Show World (June 1909)

1 4 THE SHOW WORLD June 26, 1909. j ENGLISH PARKS FIGHT _ WEATH ER C ONDITIONS Bad Business at Seaside Resorts, but Rinks, Theaters and Open Air Shows Do Well MUSKEGON MANAGERS FORM A COMBINATION. MUSKEGON, Mich., June 18.—L. L. Sunlin, Harry Waterman and Carl Ray, managers of the Elite, Bijou and Lake Michigan Park theaters, respec¬ tively, have formed a co-partnership and will this fall operate the Temple, which is now in course of construc¬ tion. It appears that Waterman had the bookings but no theater, while Sunlin had the theater and no book¬ ings and the combination should there¬ fore prove profitable. DAZIE IN PANTOMIME FAREWELL APPEARANCE. E. F. Albee Secures the Favorite American Dancer for a Limited Tour in Keith Houses. NEW YORK, June 21.—Mile. Dazie, the favorite American Danseuse, who for two years past has been an im¬ portant feature in Ziegfeld’s series of “Follies” revues and who leaves America to appear in Europe in the fall, has been captured by E. F. Albee for a limited engagement in the Keith, and Keith & Proctor theaters, open¬ ing in Boston Monday, June 28, and appearing at the Keith & Proctor Fifth avenue theater beginning holiday, Monday, July 5, For this special tour Dazie, who has provided New York with many sur¬ prises and novelties, will attempt an innovation, for she is preparing a brief pantomine in which two characteristic Dazie dances will be introduced. This pantomine is called “L’Amour de L’Artist” and was written by Sig. G. Malosso, who originated the fa¬ mous Apache Dance in Europe, and whose magnificent pantomimic per¬ formance became a striking and real¬ istic feature in Thos. W. Ryley’s “The Queen of the Moulin Rouge” during its long run at the Circle theater. This new pantomime is being staged under Sig. Malosso’s personal super¬ vision and it has been constructed ex¬ pressly to suit Dazie’s requirements and personality. Mr. Albee believes Dazie’s engage¬ ment the most important of the year and that there will be unusual interest to see her in a new role here in America, where, since the sensational “Le Domino Rouge,” she has created •many novel and original dances. She was the first American dancer to achieve success in classic operatic ballets, as premiere danseuse of Ham- merstein’s Grand Opera company, dur¬ ing the first season at the Manhattan, and this will be the first time an American dancer has ever attempted to interpret a story without words. While it will be a novelty to see Dazie’s interpretation here in New York, pantomime is not altogether new to the talented dancer as she has presented this form of amusement abroad prior to her returning to America five years ago.—REVELL. FEINBERG IS YOUNGEST OF ALL PRESS AGENTS. NEW YORK, June 21.—The young¬ est press agent in captivity is Abie Feinberg, head of the publicity bureau of the Sullivan-Considine circuit in New York City. He is only 17 years old, and commenced as an office boy under Freeman Bernstein, when he was then head of that office. Abie has a marvelous knowledge of acts, and a keen conception of press matter; knows the value of news items and knows the kind of press stuff to for¬ ward. He handles all of the photo¬ graphs for the billing and press mat¬ ter for six weeks in advance, thus re¬ lieving the artist of the responsibility of sending photographs, billing, prop, lists, etc. He is very popular with the profession, has a smile for everyone, and has done much towards making strangers from the west feel perfectly at home in the Sullivan-Considine of¬ fice in New York.—REVELL. MANCHESTER, Eng., June 18.— If November weather in June is con¬ ducive to the enjoyment of outdoor pleasures, then England is situated in an ideal condition for such enter¬ tainments as are usual to the “dog days.” A very peculiar thing about the people of Manchester and district is that bad weather is no deterrent to the enjoyment of outdoor exhibitions and shows. From time immemorial bad weather has been the rule in this district and from the cradle to the grave people expect nothing else; therefore they turn out in the usual numbers and make the best of exist¬ ing conditions. Season Has Been Bad. The season thus fai at the seaside resorts has been very bad, with the single exception of the holiday known as Whit Monday, while that of the parks, rinks and theater of the cities has been exceptionally good. This is accounted for in a measure because of the prevailing hard times and scarcity of rnoney which prohibits railway excursions to places of enter¬ tainment, as well as the fact that a number of the theaters and the skat¬ ing rinks have closed down tempo¬ rarily, and the others naturally benefit thereby. During the three weeks that the White City has been open to the public the business has been greatly in excess of any former years, and rain does not seem to interfere to any extent with the attendance. The big new skating rink with its enorrnous capacity and its three daily sessions has a powerful drawing quality with a certain class of people, while the weekly change of high class military SEATTLE, Wash., June 21.—John Cort has announced a number of im¬ portant changes in his managerial and executive staffs which appear to be for the betterment of the working force. John M. Cooke has been appointed manager of the Moore theater in this city, and is the only notable addition to the Cort staff. Cooke, who was connected with the summer run of “The Alaskan” was released by Wil¬ liam E. Cullen and thus permitted to accept his new position. Harry Cort, who has been in charge of the Moore theater, will be in full command of Cort’s road attractions for the coming season, and he will probably spend a part of his time in New York and a part in this city. Barney Klawans will continue as treasurer of the Moore, while the present assistant treasurer, Charles Newman, will be shifted to the Colonial in Frisco, in the same ca¬ pacity, being succeeded here by James M inchin. Manager Carl D. Reed of the Grand will become private secretary to John Cort and will be succeeded at the Grand by Gilbert G. Barry, who is now the assistant auditor of the North¬ west Theatrical Association, of which Mr. Cort is head. He will be suc¬ ceeded by Henry F. Schroder, at pres¬ ent located in the Cort New York offices. John E. Cort, who is now as¬ sistant treasurer at