These boys saved the entire show with their acrobatic work and the comedy of the big fellow. The act went big from beginning to end. It is novel and well presented and they deserve great credit for waking up an audience that was on the verge of slumber. Their base ball talk went heavily this being a crazy ball town. 20 minutes in one.
4 men and 1 woman. This act is strengthened with the addition of two men, who are good acrobats. There is a lot of new work introduced by the original trio. The big feature that they talk about is the prop horse. They got a lot of laughs on the dancing of the horse and the bare-back riding of Ellis. The act was by no means a sensation. I am sorry that I billed them as a headline attraction, altho it pleased. 11 min
Eighth and Last Week. Presenting Edwards Davis’ one-act tragedy: “The Unmasking.” This man was quite fortunate to have the assistance of Edwards Davis and his entire company with costumes, scenery and all properties. The play made quite a big hit owing to Mr. Davis’ manipulation. I might say to the benefit of all managers who contemplate playing an ex-star stock favorite that a long engagement has proven a dismal failure, as a shorter engagement would have been more beneficial to this house. 24 min. – two scenes
This man opened in one with a short series of pictures illustrating his jump from the Pittsburg bridge. These pictures are very good, and got quite a hand. He got advance applause, and the act went very well. The trunk trick of course got big applause. I am working up some special features for him that will be talked about, and he ought to do some business for us. 24 minutes, full stage.
Well known Ventriloquist. Without doubt this is the best act of its kind. The scenery, props, figures, Light effects etc., are immense and while Reynard’s Ventiloquial efforts may not be as artistic as either Prince or Edwards, he certainly goes better with the audience. 20 minutes, full stage.
Female Baritone. This woman made quite a hit with all her songs, and the act is certainly all right for the money compared with some other acts in one at three and four times the money. 10 minutes in one.
I was very much disappointed in this act. They do singing and dancing. Singing only one song, and the sword and Spanish dancing was only fair. They finish with a duel with swords which was very bad, but they may be all right to open the show. Went fair. 12 minutes in two. Three shows.
On at 4.36, 19 min, full stage. The finish of this piece tells the whole story. I don’t care a whole lot for the company, although I doubt if Benedict and Miss Shirley could be much improved upon. Some of the action needs livening up, and several of the situations could be bettered; still, as I have said before, “It is all in the finish”, the race scene, which is remarkably well staged. I have never seen it fail to thoroughly arouse an audience, and it got a tremendous amount of applause this afternoon.
On at 2.09, 8 min, in 1; 3 shows. This man is a really great cornetist. While I do not care particularly for cornet solos myself, I know that there are a lot of people who do, judging by the applause that he received this afternoon. And then again, it helps give the somewhat different touch to a bill.
“Stop, Look & Listen”. While I don’t think this little play amounts to a great deal, it serves the purpose for Miss Tully very well. The story is of a stranded actress who runs across a little country girl who is anxious to go on the stage, and in fact has saved up enough money to run away from home and go to New York. After finding out that Miss Tully is an actress, she asks her to give imitations of people whom she has read about, which she did very well. She closes her act with an imitation of a young girl who left home after living with a man for two years, he becomes tired of her and tells her he is going to leave her. This little scene naturally serves to turn the country girls’ mind from going on the stage, and was so well done by Miss Tully that she received three curtain calls at close. A very good act. Open in one, then to full stage. 27 minutes
