The New York Clipper (January 1920)

8 THE NEW YORK CLIPPER January 7, 1920 LOEW MANAGER WINS TICKET DECISION CAN EXCLUDE UNDESIRABLES Montreal, Canada, Jan. 6. — After a lone court fight, the Marcus Loew Theatre here has won a strong decision on the rights of a manager in reserving any or ail the seats in his house. The case in point involved a negro who was evicted from the house after an argu- ment over a seat for which he had paid |1.10. When he' entered the area which contained the seats of that price, he did not wiah to occupy the one called for by his ticket and, when he sued the. theatre, the verdict allowed him $10 damages and costs. The case was then appealed and the higher court reversed the lower .one, _ de- claring the Loew manager had, the right to have him ait in any seat in the $L00 class. The opinion in the case, written by Judge Carroll, was as follow* and is a good explanation of the law covering audi situations. ''Suppose that Reynolds, the colored niau. had wanted to occupy a seat already sold and reserved. Would he have had the right to do so? Evidently not. Well, in this instance the orchestra seats were not sold, bat they were reserved for oth- ers. The appellant had the right to re serve all the orchestra seata for persons for whom they were destined, and the the- atre bad the right to sell them to each and everybody in particular. Furthermore, the ticket that Reynolds bought contained a revocation clause, and when be was not willing to submit to that clause the the- atre authorities offered to return Ma money to him, but he refused to take it. It has been shown, in the proof that the presence of colored people in the tsrcheatra seats prevents other people from .attend- ing the theatre, and appellant Is not obliged to suffer a loss of revenue which would result from this fact. Once more, Reynolds knew when he bought the ticket that he would not be admitted to the orchestra seats. That formed part of the contract, and it was Reynolds who broke the contract. The proprietors of a the- atre are not obliged to give any represen- tations at all if they do not wish to do so. They give representations as they wish, and they have a right" to give them before whom they will. They are not obliged to admit anybody whose presence would pre- vent their enterprise from succeeding or would injure it financially. I am of opinion that the judgment here submitted la er- roneous; that it ought to be reversed, and Reynolds's action dismised with costs in both courts." RINGLINGS SIGN FOREIGN ACTS A number of foreign acts have been booked for the Ringling Brothers' Circus through the Wirth-Blumertfeld office. In- cluded in the group are the Merkel Sisters, Sweden; the Five Whartons, Belgium; Flying Rainats, France, and the Martel- lonis, England. ROCK INCORPORATES SHOW The new producing company which will present Billy Rock's Varieties was last week incorporated for $75,000. Named as the officens are E. S. Keller, A. H. Loew and William Rock. NONI COMING NEXT SEASON Noni, musical clown and a headline at- traction in the English music halls, will be brought to this country next season by the Wirth-Blumenfeld office. NEW ACTS The Four Haigs terminate.their Hippo- drome engagement on January 10 and open in vaudeville under the direction of Meyer B. North. The Bostonian Trio, formerly with "The Bostonians," in burlesque, open shortly in vaudeville with i a singing and instru- mental turn. Clyde and Elson are breaking in a new act called "The Clyde and Elson Revue," with three women and two men. The act carries special scenery. Bonner and Powers, late of the "Little Blue Devil," opened on Monday for a tour of the Loew time, under the direction of Joe Michaels. -.