Variety (July 1919)

■-.r.i-'.;-. ' '.- -r—,--f* - r~*J ~J1 "i'V*" l£ *,' fT*?£»*V-**"'-* XT A TTTV ILLE LIVING AND RAILROAD EXPENSE X GREATLY WORRYING ARTISTS Difficult to Exist on $10 Daily in Any Good Hotel. Transpor- tation Charges Likewise Excessive, Especially in West Figuring on Prospects Next Season. Ensemble Acts Hit Hard. The living expenses of vaudeville ar- | tists on tour are the present problems fF&T of their bookings for next season. The |^.experiences of the artists during the season past with hotels and railroads te ;i .have led them to serious thought if the high cost of everything is to continue Ir into 1920. Vaudeville aqts returning from long P trips report scant savings on the sea- I son. While the influenza period had its effect and that is admitted, artists re- 0'_ cite actual/living expenses to substan- tiate their statements. P Ensemble acts appear to have been the hardest hit One act on thei Or- ;;pheum Circuit, carrying 13 people, the \ 1 same number it had the season before, says that the hotel bill increased from its average of $250 weekly for the group in 17-18, to $600 a week last sea- . son. This act worked 40 weeks con- i? secutively at an average salary of $1,500 , weekly, and returned to New York with . • a net saving of $5,500 out of the gross IP total of $60,000 earned. On top of that k the ensemble was a family group. H: The hotel rates and cost of food IvFrace far ahead of the complaints against the excessive; transportation. The high hotel expense seems preva- lent all over the country, while the railroading depends, upon jumps or routing, particularly in the West. Art- tists who check 'up their accounts say that $10 a day in any good hotel is the minimum and that is when they are ?< j^able to obtain a room at $5. The latter :V * is an infrequent occurrence, they say. "-''•.'.£.$6 is the lowest charge, single, that can UMjjfe) secured for a hotel room, which, . 'with the cost of three meals or even f : ; two runs the total day's expense be- y ; yond $10, nearer $15, if not more. . The expense of traveling is said to ' Kbe entering into the consideration of ^iinany artists who would like vaudeville 1 routes for next season, i i: Commercial travelers report, the same large increase of daily expense in their travels. In years past and before the war hotels gave special rates and attention to continuous trav- elers who always stopped as a rule at the same hotels when reaching a city. Of late seasons they have re- ceived neither. iEs/f " ; "-. r i: GOOD NEWS FOR TRAVELERS. 3 • ■" Chicago, July 1. I; Most of the loop hotels have put in a "new scale of rates at an increase of ten per cent The Hotel Sherman, where many vaudevillians stop, announces the in- crease to take effect July 1. The La Salle boost went into effect June 16. 'The Congress raises rates from 50 cents to a dollar a room. Raises are scheduled at the Stratford and At- lantic. | The Grant Hotel, a favorite stopping .place for the profession, has not an- nounced an increase. ■ "SHIMMIE POLICE STATION." 4 Harry Weber has added another , "Shimmie" act to the list now in vaude- ville, Weber's coming under the title {of the "Shimmie Police Station." It carries with it Jiramie Hussey, Billy ;Worsley and Flo Lewis with the Harry jYerkes Jazz Band accompanying. V The act was originally conceived by Hussey about a year ago, but he de- cided to wait until the "Shimmie" craze reached its zenith- before staging it. Something similar is said to be a part of the, Shubert "Gaieties of 1919" due to open next Monday, but the: pro- ducers will stage the vaudeville act Thursday at Mt. Vernon. If a police station scene is in the Shubert'show, legal complications may ensue. PERCY WILLIAMS SURPRISED. At Islip, L. I., Wednesday night, Percy G. Williams was taken into cus- tody by a detachment of sailors and soldiers who marched him before a board of officers to be court martialed. One'of the charges against Mr. Wil- liams was that he had unfailingly given attention to the men in the service from the vicinity of his country home. The court decided a reception be tendered the former