Hall and Colburne, in the sketch spot, went long on scenery and props. One of the men in a Scandinavian elevator girl, the other his sweetheart(bellhop), and the girl the public steno. The idea is sound for low comedy. Some of the comedy is not so, by jingo! When the man pulled the wig it didn’t ripple much. The stuff had gone flat.
Hobson and Beatty, girls, came next, a contralto who does comedy talk, and a soprano who never leaves “the sublime.” Worth better position on class, looks, ability and audience results.
Bassett and Bailey, European balancers, opened. They juggled and the woman showed some wonderful off-the-floor lifts, while the man hand balanced on six chairs and three tables. The team opens with the man in comedy clothes, stripping to hunting togs.
Neapolitan Duo, two Italians (male) who look like twins and say they are, might have camouflaged the billing and gotten a surprise, as they look and sing just the same. As it was they sang one by one and then together, just fair, with homemade voices and street-singer clothes.
Oliver and Olp, with a stage full of furniture and props, tortured out some laughs. The act, “The Bee-Hive,” was the second sketch on the bill. The program says it was written by Mattie Keene and Leo Well. It doesn’t sound as though it took two authors to write it, though it looks as though it took wagons to haul it. A rainstorm finish saved it and it took three curtains here.
Doc Baker made his first appearance as a big-timer here. Like many another he had to travel far to make the home folks believe it. Baker proved a good entertainer and quick worker at changes, but he was snowed under but the other features of the act, “Flashes.” First of all in credit for the handiwork of Menlo Moore and Macklin Megley, the producers. Second was the all-around stellar showing of Polly Walker, the niftiest showbrette let loose on an unexpected public this year. If “Flashes” must go plural, the little one must at least be recorded as main flash.
Moore stands alone as a vaudeville producer of girl acts. Like Ziegfeld in higher-priced revues, he has that something – and that something is everything. Class tells it about as broadly and as comprehensively as any word. The corking good taste in costuming, setting, staging and routine; the freshness, the crisp animations, the cleanly sophistication – they mark a Menlo Moore product. Miss Walker typifies every attribute of her manager; he selects as he creates. Baker is a masculine looking baritone, excellent in ballads, lost in comedy. The turn assisted by a flock of assorted babes in an assortment of delicious costumes, held the Palace mob in to a man, closing the matinee, and drew applause.
[New Act] Talk, 19 mins; one (special) full. Opening with both in a ‘phone booth, getting the same number and stalling as to where each is going to spend the evening, the matrimonial argument starts upon their meeting outside and carries on through another “drop” depicting the car ride home, and finally into “full” for the parlor, where most of the action takes place. Plentiful as to laughs, provided by the husband, getting able assistance from his partner.
They ate it up at the 23d [sic] Street Monday night, and the act is no doubt “set” for the smaller houses.
Dorothy Dahl and Co. have made some slight changes as to the “straight,” but the theme that prevailed through her former offering still stands. The dialog as used missed fire a couple of times due to Miss Dahl’s stammering over a few lines of the “wisecrackin’” kind. She seemed weak throughout the 13 minutes. Besides the vocal efforts failed to help despite a leaning toward the “blue.”
Paggie Dale with her two male assistants gave the evening a start with dancing ushered in by an introductory lyric sung by one of the boys at the piano, the other boy dancing with the girl. Usual as to routine until toward the end, when an acrobatic bit of stepping, in which the girl is handled by her partner, picked things up and sent the act away in much better shape. Lack of coherence with the boys down in the pit also tended to make the running seem ragged.
[New Act] Acrobatics, 8 mins; three. Two men, straight acrobatics, in kid get-up sox, knickers and all, one entering on pushmobile, the other performing some business with a top balloon. They go into their acrobatic work, handstands and head stands, neatly performed, with dispatch. For a finish, a variation on a familiar, but sure-fire feat is performed; an ankle lift from the floor with the knees as the fulcrum. Great for either end on the present time.
