Variety (January 1919)

VAUDEVILLE N. V. A. COMPLAINTS EPIDEMIC STILL AROUND. REVENUE BILL'S CLAUSES. Mort Fox (Foix and Brltt) has com- plained against the Melnotte Duo. He ' claims the latter are employing a piece ^ of business in their act which he has been using far several years. It con- cerns the entrance of the comedian at the opening of the act, carrying a lighted lamp post. Fox asks the Mel- notte Duo be restrained from using it. Xohnny Wright and Herbert Walker have forwarded the original contract without a cancellation clause issued them by Boyle Wolfolk which called • for a season's work of 30 weeks. They ^•; say the^ contract was made for the 1^. season of 1918-1919 and up until now, S-.. Wolfolk has not notified them to re- p . poft for yfork of any kind and that ri. ! they have not sought any work else- "; where. They want the organization to request Wolfolk to put the contract S into immediate operation.. f, William Hallen (Hallen and Hunter) p.f;" has entered a complaint against Willie " " Weston in which he alleges he holds :i:. the rights to a"gag^' which concerns ^;'° a small boy, a minister and an Irlsh- i: man. The punch line of the joke is ?■■ - where the Irishman states he knows a word worth $2.50. Hallen states that this gag is incorporated in a vaudeville X • act he has filed with the N. V. A. pro- i- ■" tected material department and as he has used the joke first, wants it pro- ;-> tected. He asks that Weston be re- quested to discontinue the joke. Howard and Graf wired Dec. 17 from ^i; ■ Geneva, N. Y., to Walter Plimmer con- '^.- firming a contract for three days at '■";_ Cornell, N.,Y. Plimmer waited for the I' . confirmation until 6 o'clock p. m. Dec. [■: ■ 18 and not having h^ard from Howard ; and Graf, booked another act in their .;- place. Dec. 19 at 3 p. m. Plimmer re- (jy ceivjed the original wire as sfcnt from ii Geneva. Howard and Graf have asked -Vi /. the N. V. A. to inquire of the Postal '-' the reason for the late delivery of the wire and also to demand the pay they were to receive for the engagement at Girnell which they lost through the tardy delivery of the telegram. Earl- Rejmolds (Reynolds and Done- - san) has entered a complaint against Athos and Read. He states he is the ! > originator of the aeroplane whirl, the aeroplane nose dive and the arm swing . ^ as done in his act on roller skates. He states he first introduced this routine in 1914 and while he cannot ask danc- ':- - ing acts and acrobatic acts discontinue these tricks Reynolds thinks it is un- fair for a skating act to do the tricks originated by him. He asks to have > Athos and Read discontinue doing these feats on roller skates. The or- ganization has communicated with Atho and Read and is awaiting their reply before deciding the matter. Jean Duval, with an act for several years known as "Gems Of Art" has asked the organization to stop Jean Bedini from using this title in connec- tion with his show "Puss-Pu^s." The joint arbitration board has asked Bed- ini to inform it as to exactly" how he employs the title. = William Duval (Duval and Symonds) has complained against Jones and Greenlee, alleging the latter have taken one of the gags in his act which states he is "married four months— almost a year" and have changed it to "three months." Duval wants Jones and Greenlee stopped from using it. The committee has communicated with Jones and Greenlee. Hadj Ambark Ben Liazeed and his wife have entered a complaint against Slayman AH claiming that they were working for Ali and were entlt'ed to cording to a clause in their contract. They Say Ali notified them of the termination of the contract by regis- tered mail and they received one week's actual notice. They ask for one more week's work before the notifica- tion goes into effect or receive pay for the week lost. Sjveeney and Newton have sent in a complaint against Georgei. Shaffer, manager of the SteubenviUe theatre, Steubenville, O., stating they arrived late for the opening performance' and that the manager would not allow them to appear. They add that the/ hold a play or pay contract and that the jump they made to Steubenville was in accordance with the scheduled time on that circuit. The complaint has been referred to the joint com- plaint bureau. Ben Lavine wired a complaint Mon- day, stating that when he arrived at the Liberty, Terre Haute, the manager notified him he could not appear. The manager stated the act was not booked nor billed. Lavine alleges to hold a play or pay contract for the date. The joint complaint bureau of the N. V. A. asked