vaudeville mag- nate and that a memorial be presented to him in recognition of his many kind- nesses. The affair came as a surprise to the recipient It was arranged by the re- turned soldiers, sailors and marines, with Judge Joseph A. Moore, of Islip, in charge of it. ■ ■ . *s MATTER FOR FLOWERS. A fist flght between Joe Sullivan, the agent, and S. Jay Kaufman, of the Evening "Globe," was narrowly averted Monday afternoon when Arthur Klein stepped into the brawl and explained who the writer was. While standing at the orchestra rail Kaufman kiddingly told Klein it was ridiculous for the Ford sisters to pur- chase flowers, to go over the footlights since every one in the house knew they were to be paid for by the act. Sullivan, the husband of one of the Ford Sisters, promptly offered to wager Kaufman they were not pur- chased by the act and the. tension arose until the couple retired to thev street to mingle. /' Grace LaRue'i Single Engagement. San Francisco, July 1. Grace LaRue will appear at the local Orpheum for two weeks commencing July 27. She has been on -the Coast for some time. Immediately following the Orpheum date Miss LaRue says she is going East. Howard and Brook* in Show*. Charles Howard and Tyler Brooke, who are appearing together in vaude- ville, have engaged with productions for next season. Mr. Brooke holds a contract from Henry W. Savage for two years, to commence with the season in the Mitzi show. Mr. Howard goes with the new Raymond Hitchcock production. IF YOU DON'T ADVBKTUE IN VHrBTV- DON'T ADVBETUK JOLSONS IN COURT. San Francisco, July I, Mrs. Henrietta -Jolson, wife of Al Jolson, hassled a suit for divorce against her husband in the Alameda County Court of California, asking for $2,000 monthly alimony, basing her separation claims on a statutory ground ■ and embellishing the complaint with charges of neglect and an attack of 'temperament. ; The complaint filed June 25 received considerable publicity on the coast, car- rying a detailed account of Mrs. Jol- son's charges without an answer by the comedian. It was published that Jol- son hastily dispatched his secretary, Frank Holmes, to .California to en- deavor to settle the case, offering his wife anything she wished if she would discontinue the suit, but threatening to give her nothing if she went through with it. The Jolsons were married about 12 years ago while Al Jolson was doing his blackface act in vaudeville, the cere- mony taking place while he was appear- ing at the Bell, Oakland, a small time theatre then booked by Sullivan & Con- sidine. The immediate cause of the divorce proceedings, according to Mrs. Jolson, was Jolson sending her back to California last March, after sum- moning her. to New York with instruc- tions to sell their machine and come East with the furniture. Upon her ar- rival, according to Mrs. Jolson, her husband told her to return. Jolson has not made any statement for publication since the action began. There are no children. Frank Milton Coming Back. V Denver, July 1. Frank Milton, who has been making his home in Denver for the last year, announces he will resume his stage work next season. With his wjfe, one of the De Long Sisters, Milton will appear in a new vaudeville sketch. Lou De Long, sister of Mrs. Milton, will not be a member of the company. i NEW PROCTOR'S SCHENECTADY. i Albany, N. Y., July,l. While F. F. Proctor was here yes- terday taking over Haririlnus-Bleecker; Hall, he announced that a site next to' the Parker building, on State street* Schenectady, had been secured to buiJO a new Proctor's there, for vaudeville. ,. Work is not to start, however, for an- other year. ' Harmanus-BIeecker Hall here will play a picture policy under the Proc- tor management. It is to undergo ex- tensive remodeling and is expected to reopen by Oct. 15. The passing of the Hall to Proctor leaves the Capital without a legit house. SEEKING ATLANTA FRANCHISE. Ralph De Bruler, president of the Macon Theatres Co. of Macon, Ga., and whose firm is now erecting a pic- ture and vaudeville theatre in Atlanta, arrived in New York this week to en- deavor to land the Keith Vaudeville Exchange franchise for the new At- lanta house. The Atlanta franchise at present is held by Jake Wells, but it is believed to have expired De Bruler is here to try and sign up for the Atlanta shows before Wells renews his privilege there. " MORRISSEY BANKRUPT. A petition in bankruptcy was filed June 25 in New York by Will Mor- rissey. No gross liabilities are men- tioned nor .are any assets. The list names 37 artists' claims for salary due, and there are about 30 commercial houses represented as creditors in the -petition. "-- "."' .'