15 Mins.; Full Stage (Special Set). Dramatic novelty with a big of dancing interspersed. Two men and two women in it. Mr. Burke has the role of the old dancing master. He has adopted the daughter of one of his stars who has died and the act opens the night of the youngster’s debut at Drury Lane. The old master has been dubbed a “has been.” He sends the girl to the theatre and sits dreaming of the past, during which the mother appears before him and goes through a series of ballet steps. Following this Mr. Burke offers an old fashioned soft shoe dance, heartedly applauded. At the finish the girl reappears, but one is left to guess weather or not her debut has been a success. The turn will fill a good spot on small time nicely.
15 Mins.; One (Special Drop). For his return to vaudeville, Harry Bulger, who has been experimenting with musical comedy for the past several seasons with indifferent success, has taken his idea from the trade mark of Smith Bro.’s cough drops. The opening shows a drop in “one” picturing what is supposed to be the factory of the famous candy cough cure, with the familiar photo of the brothers on the side wall. Bulger and his aide walk on attired as the Smiths and after a short introductory duolog, Bulger plunges into a discourse on the history of the manufacturers, which is followed by a series of comic lyrics. The talk is bright, and although containing a few “elders” is sufficiently strong to hold its own. A political number probably known as “Mr. Wilson’s Alibi” should be discarded because of whatever political differences the average audience may represent. It is not very complimentary to the President and was not taken with very much favor. Another turn appearing later, singing, “Our Hearts Off To You, Mr. Wilson,” were rewarded with a reception on the opening line, a fact which speaks for itself. Bulger’s ability to handle his particular line of material in either talk or song is sure to get him over anywhere. He pulled a big hit at the Broadway and with a short workout should classify for the medium time, his one call on the big string resting on the reputation, which has not been over-straightened during his sojourn in the legit houses.
16 Mins.; Full Stage. After all is said regarding the modern dances and their exponents there is only one conclusion to be arrived at and this is that dainty Mae Murray is without a doubt at the top rung of that branch of entertainers. It seems a strange fact that the three most famed of all the women who have risen through the modern dance all worked in the chorus of the same show about six or several years ago. It was “The Merry-Go-Round,” at the Circle. Joan Sawyer and Florence Walton were show girls, while little Mae Murray was just one of the merry-merry. This week at the Palace with Jack Jarott as a partner Miss Murray is showing all that there is that is new in the modern dance. They have shown good taste in eliminating the usual banjorines from the colored orchestra made up of eight musicians culled from Europe’s orchestra. There are two violins, bass, ‘cello, drums and two pieces of brass. One number which the musicians offered between the second and third dances was heartily applauded. Miss Murray and Jarott are doing four dances. All are different from anything that has been shown and the stepping in two of the numbers was as nifty as anything that has been shown by anyone anywhere. Opening with a waltz, prettily done and well rehearsed, the team next do what they term “The Pidgeon Trot” (evidently named in honor of Eddie Pidgeon). This is as clever a routine of steps as ever shown in ballroom dancing. It is followed by “The Sunshine Frolic,” a combination of Greek classical dancing, the Bacchante a modern waltz. A fast Fox Trot was the closing. It has a number of steps that will never be popular for the regulation ballroom steppers and there is but little chance that any of the other exhibition folk hereabouts will try to “copy” the routine, for it looks exceedingly difficult from the front. Miss Murray was charmingly gowned, and the costume she donned for the final number is a most striking affair. It is a mandarin coat of gold cloth under which she wore black bloomers that came to her ankle tops. Jarott has grown slightly stouter since last at the Palace, but he has also improved as a dancer. It may be that in Miss Murray he has a partner more suited physically to Jack’s proportions and therefore he appears to better advantage. The act was easily the hit of the first half of the show at the Palace Monday night. At its conclusion Miss Murray was almost smothered in a shower of floral offerings.
