CRIMSON PLAYGOER

After an absence of six, or is it seven--years, Houdini is again at Keith's. During that time, he has acquired a new bathing suit and some films showing him in various exciting predicaments. All else is unchanged. It is not strange, then, that though the act was very well received, it failed to excite the tumultous applause which it formerly did in the days before the "movies" had made Houdini a household figure to millions of people. His escape from the water torture box is still thrilling, however, to those who have never seen him in action.

The surrounding bill is adequate, but certainly no more. Any who may recall that delightful playlet "Kisses" of seven years ago, will be woefully disappointed in its present counterpart "Wednesday at the Ritz". An ingenious setting whereby the stage is divided into "Parlour, Bedroom, and Bath" forms the background for a farce which is marked by the comparative novelty of its plot and the hopeless commonplaceness of its lines. A long way from the "all-star" bill of seven years past.

The chief attraction, aside from Houdini, are Meehan's Leaping hounds, late of the musical comedy stage. Some excellent animal work is included in the performance. Beeman and Grace presented in "You'll be Surprised", some very clever roller-skating, Donovan and Lee did well in "Doing Well, Thank You", and Davis and Pelle gave a remarkable exhibition of strength. The balance of the program was "filler" of the most ordinary type, and the whole was rather less satisfactory than the patrons of Keith's have come to expect.