Variety (Jan 1906)

VARIETY. M V ARTISTS' FORUn •<The Artlats* Forum** Is (or the artlats ezelaalTely* Any Jast complaint any artist may have or considers he has win be printed In this depart- ment. Or any comment that an artist may desire to make. Also any artist or act that disagrees with a reviewer on Variety In hU review of the artist's work or act may have his criticism of the critl. clsm printed In this column, and It will be answered by the reviewer. Confine your letters to 150 words and ^rlte on one side of paper only. Ronacher Theatre, Vienna. Editor Variety: Sir;—! notice that you invite artists to become "Traveling Correspondents." Well, that is rather out of my line, as you will doubtless gather from this, but I have one item of news that will interest such artists in America who have played on the Continent. Put as briefly as possible (for me) these are the facts: Last February we were playing our sketch a tthe Hansa The- atre Hamburg. On the bill with us was a very excellent artiste, well known on the Continent, named Adele Moraw. She watched our act every night for a month. She was loud in her praises and professed eternal friendship. To our astonishment, when we opened here, the manager asked me if ''The Bachelor's Dream" was our own prop- erty, as a lady named Adcle Moraw was playing it almost word for word In German at the Apollo Theatre in this city. I assured him it was my own property and produced the proofs. We went immediately to his lawyer, who wrote a letter threatening her and the manager with criminal proceedings if the sketch was produced again. And here is the most wonderful part of the episode—they stopped and paid all ex- penses and damages. Artists here say that it is rarely one is able to stop that kind of thing, and that if I had not, within a couple of months, there would have been a dozen or more people play- ing it all over the Continent. American artists intending to visit the Continent with any act that they can copyright, would' be wise if they had it copyright- ed in England before playing here, as there is a copxrlghl contract with this country and Great Britain, but not with America. Again wishing you every success. Yours very sincerely, Fred Edwards, Edwards and Edouin. January 15, 1906. Editor Variety: Sir:—I am a reader of Variety, and as your motto is "Fair to All." trust you will grant space for the following: I not(Ml an article in last week's issue of Variety written by Rice and Prevost and desire to contest or correct part of same, viz.: the title of "Bunipty Bumps." Inclosing you program which you will observe is of the year 1903, month of March, which was before Rlce and Pre- vost's time, and which will show you that the team of Rice and Wallers used that title, and I (John Walters, of Rice and Walters) am the author or owner of same, which one of the team Rice and Prevost has had the cast-iron "nerve" to claim. I therefore extend the same I'livllege to all other choosers. In support of my statement 1 have wit- nosses who were members of company with me at the time the idea of naming the act "Bumpty Bumps" came to me, and to whom I suggested the idea for their opinion before I ever had it appear on a program. Permit me to make use of the old adage that "People in glass houses, shouldn't throw stones. ' John Walters^ ' Of Rice and Walters. Note.—The program referred to in the foregoing letter bears out Mr. Walters' statement as to the date and billing. —Ed. Editor Variety: Sir:—I called at your flat and the boy said you were all out. I told him you were all in when you wrote the Proctor's 58th Street house. The boy seemed quite respectable. I was surprised. I called to explain to you why I did an act in one and cheated the managers out of their hard earned money and got laughs out of an audience by false pretenses. I had an idea (honest) that you would catch me some time, and the blow "has came." I have only sixty weeks booked at this writing. After that I am afraid we will starve to death if something doesn't turn up. You are right; I ought not to work in one. And then I should be working all the time, night and day, running up and down to agents' ofllces trying to get a job. Mr. Keith has just handed me forty weeks for next season (all in one). Be- lieve me. I would have refused to work in one after reading your write-up, only I needed the money. If you would .^tand outsride a vaudeville theatre and look at the people as they leave, you would never run down this class of comedy that I am trying to handle. Any audience is a fair sample; a bucket of suds on the head; sit on fly i)aper; a loaded slapstick and slap a custard pie. The average will laugh and applaud. Then you are working all the time. Give them clean, clever wit and hu- mor; then you please one in a hundred, and. God help you. the Actors' Fund • will soon put another slab on its lot. Starvi'd to death. Wishing you con- tinued success, I remain Fred If ay. Of Ray and Wood. HE'S A MARCO TWIN. Tlu^ dwarf who now adds much to the effectiveness of the baseball game in the Rono and Richards turn is the shorter half of tlie Marco twins. A jest- ing line in a recent issue suggesting that he was the same who recently handed out dental circulars appears to have been taken seriously by some. Mr. M:.rco has had a professional career of twelve vfars. and has never had to en- gage in any other than stage work. GEORGE ROSEY'S LOSS. George Rosey. one of the most pop- ular of the instrumental composers, has the sympathy of his friends for the death of his wife, which occurred last week. IMPERIAL. in making a vaudeville theatre of the Imperial in Brooklyn, where a stock com- pany has recently largely monopolized the stage, William T. Grover, the