Variety (April 1919)

•■•a; • - -■'ww >*«! 'w»-»*'■'•■*■■■ w •v'-ir■"*■■ »" «■« s-t»#i .. ,•>•'•.' ■ • ■'■ . ..-. ..'-■-• ■ -*.-*■"; VAUDEVILLE ■- -'... " IN AND OUT OF THE SERVICE M 1 ' 'Leo Donnelly makes his New York debut as a "single" next week at the Riverside. : : John A. Butler, who returned re- cently with the 27th Division, will re- join the Weber & Anderson forces. Q. M. Sergt. Francis T. Schulze, dis- charged from the Army and will join "Leave it to Jane" Co. Charles Gray, formerly in the ser- vice of Uncle Sam, is back astreasurer of the Playhouse. ^ Sergt. Lee R. Chapin, A. E. F, has arrived from overseas and is in the General Hospital, Flattsburg Barracks, HH^ :i ; : ; Plattsburg, N. Y. George Pearl (Pearl Bros, and Burns), A E. F., has returned from France, and expects shortly to be dis- charged. George Anderson, who served with one of Uncle Sam's casual outfits, is out of service and has joined his wife, Fritzi Scheff, now on tour with "Glo- rianna." Lieut. Howard Harmon, at a training camp as instructor, is returning to vau- deville with his former act, the Bound- ing Gormans. Lieut. Harmon owns and appears in the turn. J. A. Curtis, dramatic director at Camp Grant, 111., will receive his dis- charge June 30 when he will return to theatricals. Mr. Curtis was formerly connected with A. H. Woods. Will 0. Wheeler, who recently re- signed as manager of the Liberty, Camp Dix, N. J., is back along Broad- way. Wheeler was one of few of the -camp managers who did not report for daily duty in a uniform. Corp. Theodore A. Wilde, recently returned from France, is in Ward No. 8, U. S. Hospital, Fox Hill, S. I., re- covering from wounded foot. Corp. Wilde was formerly with George Choos' "Oh, That Melody." Lewis Williams, former manager of the Star, New York, is at present with the three United States troopers who bave been assigned to special duty w.ith the President of the United States during his stay in Paris. M. P. Ryan, superintendent of the Palace Theatre building, has both of his sons, Allan and Kenneth E. (the younger) Ryan, who went overseas with Co. E, 102d Engineers, back home. They returned with the 27th Division. Prior to the service in France, Ken- neth was on the Mexican border with the Pershing troops. The Soldiers' Welfare Department of the Stage Women's War Relief is to be .continued until further notice. The department is no longer devoting its time to the families of the soldiers, but is now engaged in reconstruction work, aiding soldiers connected with the stage in getting started at their old profession. Manton Ward Chambers, with Casual Co. No. 1431, wounded and gassed while overseas with the Third Co. C, 101st Ammunition Train Motor Section 26th Division, is slowly recovering at one of the base hospitals. It will be a long time before Chambers will round back to normal condition.' Capt. Paul Gordon, stock leading man, the first actor to win a commis- sion at the Plattsburgh Training Camp, who has been in France with the 305th Infantry, returned to New York last week. Captain Gordon has engaged for a summer season of dramatic stock as leading man with the Jessie Bon- stelle company that will play Buffalo and Detroit engagements. Lieutenant Pierre Le May, who re- turned from France last week, after having served with the U. S. A. Am- bulance Service with the 32nd Div. for three months and then with the French Army on the Verdun front for a year, was discharged from service Sunday. While with the French forces his unit, which he had charge of, holds a record of having carried 30,035 wounded from the front with the use of 60 cars in 30 days' time. He was formerly lead- ing man with Minnie Dupree in vaude- ville and also with Mme. Petrova in pictures. Charles E. Hodges, drafted April 26, 1917, and admitted to Camp Lewis, (Wash.) but who never got overseas, owing to months of confinement to the base hospital there, is now out of ser- vice. He is returning to his stage work. Hodges, prior to his army life, was known as Young Achilles Philion, spiral specialist. Through his long sick- ness with pneumonia and a subsequent operation, he will not be himself again physically for another year, yet will be able to do a part of his old act, but assisted by two young women. Hodges is now putting his turn in shape in the west, expecting to get some