Variety (April 1909)

VARIETY 15 GIRGUS NEW® is now manager of the Neapolitans, aerial act. MILLER BROS. IK WRECK. Chicago, April 22. The first wreck of the circus season happened Tuesday near Perry, Okla., on the Santa Fe. Miller Bros.' "101 Ranch" was being moved when a broken beam de- railed five cars. Several people were in- jured. Full particulars are not at hand. "SHADOWING" INDEPENDENT. Tucson, Ariz., April 22. A regularly organised "opposition bri- gade" of five-bill posters has been organ- ized by the Ringling Bros, to do nothing but follow up the Sells-FIoto billers and paste "Coming Soon" Ringling announce- ments close by all the paper displays of the independent. The Sells-FIoto show was here April 14. Their paper had scarcely been up when Ringling*' "shadowing committee" arrived in town and posted announcements that "Ringlings will be here soon." It is not likely that either of the "trust" shows will reach here before next fall. This was the first skirmish in what is likely to be a running fight all season be- tween the Ringlings and the independent circuses. That it will be a hard-fought battle is assured by the gameness of H. H. Tain men of the Sells-FIoto outfit, who, himself a man of ample fortune, is backed up by John W. Gates, a notorious plunger, whose resources are practically unlimited. Sells-FIoto show is now in California, and it is said one of the Ringling shows is scheduled /for the same territory. They may come into close opposition in the middle west during the summer. Ool. Charles Seeley's Great Bay State Circus, in which Oscar Lowande is inter- ested and in which his whole family works, opens at Reading, Mass., May 10. The outfit is a wagon show and will play over a 10-week route without going out- side of Massachusetts. The Lowande Family recently returned from Mexico, where it was a feature with the Pubil- lones Circus. The Arthur Saxon Trio, Ringlings' strong act, will continue with the circus during the season. The trains for the transportation of the Ringlings Brothers' equipment for their own circus arrived Wednesday. The tents are going up in Brooklyn to-day (Satur- day). The show opens there Monday. All the artists and attaches of the circus at the Garden claim it is not a "real circus" until they see the white cloth above them. Buffalo, April 22. There will be no lack of out-door enter- tainment in Buffalo between June 19 and July 4. The Buffalo mid-summer exhibi- tion will run during that period and at the same time Kennedy Bros.' Wild West and Holstiar & Songster's (two-ring) Cir- cus will hold forth in the city. THRILLER FOR TWO BILLS. The engagement of Desperado for the Wild West exhibition caused some com- ment on Broadway this week. The circus people who have been resting under the impression the Ringling Brothers were in- terested to some extent in the show of the Two Bills were surprised to learn that this act, similar to that now being per- formed by Gadfbin in the Baxnum-Bailey circus, at Chicago, was accepted for the Madison Square Garden. Sub-rosa stories say that John Ringling was not overjoyed at the booking. He intended to show Gadbin in New York: next spring when one of the Ringling cir- cuses opened. Desperado will spoil that plan, and oblige the Ringlings to seek a new feature. The sum and substance of the talk dur- ing the past few days was that the Ring- lings were hardly noticeable in the man- agement of the Bills' show, if they could be observed in it at all. Chicago, April 22. A man who ought to know said this week the owners of the Barnum-Bailey Circus are John and Otto Ringling only. The other three Ringlings, Alf, Al and Charles, have no concern in the "Big Show" according to this person's information. He would not say what his deductions were based upon, nor would he admit they were merely deductions. All the Ringling Brothers are financially interested in the Ringling Brothers' own circus, now at Madison Square Garden, New York. The Howard Amon New Australian Shows, booked for two performances May 3 at Youngstown, O., will be the first cir- cus of the season in that town. Cole Bros.' circus, which opens its sea- son at New Castle, Pa., to-day, reached Youngstown, O., a week in advance for rehearsals. The Ringlings show has a clown band. When not playing, it is rehearsing. R. C. Carlisle, a well-known circus agent, and a member of the Barnum & Bailey organization during its European tour, will be amusement director at Palisades Park, Fort Lee, N. J., the coming summer. DeWOLF WITH RINGLINGS. James DeYYolf, the present general press representative for Keith-Proctor, signed this week to act as one of the three "relay story men'' of the Ringling Brothers' Circus. He takes up his duties on Monday. DeWolf fills the vacancy caused by the retirement of Tom North from the press staff. Frank Miller was slated for the place, but could not secure a release from the Shuberts. Despite the excellent bill that is being offered, business at the Barnum-Bailey show (Chicago) is indifferently good. It is decl'ired the Ringlings will l>e glad to take the circus out of the Coliseum and on the road. The wife of Charley Siegrist (formerly of Slivers and Siegrist and the Siegrist- SillM)ii Troupe) died Wednesday morning in Chicago of pneumonia. Young Siegrist Jack Sutton and the Tasmanian-Van Dieman Troupe closed sixteen weeks on the Sullivan-Considine circuit and open with the Goil mar Bros Circus at Baraboo, Wis., May 8. Charles N. Thompson, manager of the "Two Bills'" Wild West, arrived in New York this week from his winter home at Sarasota, Fla. Dan Ducro has sailed for Central Amer- ica in charge of a small circus organisa- tion. One