-' ^2t~'—rW. The largest salary claim stated by Morrissey is that of Elisabeth Brice, S.600. May Boley is down tor $656. slierand Ward are creditors to the' amount of $445 and Lon Rascall's claim is $293. A suit against Morrissey By Henry Kelly to recover $500 is now pending in the 9th District Municipal Court, New York, •?*> -. The full name of the petitioner is given as William 1 James Morrissey/235 West 71st street, New York City. He was the promoter, of "The Overseas Revue" that went on the road'and; had. a run in Chicago. It recently played the 44th Street Roof, New York, under the title of "Toot Sweet." The names of the creditors to whom Morrissey owes salary as listed above were members of the' show's cast. Some are now with Morrissey in a con- densed version of the production, ap- pearing at the Pa|ace, New York, as a headline attraction in its second week. The vaudeville turn receives $2,500 weekly. It was booked at the Palace for two weeks at that figure, Before Mr. Morrissey and Miss Brice went to France as entertainers, in the same unit, they were reported engaged to wed. It has been lately reported they married shortly after returning to this side and before go- ing out with the show, in which Miss Brice was featured. . > ; Henry J. Block appears as attorney for Mr. Morrissey in the bankruptcy proceedings. Miss Boley has notified i Morrissey she will leave "The Overseas Revue" at the conclusion of its Palace run, v ■ ,._■ i\ , r > !» >-;- ~i$ KEITH'S PALACE IN CLEVELAND. E. F. Albee is in the Middle-West this week, supervising the decorations of the new Palace, Cincinnati, and ar- ranging for the plans of the new Keith theatre to be built in Cleveland.,^ _..-;. The Cleveland location-is on 105th, street, and when completed the house will be called Keith's Palace Theatre. ■ ■ _ "■ >:'■■■:■■/■:■ :'.'. -•"• TABS ON 14TH ST. The 14th Street Theatre, which changed from stock to pop vaudeville, three weeks ago, made another switch this week, installing a combination tab and picture policy Monday.' Linton & Lamar who now control the house will make a weekly change of tabs if the new policy proves suc- cessful. MAY BROWN WEDS. Chicago, July 1. May Brown, for 14 years treasurer of the Pastime, picture theatre ,on Madison street, and well known in the loop, was married this week to Oscar Kuffer, soda fountain manufac- turer. The bride was the divorced wife of Al Bfown, formerly of the vaudeville team of Folsom and Brown. New Revue at Casino, Paris. Paris, July 1. f The Casino will produce a new revue Friday (July 4). It is to be called "Ouf." Flers and Arneaud prepared it., I McGowan and Pritchard Turn. Jack McGowan and Frances Pritch- ard are arranging a vaudeville turn with Milton Hager as pianist. Harry J. Fitzgerald has the booking repre- sentation. Mr. McGowan was lately with "Take It From Me," which ended its season a couple of weeks ago. Sascha Guitry Appearing with Father. r > •"' Paris, July L~-f- Sascha Guitry will withdraw from the present comedy at the Theatre Vaude- ville July 13. He intends to appear at the Porte Saint Martin' next season in a new play by himself. His father will be in the cast. ' , tj$m ■-'.-■" *'aUMt -a - Midge Miller Fill* In. London, July 1. Midge Miller has taken the place of Phyllis Bedell at the Hippodrome. Miss Bedell has gone on a vacation. ■ m ■ :■•, ( THIS 18 NOT A FACE POWPBB ) Doyle and Dixon Debut. London, July 1. At the Empire, Stratford, Doyle aricT Dixon made a successful London de- bu t this week. «. . -*» ■ I mj- ^-z:---- - - * -= .... A - •*'■" . :.. ;.i.xj!f^::'j. : V a \.