Miss La Cross was a likeable blonde young woman with a fine high note that won ready applause, but she likewise was minus a laugh. The “production act,” No. 3, had comedy possibilities but they were not developed and might as well have been absent as far as getting the proceedings well under was concerned.
Sansone and Delila, opening have an interesting routine of equilibristic feats with many novel angles and, for an eight-minute turn, deliver value. The man of the act should by all means devise some sort of substitute for the Tuxedo or sack coat worn at the opening over his gym shirt and white flannel trousers. The nondescript combination is all out of order. The woman dresses neatly and both members of the partnership work with good acrobatic style. This was No. 1 without comedy.
Along at closing Burns and Frabite delivered the kind of strong comedy element the Bronx, house wanted but by that time it was too late. The day really had been lost during the later numbers of the quiet first half – lost beyond remedy.
The first real laugh was Miss Juliet, on No. 3. She was a veritable riot with her impersonations and the preceding special numbers. The house simply couldn’t get enough of the imitations. Miss Juliet could have gone on doing another quarter of an hour, but she begged off.
Johnny Dooley and Yvette Rugel form a likely combination with the former’s comedy eccentricities standing out above everything else. Dooley is one of those jumping-jacks who moves in and around the footlights as though he were on springs. He also works in some acrobatics to good advantage, and employs “nut stuff,” announcing it as an imitation of Bert Fitzgibbon. Miss Rugel loomed up best on the closing number, her voice showing high range, but with the singer having a tendency to swallow her articulation. She is an attractive miss in her Scottish kilts, the Highland “bit” closing the turn. Dooley is a clever chap and will develop as he goes along. at the Royal this pair were an emphatic hit.
18 Mins.; Full Stage. Ralph Dunbar, he of lyceum and Chautauqua fame, sponsored the Salon Singers in vaudeville, the turn having just reached New York after an extended tour of the Orpheum Circuit in the west. It carries three men and two women, one of the male members accompanying on the piano. Two quartet numbers, one at either end of the repertoire are filled in with five solos, each member having an opportunity to exhibit his or her individual ability. A comparison in this division would not be exactly the proper thing. Suffice to say the entire quintet acquitted themselves finely, combining to offer one of the most artistic straight singing specialties the big time uncovered some seasons.
11 Mins.; Full Stage. Nice looking couple, the man working in evening clothes, the girl in a pretty white satin dress. They offer the conventional routine of modern dances, including the tango, waltz, fox trot and one- step, and while from a standpoint of gracefulness they seem somewhat better than the average, the fact that they have chosen the modern dance idea is a severe handicap in itself. Still this team can follow a majority of the others and could make a great many who have been getting money for it around here throw their dancing slippers away. If the big time audiences are willing to stand the tango thing any long, Weimers and Masse can distribute it as well as any.
: 13 Mins.; One. Fritz Walton and Meta Brandt are offering the usual man and woman two-act with a couple of songs and a little talk. The turn will answer nicely in an early spot on the big time bills. They open with a song, following with some baseball talk, the comedy of which comes from the man, who claims to be an expert on the national sport, misnaming all of the prominent players in his endeavours to explain the game on the girl. For the finish another song is used with incidental business that is effective. Vaudeville is more or less a business of accidents, and during the playing of this act Tuesday night bone happened that the team might well keep in, for it is sure fire for laughs. One of the chairs that are used for the seats in the baseball stand collapsed and the man of the couple was quick-witted enough to make the best of what might have been an award situation, to secure laughs.
14 Mins.; One. Cecile Weston and Louise Leon are presenting an act that is patterned closely after that Weston and Bernard formerly gave. Miss Weston is Willie’s sister, and almost as clever as her brother, working along the self-same lines as he follows. Miss Leon is billed as the champion girl ragtime player. She will have a time living up to this billing for there are girls about town in cabartes who will give her a run. The act as framed up at present does not start right. The idea of letting the pianist open with a selection before Miss Weston enters is poor showmanship. Miss Weston is the strong feature and should be there from the start. The singer is using four numbers. Three seem to be of the restricted type, and the forth is “Poor Pauline,” done as a double. The act was one of the hits of the first half of the Royal bill. When the routine is rearranged it should be ready to go in anywhere.
[New Act] Comedy, talk, songs and dances. 14 mins; “One.” These boys have been playing around the smaller houses and are right where they belong. One member is tall and angular, and the other short and squat. Their appearance makes for comedy and they capitalize it with comedy business and rough hokum. The cross fire could stand brushing up as the talk has all been released. Both are good eccentric steppers, the shorter one convulsing the house with a comedy solo dance that accentuates his short legs. They closed a whirlwind at the Royal.