summer dates until the fall sea- son starts. NEW YORK WRITERS IN FRONT. Arrangements are being made by those in charge of the theatrical activi- ties of the various divisions on the other side which have promoted shows from their own men while in France to have a competition, with honors go- ing to the division making the best presentation. The three divisions so far selected are the 29th, 81st and 82d. The show of the 81st was written, staged and produced by Joe Goodwin, while Jimmy Hanley (both of Shapiro, Bern- stein & Co.) wrote the musical revue produced by the 82d Division. GEORGE SAMMIS IN STORM; Camp Dix, N. J.. April 2. The hundred-mile gale of Thursday last played havoc with structures nearby. In the camp the roof of a temporary barracks was ripped off, leaving a number of persons, including George Sammis, who was here with a vaudeville show, with no place to sleep. Sammis went to Trenton, 20 miles away, starting the trip in an auto about 2 a. m. The wind got underneath the machine's cover and turned it on its side. Aided by a passing driver the motor was righted and the trip con- tinued, Sammis getting aboard the Colonial express and going to New York. Because of the inconvenience in reaching Trenton all male profes- sionals are now housed in an officers' barracks, which has been set aside for them at 50 cents per night. Feminine artists are given excellent accommoda- tions at the hostess house. Soldier Monologiit With One Leg. The Loew Circuit has engaged Paul L. Boliri, of the Rainbow Division, to do his monolog in its theatres. Mr. Bolin returned from France with six or more decorations and one leg. The Loew Circuit people think high- ly of him. Mr. Bolin was booked on the express direction of Joe •Schenck. He sings and talks. INVESTIGATION REPORT The continued verbatim report of the daily hearings before the Federal Trade Commission in New York City in the matter of the Vaudeville Managers' Protective Association and others appears on pages 34-37 to 40-41 of this issue. The report will be published weekly In part until the full record will have been printed. 300 MORE SAILING. Thomas E McLane, head of the Y. M. C. A. overseas bureau, announced this week that fully 300 volunteer artists will sail for the "Y" and the Overseas League, which is a "Y" branch, for France to entertain the American Army of Occupation within the next 45 days. This verifies the prediction in Vamete some weeks ago that profes- sionals in increasing numbers would take advantage of the opportunity of going overseas as spring advanced. Volunteers not alone go as a patriotic service, but expenses are paid, and they are given a chance to see the famous battlegrounds and Europe's noted watering places, including a por- tion of the Riveria, since those points are "leave" centers for the American doughboys. The league sailings this week num- bered 31 volunteers, who sailed Wed- nesday aboard the "Venezia." The list is: Orico, Ora Clyde, Billy Dacy and Frank Chase, Hettie Deunn, Jack Lee, Knute Erickson, Lawrence Fein and Ver De Varney, Harry Haley, John Mcintosh, Floyd Harris, Clara Howard, Hazel Moran, Mary Kellogg, Adele Sturtevant, Zenita, John J. Kennedy, John and Richard Lombard, Emory Maley and Mabel Golden, Professor Neuman, Eddie Paull and Hazel Arnold, Ida M. Selby, L. J. Selby. Pearl B. Selby, Vera Vardon, Will-E-Ride, Doc Armstrong. Johnson Brisco, in charge of the league's sailings, is working overtime readying acts and singles for imme- diate sailings, and figures 150 more artists will leave during April. Return- ing this week was Henry Souvaine. Eight additional artists sailed this week also under the "Y" auspices. The list is: Martha Allen, Winnifred Barr, Lucy Buchbinder, Mildred Godfrey, Mary Jackson, Ethel McGehee, Marian Struble, Mrs. Edna Thomas. The Orchestration Service, Inc., at 1545 Broadway, is now giving to volun- teers in the Overseas Theatre League the service of its professional arrang- ing department for orchestrations en- tirely gratis. L. L. Vosburgh, man- ager of the Service stated that_ his organization had been assisting indi- viduals going across for the league, but that the Service was now open to all entertainers preparing to go over- seas. HARD FOR "LET'S BEAT IT." "Let's Beat It," the latest soldier offering is having tough sledding at the Century where it is now in its second week. The show is being financed by an officer of the old Seventh Regiment and the house was rented for four weeks. As the proceeds were to have been devoted to the 27th Division, the officer.