Show World (November 1908)

November 28, 1908. THE SHOW WORLD FOR REORGANIZATION Rockies Companies off the Road for a Time. fin H Frontier closed last Saturday in ,°a and The Heart of the Rockies Hosed Nov. 17, at Prairie Du Chien, Wis., ■imi both companies came to Chicago for reorganization. Both organizations found tSness bad in the one-night stands of Iowa and will reorganize FOLLIES OF 1908 KEEPS WI THIN THE LIMIT Ziegfeld's Censored Production Well Received at the Illinois and the Critics Like it. strike aeeuiums W managers, the Frontier opened Friday, Oct. 23. and the super- 1 "-””" || organization ar e pointing to of the 3 fact. It _ than four lanager of the K^hfn^a'hSrstlled^Stlie expected to be on the road again within £< Fran* Richardson, manager of The apart of the Rockies, is said to have lost $2,500 S the time he was on the road, but is not discouraged and says he will go out again and will stick to his original plan of giving the public a good per¬ formance in spite of the cost. A correspondent writes that both of these shows used the same paper in Iowa stands, but the managers say there were only two or three half sheets which were I the same. Harry Sheldon White wrote \ Frontier, and it is ”**»**“ a piece of property. value Giierold he Rockies, splendid play. the __ of The Heart of Richardson considers it : Charles Monroe, O. S. W. Brooke, Harry Bay, Lei . Collier. James H. Lee, Andy Hicks and Jack Reidy are members of the two or¬ ganizations now in Chicago. Tears' ago, when Harry Watson, Jr., and George Bickel appeared in burlesque, their cleverness was generally recognized, and when they secured a big success in the better class popular priced houses it was only natural that some manager of attractions appearing in the first-class houses would see their value in produc¬ tions appealing to the best class of the¬ ater-goers for support. Follies of 1907, in- which they ap¬ peared last season, proved a tremendous hit in big cities, but did not draw well in one-night stands, proving to the man¬ agement’s satisfaction that the people who saw the production talked of it. People did talk of last years’ “Follies” and people will talk of the new show, The Follies of 1908. Fiorenz Ziegfeld, Jr.’s new production duly censored, was presented for the first time in Chicago at the Illinois theater Nov. 22, and the following excerpts from Chicago dailies will show how it tickled the reviewers: W. L. Hubbard, Tribune: “A collection of specialties and specialists, them good, ‘- — ~ goods displayed, though never heavy with the weight of them. It trips along the line that separates liberty from license and remains for the most part on the safer side.” Charles W. Collins, Inter-Ocean: “String a series of scenes, episodes, topi¬ cal, and burlesque, together with frequent songs and dancing specialties and a car load of alluring figures in tights, mix as many low comedians as can work to¬ gether without fighting—and you have a ‘Follies.’ The title is apt, and the idea, if its freedom is kept within bounds and its humor up to date, makes excellent entertainment for an idle, non-serious evening.” O. L. Hall, Journal: “The most success¬ ful entertainer is Nora Bayes, who sings several songs made to order by her young husband. Jack Norworth. Bickel and Watson burlesque almost everybody in the public eye. The former’s fling at the German kaiser was amusing, and Watson’s energetic burlesque of Genee’s dance was wildly applauded.” Amy Leslie, News: "The real star of this extraordinary aggregation is Miss Nora Bayes.” Grace Leigh, Annabelle Whitford, Ar¬ thur Deagon, and Mdlle. Dazie also re¬ ceived favorable notices. Differences Between Musicians and Akron Theater Settled Over the Head of Edgar Frank. Akron, O., Nov. 25.—A threatened clash between the non-resident management of the Colonial theater, local Nixon-Cohan & Harris owned house, and the orchestra has been narrowly averted. Theater pa¬ trons are consequently congratulating themselves over the peaceful settlement of what otherwise would have been a .walk¬ out of union musicians. The difficulties arose the latter part of last season when Edgar IC. Frank, travel¬ ing representative of the Nixon interests, cut the orchestra to six men on all at¬ tractions, playing at less than $1.50, using eight men only on shows playing at $1.50 or better. The musicians expected the rule to he abolished at the beginning of the present season, but Frank still in¬ sisted. He was given until Nov. 15 by the musician’s union to abolish the rule, which he refused to do. M. Reis, who has recently been given the booking of the Ohio Circuit, was ap¬ pealed to. The settlement was effected over the head of Frank. Eight men are to he used in the orchestra for all attrac¬ tions. The musicians at the Colonial are and have been playing at the minimum rate for a number of seasons. Sid Morey has conducted it since the theater has The stage hands have also been grant- _ ed a slight increase, also eliminating an¬ other source of trouble. They struck last season because of a cut.—MOORE. ELSIE JAMS HERE IN GEORGE APE’S PLAY There Will Be No Sunday Night Performances at the Studebafcer During the Stay of Fair Co-Ed. sgsws iewsf .a*® NEW GARDEN THEATER LIKE FOREIGN HOUSES Opportunity for 1 “HE