The Billboard 1901-07-27: Vol 13 Iss 30 (1901-07-27)

Theatrical Gossip. J. J. Norton is building a new summer theater at Wollams Lake, near Galveston, fex. He will soon be ready for business, and is now booking attractions. Mabelle Gilman has been engaged to become a wember of the New York ‘Theater stock Company. She will have a part in the revival of “The King’s Carnival” in August. Fred J. Butler, the well known character actor, who has been appearing at the Pike Theater, Minneapolis, goes to San Francisco in three weeks, to become the stage manager of the Grand Opera House. Miss Caroline Butterfield, a Cincinnati actress, Who has won her way to the front, is visiting her parents on Walnut Hills, in that city. Miss Butterfield spent last season with Otis Skinner, and is engaged by Liebler & Co. for a fall production. The season of Heuck’s Cincinnati Opera House will open Aug. 25, with the comedy drama, “Fogg’s Ferry,’ written by C. kk. Callahan for Minnie Maddern. The star role will be taken by lola Pomeroy. The play wil! bave a scenic production, with a quartet as ap eXtra feature. Among those engaged by John W. Hamilton to support Joseph Wheelock in a revival of ““ben Nights in a Barroom,” next season, are H. G. Clarke, Geo. H. Adams, Mrs. Adams, the Misses Adams, Miss Bessie Scott and the cbild actress, Ricca Scott. All the principal cities of the country will be visited. Arrangements are under way at St. Louis for the first definite theatrical enterprise developed by the World's Fair. An hLustern syndicate has decided to reconstruct Mahler's Hall, at No. 3545 Olive street, and extending the building to the adjoining lot on the north, to convert the structure into a first-class theater. Edwin Knowles is said to be incurably ill of progressive paralysis at his home in Krookiyn. The illness of Mr. Knowles is particularly unfortunate at this time, for we Had made preparations for a very active theatrical season. Besides being interested with Fred C. Whitney in several “Quo Vadis’ companies, Mr. Knowles had other theatrical plans which promised well, both from financial and artistic standpoints. When the will of Theodore Moss is read Creat changes in Wallack’s Theater may be expected. First, the Wallack family, who fur years have had no interest in the house, will lcy to prevent the further use of their pate, and then whomsoever Mr. Moss has ‘efi to manage the theater, will not be able to renew the lease, which expires in a couple of years, as the Iselin estate will pull down the entire building. The story of the plan to erect a theater on the site of Jacob Mahler's Hall, at S545 Olive street, has brought to light facts indicating that a number of theatrical projects have recently been quietly put under wey in St. Louis. The Mahler's Hall scheme rests on the decision of Basterners, whose identity has not been disclosed, to put up $35,000 before the end of the week. If they. wire their acceptance the deal will xo through. "Theodore Moss, the proprietor of Wallack’s Theater, and formerly a subway commissioner, died at his country home at Seabright, N. J.. July 15. Mr. Moss had long been identified with the theatrical business in New York. He began work in the box office of the elder Wallack at $8 a week, and was finally made treasurer. He built Wallack’s Theater in 1882, and named it after that dignified actor. Mr... Moss also. had charge of the Star Theater, and was interested in a number of other enterprises. New York Is to have another vaudeville theater, which is to be built on the northwest corner of Pearl and Willoughby Streets, with a frontage of 46 feet and a depth of 100 feet. Henrietta Levy, lady of the vaudeville team of Watson and Dnupree, has bought the property, and will bulld the theater. She paid $21,500 for the corner. It is said that the new theater will be run on the plan of Koster & Bial's Victorla, Watson and Dupree will manage the new house, and use it for the presentation of their own sketches as well. At Toledo, O., on July 19, the National Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employes closed its convention, after electing the following officers: President, Chas. H. Bonn, St. Paul, Minn.: first vice president, Wm. Sanders, Columbus; second vice president, John W. Buck, Cincinnati; third vice president, Frank J. Heint, Rochester, general secretary-treasurer, Lee M. Hart, Chicago: delegate to A. F. of L. convention, Lee M. Hart. A resolution prohibiting the issuance of charters hereafter, except at conventions, was passed. The Valentine Stock Company, formerly of Columbus, O., and the Princess Theater, Toronto, Canada, will open an engagement for an indefinite period at Cleveland, July 22, under