-backer has everything to lose but nothing to win. The same officer was in charge of "You Know Me Al," a very successful affair played in by the same soldier-players. "Let's Beat It" is reputed to be good entertain- ment, but there has been a decreas- ing for service attractions since the armistice. The organization has faced a number of difficulties due to the rapid mustering out of the Division's men. There'was no matinee Wednes- day as a number of the cast, members of the old Seventh, were being dis- charged. ARTILLERY BAND. Lieut W. Earl Glossner of the Field Artillery, U. S. A., has an overseas band which he is going to place on tour. There is a performance sched- uled for Sunday night at the Man- hattan, New York. Lieut. Glossner's outfit is composed entirely of white musicians. "COME OVER AND HELP." "Come Over and Help I" ia the appeal Frank Barrett Carman sends back te his fellow players in this country. Carman has been abroad entertaining the doughboys at the front. His most recent letter is from Coblenz, Ger- many, where he was appearing at the Little Playhouse. \ In part he says: "It is the greatest work that you can possibly do, and all those who can should come over at once as the boys are terribly in need of entertainment They are the greatest audiences in the world, and the best treatment is accorded to all the entertainers by the officers and men at all times. All the professionals now here are staying over their alloted time. The men are simply craving real vaudeville entertainment, and it is an experience that the player will never forget. Come over and. help them to forget 1" BERNSTEIN'S ROAD SHOW. Freeman Bernstein is taking a vaude- ville road show on a tour of all the Liberty theatres, the trip taking in all cantonments east of the Mississippi valley. There are a number of heavy jumps to be made and the tour is con- sidered risky from a financial angle. However, it is figured losses sustained in the South will be made up in the camps in the Northern, Central and West, with Sherman and Custer sure winners. * The show was suggested by the book- ing department of the Camp Entertain- ment Committee, with the acts picked from shows presented by Bernstein in nearby cantonments. The bill is Sylvester Schaeffer, Ned Norton and "Pullman Palace Girls," Parsleys, Arthur and Dolly Le Roy, Three Virginias, France and De Mar. Marguerite Padula, and Jim the "Hula bear. / FUND SUSCRIPTIOrfS END. At the Knickerbocker Theatre Build- ing, office of the Fund For Our Wound- ed Actors, Grace Griswold, secretary, is putting her books in shape relative to closing up the quarters. At a meet- ing March 21, it was determined the Fund would not solicit any more con- tributions and that all weekly sub- scriptions would cease March 28. The Fund reports there are sufficient funds on hand to care for all cases that will likely be appealed to the Fund withiruthe next six months. Thereafter all work for the Fund will be in charge of a committee con- sisting of Charles Coburn, Frank Gill- more, Madam Cottrelly and Thomas A. Wise. The vice chairman (Mr. Wise) has also arranged to handle all correspondence. Miss Griswold reports that appeals are coming in from wounded boys to visit them in the hospitals. Miss Gris- wold, Harry Davenport and Theo. Carew Marcone have volunteered for this service. Miss Griswold has devoted all of her time to the work, neglecting everything else. - ■ VOLUNTEER SHOWS. Under the auspices of the Stage Women's War Relief last Monday, a free vaudeville show was held for the benefit of the uniformed men, at Camp Upton. Rosamond Whiteside, a daugh- ter of Walker Whiteside, rendered sev- eral songs as did Florence Meredith and Margaret Wheeler. Dan Yanko- witz offered a jazz specialty. Jimmy Rego ("The Jolly Minstrel") an American with the C E. F., was a qiember of the "Red Hackles," the troupe belonging to the 13th Can. Batln. Royal Highlanders of Canada, which has been entertaining the sol- diers in France since the armistice was signed. Mr. Rego is now sta- tioned at a port of embarkation in France waiting to return to Canada.