The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1904-03-29
The Vaudeville Mt the Grand.


The programme at the Grand this week
covers a wide range-almost the entire
field OF vaudeville art There are some
acts on the bill that fall below the merit Of
the others. but, taken as a whole. the en-
tertainment is a good one-the best. In fact,
that the Grand has had to offer i'm several
weeks. Music. comedy farce, magic, dane
ing. minstrelsey, acrobatics and gymnastics
all find places in the performance. 1t some
times happens that the advertised head
liners" of a vaudeville show are not so de-
serving Of the place of honor in the bill
as are other specialties that have not been
announced in big. bold type, and such is
the case this week. In point of actual
merit, T. Nelson Downs is the bright. par
ticular star of the entertainment. AS
sIeight-of-hand performer he is in a class
all by himself. Comparisons are odious,
perhaps, but they are inevitable. and it is
due this young man to award him the high
est praise by saying that, in the art Of
palming coins and cards. he is more sldllful
than either the late Alexander Hermann
or the present Harry Kellar which means
that he is the greatest of all experts in
this line of endeavor. His speciality is
most astonishing one and is all the more in
teresting because he uses no mechanical
contrivances in giving his exhibition, de-
pending solely upon his wonderful deXterlty
at sleight-of-hand He scored the most pro-
nounced success of the bill at the opening
performances yesterday and certainly de-
served all of the applause he received.
pear in mixture of farce. limitations and
instrumental music. Miss Thompson is
clever with the musical bells and her
travesty of East Side Girl is well
done although she is suffering with such
a cold that her voice is not pleasing to
hear. Mr. CARVE is funny in his imitation
which he and Miss Thompson give, pic
turing a variety show team of twenty years
ago, is very amusing. An unusually strong
dancing act is presented by Young and De-
vote, who were last seen in this city with
the Inflated Blue Beard Company. These
young people are among the pest terPsi-
chorean artists now before the public. Mr..
Young was the dancing master in the big
extravaganza, besides playing one OF the
leading male parts in the piece, and in
Miss Devote he has a pupil who Is quite
his equal in certain styles of dancing Many
acts of this sort are to.be seen in vaude-
vile, but few of them are on par with
the one given by this couple. They are
really entitled to the third place of honor
on the bill
Menifee Johnson and Belle Stoddart are
two good-looking young players with con-
siderable ability as farceurs and II they
but had the proper vehicle they would
prove splendid entertainers; Their present
sketch was written by Edmund Day and
is called 1.-THE Golden Rose. Now, Mr..
Day can write pretty good material when
he feels inspired, but he wasn't inspired
when he turned out this one. The play
let starts off supidly and although Mr..
Johnson and his fair partner work hard TO
make 1t attractive, the odds are against
them for there is little that is worth
while in the piece. The more one sees or
these vaudeville sketches, by the way the
more does one become convinced that there
is a glorious future in store for the writer
who can invent some really meritorious
"playlets.
A fine gymnastic exhibition is given by
Orville and Frank. some OF their feats be-
ing of such a daring nature that they
cause the more timid folk in the audience
decided uneasiness The Marco Twins, a
team from the London music nails, cause
a great deal of merriment with an act that
is grotesque in the extreme. One OF the
twins is long, lean contortioniSt, the
other is a midget. Their speciality consists
mainly in knocking each other about the
stage Like most of the European clown
acts IL is very childish, but the audience
This speciality and the "Bijou Circus.
given by Burto, Lowande and Wilson, with
the assistance of some ponies and dogs,
will appeal TO the little folks who visit the
theater this week. The circus performance
will be particularly pleasing to children.
\ Lew Hawkins, the burnt-cork monologuist
and parody singer, is the only single enter
tainer on the programme He is mentioned
last here because he does not pretend TO
progress. He told some stories yesterday
that were old many years ago. Those In
the audience who had never heard the old
timers before laughed al the jests, for Haw-
kins knows how to tell funny stories, but
groaned inwardly upon being obliged to
listen to such ancient yarns. The bioscope.
as usual, winds up the programme with
series of moving pictures.