of the Lowande family is with the show as well as a dozen acts or so. They will play in the canal zone during the summer. Dick and Albert Bell were scheduled to sail for Mexico Thursday of this week with the twelve acts they have booked to travel with the Circo Bell. The circus opens May 5 out of Mexico City and may not get into the capital during this tour. American acts were booked for twelve weeks, the circus men taking in each case an option upon a like period after the ex- piration of the original contract. PLAZA. The "regulars" received the surprise of their vaudeville lives Monday evening upon entering the Plaza Music Hall; those who knew it not as the Germany Theatre. The Plaza walks away with the headline as the Queen Anne music hall or vaude- ville theatre in the decorative scheme and general construction, though in minia- ture. A rather narrow entrance leads into a twelve-foot-wide lobby on the orchestra floor. Abutting on this lobby is a wall encircling the orchestra, with a narrow passageway the greater portion of the crescent. Boxes are beyond, after which the orchestra, seating about 350, reaches to the stage. There is a mezzanine floor, and a first (or second) balcony above that. The middle section has little capacity. The upper part is quite roomy. All over and around the decorations are superb, subdued in coloring and artistic in design, taking their centre from the large painting above the proscenium arch, by Mucha, the Hungarian. The William Morris management was given possession of the property Satur- day night last. The theatre opened as advertised Monday evening. Meanwhile two large boxes had been constructed on either side of the entresol or mezzanine balcony. There are no others, excepting a couple of dropped boxes which may have been ornaments only. The interior of the Plaza strikes one at first glance as the New York Hippodrome, many times reduced. A terrific thunder and lightning storm about seven Monday night may have kept some away from the opening. The house was "top heavy." It is a "top heavy" house naturally. There were a few vacant seats in the orchestra. Just what class will be drawn by the new music hall could not be gauged from the first-nighters. The Plaza is located between 58th and 50th Streets, on Madison Avenue. It is a block removed from Fifth Avenue, and is in the centre of the society homes in New York, excepting for that block. As there are no 25-cent seats on sale evenings, the Plaza evidently expects to find its clientele among the classy set. As a theatre, it is well adapted for this purpose. With the class will follow the tagger-ons, but the fate of the Plaza will not be decided in a day. Smoking is permitted. A buffet bar mixes harmless concoctions. In the smok- ing room, there are cigarettes free to the users. A piano is also there. The retiring room for the women is a model of tastefulness. The program Monday evening had one poor break, and did not run over well. Nothing much is looked forward to at the first performance in a vaudeville theatre, particularly one opened with the rush the Plaza passed through. The musicians wor- ried several acts. They are playing in a pit which cramps them, obliging the base viol manipulator to tower above his fel- lows, blinding the stage to many seated on the left hand side behind him. The stage crew did their duty promptly with few minor slips, appearing in sight of the audience to "strike" during daharet's act (coverinfg a wait) in neat white uniforms. James F. Macdonald was programed. He did not appear, Juliet? taking the va- cancy and becoming the applause hit of the bill. Eltinge was the artistic success, and second in volume of applause, while Karno's Comedy Co. in "A Night in an English Music Hall" was the big laugh maker. Saharet pleased in the "No. 3" place, with her dances. As a dancer Sa- haret wins little, but on the general ac- count, she is strong. A crinoline number at the opening seemed wasted time, though it was liked. Saharet suffered the most through the music. "No. 2" was Edith Helena, who received a very large reception after each song; all are now recollected by everyone when- ever Miss Helena's name appears. Her repertoire never changes, and the vocal violin is still featured. The Brothers De Wynne with their really novel way of working in acrobatics were a big opening turn. They have a couple of crack tricks. One is the raising by the feet of the lighter brother while he is balanced upon the soles of the feet of the man beneath. A special drop in "one" with talk about horse races and a parodied medley finish brought Rice and Cady very little. The audience did not take to either. Fisher and Botti did much better than one might expect from an audience apt to prove discriminating. Harry Fisher and Rose Botti bear out anyone who claims «t is not the quality of what you do; it's what you do. The Royal Musical Five did nicely open- ing after intermission, and Juliet? ap- peared next to closing. Her newest imi- tations are James T. Powers singing "I Wonder How the Bird Knew That?" and Clarice Mayne's song hit. With Mr. Powers Miss Juliet? has secured every- thing but Mr. Powers' voice, the most important. As Miss Mayne the girl is short everything. It should be taken out. Juliet? is a character impersonator only. Without imitating someone in a charac- ter she is at sea. With Victoria, I^auder and Powers, Juliet? made her winning mark, but work has not improved her. Closing the show, "A Night in an Eng- lish Music Hall" did nicely. The act looks destined for tin* vaudeville eternity. It never fails. This is the Karno's first week on tin- Morris Circuit. .Sfttne.