The Billboard 1909-04-03: Vol 21 Iss 14 (1909-04-03)

APRIL 3, 1909. The Billboard 5 JURY DISAGREES Fail to Reach Verdict in Hearing Of the Suit Brought by Edward Prospero Delevante to Recover Damages from Lasky, Rolfe & Co. The jury sitting in the Supreme Court at New York, last Tuesday, disagreed in their verdict dn the suit brought by Edward Prospero Delevante, a London musical director, to recover $3,500 damages from Jesse L. Lasky, B. A. Rolfe and Heory B. Harris, formerly comprising the firm of Lasky, Rolfe & Co., claiming that the defendants refused to allow him to earn the full amount agreed upon in a written contract under which he was to play, sing and rform in their act, The Stunning Grenadiers, Caocmes claimed that he was to receive a certain salary and was also to be remunerated for attending rehearsals and for arranging the music for the orchestra and the chorus. He alleged that the within a few weeks. The defense was that the plaintiff was inadequate, incompetent and was unsuitable for the requirements of the work. defendants discharged him | Delevante will. have to sue all over again if he is dissatisfied | with the jury’s disagreement but It is extremely doubtful whether he will do so. Maurice Harold Rose, of 140 Nassau street, and Leon Laski were the attorneys for Lasky, ris. Rolfe and Har THE NEW VICTOR, READING, PA. The New Victor, the latest theatre in Reading, Pa., most artistic and commodious in the city. counting, of course, places like the ee and Bijou, whose seating capacity is very arge. The place is run by Schad and Carr, an enterprising firm of pleasure producers, and they moving picture | is without a doubt the | not | Opera | fave spared no expense to make their latest | complete and up-to-date in every detail. | There are a number of excellent details. The entrance is very artistic. marble, standing seven and one-half feet, forms the base of the entrance’s sides. Above this are mirrors, while overhead an old ivory effect fs used to frame a beautiful panel full of cues. The front is lighted with 300 Tungsten ghts. The interior is equally decorative with its brass, yellow and dun effects. Electric lights set in frieze work add to the effect, especially a frame work setting off the canvas. Three hundred and ninety-nine leather upholstered seats make sitting a real comfort. A door pitch of three-fourths to a foot enables one to see from all parts of the house. H. E. PIERCE’S PLANS. Word from H. E. Pierce & Co.'s office, ceum Theatre, Duluth, Minn., makes known the fact that their well-known play of Western fife, In Wyoming, which recently concluded a fong tour to the Pacific Coast, is now appearing with considerable success in the cities of the fast, where it is being given for the first time. This production is in many ways an unusual one and when the present season closes the middle of May, this production will have covered 18,000 miles since last September. The company remains the same, their not having been @ single change since the opening date, the Genuine Italian | Ly members being Cecil Kirke, Frank Patton, Her| bert B. Rawlinson, Dean Selah, Frank Gullings, Jack Larimer. Nelson Leavitt, Harriet Dunsmore, Marie Bonsall, Anna Gardiner and Flossie Millard. Lee Parvin is still in advance and frank Patton is looking after the company’s interests hack with the show. 0 to the coast begins September 5. STOCK BURLESQUE IN DAVENPORT. Commencing Saturd Fields, . mab for the lost eight years has been producer at the Trocadero Theatre, Chicago, will assume entire charge of the Orpheon Theatre, Davenport, Towa. Mr. Fields has secured some of the best March 27, Mr. Nate The second tour | the well-known burlesque comedian, who | VAUDEVILLE POLICY INAUGURATED. The management of the Grand, Montgomery, Ala., announces that beginning March 29, four performances of high-class vaudeville will be given each day. This will continue through the summer until the Bijou Theatre can be renovated, and the venture made permanent. This house will be ou the Wells Vaudeville Circuit, which consists of theatres in fourteen cities. The Grand Theatre is now under the management of Jack Youngs, formerly of Atlanta. Mr. Rex B. Mooneh, formerly of Chattanooga, Tenn., is treasurer. VON ERICHSEN & LILU SHOWS ESCAPE CYCLONE. The Von Erichsen & Lilu Southern Shows just escaped destruction by the cyclone which destroyed Brinkley, Ark., Monday night, March 8, at 7:30 o'clock. We were all ready to show when it began to rain and cloud up and were right in the path of the storm at Kingsland, Ark. We thought every minute that we would see our tops go up in the air, balioons, and that we would be blown off the face of the earth. But the wind changed from the west northwest, to the north of us. Following the storm came a terrific rain and om account of same, we lost Monday night. We opened our first to spring engagement at Kingsland, on Tuesday night, March 9, to a big business. All the shows and concessions did well, despite the bad weather. was well pleased and wore that prosperous smile once more which had been a stranger to them for several weeks past. UNDER