17 min. full stage—In an acrobatic and dancing specialty, something on the lines of O’Brian and Havel’s work. The tumbling of the man is the best of the kind seen on this stage in some time, but the act is somewhat handicapped by the homeliness and gawkiness of the woman. Smirl’s tumbling carried it out in good shape.
22 min, full stage—This was the first time here for these two men as a team and they did not go so strong as I expected they would. Sweatman was just as artistic and funny as ever, and the other man seconded his efforts fairly but for some reason the sketch seemed to drag, and did not go in the way in which one would expect it to. Personally, I think it is great, but the supreme court was not in accord with me. Would rather have Sweatman in monologue.
Character vocalist. Opens with a little Chinese song and finishes with a couple of coon songs. Of course, her place in the bill was awfully hard and it would be difficult to judge just how she would go in an easier position. I should class the act, however, as fairly good. 12 min. in one.
Character song. This is the big hit of the show, much to my surprise. This young woman has certainly got a great deal of ability, and can twist her face into more different positions than any person I ever saw. She went on last night at nearly ten o’clock and the audience were loath to let her go. To my mind she is the best single woman in the business. 13 minutes in one.
In “The Littlest Girl”. Unquestionably the best dramatic sketch on the Vaudeville stage, and is the greatest kind of a success here with me this week. 23 min. full stage.
This is a European act that has been with the Empire show all the season, and it is one of the few foreign acts that is able to go on and make an American audience laugh. They make-up as clowns and do some very good acrobatic work, and also introduce the rubber ball bounding act made familiar by overall European performers, but the feature of their act is the finish in which they do the Mr. & Mrs. Nightengale imitations after the style of Pudinoff, and with two people it makes it a great deal stronger. They went very strong this afternoon, and it is a really first-class act. 12 minutes, full stage. GNH.
Grand Opera Singer. She has a very good voice indeed and went very nicely, but, I think now as I have always thought, that there is no signer in the world that is worth the money that we pay her, to us, unless she can create sufficient interest to draw it in, and I don’t think that she is going to do it here. As a matter of fact, I think that so far as the New York House is concerned, that a woman at $75. Or $100. Per week would be just as valuable to us as she is. 12 minutes, in one. HRR.
This is an act by two men, Cantwell formerly being of the team Ford & Cantwell and Jennings of the team of Jennings & Alto. The act is only fair, principally because they don’t do but very little dancing. Jennings’ work with the cane is all right and they do a little dancing at the finish which goes very well, but it is hardly worthy of the place in the bill which they have got here and I shall change them in the morning. They will do all right to open the show. 20 Mins. in 1. ER.
This is the original Harry LeClair, formerly LeClair & Russell. He has a now act now in which of course, he makes a specialty of impersonating the female character, but he has some very fine wardrobes and his ability in this line is too well known to need any comment. He first appears as an actress and sings a song deprecating the large number of amateurs in the business, and the song is interspersed with some very good patter; he then changes and does a crazy imitation of an ambition Ophelia in Hamlet, in which he also does a song, and his third change is as Faust. It is a very clever act and went very big. 22 minutes; full stage. GYH.
Man and woman in double juggling specialty. They have quite a lot of original apparatus and their different tricks are all performed cleverly. This is a good act for a small place in the bill. 12 minutes, full stage; can close in one if necessary. HR.