the management of E. D. Stair. The first play will be “Shadows of a Great City,” and the prices will be 10, 20 and 30 cents, with three matinees weekly. The company, if the venture proves successful, will remain at the theater during the winter. It is composed of the following: Louis Bresen, Mark Kent, Alfred Hudson, Julius MeVicker, Robert Evans, Osborn Searle, Frances Desmond, Anne Blancke and several others, Frank Doane, a comedian in the New York Theater Stock Company, is traveling northward with a fair Virginia bride, and an irate father and a big brother are scouring the rialto in quest of the man who helps to make the world laugh. Miss Emeline Gifford, of Petersburg, Va., on a recent visit to Gotham, met Doane, and it was a case of love at first sight. When she returned home a correspondence was opened between them, and it all resulted in an elopement at the end of the New York Theater’s season. This is the comedian’s second venture in matrimony, his first wife heving been Amy Lee, a soubrette. Speaking of several statements recently made with reference to the renting of Robinson’s Opera House, Cincinnati, O., Mr. Davis, agent, says: “It is true that Managers Havlin and Rainforth called on me in reference to renting the house, and Mr. Rainforth went on to New York to. see what arrangements he could make. and if parties there were satisfied we had agreed on a rental, and we put the house in firstclass condition, but Mr. Rainforth failed to make the necessary arrangements in New York, and the negotiations fell through. Mr. Rosenthal called on me about four weeks ago to know whether he could have the house this coming season. I to!d him he could not have the house. It is true we are putting the house in first-class condition. and it will be the handsomest house in Cincinnati on the Ist of September. The decorations for the interior are'in the hands of first-class parties. It will be something entirely new in Cincinnati. Mr. John F. Robinson is going to make it a monument to bimself and family. We have several applicants for the house, but have not yet concluded a rental.” Dramatic. Mr. and Mrs. Don C. Hall are in Denver, Col. Harry La Reaue will put out a repertoire company in the fall. Bert Richards is organizing a repertoire company at 709 Elm street, Indianapolis, Ind. br. W. H. Long will put out “Madeline, of Fort Reno,” again next season, opening early in September. ‘The romantie actor, Daniel R. Ryan, under the direction of W. S. Bates, will open his season Aug. 26. Rose Braham has been engaged by Frank McKee to play Tabithe in Mary Mannering’s “Janice Meredith’ Company next season. Cissic Loftus sails for England, July 20, for a short vacation previous to beginning rehearsals as leading woman for E. H. Southern. John Kk. Kelly, manager of The People’s Players, Little Falls, N. Y., is going to add “Shore Acres’ and “The Black Flag” to his repertoire. You find more exclusive news items in “The Billboard,” and better classification, young as it is in this field, than you do in the other papers. F. F. Proctor has engaged Kieim, who has been E. H. leading woman, and she will “Doctor Bill” next week. W. L. Malley, who was to have managed Frank Keenan in “The Hon. John Grigsby,’ has retired, and will devote his attentions to ‘The Tollgate Inn.” Mrs. MeKee Rankin, who is in Europe, has aceepted the cabled offer of a comedy role in “The Marriage Game,” in which Mrs. Louis Nethersole (Sadie Martinot) is to star. Fanny Davenport, a niece of the late Fanny Davenport, made her stage debut with the MeCollum Stock Company, in Peak'’s Island, Me., last week, in “Under Two Flags.” Henry Maxwell ts engaged by Henry Greenwall to play a character comedy part in “The Gay Mr. Goldstein,” in which Mary Hampton, George C. Boniface, Jr., and Thomas Keogh are to be featured. In the smallest cities and towns the bill poster is nearly always the local manager. They all read “The Billboard.” “Time Wanted” ads in “The Billboard” will pay better than in any other paper, Adelaide Sothern’s appear in THE BIILBOARD Gus Pitou, Jr., purchased a half interest in Dan L. Hart's melodrama, “In Australia,’ from the Shubert Brothers, and will personally direct the tour of the company, which has already been booked for 36 weeks. Marie George, who has been ill for several days and absent froza the cast of ‘The Strollers,’ at the Knickerbocker Theater, has resumed her part of Mimi the Dancer. Miss George has recently recovered from her indisposition. Ted Marks is spending a few days in New York. He says he has been commissioned by Olga Brandon to secure an American engagement for her, and he found an opening in Paris at the Follies Bergieres for Lillian Leslie and