Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1916-02-15
HARRY LADDERS HERE
THE MOO! HE'S A DAISY
Humorous and Human Enter
tainer Opens Weeks En-
gagement at the Lyric

Vaudeville has its stars that shine, and
! shines that star Harry Lauder both
shines and stars. lie was the first mag
nitude stellar attraction in constella-
ton or moro or less minor lights which
/ Illuminated the Lyric last night For
there was something different and indi-
| vidual about all that the master Of the
/ show did. And this does not reflect in
! the least on the diverse abilities as en-
! tertainers of the great surrounding bill"
! as late, theatrcally speaking. press
| agent used to say about the programs at
| his house.
! The acts aggregated a considerable gal
| aNy, but none of them was able to prtiue
! even tWig OF the laurels from the head
uner This lack of comparison was prob
ably premcditatcd by managerial astute-
ness yet 1t would he hard to imagine any
I one now In vaudeville. except perhaps
hNettc Guilbert or Albert Chevalier-if
ne is not In the trenches somewhere In
prahce-sharng the Bauderian honors.
Mr Ladders hour on the stage made
sixty minutes speed by on the wings of
laughter The brew Of comedy he dis
pen5ed quenchcd any desire to 70 out be-
tween the acts for something inspiriting
ili contributions would have redeemed
n mediocre lot of associates. but his pre-
decessors were not such a lot. In fact on
this, his eighth American tour he has
had the sense to assemble a better group
o
amusement than at any prior season.
Mr Lauder wins his way shcerIy
through personality. lie Is humorous but
moro than that, he Is human. Here we
have squat little man, no longer young,
homely of aspect. lie makes the cares
mat inicst the day fold their tents like
the nomads spoken of by the poet, and
silently beat 1t, All through personality,
Ills mirth is infectious. because It flows |
cIortIeSsly SpontancOuSly, cbulliently 1t
proEokcs everything risible in the cate |
cory of caCchination from n litter to a |
EuiaW' Mostly rich, deep chuckles at the |
IuhnN son or gun who can smooth the |
crcascs out of the brow of the tired busl- |
ness man more effectively than a vanish |
ing peroxide cream applied by an obvious |
peroxide blonde, ana makes his wife, |
miIadN obivious to the pridcful fact that
her theatre frock is more in the mode
than that OF the rice c-powdorcd damsel i'm
the seat ahead.
Drop in to hear and see Harry and
forget dividends on war brides" or the
common daily round of eight hours' toll
with 10 minutes for lunch at the highest
German delicatessen. You will have the
pleasure of half dozen new songs, all
worth while, and the revived enjoyment
of couple Of the familiar ones, never
forgetting "A Wee Deoch an Doris" and
some genuinely comic pattcr.
PiecinE out the entertainment are Dave
fenaro and Isabel Jason, in some clever
dancing, including a calewalll fitted to
bear off n triple decker of a fruity cake
with jelly between the layers and cocoa
nut on the top; Selwyn Driver, pianol-
Dgst, who is not so bad considering that
his only props are an attack of Ia |
grippe and a grand piano; the Golem
rOupe of acrobats, who are agile and
ludaCious, however much one may ques-
ion their billing as Persians, straight !
rom the Shah's Theatre-thc monarch |
'eally ought to have a "I'" in front of
he title in this case; Lucille and her
alking cockatoo, who have diverted our
'ity before. and Albert Donnclly. "the
silent humorist," who has adapted the
I'D stunt of making shadows on the wall
nro very clever variety turn.
w. r. NJ.