THE ROLLICKERS
THE ROLLICKERS
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Burlesque managers of both wheels will profit by a visit to the Dewey this week. The Rollickers is the attraction. It is a new show in the Western Wheel and the property of Mortimer M. Thiese. Burlesque has need of such.
The two act piece "B. Dunne Goode & Company" is a burlesque show without pretence to any higher classification, but it stands as a shining example of what can be done in this field of theatricals by one who brings originality and wideawake ideas to the task of burlesque production. The show is a combination of the best things in "Bankers and Brokers" and "The Maid and the Millionaire," judiciously picked.
No better organized company of entertainers has been seen on the burlesque slage in many moons. None of the principals stands out with particular brilliancy from his fellows and no one person is forced to the fore at the expense of the general effect, but all hands work together with vim and enthusiasm to keep a consistent entertainment running swiftly and smoothly with an extremely high average of interest from curtain to curtain. Better team work has never been done in burlesque. The result is that there is scarcely a dead minute in the two and one-half hours.
The piece is decidedly well written. There is a plot, a light skeleton of play structure that holds the action together but does not obtrude itself by excessive dialogue or explanation. It works itself out in real action and not talk.
The whole show has lately been revised. In this process Mr. Thiese has injected a good deal of the material in use last summer with "The Maid and the Millionaire," which held forth a-top the Madison Square Garden Roof, it fits into the burlesque splendidly.
Ed. F. Morton, the coon [sic] shouter par excellence, has the principal straight role. Strange as it may seem, his inimitable specialty was not introduced until the middle of the second act. So full was the rest of the piece of good things, that there was no need to bolster up the early part with it. He makes an extremely pleasing straight man, playing simply and directly and with a smoothness that is without pose or affectation. His coon songs won him encores to the limit of his material, and several of his other numbers arc almost as well received.
Violet Pearl stands out as a distinct figure among burlesque soubrettes of the season. She displays a nervous energy in her songs and dances that rival in restlessness Eva Tanguay's electric gyrations. She has odd attractive ideas for stage dressing, bordering on the bizarre, which command instant notice, and above all else, is endowed with an unusual degree of personal beauty. She handles her dialogue gracefully enough and the only particular in which she falls short is her singing. There is a harsh, strained quality in her voice that proper training could probably correct. She should see to this detail without delay, it is all that stands between her and swift advancement.
Kathryn Pearl is leading woman, a statuesque and graceful young person, and an exceedingly handsome woman with an exceptional pleasing stage presence and manner. Grace Patton completed a trio of woman principals that could alone have been depended upon to carry a burlesque production provided far less richly with capable support. She had not a great deal of important work to do, but she fulfilled satisfactorily the requirements of appearance and dressed nicely.
Joseph H. Watson and Will H. Cohen labor together in holding up the comedy department. Both are in Hebrew comedy make up and their points are made to tell with certainty without once descending to stale jokes or horseplay. They have been provided with unlimited sure fire dialogue and bits of really funny business and every minute of their presence on the stage could be counted in spontaneous laughter from the audience.
With the two Misses Pearl they were concerned in one of the musical hits of the show, "What Would You Do?" in the second act. The pair held the stage alone for a little too long at one time just before this point, but for the rest restrained themselves admirably both as to time and method in spite of what might have been an excusable temptation to make the most of an obvious good thing. A series of parodies in their hands practically held the show up near the end.
Alfred Hall contributed an excellent clog dance and made himself liked throughout the piece by his flittings back and forth at opportune moments and the utterance of a catch line, which never failed to get a laugh.
Eddie Barto's talents were somewhat hidden by the company he was in. He drew a role that offered him little opportunity, but he handled his small part skillfully and with intelligence, contributing not a little to the speed of the action. Grover Shepp in a part that would ordinarily be handed to the undcrstander of an acrobatic act selected for the olio's sake, did very well indeed.
Fourteen girls make up the chorus, divided according to the Thiese pattern into "ponies" and show girls. A number of novel chorus arrangements are shown, all of them interesting and several striking. The "ponies" have been trained to handle a first rate routine of wooden shoe dances with good style and are kept to the top notch of ginger in all their work. Five changes are shown in each act - the equipment of chorus costuming being exceptional for its good taste and pretty color effects.
There is no olio in the usual sense of a series of specialties introduced between pieces, but four semi-vaudeville turns are given during the action of the second piece. Ed. Morton sang "A Friend of the Family" and "Gratitude," both of which he used with the Thiese summer show. The specialty was extremely well received. The Rollickers' Quartette did most of its work in strengthening the ensemble numbers, but sang one song at the opening of the second act. They sing well enough, but do not stand out particularly. Watson and Cohen's parodies made another incidental act. Only one of the collection is familiar, the others being fresh. Sadie Lamar, who probably came from the chorus, offered a solo toe dance which lasted only a minute or two but was well done.
The show is absolutely clean. There is not a suggestive line in the whole performance, and its entertainment is offered along legitimate lines. Rush.
Select References & Further Reading:
Variety, Vol 9, No. 4. Jan 4, 1908, p. 13
Header image: A Columbia Recording session, The Phonoscope (1898). Image sourced via Public Domain.
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