the Grand, will be made treasurer of the Colonial, San Francisco. Ben Ketchum will remain as treasurer of the Grand and will be assisted by Harry Crapo, who is now bands giving six hours of concerts daily attracts all the better classes and keeps the attendance at the White City above the average of the usual park. The numerous attractions about the park are all doing excep¬ tionally good business, and the con¬ cessioners are greatly pleased with the splendid way in which the season has opened. During the last half of last week the Royal Botanical Society held its annual summer flower show at the White City, and as the prizes aggre¬ gated some $2,000. The entries were large and covered a large part of England, and for three days amateurs in floriculture made this park their Mecca. Other Special Days. On June 19 the Nonconformists’ solo and choir competitions will be held in the White City, and for these contests nearly one thousand people will engage and some most excellent music is sure to result. On June 26 the fire chiefs of the various depart¬ ments of western England and north¬ ern Wales will visit the White City to witness a special performance^ of Mr. Brown’s spectacular production, “Fighting the Flames,” and on the same day the homing pigeon flying contest will take place, and more than three thousand birds will be let loose within thirty seconds. These are only some of the special features that will be prepared for the entertainment of visitors to the White City, and each week will find one special day set apart for the exploitation of some special event.—EFFAYESS. superintendent of the Moore theater. Fred E. Busey will be the new man¬ ager at the Frisco Colonial. He was manager for Cort during the tour of “Commencement Days.” W. J. Herr¬ mann has been appointed manager of the new Cort theater now in course of construction at Chicago, which is an¬ nounced for opening Oct. 10, with a new musical comedy, “The Kissing Girl,” with book by Stanislaus Stange, lyrics by Vincent Bryan and music by Harry Von Tilzer. Amelia Stone and Joseph Myron are already engaged to head the cast. George Hood is to be retained as booking agent of the Northwest The¬ atrical Association. Bert Morphy at Spokane. SPOKANE, Wash., June 19.—Bert Morphy, “The Man who Sings to Beat the Band,” is a strong attraction at Natatorium park. Morphy’s voice is a marvel to all who have heard him for the past two weeks. He is without a doubt the greatest open-air singer in the world. Band concerts every af¬ ternoon and evening by Bowen’s American band. Other attractions at the park are the figure eight, old mill, circle swing, shoot the chutes, Nata¬ torium and large dancing pavilion. Manager John W. Pace has spared no pains in making the park attractive this season.—SMITH. ANDERSON AND ZIEGLER BUY CINCINNATI PROPERTY. CINCINNATI, Ohio, June 19.— An-I derson and Ziegler have paid $75,000 1 for a piece of property located at 519 ■ Walnut street, which has a fifteen-foot* frontage. It is said that the firm paid! $45,000 cash and has five years time in ■ which to pay the balance. The prop- j erty was purchased to enlarge the theater site of the firm to the north. ' STAGE AND CHURCH ARE ENEMIES, SAYS DIVINE, j Oakland (Cal.) Minister Claims That Lust for Gold Has Divided the Theater From the Pulpit. SACRAMENTO, Cal., June 21.- The Rev. G. W. White, of Oakland, in his lecture on amusements before the Epworth League at the Central Meth¬ odist Church in this city took oc¬ casion to flay the stage in no unmis¬ takable terms and to express his be¬ lief that the theater of today was an open door-way to perdition. The Rev. White did not say whether his opin- | ions had been influenced by such I plays as “The Girl From Rectors,” “The Easiest Way” and “The Narrow] Path.” He said in part; “The theater of today is a greater | menace to society than is the saloon. In it we see things that are not true. It populates our divorce courts and breaks up more homes than any other one institution in existence. It is not right to mirror the vices and sins of the world. We want other things to occupy our minds. Things that will lift our ideals and make us to aim high. Everything in the theater is not bad by any means; on the contrary, there is much good influence that could result from the stage, but unfor- , tunately the lust of gold has swept away that possibility and inserted in its stead greedy, immoral managers, who will stage anything for money. “While it is true,” declared the speaker, “that the theater grew from i the church, it has sadly departed far J from it. The theater is run for com- | mercial gain, and respectability is ut- • terly disregarded in the pursuit for gain. As has been said, the theater is | the trail of the tenderloin. The rot¬ tenness and hypocrisy behind the glare' of the footlights is almost beyond con¬ ception. If we knew the moral stand¬ ards and life led by many of the actors that portray parts to us, we would hiss them from the stage and never enter a theater again. The most de- bauching things of the world are pa- j raded before the public unblushingly. The theater of the church has de¬ parted and a most deplorable substi¬ tute stands now in its place.” HARRISBURG ORPHEUM DOES RECORD BUSINESS. Harrisburg, Pa., June 17. The Orpheum theater is now play¬ ing to summer prices. Manager Hop¬ kins reduced the prices to 10 cents, which entitles you to any seat in the ; house. Friday evening, June 11, was , a record-breaker. The largest crowd I ever attracted by any performance at any of the local theaters. The streets j were impassable and it was necessary j to call out the reserve police force to i clear the highway. The acts are up to the standard, notwithstanding the low admission, and will be continued ] this way up until the fall season opens. Paxtang Park is now open and play¬ ing to full houses and are having ] some good vaudeville acts.—BUX- BAUM. Blue Grass Park Open. The New Blue Grass Traction park opened today to gopd business. This j park is on the car line six miles from this city.—CANDIO'TO. Eleanor Robson in Lexingtoru Lexington, Ky., June 17. Eleanor Robson is in this city -visit- 1 ing August Belmont. She arrived on her special car.—CANDIOTO. JOHN CORT CHANGES MAN AGER IAL STAFF Seattle F Magnate Shifts Executive Force and Adds to Its Number as Well as Quality i