- ORPHEUM NEEDS ROOM The Orphenm, offices, which were to be extended on Jan. 1, have undergone no ex- tension as yet, due. to lack of sufficient room. The tenth floor of the Palace The- atre Building is being remodeled to hold the executive offices of the New Orpheum, but this will not be sufficient. It has been suggested that an annex to the present building be built over the stage roof of the Palace Theatre, which runs parallel to the sixth floor of the building. CROCK SAILS JAN. 29 Grock, the French clown, will sail' for England on the Lapland on Jan. 20. He is booked to open on the Moss Empire time on hh> arrival there. He will shortly go into the London Coliseum for an en- gagement. He is scheduled to return to America on Jan. 24, 1921, and will stay here until May 30, 1921. DRANK WOOD ALCOHOL James Harvey, doorman at the Or- pneum Theatre, Brooklyn, is a serious condition as the result of wood alcohol poisoning. In company with some friends he was celebrating the new year, and, in an effort to brighten things up, obtained aome spirits, which later turned out to be wood alcohol. MUST STOP AT 1 A. M. Billiard and pool cues must be put away by 1 o'clock, according to a new edict of the N. V. A. Heretofore, there was no curfew hour" for billiard and pool fans and there were those who played all night. ROSANO GETS KEITH TIME Bar Francisco. Jan.-2.—Rosano, the xylophone artist, left here today for Se- dalia. Mo. He has been routed over the Keith circuit and win open his tour there. He will introduce his Nabimbopbone in the East for the first time. GET 30 WEEK CONTRACTS "The Volunteers,** the Herbert Girb, Kaufman and Lillian, and Nevins and Mayo have been routed for thirty-week tours of the Loew time, beginning this week. The routes were arranged by Abe Feinberg. CHONG HAS A COMPLAINT A Chinese performer who bills himself as Cbong, has complained to the N. V. A. against a team which bills itself as Cbong and Moey, claiming that is an infringe- ment upon his name. MOSS NAMES NEW HOUSE B. S. Moss will start building his new theatre on the site at One Hundred and Sixty-fi ret street and Prospect within a fornigbt. The bouse will be known as the Atlas. LILLY LENA HERE Lilly Lena, English music hall artist, arrived in this country last week. She will tour the Keith Circuit in the Eastern States and Canada. BOOKING AGAIN ON WITH GERMANY ACTS BEING IMPORTED Booking of acts between this country and Germany has again been resumed, and a marked influx of foreign perform- ers is expected by next season. German managers are also preparing to book American acts and, following the ratifica- tion of peace, there will be a general exo- dus of performers to and from both coun- tries. Herman Blumenfeld, foreign booking agent, last week began negotiations with German agents to bring a number of for- eign acts to this country for the Ringling Brothers' Circus and several vaudeville circuits. . With the ratification of peace in sight, according to Blumenf eld and with the ex- pected adjustment of foreign exchange to follow, booking relations between the two countries will be in a pre-war state by next summer, when the first of the Ger- man performers to be booked for an American show since the war, will make their appearance in this country. In- cluded in the group will be Ferry Corwey, the singing clown, who will appear in a Broadway production next season, and a number of circus and fair acts. According to reports received in this country by the Wirth Blumenfeld office, American acts are in greater demand in Germany, at the present time than ever before. The .whole country is described as amusement mad, and hundreds of theatres have sprung up all over the country since the war. German managers, who do their booking direct with the performer, are prepared to pay a 50 per cent, increase over pre-war ealaries, and this, together with the lure of the one-a-day house, which is in operation throughout the whole of Germany and the assurance of several months of steady bookings, is con- sidered sufficient bait for the American performer. German managers are especially desir- ous of booking American acts which set forth some distinctive novelty, with plenty of American comedy and national color. There is also a great demand for acts of the jazz variety, for the hundreds of new- ly opened German cabarets, where acts of all kinds are presented together with com- plete shows and revues. ORPHEUM DINES PERFORMERS Salt Francisco, Jan. 2.