Lavine to forward his contract. Minerva Courtney has complained against Ollie Mack, out of the cast in her act, claiming Mack left her with- out notice, and as a result she was forced to lose the engagement at Newport. She asks from Mack the sum lost by her through his failure to appear. Miss Courtney and Mack are members of the club, and the com- plaint bureau is endeavoring to locate Mack to ascertain his version. Jack Symonds has filed a complaint against Adams and Guhl concerning the fights to a protected song entitled "The Dreams of Prominent People Going to Heaven." Symonds claims he t)urchased this song from Henry Fries fpr $100, and first sang it at the American theatre Aug. 14, 1915. He wants the bureau to notify Adams and Guhl of the infringement of his rights, and demands that Adams' and Guhl be restrained from singing the song. MARDO RETURNS TO BOSTON. Fred Mardo went back to Boston the latter part of last week where he will again resume personal charge of his bookings for the houses he has had on his list for years. Mardo temporarly deserted Boston for Broadway to assume the booking management of the Sheedy houses. Six weeks later he resigned to handle his New England bookings temporarily from his New York address. Mr. Mardo has arrange(^ with Jack Potsdam to act as his New York rep- resentative, Mardo planning a weekly visit to Broadway. "'BOOKED FOR SOUTH AFRICA. The South African Trust has booked (from London) for a tour of its thea- tres Eddie Martyn," Bessie Slaughter, Jock Whitford, Happy Attwood, Fly- ing Banvards, Carmen and Lawrence, Jack Boston and Co., Emerald and Du- pre, Gertie and Daisy Haden, Lee Wroth, Cam Stern, Maidie and Gent, Keystone Troupe, Clifford and Gray, Victoria and Ramoo. Although the degree of severity is ■not so greati the: influenza- epidemic • still sways in many sections of the country and additional closings are re- ■ ported in the Northwest. In that sec- tion, where closing have not been or- dered, general theatrical busineiss is decidedly off. New JEnglitid is suffering from a second influenza ^ave. There is talk of closing theatres in that region, but because of the. low death rate, man- agers do not expect quarantine condi- tions as with the epidemic's first visit. Texas points are again within the grip of an epidemic scar? and closing of the one-night towns is reported daily. San Antonio resumed last week and all of the Interstate Circuit cities are free of quarantine. Oklahoma City, Okla., however, was reported in bad shape on Tuesday and the authorities there may order the town "shut" through Jan- uary. In the eastern portion of the South* conditions are much better, but in spite of Sav'annah, Mobile and Roanoke lift- ing quarantine last week, there are still a group of cities under the ban. They are Anniston, Ala., Macon, Ga., and Greeneville and Spartansburg. The latter city lifted quarantine and imme- diately put the lid down again. ' Hamilton emerged from its second long quarantine last week and Canada appears free of the disease at this time. In the Central West regulations re- 'garding the attendance pi children at theatres are still in effect. Restriction^ as to number of people to be admitted and seating space have been generally removed in middle-west. Milwaukee lifted the restrictions last ^eek. SOLDIERS RETURN. When the Santa Claus ship U. S. S. Mongolia docked at Hoboken, N. J., Dec. 20 with its Christmas presents in the shape of returning Pershing war- riors there were a number of theatrical and vaudeville men on board. Among them were Harry Green (Fenton and GrAn), Lewis Lehr (of "Mother Goose"), Blackface Eddie Quiglev, Harry Storer (song writer), Hughie Clark, James Riley, Slim Gant, Edward Borrell, William Edmondson and Harry Schaffer. v The boys, while attached to different regiments of artillery, 138th Field and 74th Railroad, combined on the ship to entertain the men and officers on the way back. This outfit in conjunction with their regular army duties performed thf-oughout France for the soldiers, wounded and otherwise, and played many one night "dugout stands.'' The Mongolia crew, with Joseph Kel- ly as one of the main arrangers of the eMertainment activities, were guests at a naval ball in the Hotel Astor Thurs- day night when maijy theatrical friends were entertained as well as the boys who returned on the boat. NOVA SCOTIA BOOKER. Bob Hutchinson, in the B. F. Keith Vaudeville Exchange, is ten\porarily handling the Nova Scotia towns and some in Maine, formerly supplied by Jeff Davis, who has been relieved be- cause of