The billboard (Nov 1911)

N0VE.MB,ER.4» 1911.. JB ij 1-1? <> a r d : 9 WEEK IN NEW YORK CITY VAUDEVI LLE IN TERESTS Members of Vaudeville Managers' Protective Association and . Directorate Board of the W. R. A. U. to Meet and Discuss Conditions Affecting the Situation hi the Country Npiv Xork. Oct. SO (Special to The Bill- boiira).—By a letter which; the Boatd of Direc- tors of the White Bate-Actora* Union addn-ased to the VandrviUe Managers' Protectlre Aun.. UnitMl Booking Offices of America and The Al lied and AOliated Interrati, a contereoce baa bero arrnnerd between the repreerntatlTes of the orcanlird actors and the manaserv. Tbt> confiTfiicc Is «cbeilalea to take place bero on Weilni'SiIny of thio w?ek, and at It there will be discussi'd "A plan whereby the mntnal In- terests may be effectlrely and harmonloaaly stn nEtlienwl and advanced." TliU Is the fir<t step taken by the organized actors to re-eMabUsh the rormer Eood fcellni; th»t existed between the powers-that-he and themselves, since the time that Harry Mount- ford was appointed the secretary of the Board of Dlrrttors. Since the resignation of the "Lit- tle Napoleon" those most Interested In the wel- fare of the actor have discussed a step of this sort. Tbe actors have bad their attorneys prepare a contract that they Intend snbmitting to tbe managrn for approral and If the docnment Is stamped O. K.> It wUI be placed Into Immediate ose. The manageta at the head of tbe United Booking Offlcea have voiced tbeli willingness time and time again to treat with a delegation representing tbe W. B.-A. U.. even while Mr. Monntfoid was actlTely engaged la raimiDg the Princess Bajah will play the Orpheam Cir- cuit in the near future. She Is an Oriental daneer who won wonderful aneeesa with her excellent creations. The Cleopatra Dioee and The Amblan Chair -.ance. In Amnlea, after which she went; abroad and. became a posIclTe furore a the principal mnale halls la uindoti, Paris. Berlin and St. Petenbnrg. Immediately rolIowlDK the expiration ot ber contract with Mr. Beck, she will repeat ber foreign tonr. Fifth Avenue BiU Excellent Manager Irwin. as ever, corralled a good bill for hlK Fifth Avenue Tbeatre the past week, balanclDj; It well with acts new to the metro- polis as well as old favorites given the chance of making their reapiiearnnce. As an opening number, the Three Escardos proved their rtghi as an openinip; attraction with excellent acro- batic work on the boandlng table. Johnny John- con, the Poet and the Peasant, tnmed ont to he a cICTvr aKbougb somewhat too lond conversa- tion and tang act of the kidding varletey ac- complished by a man and . woman team. Their song. Water Is Only Water When You Are Dry. bids fair to attach ltr«It permanently to their sncces.*, while tbeir flnlsb, that of a dancing medley, establishes their right to aecond posi- tion on a metmnolltan bill. The oM-tlme favorites. Onaroy and LaMalre. handed the andlenres a multiplicity of black- face laughs on tbe strength of their bean mine dialogue. As ever Conroy gripped the ai^dience with his Man. Dat. Is Some Bean. : Xbey hid fair to ctay In Kew Tork for qnlta a time longer. Claude and Fannie Ubher, In ragln'a Decision, held the thlrii spot on the bill. They are pre- einlnently pleasing and an established attrac- tion on big theatre bills. No more need be said. The OllvattI Troubadours prnved them- selves more than a mOd sensation. The act con- •ists of « gnltarlat and a violinist, both or them snperlnr In tbeIr accompllshmentt. Rag- Ume Is strummed to the fascination of the house while tbe vIoUb not only U made t.> •end forth tonee of bnmaa qaalltar but la also m«<l» to Imltata pzartly th» miTllarjr call «f tbe huRle. In this Instances the guitar Is trana- tortned Into a drum. Their joint lebdltlon of The Rosary was a matter of sublimity, while Oelr medley work waa sucb as with farther de- velopment wui piae* them on > futon aU-ataT In Frank Carter. IsabeUe D'Armand baa ac- tinlred a capable partner. His versatility to so less striking than hers. In fact bin assistance is luHt such as minld make tbia dainty little bit Of femininity completely satlsfled with ber lat- est niuaical comedy «ct, entitled Bright Bite. iW. II. Murphy, Blanche Kiebola and Company *ere seroad to ctoalng In their rram Zaaa to Uncle Tom. Tbe act la aUIl the vreird ctea- i^;,,'* alfaya was and has not changed the wnalk<st lota from what It waa from tha days ot Its earlT presentation, 0ns Edwards has done mndi to Improve his OOBK llevue ot 1911. The personnel of the cast f!J!'