Variety (February 1909)

14 VARIETY PARKS AND FAIRS THE WOMAN IN VARIETY. BY THE 8KTRT. The East End Amusement Co., Louis- ville, has incorporated with a capital stock of $75,000. The company proposes to operate a park and moving picture theatres in the middle west. Those inter- ested are Nat Hoenig, Isadore Frank and •everal others. The Majestic Amusement Co., Lexington, Ky., incorporated for $5,000 by Clerk T. Lewis, will conduct an amusement park. The Pekin Amusement Co., Pekin, 111., incorporated. Capital $2,o00. Building amusement park and fair grounds. Incor- porators are E. L. Oouklin and Ben P. Schenk. The General Amusement Co., of Cleve- land, Ohio, will operate, a park the coining summer. The company has been incorpor- ated. A company has been organized at Co- lumbia, S. C, to operate an amusement park in that section. The capital is $20,- 000, subscribed by W. J. Taylor, Robert Moorman, T. I. Weston, and others. The Brown Springs Improvement Go. baa incorporated with capital of $10,000. Will open an amusement park. J. E. Mar- tin, W. E. Talley and E. B. Fox are the promoters. The Garfield Amusement Co., recently incorporated in Chicago by Frederick Bar- tholmae and others, will operate an amuse- ment park next summer and a number of moving picture theatres. bull's-eye each time. His primary object was to provide a summer park with a full band and soloists at a reasonable figure. This he guarantees to do at a maximum cost of $500 weekly, with a further guar- antee that in the revolving of his "wheel" band plan, each park will have a new or- ganization without a chance of failure or disappointment every Sunday, and tho soloists will change twice weekly. The bands will feature no individual, and will be known by States such as "The Cali- fornia Band." This obviates the necessity iOr a "high-priced figurehead in fronl of - the musicians, Mr. Egan claiming that the crowds want music, not gyrations. He also says the park managers want what they contract for, and with his knowledge of the needs has placed under contract nearly 1,000 musicians, who will be dis- tributed into a sufficient number of musi- cal companies to rotate around the cir- cuit to be supplied, limiting the cost of transportation, always an important item with a large company. The soloists and the bands will travel in opposite direc- tions. To protect the parks against dis- appointments, Mr. Egan will have the traveling band collect its previous week's salary in the succeeding town. As for in- stance, a band playing Baltimore would collect its salary at Trenton the following Monday, the amount being placed with the local representative of a New York National Bank with which arrangements have been made. A clause in the band's contract calls for a forfeiture of the full amount unless it appears upon scheduled time on the opening day (Sunday). The gem of Eva Tanguay's costumes (and this isn't meant for a "pun") is the coat of pearls worn over the first gown. It is a lattice work of good sized pearls, and is a work of art. The peacock gown worn for the second song is a marvel of dressmaking ingenuity. One costume is made entirely of tassels. The Atlaa Booking Circuit, with offices In the Knickerbocker Theatre Building, was lately organized to carry on a genera! booking business, with special attention given to parks and fairs. The Atlas, which may become more commonly known through its initials "A. B. C., M has a spe- cialist at the head of each department. The officers are Max Rosen, Victor Levitt and John S. Egan. The Circuit has en- rolled a list of parks for the coming sum- mer, among them "Dreamland," Coney Island; Electric Park, Baltimore; Altro Park, Albany; C5a>itol Park ("White City" renamed), Trenton; Palisades Park, Bay- onne, and Ringing Rocks, Pa. The Circuit will place the exclusive bookings for all the summer resorts on its books. Electric Park is under the direct management of Mr. Rosen, one of the best informed park men in the country, with an invaluable experience on every detail of park man- agement and construction. The Circuit will extend its operations into the middle- west, having a number of applications be- fore it reaches into that territory. A sale and exchange department for the- atres, etc., has been organized. Strobel's Air-ship with Beechy operating has been placed under contract to appear sixteen weeks in the east this season. The new Oriental costume worn by Miss Gardner, of Girard and Gardner, is a large improvement over the former one. The skin, uovoiaeoii plaited, if singled-—in- gold. Two Grecian borders of blue and pink encircle the bottom of it. The waist consists mostly of a bolero , in heavily embroidered gold. A dainty fez completes the costume. The "band problem" for parks has ap- parently been solved by John S. Egan, the musical expert and head of the band de- partment in the Atlas Booking Circuit. Mr. Egan aims at three mooted points over the summer engagements of bands in the past, and seems to have struck a Blanche Ring looks as though she had stepped from a fashion plate in her direc- toire gown of white satin and silver. The simple way Miss Ring dresses her hair always makes a hit with me. drinks during the overture, waiters up and down the aisle selling make-believe lemonade at twenty-five cents a glass. The men retire to the cafe downstairs during the entre acts. At the opening, one of the enthusiasts for the new school of money, mud, morality and money, picked up ine nicest "edge" I ever got within breathing distance of. He just did pan that show too. And I was the little girl right on the job with him, but he was "kicking" because there had been "stuff cut out" My nomplaint was there hadn't been enough. Pernaps it was tne human smouldering stove who sat directly in fiont of me that brought on my "grouch." The furnace blew away the tobacco from four cigars, and he was so excited that srmething might happen on the stage he puffed-puffed, like William Gillette when he has a success. The smoke and the drink around Leber's though just created the correct atmosphere for the piece. I must remark what an advantage would be derived by Miss Wolford, of Barry and Wolford, were she to occasion- ally change her costume. Perhaps it's be- cause I always "catch" her in the same dress and hat, and that may be why it strikes me I have noticed she has worn nothing else around New York this season. Irene Young, of Weston and Young, would look much nicer were she to wear a cloth street dress. Those fluffy skirts worn under the tailor-made suit make Miss Young resemble a small-sized barrel. Henry Pincus, an agent in the St. James Building, will be the manager for Altro Park, Albany, next summer. W. A. Ellis opens The Balchazzar Car- nival Co. at Armory, Albany, Monday for a week's stay. The Carnival will be held under the auspices of the local State Guard regiment. Mr. Ellis will continue the carnival season for nine weeks fur- ther. There may be a prolongation, ar- mories having been secured in that num- ber of New York State cities, with the method pursued of having the local guardsmen interested. The Balchazzar Carnival will be the % most pretentious af- fair of its kind ever presented in the east. Ten side shows are included in the list of attractions, all supplied by the Atlas Booking Circuit and embracing the fol- lowing: Capt. H. Labelle's "Message From the Frozen North"; Blake's Dog and Pony Circus; Willett's "Temple of Music"; Omar Sami (Hindoo Mystery); Baba Delgarian's "Beautiful Orient"; Chas. A. Robbins' "Wild West"; Burton Sisters, "Fat Boxing Girls"; "The Three in One"; Woolflng's Midget Horse; Auto Ajax vs. Horse; The St. Belmos; Paul Lemera, comedy wire; Agao, The Mystery; The Berlin Aztics; "The Beauty Show" and the moving pictures of the Sicily earth- quake. Amelia Bingham is still wearing the pretty blue liberty saiin dress. I don't know of any act in vaudeville I enjoy more than Miss Bingham's hit. I wisii she would let me tell her a harmless remedy for taking off about fifty pounds. I expected every minute to hear Marie Stoddard break into a "Gibson Girl" song at. the American this Week while she wore the black velvet dress. Miss Stoddard is nearer the "Gibson" type naturally than a great many who artificially try for Mr. Gibson's "Girls." SAYS ACT JUMPED CONTRACT. Ed. Gallager on Tuesday turned over to his lawyer, with instructions to bring suit, a contract with Carl in and Otto, which Gallager declared the German comedians had broken. The agreement between Carlin and Otto and Gallager called for their ser- vices as principals in "The Battle of Bay Rum," a travesty belonging to Gallager, at a flat weekly salary of $250 and a percentage on all salary received for the act over $400. After playing the metropolitan time in the United Booking Offices, the owner found it difficult to get what he considered an adequate salary from the other man- agers. Accordingly he booked the act with William Morris. When he told Car- lin and Otto, he says, that the act was to play opposite time, the team absolutely refused to consider further playing, and without notice left the city and returned to their old "Dutch" specialty in the west. The suit will probably take the form of an action for damages based upon a breach of contract. "The Battle of Bay Rum" is now on the .shelf. By far the handsomest gowns worn in "The Girl From Rector's" were those covering Elita Proctor Otis. Violet Dale's dressing gown, in the third act, is a night- mare. The young girl appearing in a chiffon nightgown, in the last act, makes quite the most vulgar exhibition seen in a long time. As every one is expressing their opinion as to "The Girl From Rector's," I can't hold mine back. It is quite the muse vile and indecent show I ever saw, and entirely unnecessary. The Navassar Ladies' Band has been engaged for the Calgary (Canada) Exhibi- tions, to be held July 5 to 0 inclusive, and the Winnipeg Industrial Exhibition, July 10 to 17 inclusive. Referring once more to "The Girl From Rector's," I can not refrain from mention- ing the striking resemblance in the speak- ing voices of Nena Blaice in "The Girl," and Mabel Barrison in "The Blue Mouse." I know Joe Weber calls his bnndbox a "music hall," but I don't see why that allows the men to smoke through an evening of comedy in which there is no music to mention. They still distribute BIJOU LEAVES "POP" CIRCUIT. Chicago, Feb. 4. On and after Feb. 21, the Bijou, a popular priced combination house, will be devoted to stock productions. A company will be engaged under the direction of George Klimt, who is well known among the late supporters of "thrillers" as a heroic actor and manager. Mr. Klimt has retired from the acting fold, as many others have, and will give his attention to the stock company and his shows on tho road. The Bijou was at one time the most profitable theatre for the melodramas in the city and its withdrawal from the field leaves only the Academy as the rep- resentative west side house for the Stair & Havlin attractions. The scarcity of plays, proper plays, is probably the direct cause. It is said that next season the number of melodramas will be cut 50 per cent, ami many theatres will be forced to close or change their policy.