COMMON MANAGEMENT WILL BE TWO TOPEKA HOUSES Novelty and Majestic Theatres Will Fight No More as sO many | and the storm passed a few miles | Everyone | +H. M. Miller Retires from Management of the Novelty in Favor of L. M. Crawford, Who Will Direct the Policies of Both Houses in the Future---Other News. Papers were signed in Topeka, Kansas, March 12, which resulted in the placing of the Novelty | and Majestic Theatres, of T ka, under one | management. H. M. Miller, who has been | manager of the Novelty Theatre since last September, bas retired from the management of that house in favor of L. M. Crawford, owner of the Majestic and the Grand Theatres in. Topeka. Both the Majestic and the Novelty | were formerly devoted to vaudeville, both it. seems that the number of theatregoing public’ of Topeka was not large enough to warrant the continuation of such a policy. Accordingly, | Manager Crawford has instituted a season of stock at the Novelty, while variety performances will be continued at the Majestic. JOHN T. McCASLIN, The popular vaudeville booking agent of Baltimore, Md. Our company is composed of quite a number the Cole Younger and Nichols people that tovring through Southern Arkansas this of were | past winter with the Great Southern and Great | consists of six shows, burlesque talent avatlable and will produce two | burlesques weekly, also an ollo of advanced vaudeville and moving pictures, The initial bor| eeque will be Whirley Gigg and Fiddle-Dee | . The Orpheon Theatre is at present receiving a thorongh overhauling, being repainted and decorated throughout and will present a Hatty appearance when Mr. Fields assumes charge. It is the Intention of the management to run this house all summer. MURRAY AND MACK'S PLANS. Murray and Mack will close this season's tour ef The Suony Side of Broadway, April 10, at Dayton, O., in order to open a ten weeks’ engagement at the Grand Opera House, Los Aneles, Cal., under the direction of John H. lack wood, presenting their former successes and musical comedies. Next season they will . seen In vaudeville, having signed contracts or forty weeks on the United time, opening } aed vaudeville tour at Orpheum Theatre, — Mont., August 14. The Sunny Side of > te will go out next season, opening at ° ark Theatre, Indianapolis, Ind., July 81, png Max Bloom as the star. Mr. Mack will = have two other musical attractions on the ot William B. Gross, assistant manager . the Garrick Theatre, at San Diego, Cal., has sen elected a director of the San Diego and 1 Cajon Vanley R to build a road allway, recently incorporated Lakeside, Cal. from La Mesa to a point near | Eastern Carnival Company. This company now as follows: Vaudeville, Hrpnotiec Show, Oriental Theatre, Girl from Piste Show, Little George, the noted lowa midget, Lilu Devil Fish, Snake Show, ten concessions, band and free act. ‘ On account of smallpox, we canceled Fordyce, Ark., for next week, and will show at Bigelow, Ark., week of March 22-27. Kindest regards and best wishes to all my friends. L. A. VON ERICHSEN. (Better known as Pat.) STORMS PLAY HAVOC. Roth the Girls From Berlin Company and The Wolf Company were billed to play two nights | at the Broadway Theatre, Butte, Mont., last week, but owing to the storms in the Iintermountain country, the trains failed to get them over the divide in time to make connections. In both cases the advance sale had been ex| ceptionally good, and many of the theatregoers of the Mining City were badly disappointed. NOVELTY IN OUTDOOR SPECTACLE. is preparing a of outdoor spec the fireworks wizard, in the way Pain, startling novelty tacles. and aeroplanes. The mechanism is very won derful ane real airships are employed. There is a thrill in every minute of the performance. “Judge” management of the Grand Family Theatre, Newport, Ky. The active management of the Novelty will be in the hands of Roy Crawford, at present manager of the Majestic, and James Kearney, his assistant. Mr. Miller, the retired manager, has not decided definitely where he will locate, but states that he will remain in Topeka for at least another month. It is also reported that Mr. Crawford had closed a deal for the purchase of a half interest in the new Princess Vaudeville Theatre now being built in Wichita, Kansas, and which is to be opened April 1. L. M. Miller, a brother of the former owner of the Novelty Theatre, in | Topeka, retains a half interest in the Wichita | house, and wil! act as manager. Although Mr. Crawford contemplated erecting a new theatre | in Wichita on ground recently purchased, he now states that no new house will be built. SAYS A MEWSPAPER. to the behavior of a police in| spector in Toronto, Canada, who suppressed | one of the posters for The Blue Mouse, The | Saturday Night, the leading society paper in| Toronto, has the following to say: “Poor little Rilliken, the little god of things | es they are, had to come to Toronto to meet | an Inglerious end. Billiken didn’t know he was Referring | immoral, and neither did any one else until our He destroys a modern city by airships | | most respected inspector of morality. found it | out: and then Billiken was plastered over with | | a dirty plece of paper. This little god was) | ereated by some wise man to make people | langh, and in the present Instance he was) | utilized to advertise a theatrical attraction. | There is a legend that no one can look at) Rillikin without laughing, and so, perhaps, | if Staff Inspector Stephers, of the Morality | Department, had had the saving grace of | humor, he would vot have disturbed the Nttle | Chas Reitz has taken the | creature posted there on the dead walls of the > city. But not so. The Keeper of the Public's | | Morals, and the Censor of the Drama couldn't | of the Ft. | equestrian | Howard Damon patrons, | or Traveling with a Cirens. will be shown. /ear load of the ‘best performing horses, | and ponies in the country have been engaged. | time. have any Lumor in his cosmos, else he would not fill the position to his own satisfaction or to the satisfaction of those who employ him. There are some people always who insist upon making other people ridiculous. In this case, Inspector Stephens has cast ridicule upon the whole city of Turonto; and from such as these. the Lori ccliver us.’’ RYDER-SHELDON. The many friends of Mr. EB. C. Ryder, owner Wayne Billposting Company, and Mrs. M. S. Sheldon, manager of the Pittsburg Billposting Company, will be surprised to hear that they were very quietly married on Marcb 8. Mr. Ryder has an extended acquaintance among the profession as he has been identified with the amusement world for the past twelve years. The past five years up to the Ist of January, 1909, he was connected with the Pittsburg Billposting Co., at which time he left to assume his new duties in Ft. ayne. Mrs. Sheldon has been with the Pittsburg Billposting Co. over eight years and has the | distinction of being the only woman munager | of a billpostisg plant. The company loses a most valuable employe, and the boys a good friend, and as a proof of | their regard and the high esteem in -which she was held by them, they made her a present of a fine silver service. Mr. Austin C. Rowell, the new manager, ' made the presentation with a few well chosen , and appropriate words. Mr. and Mrs. Ryder left Saturday night, March 20, for their new home and Mr. Ryder will greet his old friends with a smile at 506 Calhoun street, Ft. Wayne, Ind. THE HOWARD DAMON CIRCUS. It is undecid:d whst date the show will open in Geneva, but it will be some time the last of April. A number of young horses have just been bought, among them some_ thoroughbred Kentucky saddle horses from ‘‘Troupe A’ of Cleveland. These horses were purchased in | Kentucky especially for the inauguration and | were sold at anction, recently at the A’* Armory in Cleveland. Wes. F. Pike, formally treasurer with the Hargreaves Shows, and the Frank A. Robbins Shows is here and will be secretary and treasurer for Mr. Damon. Frank B. Miller, wife and daughter, are at winterquarters practicing some new riding stunts. Mr. Miller will be director. Rube Hanley has arrived at winterquarters and will make fun for the season of 1909. Doc. Mintorn will handle the press back with the show. A miniature caliope has just arrived for the advance car. One of the latest moving pieture machines has just been purchased and will be used to give free exhibitions with the advance car. The latest film, entitled A ——s dogs “Troupe slso a troupe of elephants which will do all new stunts. A lady will do the newspaper contracting ahead of the show, one who is a firstclass story writer. Chas. Bachtel will lead the big show band and will also furnish a lady band for the side show. The big show band wil) have twenty pieces. and the side show band will comprise twelve ladies. The entire aggre. gation will be under the personal direction of Col. M. H. Welsh. WELLS GETS SAVANNAH THEA. TRE. The New Savannah Theatre, Savannah, Ga. has been leased for the summer months by Jake Wells, who will inaugurate a policy of high-class vaudeville. Mr. Wells has secured leases on about fifteen houses in the South for the purpose of presenting vaudeville entertain ments, OLD ACTOR FOUND DEAD IN HIS BED. Michael Murphy, an aged theatrical perform er and former newspaper man, was found dead in bis bed on the morning of March 22. at @& boarding house in San Antonio, Texas. Murphy was about 55 years of age and had been around San Antonio for about two years. PLAYHOUSE NOTES. Cc. E. Best has purchased the Princess Theatre. Alliance, 0., from Mrs. M. Fol liet, assuming posseasion March 11. Mr. Best was formerly manager of the Auditorium at Canton, O The Cameraphone Theatre, at Austin, Texas, has been leased by Jos. M. Kerbey. a prominent young business man, and will be under the exclusive management of R. S$ Prvor. From present indications, Fostoria, O.. will have a pew theatre within a short Plans have been prepared by a | architect for a theatre of the most moderp type. Robinson, Ill., is proving an excellent one-night stand. Recent attractions at the Grand Theatre, there, managed by W. T. Wiseman. have all played to capacity business. corer sai eer a ate | f | £5 Be cane DS — | ee ee