The San Francisco call., 1913-07-28
Irene Saves Orpheum
Best on Bill
Third Week of Singers $
Songs Prevents Star
less Gloom at Play
house
BY WALTER ANTHONY

1t was fortunate managerial
ance of Miss Irene Franklin at the
Orpheum for three consecutive weeks.
She is now in her third, and without
her the bill would be plunged into a
starless gloom.
True. Gus Edwards kid Kabaret"
has come TO town and Brent Hayes
plays the banjo but it is hard to make
a stellar Offering of either, good as
they are, and Miss Jane Connolly, who
arrives with this weeks performance
in "a Strong Cup of Tea" is no doubt
a clever little woman, but whoever
wrote her sketch gives her no chance
to prove it.
Indeed, "A Strong Cup of Tea is
very weak. and the obviousness Of the
joke may be forgiven for it's truth.
Supplementing the indifference of
the new acts with more of the water
of weakness is the act by Fred Wat
son and Rena Santos, who provide an
act so pitifully inopportune that 1t
takes much coura ge to abuse it. 1t
died.
1T is TO LAUGH. NOT
When Mr.. Watson sang you wished
that Miss Santos would, and when she
did, you wished that he would dance,
and when he did, you were grateful
that it was no worse. Mr. Watson's
voice is so bad that his singing alarms
even the boisterous and the sleepy.
His partner does a ballad about the
lend of the world which leaves moth
ing to the ina gination of that catas-
trophe. Her voice Is shrill and sharp.
Miss Connolly and company prom
ised something in the first half of the
bill, but proved Elusive Father and
son are mixed up in the matrimonial
snare of the same girl. Most of the
wit concerns. itself with puns on the
title of the pIaylet. The little heroine
will put both of her suitors in hot
water She will make 1t hot for dad
and daddys boy.
Father writes a letter to her in be-
half of his son, whom he wants to
marry the lady. She pretends to take
the letter as an offer from the writer
and makes son jealous of his father.
If that seems humorous to you, perhaps
you will like the sketch. II you do,
it's lucky for you that you weren't
at the Orpheum yesterday, for you'd
have been very lonesome.
YOUNGSTERS RELIEVE SITUATION
Edwards kid Kabaret' Is an ex-
ploitation of a lot of youngsters who
are very clever and who mingle in
say funny sayings and dance 1t pro-
vides an agreeable half hour, made
more so by the presence of a pretty
little lady who plays the violin, an
other who sings, another who dances
and still another who recites a sad
recitation while the orchestra plays
low and slow.
Brent Hayes plays the banjo so we'll
that one resents his effort to make a
nonresonant instrument instrumental
He almost succeeds in producing legato
melody, but at the expense of musi-
cal energy that elsewhere makes an
Ysaye or a Paderewski.
Miss Franklin offers someenew songs
any one of which is worth the time Of
the rest of the bill, which includes
from last week LAMBERT. who calls
himself "the master musician" and
plays Rubenstein's melody in and
other like things in demonstrate
Pat Rooney and Marion Bent. who are
at the same news stand" this week
as last. and Miss Orford. to whom
with her elephants, I'd be inclined to
give the honors of the program If Irene
and her clever associate, Burt Green,
at the piano, were not on hand to take
the wreath.