—On Christmas eve, the Orpheum management gave a Christmas tree reception and a big dinner to all the artists in the San Francisco and Oakland houses and all the employees of both theatres. Morris Meyerfeld, Jr., president of the circuit, directed the en- tertainment. About one hundred artists, were present. WITHERS IN NEW SHOW London, England, Jan. 3.—Charles Withers, the American comedian, who has created a stir by bis performance in "For Pity's Sake," an American travesty, has been added to the cast of "The Whirligig." a new comedy produced here. Prior to the play's production, there were insistent re- quests from many quarters that "For Pity's Sake" be incorporated into the show. SHAKE-UP AT FOX'S CITY A wholesale shake-up of the house staff of Fox's City Theatre was made last week. Sam Freed, manager, was suddenly laid off and replaced, temporarily, by Joe Leo. Benjamin Gruberg has been ap- pointed treasurer in_plaee of Mike Sawyer, also off the job. ' *The doormen and two cashiers have also been replaced. CELEBRATED AT THE N. V. A. More than 200 members of the N. V. A. celebrated the dawn of the New Year at the clubrooms. The ballroom was kept clear for dancing and cabaret, while the diners (and drinkers) sat on the balcony and mezzanine. Owen Jones' orchestra of eleven pieces played for the dancing. - ■ During the evening "The Spanish Re- vue" entertained. Among those who had tables were Bay Leason, Betty Teber, Susan Westford, Wilfred Clarke, J. W. Faulkner, Bert LaMont, William Meyers, Mark Nelson, Dr. Pauline, A. L. Robert- son, Elsie Reisenberger, O. A. Andres, C. A. Branson, F. R. Bell, Barker Grave, T. E. Bellitt, George Bogatin, Arthur Camp, Chief Capolican, Jim Cunningham, L. B. Fordham, Charles Fisher, F. B. Squires, J. J. Tanean, Carol Gordon, Pau- line Cook, Jack Kane, H. Langstadter, Sam Mann, Lou Preston, H. D. Neeler, Robert E. Roberts, William F. Rudolph, John Rice and N. M. Zimmerman. The affair was managed by John L. Hurlburt. ROBINSON WILL PROBATED The will left by Ethan Mellville Rob- inson, of the Keith Vaudeville Exchange, was admitted to probate early this week b ySurrogate Cohalan and Clarke Day, a friend, who was named as executor. There were no objections on the part o c relatives or heirs. All of his property was left in bequests which go to the Al- bany Hospital upon the death of the beneficiaries, to be used as a memorial fund for his wife, the income from the estate, valued at about $1,000,000, to be used for free care and sustenance of pa- tients unable to pay for treatment. Five thousand dollars was left to the executor of the will to be used for the cere of Mr. Robinson's live stock. When the stock dies, the bequest goes to the hospital. All of his relatives have equal life shares in the estate. INJURED BY FALL HABTTOBD, Dec. 31.—Dorothy Antel, leading lady in "The Night Boat," one of Lewis and Gordon's acts, which opened an engagement here this week at Poll's The- atre, was seriously injured today through slipping, and falling on the icy pavement while on her way to the theatre. She was removed to the Hartford Hospital, where an examination showed she had sprained several ligaments in her back. Her family in New York was immediately advised of her injury and her sister, Irene Antel, ar- rived here this evening in time to take her place in the act. , ( NEW LOEW HOUSE INCORPORATED The Eighty-third Street Theatre Cor- poration was incorporated hut week by Marcus Loew with 5,000 shares common stock, no par value, and an active capital of $25,000. The theatre will be con- structed' on a corner,two blocks above Keith's Eighty-first Street. Named in the incorporation papers as officers in the new company are Marcus Loew, D. Bernstein and Nick Schenck. HARLEM DEAL OFF • Vaudeville has not been installed at the Fifth Avenue Theatre, at 110th street and Fifth avenue, Harlem, owing to the fact that Sam Kessler and the lessees of the house. could not make a satisfactory ar- rangement. Kessler was supposed to book six acts into the house every Monday and Thursday, beginning with Christmas Day- The house is continuing its policy of motion pictures. BUFFALO AGENT MARRIES Buffalo, N. Y., Jan. 8.—Matthew Dee, of the firm of McMahon and Dee, vaude- ville agents 'of this city, was married on December 31 to -IMen Keeley. a bag puncher. -