The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1921-12-29

Mercy me, what a wonderful time
| had last night. 1 sat for two hour
and a half on a hard, hard seat at thu
auditorium and enjoyed every SECOND
/ OF the performance. And my Ions
cherished dream came true. For many
a long year have wanted to see thest
record making men in person, ant
to hear them sing as they are. not as
| they are canned. There is no need fol
me to take each man personality. Be.
cause cause every son OF, gun was great
There were two or three exceptions
that stood out a little over the rest.
| But the whole was remarkable enter
| tafnment. And one thing L noticed
! and heard SO many people remark
about afterwards, there were only two
people that left the building until the
/ last note had been sung. They prob
ably liked it. but they may have had
to go home to feed the baby. There
were several points of the perform
ance that struck me as out of the or
binary. Generally a concert of this
sort contains a lot OF high-fluten
classics that only the chosen few can
Understand. but this program was SO
arranged that the whe1e wide world
could enjoy every number. Popular
songs seTni-ballads, a little touch bf
Jazz and a regular hokuTff sra1onologue
Ihere was a wonderful clearness and
perfect articulation in. every voice. /
don't believe there was a single word
that was lost, as so often is the casa
with the greater AMOUNT of singers,
elther high-class or Just singers"
PROBABLY the greatest number on
the program to me, was Henry Burr
singing "A Baby's Prayer at Twi-
nght- Here is an old song that has
been murdered and buried in vai1de
vile house in the country. biIt
Henry stepped forth last night and
made that audience almost sob with
his wonderful voice. I have never
heard a singer with such an even
smoothness, such articulation and
such personality. t1 $500
And then that wonderful Billie
Murray. household word, like Pears
soap. or Peruna, he is known from
coast 10 Coast and yet there are.
mighty few folks who ever heard this
artist sing in the flesh. And those
who ventured forth last night to the
were tickled stiff at all he
Sald and at all he did, Here is a man
that breezes about his duties with the
easy grace and such a personality. A
congen1aI smile, a stra: ght- forward
nannerlsm and oh, boy, how that man
can sing. The double personality a
ietehlng handling OF the entertainment
placed Billie Murray 100 per cent
higher in the favor Of the foIks WHO
nave listened to him sing thru the lit
tie horn. His january number was !
the rot of the evening.
wish could go on forever telling
me good points of this entertainment /
But the rest Of the gang. Albert
campbell, John Myers, Frank Crox- |
ION, Monroe Silver. Fred Van EDs.
frank Banta, all performed wonders. I
Monroe Silver filled in the Jazz end /
u the bill with a powerful lot of good I
stories on his ever faithful friend I
Cohen And big Franls Croxton /
'ang some darb Southern songs. This
'lg basso has appeared in Topeka
'nee before. He appeared here sew
raj years ago with the Theodore
thomas Orchestra at the opening of
'ur auditorium.
But it was a great show, a new
dea, and there wasn't a man, wofnar,
T child who left the big han last
ilght that was not thoroughly salts I,
lcd with it all. 1t was arranged thru
II. Faris of the Jenkins Music Co
mo are the local representatives for
ne Victor Talking Machine CO.
And before I forget it-Gosh. didn't
nose old seats at the auditorium gel
ara before it was all over. And 1
uess that VIII be s.bout ali.