25 min, CDF in 3. Assisted by a man, woman and girl, in the ‘The Man Behind the Gun.’ Of course, Foy is the whole sketch. When he’s on, the fun is fast and furious – and he’s on a great deal of the time. He was a pronounced hit here, as elsewhere, and will draw money all week. Had to make his accustomed speech before the curtain, and then the audience stopped the show for more.
Sketch. Two women and one man. This is a sketch that is only pleasing to the body of the house. It is really a ‘mistaken identity’ sketch. It is fairly acted. The closing is done with the aid of a large dog brought in to identify the chosen one of the twins, and is quite effective. Full stage. Time 22 minutes.
Two girls. Foreigners. Acrobats and equilibrists. These girls are without any question the greatest in their line on the vaudeville stage. Their handstands, feats of head to head balancing and ground tumbling are the best ever seen here and are superior to many male acts that have appeared from time to time. 7 min, FS.
This historical character made an immense hit, although his talent as pianist have been overdrawn, his act is enhanced by his automaton-like appearance, his explanatory address and his custom of applauding himself. As a freak and a drawing card he is great. 25 min, FS.
In a sketched entitled ‘Pals.’ The cast includes Mr. Davis and his wife and two men, making four people in all. The sketch is constructed evidently from an idea taken from the sensational piece that has been playing so long in England called ‘Humanity.’ With the exception of about a minute and a half, or possibly two minutes, the sketch is really a bright and pleasing comedy act, full of brilliant lines and with the situations thoroughly worked out, and if it were criticized from that standpoint alone it would be a mighty good act on any bill. But it is the climax which makes the hit and consists of the strongest and most realistic piece of stage fighting that I can recollect of ever having seen. In fact, the audience was so thoroughly worked up that the applause commenced – at least in this house – half a minute before the fight finished and continued until the end, when there was a perfect ovation and the curtain had to be raised four or five times. During the fight there is considerable crockery broken, electric lights are smashed, and the balustrade of a pair of stairs in broken, and, taken all in all, it is an awfully strong act. It can be featured to the fullest extent in any house that plays it. 23 minutes, full stage.
This is a dance by eight young girls, the act having been put together in Philadelphia and booked at the suggestion of Mr. Albee. They open rather poorly in Indian costume makeup and singing Winona, and as neither of them are good singer the effect is no particularly brilliant. They then change to short knee dresses and do the old imitation mirror dance, that is using gauze for the mirrors and four working behind and four in front, after the style of the Rosebuds. Then they change to knickbockers and do a dance which is composed of about equal parts fencing, dancing, and drilling, the fencing part being quite novel. On whole it is quite a pleasing act. 16 min, full stage.
Drapery in one. 12 min. Singing, talking and dancing act in German character. The talk of a kind, not up to what we expect for this class of artists, the dancing is only fair, and the only remarkable feature of the act is the singing of one of the boys of solos in a soprano voice. It is really a remarkable attempt, and if the young man would leave out his attempts at comedy in this singing, it would be a difficult matter to tell whether a good female soprano was singing or not. The act is hardly strong enough for its present position. Closed to good applause.
Drop in one. 20 mins. Two men in blackface makeup, singing, dancing and talking. Their singing is just passable, their talking is one of old style and introduces nothing new or bright. The dancing is the only redeeming point. This is the first I ever saw or heard of this pair, and as they were booked late to fill a vacancy, we were obliged to keep them on in this position. We are short acts in one, but they do deserve to be moved up considerably on the bill. 3 shows.
Drapery in one, 17 minutes. Woman of fairly good personal appearance, who could dress with more taste. It is the conventional Pickaninny act and her fault seems to be that she allows the Pickanninies to work too much, instead of keeping the centre of the stage herself. She claims to have a cold, but her voice was not bad to-day. Closed to fairly good applause but it might be necessary to lift this act up one or two positions. 3 shows.
Garden in 4. 10 minutes. Man and woman, evidently having circus experience. They work rapidly, cleverly, and accurately, and their closing stunt, an old circus, in which the girl is dropped out over the audience enabled them to close to a remarkable round of applause, in fact it is a good many days since such enthusiastic hand-clapping was gained by an act here. This is an act that would pass with honor and applause in any position on the bill. 3 shows.
