settles back into their seats prepared to receive a dose of the classical, the two switch to syncopated melodies and everyone sits up again. One does a solo “When My Baby Smiles at Me” being the number after which “Budaha” is offered” as a double, then “Daddy You’ve Been A Mother to Me” is rendered as a single with a yodel double at the finish. For an encore they did “Dardanella.”
10 Mins.; One (Special).
Another variation of the old bench act. A boy and girl before a special drop do the usual flirtation bit; pull a few gags that arc mostly “old boys,” using the newsstand stuff with “Snappy Stories” and “Breezy Stories” as at- tempts for laughs. The team do a double number with some little comedy and the boy later offers a single. Just a small time turn.
11 Mini.; One.
Lark Lanning is a nice appearing boy in dinner jacket outfit which suits him somewhat better than when “he tried out in sailor uniform. His offering consists of a series of bird imitations by whistling. There is also a phonograph imitation of Harry Lauder singing “Stop Your Ticklin’ Jock.” The young man must be given credit for one thing however, and that is finding a new one to pin the old buzz saw imitation on to. He pulls it as an aeroplane. What he needs is a little more work for the placing of comedy into the talk and then he will do for small time.
