DIY History | Transcribe | Keith-Albee Collection | Keith-Albee managers' report book, February 4-September 9, 1907

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Keith-Albee managers' report book, February 4-September 9, 1907

Page 161

Columbus, Show, Week June 17th. -- 1907.    W. W. Prosser.
BENDER & EARL: Musical act by two girls. -- One plays harp the other violin. -- Both are fair musicians and they make a nice appearance. -- To my way of thinking they impair the merit of their work by attempting to sing. -- Generally speaking they got along very well, especially in this spot and the audience seemed to like them. 15 minutes in one.
GARDNER & STODDARD: A hodge podge variety act by man and woman that has some good spots and some bad ones. The man does nothing of moment except to play the cornet and Swiss bells. -- He springs a lot of comedy leg contortion work that really does not strike home for the reason that it is entirely unlooked for from a man of his general appearance. -- The woman does some impersonations that are very good excepting the finish in one where she appears as the Rube girl. This portion of her work did not take especially well and I attribute the lack of interest to the fact that she assumes a makeup which instead of being humorous is almost hideous. -- The act went passably well however and got by. 19 minutes, C. D. F.
GEORGE ABEL & CO. -- Sketch: "Three Of A Kind." A conventional sort of farce interpreted fairly well by seven people. -- It failed to make much of an impression here and was to most people a disappointment. -- The work of the men doing the same part and upon which characters the comedy of the offering depends was really weak. -- None of them seemed to work as though they really had either confidence or interest in their work. -- Mr. Abel and Miss Arden proved quite acceptable but the sketch was far from a hit. C. D. F. 23 minutes.
CHAS. HOWARD: A fair comedian in a singing and talking act which would be much better if the fellow doing it would get away from working as though he were playing to a burlesque audience. 12 minutes in one.
STUNNING GRENADIERS: A well known act and one that made good but not to the extent I expected. -- The work is all good and the staging about all that could be desired. -- 20 Minutes Special.
THE BRITTONS: -- (Colored) Man and woman in a singing and dancing act that was easily the hit of the show. -- They both make a good appearance and they both work. -- The man is a crackerjack dancer in fact one of the best I ever saw. -- They are free from affectation and simply sing and dance their way into the good graces of our patrons. -- At the first show they were recalled five or six times. The trombone player in my orchestra at present is Doc Quigley, Mgr. of Al G. Fields Minstrels, incidentally one of the very best eccentric dancers in America, and he simply refuses to play his instrument while this act is on. -- I questioned him about his laying off and he says he is too busy trying to catch some of the steps of this team. 22 Minutes in one.
DARZELLI & MILLAY: Comedy bar and wrestling act that is very clever, particularly the wrestling work. -- It made a very good closer and they earned and won many deserved laughs. Landscape in 4. 12 minutes.
PICTURES: O. K.

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Columbus, Show, Week June 17th. -- 1907. W. W. Prosser. BENDER & EARL: Musical act by two girls. -- One plays harp the other violin. -- Both are fair musicians and they make a nice appearance. -- To my way of thinking they impair the merit of their work by attempting to sing. -- Generally speaking they got along very well, especially in this spot and the audience seemed to like them. 15 minutes in one. GARDNER & STODDARD: A hodge podge variety act by man and woman that has some good spots and some bad ones. The man does nothing of moment except to play the cornet and Swiss bells. -- He springs a lot of comedy leg contortion work that really does not strike home for the reason that it is entirely unlooked for from a man of his general appearance. -- The woman does some impersonations that are very good excepting the finish in one where she appears as the Rube girl. This portion of her work did not take especially well and I attribute the lack of interest to the fact that she assumes a makeup which instead of being humorous is almost hideous. -- The act went passably well however and got by. 19 minutes, C. D. F. GEORGE ABEL & CO. -- Sketch: "Three Of A Kind." A conventional sort of farce interpreted fairly well by seven people. -- It failed to make much of an impression here and was to most people a disappointment. -- The work of the men doing the same part and upon which characters the comedy of the offering depends was really weak. -- None of them seemed to work as though they really had either confidence or interest in their work. -- Mr. Abel and Miss Arden proved quite acceptable but the sketch was far from a hit. C. D. F. 23 minutes. CHAS. HOWARD: A fair comedian in a singing and talking act which would be much better if the fellow doing it would get away from working as though he were playing to a burlesque audience. 12 minutes in one. STUNNING GRENADIERS: A well known act and one that made good but not to the extent I expected. -- The work is all good and the staging about all that could be desired. -- 20 Minutes Special. THE BRITTONS: -- (Colored) Man and woman in a singing and dancing act that was easily the hit of the show. -- They both make a good appearance and they both work. -- The man is a crackerjack dancer in fact one of the best I ever saw. -- They are free from affectation and simply sing and dance their way into the good graces of our patrons. -- At the first show they were recalled five or six times. The trombone player in my orchestra at present is Doc Quigley, Mgr. of Al G. Fields Minstrels, incidentally one of the very best eccentric dancers in America, and he simply refuses to play his instrument while this act is on. -- I questioned him about his laying off and he says he is too busy trying to catch some of the steps of this team. 22 Minutes in one. DARZELLI & MILLAY: Comedy bar and wrestling act that is very clever, particularly the wrestling work. -- It made a very good closer and they earned and won many deserved laughs. Landscape in 4. 12 minutes. PICTURES: O. K.