27 Mins.; Full Stage (Special Set). Aside from the beautiful stage settings, rich costumes and excellent acrobatics and contortion work of a small boy, it cannot be said that Long Tack Sam’s latest importation “Shang Tun Mysteries” created a sensation on the initial American appearance. Lavish wealth is displayed in the back drop and side curtains used to dress the stage, and many Chinese costumes are worn by the men, but the present routine failed to disclose the mysteries expected. Four men, a woman and four children, make up the troupe. The curtain arose on the entire troupe grouped in the center of the stage, singing and playing native music. The woman and three of the children start the turn by singing a Chinese song accompanied by one of the men at the piano. This is followed by the pianist singing a short number in pidgin English. Next, one of the men juggles and spins a pair of cymbals in a clever way. Then each of the four men attempts to give individual illustrations of conjuring. This part of the turn should be worked with more skills or eliminate for in each instance, the audience saw where the articles come from. The boy followed the conjuring and did some remarkable acrobatic and contortion work. While the youngster is getting his breath, one of the men balances a spinning plate upon a flexible rod which bent at all angles. The man’s cleverness secured good applause. A little more time was filled in by another of the men throwing a large crockery vessel in the air and catching and balancing it upon his forehead. This practically concluded the men’s part of the routine and the youngster again took the centre of the stage. His back bending from a standing position earned unstinted plaudits. While balancing a large candelabrum full of lightened candles on his head, the youth accomplishes the seemingly impossible. The youngster was the backbone of the act as it stood when it opened Sunday. The woman and other three children did nothing after the opening song but stand on the stage giving the numerical strength. But since Long Tack Sam’s arrival “Shang Tun Mysteries” shows a vast improvement. The length of time consumed by the act has been cut down to 18 minutes giving more speed to the routine. The men’s portion of the offering is being strengthened and reconstructed. They possess the necessary talent to make a good showing, but lacked the direction of a practical showman like Long Track Sam to show them out to make the best use of it while before an audience. Undoubtedly long before the “Shang Tun Mysteries” reaches the east it will be holding it’s own with other big acts; for Long Track Sam has a splendid foundation to work on.
11 Mins.; One. Ferguson and May are an ordinary two-act, relying on the woman’s singing and the man’s playing.
“The Cowboy Caruso.” Bill Pruitt has a rather high baritone voice which he can easily switch to a true soprano. This makes his act a rather freak offering that will go as a novelty. He makes his appearance in the regulation cowboy costume, complete in detail even to the little bull tag that hung from the pocket of his blue shirt. Monday night he was a near-riot Immediately after the opening of the bill. He is offering four numbers, all of the ballad type. There are not new, but particularly well selected for his voice. His opening number is “White the Rivers of Love Flow On,” which he renders as a straight baritone. In the chorus of his second number he suddenly shifted his voice from a baritone. In the chorus of his second number he suddenly shifted his voice from the baritone to a soprano (not a falsetto), and struck each note as true as through that were his natural singing voice. This immediately won him a place with the audience and the finish of the number brought hearty applause. The numbers which followed included “Mother McCree” and “In the Garden of My Heart.” The latter was sung with a duet effect that pleased. For an encore he is using “The Land of My Best Girl.” Pruitt holds to his cowboy character throughout. With an awkward walk and a rather bashful stage presence, he makes his way into the heats of his audience. He is a novelty male single that will fill to advantage any big time bill.
14 Mins.; One. The metropolitan reappearance of Mike Bernard and Amy Butler as a vaudeville combination establishes very little beyond the fact that Bernard is apparently still in his own class as a rag pianist and a very noticeable and general retrogression in so far as Miss Butler is individually concerned. Offering the conventional double routine, the piano solos by Bernard stand out conspicuously and earned the bulk of whatever reward followed their combined efforts. A medley by Bernard is utilized for the introduction, followed by a series of comic and popular numbers by Miss Butler, during the action of which Mike introduces his version of “The Patrol,” a unique solo as offered by Bernard and sufficiently strong to hold up the center of the turn. With all due respect to Miss Butler’s past performances, the present vehicle seems one-sided. At the Broadway, in a decidedly difficult spot, the couple held their own for a while, but toward the finale the pace lost speed. One must wonder where Mike Bernard would be if he possessed half as much business sagacity as artistic accomplishments.
13 Mins.; One. A good singing and talking team for small time. They have rehashed several numbers that have been seen on big time and worked out a routine that will please the small time audiences. The man is a fair comedian and the woman looks very good in a series of gowns worn.
15 Mins.; Five (Parlor). “Justice.” If “Justice” were not so palpably machine-made, it would stand out among dramatic playlets, with its present cast. Three men play the piece, a judge, his son and an elderly German. The story is far-fetched, even beyond dramatic license, drawing the characters together at the opening, when the German calls upon the judge, to intercede for his daughter, to be tried on the marrow for the child murderer. The judge is stern, saying the circumstantial evidence is so clear there is no hope for the girl, and he would do the same through the criminal were one of his own. In rapid succession then is revealed that the son (suffering from a weak heart) was the betrayer of the girl, and the murderer of the infant. The boy describes how he did it, then appeals to his father, and afterwards upbraids him for sending him to college, giving him money to spend, but paying no further attention to his welfare. The excitement of the denouncement overwhelms the boy, whose heart gives out and he dies, with the curtain. The judge (unprogrammed) is excellent. He takes a strong grip on the character, makes it forceful and is an actor. The boy is also fully capable in his heavier passages, but does not command sympathy, the role forbidding that. The German is well played. The cast is an exceptionable one to be found in a small time skit. For the small time also “Justice” is quite worthy. It is holding, almost intense.
8 Mins.; Full Stage. Three women and four men, all Russian dancers, open in the usual picturesque costume, playing string instruments while bunched together for a “sight.” Later they dance, with one of the men featured for this portion the girls dance also to the customary fast closing routine. Not a bad act of its sort.
