California Gold Mine

In Los Angeles this week a variety show with nine-plus lives and 21 acts was racing merrily toward its its 1,500th performance.

As Blackouts of 1943 it was packing them into El Capitan Theater even more solidly than it did as Blackouts of 1942. Almost as many people (1,541,000) have paid admission to the show as live in Los Angeles ; many of them have seen it four or five times (one man has attended 125 Saturday matinees and invariably writes a note of apology when he cannot be present). On an initial investment of $10,500 it has grossed for its producers and master of ceremonies, Old Vaudevillian Ken Murray, some $2,000,000.

This phenomenal success is not exactly due to a phenomenal show. Blackouts shamelessly parades some of the hoariest and hammiest tricks known to vaudeville, plus a few from burlesque. It reels off regulation acrobats, trained dogs, whistlers, warblers, hoofers, drummers, fiddlers, pianists, contortionists, mimics, a chorus line of old women, and a chesty, baby-voiced leading lady, Marie Wilson.

But it also has several cards up its sleeve. For one thing, Murray, with his smooth delivery and flawless timing, squires each wrinkled act around as though it were a dewy-eyed debutante. For another thing, Blackouts never stays put. Performers improvise to their hearts' content, while the show itself has been changed 77 times. It has boasted a man who imitates phonograph records, a Chinese comic, a drum-majorette, a gorilla, an elderly lady acrobat; it has auditioned a bow-&-arrow champion, a camel, and a skunk. Of the original cast, only Murray and Marie Wilson have not dropped out.

Murray's biggest card is his ability to get headliners in the audience to participate. Some of them, such as Bob Hope and Bing Crosby, chime in from down front. Others, such as W. C. Fields, Mickey Rooney, Victor Moore, Edgar Bergen, Dick Powell, Rudy Vallee, take over the stage. Murray exploits his guest stars brilliantly--by not exploiting them at all. They are never given billing, are often not even introduced. As a result, the audience feels it is really getting something extra for its money.

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