20 Mins.; One. Foreign male trio. Two sing while the third, the youngest, plays the accordion. Act was a hit at the Broadway through the musician’s work. He almost does a “single,” is young, has a likeable personality and displayed sufficient versatility to frame up a “single” for the bigger houses. He is a good whistler and showed aptitude in dancing to instrumental music. He needs a little more pep and seasoning. The boy’s pop melody was well received. The other men sing well and render a stereotyped routine with “Snooky Ookums” thrown in.
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.
Demarest and Collette, opening with fiddle and cello, very serious and straight, went that way until the man, for no reasons at all, set his cello against the chair and did the first of his howling falls. In this the program matter, tipping off that it was a comedy act, hurt the surprise. The start is palpably for an impression to heighten the ludicrous aftermaths, and therefore it might be wise to mask it in the billing by at least double entendre descriptions, such as “Strings and Stringers,” instead of “Trifling Talk, Fancy Fiddling and a Careless “Cello.” In later minutes the woman played “Humeresque” in a manner to tear the heart out, and is both a great violiniste and the owner of a great violin. The trick stuff, the clowning, the pluperfect playing and all made up a grand next-to-closing act; it could have doubled its stage time easily and held concentration and welcome.
The next was a tragic thing. It was carded as the Gordon-Russell Trio, ringing up in a purple spot with garish second-hand drapes spotted with profile parrots and a man in what may have been a costume singing what might have been a song. At the right stood a lady with a rose in her teeth, a la Suratt. The first look was the tip-off. It was one of those home-made acts, staged by the family piano teacher. The man blew and the lady did an operatic number, every gesture denoting the novice. Either through nervousness or lack of range, she muffed the entire lower half of the register. On romped another girl, probably her sister, in a Spanish dance which proved she belonged with the act. The bender, though, came when the man returned in a Tuxedo outfit with tan shoes, and rendered a lyric, also rended [sic] it. That brought the second girl back for a toe dance so outlandishly awkward that even the unlettered hot polloi laughed.
: 17 Mins.; One and Full stage. Ray Dooley has taken the best section of her former minstrel turn, condensed what was originally a big girl act into a trio, added some new material and reconstructed her routine into something which bears a semblance to big time speed, although there is still room for further improvement. The trio includes a comedian, “straight” man and Miss Dooley herself, who essays a kid character throughout. The comic can be safely credited with 75 per cent of the turn’s success. He carries a style and delivery of his own and executes some sure-fire falls that will eventually bring him up among the top-notchers in eccentric work. As the turn stands now, it runs a bit long for big time usefulness. The comic’s solo song could be safely discarded with his dance interpolated into the early section. The “bedroom” number could also be consistently eliminated since the girl’s enunciation is rather faculty and the whole bit runs to low comedy and doesn’t harmonize with the balance. And Miss Dooley could and should cover her knees. The rest of the turn is excellent, with the encore, a burlesque of a modern cabaret, measuring up as one of the best comic bits seen around here in many months. The rearranging process would bring the time down to a reasonable limit and in turn develop the act into a standard big time number. Miss Dooley’s business sagacity is evidenced in the billing, but it seems the boys should be credited somewhere for their work. At the Columbia the act took all the honors of the Sunday matinee.
36 Mins.; Full Stage (Special Exterior). B.A. Rolfe’s latest production, “The Lonesome Lassies,” is one of the most pretentious endeavors that this producer has made. Four principals and a chorus of eight mighty good looking girls. The scene is laid in a summer resort at an old colonial mansion, with its massive white pillars rising 20 or 25 feet above the stage. The lonesome lassies are led by Leota Sinclair and Marjorie Bonner. The latter is an ex-Ziegfeld girl and was one of the best lookers that “Folliers” boasted. The ten girls are at the summer resort and are lonesome, for the boys only come down for weekends. To make the boys jealous the girls scheme to have a picture taken of themselves being made love to by a picture actor. Instead of the actor arriving a real “John” comes on the scene and complications follow. So much for the comedy end. An opening chorus is pretty, and the little flow-up to this will make a hit with the agents, for the lyric writer has woven the names of a number of the “Palace Building” boys into his theme. Ray Hodgdon and Maurice Rose are two of the names that stand out. The picture bit follows this and gets over nicely. This in turn makes way for a burglar number handled by Harry B. Watson and Miss Bonner. The title is “Love Made Me a Wonderful Detective,” with a final touch showing the chorus in almost transparent “nighties.” For the closing number the girls are displaying as pretty a set of gowns as have been seen in either musical comedy or vaudeville this season. The act is slightly too long at present. A minute or two could be cut from the burglar bit and the same from the auto repair talk. There are several repeats in the latter piece of business. The act when trimmed down to a half hour will be one of the best of the big acts. It has comedy, good music and pretty girls.
15 Mins.; One. Two young men. Hard workers. Both sing well. Act scored solidly.
24 Mins. (Special Drops and Setting). In their newest vaudeville offering, “The Masher,” Mr. and Mrs. Carter DeHaven are getting further away from singing and dancing. In fact, the entire strength of “The Master” rests on the dialog between the diminutive pair and the “situations” arising from the young stage door Johnny’s determination to show the actress a good time. There are several song numbers, to be sure, and well handled in the usual DeHavenesque style; yet they are secondary considerations in the summing up of the act’s impression. In “one” Miss Parker, looking younger and prettier than ever, is singing front stage. Carter interrupts from the box. She promises to meet him at the stage door and go out for the cats. A stage door drop then is used. Carter does a song and dance while waiting and also chins the stage doorman. He and Flora then taxi to a quiet restaurant room in “three,” where Flora proceeds to make Carter’s roll like a thimbleful of ashes. Here the DeHavens sing two numbers, the most effective and snappy being the “Marriage Is a Grab Bag.” This is a neat, gingery little conceit, with the DeHavens and the waiter, doubling as the preacher, doing a trotting dance around and off the stage in bridal procession. For the end, following their ejection from the private dining room because they were not married, the masher takes Miss Parker home to New Rochelle. She enters and does a disrobing “bit” before a transparent window. The masher, broke, sings a little soliquoy and starts to walk back to the city as a lightning and rain effect is used in “one.” The act is away from anything previously offered by the DeHavens. It’s light and airy but sufficiently molded to give satisfaction. DeHaven is the accredited author, but the song, lyrics and music sounded suspiciously like Gene Buck and Dave Stamper.
The Musical Christes were the first act following the usual screen showings of a Sunshine comedy and Fox news. Their playing of classical and popular numbers on the xylophone sent them away to nice applause.
Lillian Bernard and Jazz Band were featured at this new W.V.M.A. house and proved an ideal feature on an all around good bill. Miss Bernard is a local favorite, having sung in the cafes. Her personality and charming mannerisms out her over with a bang. She is carrying a jazz band that takes its hats off to no band in vaudeville. With the workout the act can take a spot on the better bills. Either way, Miss Bernard is of big-time caliber.