Don McCann. W. G. Smyth has about completed arrangements for the scenery and costumes for the forthcoming revival of Shakespeare’s “Coriolanus,”” to be made with R. Lb. McLean and his wife, Odette Tyler, in the principal parts. Willis Granger, who has had eonsiderable experience in stock companies, will be sent out next reason at the head of a company secured by W. J. Hanley, in W. A. Treamayn’s piece, “A Secret Warrant,’ which was used by R. B. Mantell for séveral seasons. Every traveling manager in America reads “‘The Billboard’ every week. He is compelled to consult it on account of our fair dates and convention lists. He can not book intelligently without it. Actors and actresses on this account will find “The Billboard” a most excellent advertising medium for “engagements wanted.” Miss Blanche Allaire, a Baltimore society girl, who has gained a reputation among amateurs in Baltimore aud Washington musical circles by reason of the remarkable range and purity of her voice, has signed with Frank L. Perley, and will make her professional debut in September in ‘The Chaperones.”” Miss Laura Johnson, a Louisville (Ky.) actress, many years leading woman for Herman Bezin, was found recently starving in London. Her condition was almost hopeless, and She was discovered just in time to prevent a tragedy. Theztrical friends, of the days of her fame, are helping to care for her. Mrs. Kendall, in a speech in England recently, remarked that to succeed an actress must have “the face of a goddess, the strength of a lion, the voice of a dove, the temper of an angel, the grace of a swan, the agility of an antelope and the skin of a rhinoceros.”” An ungallant writer, in this connection, asks: “But has not Mrs. Kendall succeeded?’ Mr. A. E Laneaster’s dramatization of “A Dash for a Throne” is said to be about completed. Mr. Walter Jordan is to star in it next season. Mr. Lancaster will be before the public with several plays in the autumn and winter, the more important of which. perhaps, is ‘‘The Forest Lovers.” which is to formally introduce Miss Bertha Galland as a star, at the Lyceum Theater, New York. John Lawrence Toole, the most popular low comedian of his day, once gave a supper to S) of his friends, and wrote a note to each of them privately beforehand, asking him whether he would be so good as to say grace, as no clergyman would be present. It is said that the faces of those 80 men, as they rose in a body when Toole tapped on the table as a signal for grace, was a sight which will never be forgotten. —Argonaut. Marie Wainwright next season will follow in the path blazed by Elita Proctor Otis last spring, becoming a “stock star.” She expects to play the leading roles with various stationary companies in dramas with which her name is associated. Her repertoire will include ‘‘Daughters of Eve,” “Twelfth Night,”’ “Camille,” “The School for Seandal,”” “As You Like It" and ‘East Lynne.”’ She has made arrangements with prominent stock companies from New York to St. Louis. F. F. Proctor, after several weeks’ negotiation, has closed a contract with Joseph Arthur, for the exclusive rights to produce “Blue Jeans” in New York, Albany, Newark and Montreal. The Proctor Stock Company will give the comedy drama an elaborate revival at the Fifth Avenue. The east may embrace some of the players who were in the original production, and Mr. Arthur is to supervise the rehearsals and production. Bettina Gerard says she intends to star in a revival of ‘“‘The Girl From Paris,”’ in the role of Julie Bon Bon. This piece brought Clara Lipman and Louis Mann to the front, when Edward E. Rice produced it at the Herald Square Theater. It will be offered in Denver in a few weeks, and at Manhattan Beach, where Miss Gerard will test its drawing qualities, as well as to ascertain whether the part is suitable to her. It recently was announced that she wus to appear as Mazeppa, in a revival of that piece, but she declined the offer, on the ground that she did net care to risk her life riding up the stage on horseback. Word comes from Portland, Me., that Miss Hope Booth, remembered here as the star of an impossible play, “War On Women,” which was given at the Walnut last eenson, is seriously ill at Peak’s Island, a resort near Portland. Miss Booth has had mony worries of late, including several disastrous starring tours, threatened divorce proceedings and recent information that ber bushand has been arrested for contempt of court for failing to answer a summons, which he claims was served on a man other than himself, who was temporarily sojourning in the flat of Mr, and 7 Mrs. Earll (Miss Booth’s name in private life), unknown to the husband. Ida and Edith Yoeland, actresses, 