pressure of other work and who is confining his efforts to "down east" bookings. Additions to Hutchin- son's book are St. Johns (two houses), Halifax (two houses), Moncton, Syd- ney, New Glasgow and Amherst and also Bath and Lewiston, Me., and Quincy, Mass. This month Fred Mack of Halifax wilt take over the bookifigs:" He-isMo have a permanent desk on the fifth floor of the Palace building. Mr. Mack has an interest in most of. the houses concerned. Plajrlnt return* cvenwhen. CHA8. ALTHOFF. KANSAS CITY CAR. STRIKE. Kansas City, Dec. 31. The street car strike in progress here for more than two weeks is seriously affecting theatricals, since there are no cars in operation after 5 o'clock in the afternoon. Theatres had not fully recovered from the severe epidemic regulations when the trolley men added to their troubles. -Matinees have been hurt and night business is very bad.; Lady Contt&nca Richardson at Palace. ,Lady,,,.Constance,.,. Richrtrdson.Vt'ill. headline the Palace, New YorV.'pro- gram next week'. It has been several months since Lady Richardson appear- ed in vaudeville, then in a clas<»ical dancing act. Of late she has been re- siding in Washington, D. C Washington. Dec. 31. . .The Rfiyenue, Bill. .passed the Sen-; ate list week and the tai of ten per"" cent, made on theatre admissions stands. , The ten per cent, tax stands on all admissions sold at the box office and. includes season tickets or subscript, tions. The only exception of the ten;' per cent, rule, as now in force, in re-; gard to. passes, is that bona fide em- ployees, municipal officers on official business or men in the uniform of this country are free from all taxations. The ten per cent, tax on the first 50 cents over the original cost of the ticket when sold outside of the box oiHce stands, as also does the SO per cent, tax on all excess In price above the first fifty cents. This is in addition to ten per cent, on the original price of the ticket. This excess price tax is to be paid by the seller of the tickets. Permanent holders of seats or boxes at opera houses shall pay ten pen cent, of the price for which those seats would be sold at time of the per- formance. No tax shall be levied when the per- formance is given for the benefit of V religious, educational or charitable in- stitutions, societies or organizations, to auote the bill: "Or organizations conducted for the sole purpose of main- tainjng symphony orchestras and re- ceiving substantial support from vol- untary contributions, or admissions to agricultural fairs, none of the profits of which are distributed to stockhold- ers of the associations conducting the same." The term admissions as used includes seats or tables, reserved or otherwise* and other similar accommodations ana charges made therefor. This takes in all cabarets and roof gardens at the ten per cent. rate. That each ticket must be vplainly- VK|ftten or stamped with the price, ex- clusive of the tax to be paid, is aYiother feature set forth in. the Bill and also' states that the name of the vendor must also appear on the ticket when sold outside of the box office. The penalty for this last feature if not ful- filled in case of conviction is a fine oi $100. An amendment by Senator Trammel is that each man and officer in the service after Nov. 11 receive a bonus of one month's salary. The Bill now goes to conference. The clause in the Revenue Bill which reads the name of the vendor of a ticket must appear on the ticTcet itself when sold outside of the box office, would give managers a line on every seat sold by speculators and enable them, if so disposed, to revise admis- sion on all seats so handled. vm Laraen Elected PretMent in Botton. ~ . „ , Boston, Dec. 31. Robert G. Larson, manager of i the Keith and Boston theatres in this city, was elected president of the As- sociation of Theatre Managers of Bos- ton at their annual meeting held last week. David E. Dow, manager of the Tremont .theatre, was elected vice- president; John Lyons, manager of the Majestic theatre, secretary, and Thomas B. Lothian of the Colonial Theatre, treasurer. The following were elected directors: Edward D- Smith, Charles J, Rich, M. Douglas Flattery, Charles Waldron and Fred E. Wright. ■M THEATRE IN BROOKLYN. Brooklyn is to have a theatre at the. corner of Flatbush and Rogers av- enues, sold by Johnston Rapp to the Jules Realty Co. Seating capacity, 2,100. Loew Not Booking boircllieiFeir.' i, Boston, Dec. 31. After this week the Franklin Park, theatre, Dorchester, Mass., will not receive its vaudeville from the Marcus f ,ocw agcnry.