.'"^'"""l "■>• with snch weU-known "rontes as Lillian Boardmaa and Irene Martin. act Is presented In six aponta and la termed by the mnsle pabllsbar-vandcvUIIaii. IVmn- h.. ^""'^ .Wkw 1 Waa a Kid Uka You Bjs taken the laace of tba opening sons. If I were a Minionalre. while My lUIIan Borneo, with mnrt clevar presentation and embelUsh- n^fi '" I?' «»l>«lor:to Rosle Rlgoletto. Look for Jimmy Valentine la atlll the aama as It was nnrt conld not well be dispensed with. The fifrr "dwards" mta occnplea tba whole mmher four. Several changes, however, have been made, all for the better. TWa part of "■0 iwrformaaee doiea with tha medlar of Bd- (Contlnned on paga W.) organization, Irot the stipulation that- Mount- ford would not be accepted as a member of Hie Arbitration Committee was -one-that proved^ a drawback. Mountford vronld not permit any- thing to be done In the organisation onless he waa the prime factor- In the movement. /. The willlogness'of both parties to treat with each other would seem to Indicate that vaude- ville will enter on a new era of prosperity. ; GLOSED SHOP E FFECTED Initial Attempt to Effect a Closed Shop Arrangement in the Neighborhood of New Yoric wais Made by the Rats- Actors* Union with Successful Issue New York, Oct. 30 (Special to She Bin- board).—On Saturday nlgbt a week ago tbe White Bats-Actors* Union made their first at- tempt to insist nponr a "closed shop" perform- ance In the neighborhood of New-York. Tbey were anecessfnl and'as a resnlt mansged to gain a number of new members for the or- ganlzatlon. CISSIE. UOFTUS. Miss Loftus was bom in 1S7G, and Is the daughter of -Marie Loftus, a renowned English vaudeville singer and dancer. It was while attending convent In England that Miss 'Loftus first discovered her ability lor tbe stage In a performance of the Tempest, showing extraordinary talent for mimlny. When only fifteen years of age, she was taken from school and put at the head of a bill at The Oxford MuhIc Hail, London, where her imitations of well-^known actresses won for her spontaneons approbation and raised her to stardom. After a brief season In musical comedy at the Oayety Tbeatre, she returned to vaudeville. She was married In ISIM to Jnatln Hnntley Mc- Carthy, a novelist; but ber marital bapplncsa was of short duration, and tbe couple were dlvoreed some yeara later In America. In IS9S she appeared In the Children of the King, In London, akid the following season appeared in the United States at the leading vaudeville bouses. Later she appeared under the management of Charles Frohman In a comedy, and It waa due to htt aneeesa In this production thst she was engaged by the late Sir Henry Irving as successor to EUen Terry. Sbe appeared with Sir Benry Irving at the Lyceum Theatre. London. In Faust, In 1903. I\>llowIng this, she again starred under Mr. Frohman*s management. In 1905 she played Peter Pan, In Ltmdim, and In 1906 appeared In America on the vaudeville stsge In a aketcfa, The DIamimd Bxpress. Dnrtas 1906-7. she played The Dream City, at Weher'a Tbeatre. Mew Y<^ and later waa atarred wltliLawfenea D'Ortay, In The Laneera. Tb)s aeaaon aba will appear .onder. tfeadliaetion ot Martin Beck, on the Orpbeum Ctrcnlt. Pertinent Patter About Performers Helen Lehman, the hooking agent, waa con- fined to her at>artment last wrek owing to III- neas. Miss Lehman has but lately aevered her connection .vlth the Dan Casry Agency with the passing of that ofilce sud has taken quarters In the suite formerly occupied by Bob Irwin, manager of the Fifth Avenue Tbeatre In tbe Loiig Acre Bnllding. The production of A Japanrse Honeymoon, which IS. owned by the Princlpa Amusement Company, has been hooked for a trip over tbe Percy 0. Wllllama theatres- In New York (Oontlnnsd on page 00.) Current Bills at All Houses New York, Oct. SO (Bpeelal to Tha Billboard). —Ilia bills at tba local Tandevilla theatres for the current week are: Alhambra.—Hello Paris, wttb Harry FUcer and Miaa Minerva Cloverdale; Tba Son of Bolamon. fcatnrlnc Hugh Herbert; Jamea J. Morton. Kanfnmn Brotbera. vnUnA Clarke and Onng^, Mazlnl and Bobbin: The Kempa and Bnng.