pres- ent lessee, has retained the four prin- cipals of the late stock organization. They lead the bill in Haddon Chambers' one act play, "The Old Love," this week, which marks the opening of the play- house as a home of vaudeville. Judging by the size of the audience Monday night, the new enterprise prom- ises 4^ considerable measure of success. The Chambers playlet was well done and adequately staged but ran a trifle too long. The audience was beginning to become restless before the curtain fell. Cathrine Countiss, as Jessie, was easily the best of the quartet. Apart from the fact that her role was by far the most attractive, she read her lines well and got the most out of some deli- cate and effective comedy. Alex von Mitzel, as the young lover, failed to catch the spirit of the sketch and was too stiff. Walter D. Greene and Louise Rial, the two remaining mem- bers, handled their parts creditably. It is understood that these playlets are to be a permanent feature of the new house. • Charles Guyer and Nellie O'Neill did their last week together at the Imperial. The act remains unchanged, except that possibly the two provided themselves with a little more crockery to hurl about the stage. Ned W>yburn's Minstrel Misses passed out their little parcel of time- worn gags. The end "man" has a negro dialect of fearsome oddity, and in her efforts to make herself heard raises her voice to a disagreeable screech. Hathaway and Walton, a dancing and singing team, stand out conspicuously from the thousand and one acts of the same sort in vaudeville. The soubrette of the pair dressed strikingly and danced well, as also did her partner. Tom Hearn seems content to run along on what meas ure of popularity his juggling act has gained. The audience liked his clowning and greeted his ef- forts with applause. The De Koe Trio of acrobats have the "Made-in-Gcrniany" look. Their work Is smooth, but one stunt—the bal- ancing of a dog with a boy on his head— is so transparently phoney that the ef- forts of the troupe to mak<» it look difli- eult are laughable. Hoey and Lee in their Hebrew dialect t«nn are good enough to be the victims of pretty general piracy. Their parodies on present day popular songs were as well received by the Imperial audiences as they have been by fellow performers. The Hoey and Lee parodies are supjde- luented by some dialogue, most of which is bright and amusing. The Magnani Family have a novel mu- sical act. The quality of the music may be open to question, but their pantomlne comedy is fair and their mechanical ef- fects striking. V CRESSY'S OPERA. The Shuberts have accepted from Will M. Cressy a comic opera for production next season, called "The Merry Kban" Mr. Cressy wrote the book an<' Max Faetkenheuer the score. KEENEY'S. Barrows-Lancaster Company in "Tac- tics" and Fannie Rice with her doll* divided popular approval at Keeney'i this week, with little to choose bctweea them. [.:::. ■ ■■.■■■■' :■■■:... .: ■/•; ■ .;' •• ■? The Barrows-Lancaster act Is one of the best examples in vaudeville of skill- fully handled comedy, with just a hint of real dramatic force to balance it. Th« playlet Is admirably keyed to vaudeville appreciation, the effects being broad without verging on the crude or rough. The two'old war veterans are excellent lu their character work, while the work of the young people Is acceptable. Fannie Rice was apparently un- familiar to East New York. She ^^aa received In silence, but her first doll song made the audience hers. Mis3 Rice's dialect work would make it worth while on its merit as a monologue. The Lest of the series was a clever charac- teristic song In the Devonshire speech. The boundlessness of the public con- fidence In print and the everlasting ver- ity of the P. T. Barnum assertion that "The public loves to be fooled" was il- lustrated In the applause that greeted the reincarnated Carmencita. The pro- gram described her as "the famous Spanish dancer." and the audience ap- plauded thunderously, as for an old friend, when she came on. As a dancer Carmencita does not rank very high, but she has Spanish beauty In large con- signments, wears the Carmencita style of clothes and the name does the rest. Therefore three recalls. Dawson and Whitfield are a knockabout team, consisting of Dawson's low com- edy and mobile mouth, a quantity of talk and several songs. The talk Is ex- ceedingly good In places and somewhat worse than Indifferent in others. Daw- son got a big handful of spontaneous laughs for some of his comedy. The Arling Comery Four did not get very far away from the usual routine act of all the rest of the newsboy quartets since time and vaudeville began. Their singing and clog dancing was up to the mark, but th«y should get some grown- up intellect to work out some comedy for them. Kelly and Reno add one more to the constantly increasing throng of acro- batic t(;ams like "Bumpty Bumps." They had j?ome stuff of their own too. and got their share of approval and ap- plause. Mr. and Mrs. Larry Shaw, In a neat dancing and singing act, were number one on the bill. The Kconeyscope, show- ing "The Train W^reckers." kept every- body in their scats until the "Good- night." Col*>. TAYLOR IS SUING. The case of Billic Taylor against Wil- liam A. Edwards will come before the court next week. When Edwards started his circuit of burlesque houses he hired Louis De Lange as stage manat;«r. One of the pieces i)ut on was Th»' .Inpskys, written by De Lan^c and Taylor. Roy- alty was paid for two wctks. Jmt pay- nunts then stopped and Taylor brought suit, refusing an offered compromise of $:?50. James Tbernton. who has been <loing dubs for a week or two past Is b<ioked lor \\w How.nd, l^.^^ton. week of Jan- uary 2J.