26 and 21 years old, respectively, committed suicide together by taking poison, in their room in London, July 1+. About noon Edith called their landlady and told the latter she and her sister had taken poison. She asked the landlady to call a cab and put herself and her sister in it, and promised they would leave the house without creating a fuss or a scene. Upon going upstairs the landlady found Ida dead. Edith died on the way to the hospital. Ida had been engaged at the Duke of York Theater, under the management of Charles Frohman for three years. She scored a great hit in the production of “‘The Swashbuckler,” and had filled Evelyn Millard’s part of Lady Ursula at the Duke of York’s Theater in Anthony Hope's play, “The Adventures of Lady Ursula,’ in 1898, during Miss Millard’s illness. Edith Yoeland once played a part in “Nell Gwynne.’ Both of the women had recently been without engagements, and they were bitterly disappointed at failing to secure an expected engagement. Vaudeville. Madge Lessing made her vaudeville debut in London last week. Geo. W. Harvel, the ventriloquist and magician, will have out his own show next season. . The Dockmans are a great hit wherever they appear. The Ohio parks are especiaily kind to them. Make your permanent address in care of “The Billboard.” We forward your mail free of charge. The Soncrant Bros., acrobats, made a big hit in a new act at the Ludlow Lagoon, Cincinnati, last week. Julia Morrison made her debut in a sketch entitled “The Hon. Mrs. Campbell” at Keith's, in New York last week. Adele Purvis Onri and little Tsuda, in their oriental juggling and balancing, are seoring a big hit at the Auditorium Pier, Atlantic City. Peter E. Baker, the German comedian, who is considered a headliner in vaudeville, is in the St. Vineent Hospital in Toledo, O., with typhoid fever. Peter E. Baker, the German comedian, who is considered a headliner in vaudeville, is in the St. Vincent Hospital in Toledo, O., with typhoid fever. Effie Fay is making a big hit over in England, and very little credence can be put in the report that she is to make a tour of the vaudeville theaters of this country next season. : John L. Sullivan announces his intention of going on the vaudeville stage the coming season. He will do a monologue and single gagging turn. John is said to be training his voice. The Three Svengalis, the famous European vaudeville performers, made their lirst appearance in America on the evening of July 22 at Osear Hammerstein’s Paradise Garden, in New York. The team of Seymour and Dupree has gotten out a very handsome twenty-page hooklet advertising their unique act. They do a remarkably original acrobatic and dancing double turn, and are booked for the entire season. Frederic Rankin, librettist of ‘“‘The Chaperones,” “The Smugglers” and “The Ameer,” has written a one-act play, entitled “A Government Claim,”’ in which Neil E. Moran and Helen Boyer will appear on the vaudeville circuit the coming season. Alfred Doria, of the Andalusians, is meeting with creat suecess in his rendition of “The Voice of Jehovah.”” Mr. Doria also sings ‘‘Answer me, Sweetheart, Do,” and “My Elinore’ in a most effective manner. These three songs are from the pens of Standish and Silberberg, and all look like winners. A special from Knoxville, Tenn., announces that the White Rats are after Felix Blei, who, after cutting quite a figure in that city, as manager of Cheilhowee Park Theater, absconded on July 18, leaving a theatrical troupe of seven men and five women stranded. He left a large number of unpaid expense accounts. Josephine Harvey, familiarly known as the ‘Trombone Girl,”’ is doing “‘The Great Reyond,”” by Mann and Carrington, with special scenery and light effects, at the Sans Souci Garden. A feature-of the turn is that the refrain is taken up by her little boy, while the solo is handled by Miss Harvey. It is at all times well received. Marie Beaureugarde, who is favorably known in Ameriea, is scoring a tremendous hit over the Moss & Thornton cirevit in England in her specialty, in which she features Standish & Silberberg’s beautiful coon lullaby: “Yon’se de Sweetest Coon Dat’s Born.” and “In Faney You Are Ever By My Side,” a high-class ballad by the same writers. Spenser Kelly. who has been s'nging “My Elinore’’ since Standish & Silberberg gave him: the manuscript copy, repeated his former success with this beautiful ballad last week at the Orpheum, in ‘Frisco, Mr Kelly is a'so singing these writers new srecred “The Voice of Jehovah, which promises to become as popuatr as any song of this class. Sons: In the extensive repertoire of Louisa Presser will be found Cole and Johnson's “I'm Thinking of Yer, Honey, All the