—Third Anntvetaary. Spedal "Oia- nmata" BIU. Melntyia and HeaO. Uaggle OUae^ lames and Bpnnla. Tbomtoo. .Annie Yea- / : (CMtlsaaftoB pa«a m.) . Tbe prrfkinnance which was held np by the representatlvea of the. argaliliatlOB waa one given at tbe Uanbattan Casino under tba ana- pices of a local of the PInmbera* Union, ne artists for the entertainment were fnnilihed by George J. Gaskin, a cinb agent. According to a statement by Secretary Watera of the W. B-'-A. C, Gavkln In securing con- tract to fnmlsb tbe entertainment stipulated that he would furnish nothing hut union talent. On the evening of the show. Secretary Watera^ accompanied by' Harry- De Yeanz, fomierv president, of the Actors* Union befure that body became aimiated vntb tbe Wblte Bata, visited the hall and demanded that the artbita show their union cards. There were but twa present who could comply with the request. Tlie nnlon'B delegates then called <n tbe en-' tertalnment committee of the PInmbera! UnlOB and' laid their case before them. 'Oaskin '.waa called Into the conference and told tbaf ba had forfeited his contrsct by not furnishing nnion labor aa agreed upon. Secretary Watera and Mr. De Veaux then went hack on the stsge and told the performers who were not membns of the Actors' Union that they wonld not be permitted to appear :miles8; tbipr professed • wUltngness to join the organisation. Of the acts present but one, Tbe Tnzedo Four, refused to sign appllcatlona for member- ahlp to the union and loft the lialL The per- formance was delayed tor upwards of an boor while tbB dlspnte was gnder way. Martin Beck li'ag engaged Walter Hampda for the principal role In Blchaid Harding Oa> via' one-act play. Blackmail, which was writ- ten exclusively for piesentatlan on the Orphenaa Circuit. Hr. Hampden la one of tiw brat Ilsta actors to win aneeesa la Amenea. Bb portrayal of Messon In The Servant la tba House is now a elasaie. Rehearsals of Blsck- mall began Monday. Oet 93. The Current Colonial BiU The bill at the Colonial this week Is exceed- ingly well balanced. The Chadwiek Trio had to dance Its level best to win out in the popn- larity contest over Homer B. Mason and Mar- gurite Keeler and their company. In In And Out, a clever one-act comedy so well acted that it came home a dose second. Ida Uay Chadwiek had 'em going from start to finish, and the audi- ence, usually hard to arouse in this house, couldn't seem t" icet enonsh of the **nee-Hsyr QlTl" and her langhter provoking antics. Foa- ter and bis dog "Mike" opened tbe bill, and furnished good entertainment. The Musical AvoIIns followed with a dexterous exhibition ot xylophone playing. Introducing the new AvoUo March, which caught the folks out front. Stuart Barnes made his first visit of the sea- sen on *"Ko, 4." and put over one of the best monoloi-ues heard In Gotham theatres this year. Alda Overton Walker and her company closed the first half of the program vrith songs and graceful dances. Edwards, Byan and TIemey opened the second half with a triple play around the «nd for a snire touchdown. Carrie De Mar got a warm welcome In her reappearance after' Enmpean trlnmphs. HUB De Mar lanx (om new songs which are sure to be popular, and some of ber old bits with all her old-time ginger. The AssM Tronpe of Japanese marvels dosed Uie eatertalnmat sad the Vltagrapk flickered while the well-ideaaed andtenee bnaled ItWlf wHU hats, wraps aad eglta. HAMMERSTEIN'S BiLL. A well-balanced and smootbly-mnnlng bin. with an occasional good laugh, and without any algns of plsln mediocrity, is the altering at Hammersteln's for the week of October 23. Am audience which entered the house full ot enthn- alasm helped make Wednesday evenlisg's show pleasant for everybody, and besides the spirit of Jollity It caught from the performers, msch menlment reigned thrtmghout the evening. Smith Brothers, opening the bill In'a gymnas- tic act. did not awaken much enthusiasm In the very chilly bouBe with their scant costnmee. but aa their act progreeaed murmurs of appre- ciation of the skin ot their feats were dis- tinctly Budlble. The thrill In their act came at the laat. when they performed what was de- serlhed aa the pull up. In which one athlete held the other with the strength ot two little Ongera^ while the suspended one wss slowly puned some three feet off tbe floor.. The act needed no eae- riatlon of Its dUBcidty, as the sam* was.eaa- evldent. KMrldge and Bandall fidlowea with a rather interesting act ta those who bad never aeea It; hnt a ratb« ttresoma eSerlng as a repeater ar when seen before. It Is belped oat wta meay effects and mnch in^ental action. Base, Yoanc and Friedman, following with a atrlag of popu- lar songa. went poorly at iltst. bat tte close their act went dllferently. Under a dim bfas* light their clever pantomime aradr created a eonsldenble bit. and tbe a^lsiaaa Inongbt tbeiB OB for a good encore. wm Bogers, worU'a <3iamplea laaao thremr, was real bit e< the UB. Hte «^ aua-