The Billboard 1924-03-22: Vol 36 Iss 12 (1924-03-22)

bs i fis p 2% ‘ f j | 1 te ——— The Billboard MARCH 22, 1924 FROM LONDON TOWN — The Vaudeville Fieid Billboard Office, 18 Charing Cross Road, W. 6. 2 By “WESTCENT” forty or fifty shows were visited in this manLuckily all shows closed at midnight, otherwise a nervous breakdown would have been the result. Pau] Spadoni, Miss Gilles, representatives of Paul Schultze, and inseparable companion, Willy Zimmerman, all spoke English, so there was no difficulty in getting along as V. A. F. Berlin Visit > 4 ) M Pairs: Briti delegates, i ss , in tho ghest r of r in Berlin by Maz of the I. A. L., also r n a by everybody f German vande. busiyo waited their arr t the |} r strasse Station after t , b re “ ° Lat N Burg 5 is Z ] r fr i, 0. M. 3 ee r rtaiuly — ae a¢ er A a 1 bh stra rner of t w Br q + ta. Kor a mus a fé t ing = ix g for first two days, settled dow: to real hard work for the latter four. Eating was taken at all manner and classes of eating places, high, middle and low; yes, erent an A gers, where one gets two potatoes and of life as ap t, Konorah did ipal tax. Four gs are equal to a dolone seldom gets more pound English, «altho hteen and a half Renten marks, the exchange at seventeen, so for marks and twenty | lar, but in the exch than four © quoted at « works out i the first t since the errsh of the mark the rate of exchange is against the British sterling. Gone are “das s—at least at the time of Writing—when a dollar equaled billions of marks. Prices are all ranged on the Renten mark as above and goods are priced accordingly and ti in many cases they are dearer than ¢ So, bargain hunters, stay away. Berlin the City of Cabarets There are more places of amusement in Berlin today than there were in all Germany before the war. It is estimated that from three to four bundred acts are playing Berlin alone, and the like tale is told of all the other centers, and also that amusements are in demand in towns where previously there was no such thing as regards popular amusement, altho the gular vaude. hou all playing to capacity. Every hole and corner and cellar has been turned into a cabaret. Cellars under cinemas or theaters, also roofs, have been utilized. Some of these places hold two or three hundred, others just about one hundred and some less an that. The admission to the after n shows, ‘‘five-o’clock tea’’, is about 50 pfennigs or 1 mark, while at night the range from $1.50 up to 6 marks at the é yst swell cafe cabaret in the listrict. The stages are mere is, about the size in most cases of two Englia billiard tables, with and without or proscenium curtains. Berlin used more hedged about with fire and police restrictions as regards stage appurtenances than even New York or other American towns, but when the German Revolution came in November, 1918, Konorah got hold of police headquarters and told them the paramount duty was to find work for their artistes returning from the armies. The police agreed and altho the restrictions are still law they are not being operated against these places in order that unemployment may not be impeded. Singles, doubles, trios, quartets and in some cases as many as eight people orange boxes, and the way the German performer has attuned himself to the prevailing conditions is a model to some folk who are ‘ey content with their stage room. Other ets, like the Schwarzer Kater (Black Cat), r about 300, has a stage about eight feet deep, with a cupola backing and lighted with the Schwabe system of lighting. The width is about fourteen feet and they specialize in ‘naked?’ ballets, which, however, have been gicatly toned down, so one is told. In most ‘ r cabarets the acts work on the dance floor, some as small as fourteen feet in diameter, which are hedged around with tables at w the patrons eat and drink. All these cabarets have a full drink license and that is here the money comes from for the upkeep. le @ ng acts, also ballroom dancers, and gger spaces gymnastic acts, appear on these dance floors and it is among this section of the amusement world that it is asan undeveloped field for British acts of this class of work. Nearly every dancing gct does some sort of an apache number and “Yes, We Have No Bananas’, is played incessantly everywhere. i ——, perform together on these nev sOmetimes in sumed there is far as language was conc English Versus German A point most noticed by the Britishers was Living Cheap the absence of racial feeling against England In most cases the living is much cheaper than or the English, whereas the antipathy to the London in the restaurants, but there is abFrench is most marked. It must be confessed, colutely no argument that food bought for home however, that the people in England have not cooking has England easily beaten. Five pounds yet got to that stage of the lack of feeling in of fresh berring cost 70 pfennigs (remember, these matters and even now when the German 4.99 marks to the dollar), all kinds of veal per language is spoken openly in the street or pound 70 pfennigs, pork 90 pfennigs, not frozen publie places jt is sure to raise a comment from 6 pfennigs, fresh salmon pfennigs, apples some of the bystanders. The German public 43 pfennigs a dozen, and so on. In these things to. have no prejudice in the matter. Alwe are quoting from the advertisement of Jackson, who is handling the ensembles at Wertheimer’s Stores in the Leipziger strasse, Admirals Palast in the revue, “Over and @ store equal to most stores in America. In **, does part of his show © English and Engiand., at Selfridges, beef is 45 cents a pound, 50 cents, salmon 50 cents. re is no objection, and some of the acts think pork 30 cents, veal Clothing seems about the same as here. There 1g of pulling off English expressions in the houses without anyone taking exception. js an absence of sky signs—coal being scarce— serlin vaude. and cabaret director also the streets seem empty of autos and public h and gladly conversed with the cabs and such vehicles. There is far and away visitors in that tongue, even to refergreater freedom in Berlin today than previously, various towns in Great Britain with and the word “‘verboten’’ seems to be a back had been conversant. Drector Julius number. farx, of the huge Scala Theater (seating ‘ 3.200), speaks English fluently, having been in Will the Barrier Be Thrown Down? That was the sole topic of all managers and the British banking world in London for fifteen years. He and other directors went out of their agents in Berlin. The Britishers had to exway to extend every courtesy, and Voyce and plain they came only on a mission of personal Bayly were his guests at dinner, also the guests inquiry and the answer lay not with them nor of the Wintergardens in a like manner and also even with the A. V. F. executive committee, at many other houses. There were “no doors’’ but with the genera] body of members. Voyce to these places for Konorah, and more than and Bayly met the I. A. L. executive and had | HARRY PYLE’S NEW GAGS fering! Beautiful Spring! Has sprung Fiowers will soon be breaking out cf buds. Convi-ts will soon be breaking out of jails. Instead of using an automotile, a fellow will soon take his girl out for a ride in his aeroplane, Everything will be fine unless they should have a ‘“‘falling out’’. We always knew cil could stain clothes, but we never knew it could spot a man’s reputation. A NEW MONOLOGUE FOR $5 AND | KEEP IT NEW FOR A YEAR FREE Runs 15 minutes and is crammed full of the latest and most up-to-date gags on current events ever written on Pc *s, Prohibition, Love, Baseball, Football, etc. Here’s one of them: William Jewnings Bryan wa to get in the White House in 1924. The only chance he’s got is to be elected janitor. We says so himself. Im a speech he made the other day je said: “If I run again I'll SWEEP THE CCUNTRY. With this sur e-fire line of talk you cin stop a show. Ends up with a riot parody with knock-out punch lines on ‘Carolina in the Mornli.z Send $5.00 for this sensational line of talk NOW. You cet it \y spec ial delivery and your money back the same w y if the monologue is not a rict all the way thru. $5.00 for this classy monelogue is an investment that you will cash in on all the year around, because | send you NEW gags FREE for a whole year to keep it fresh and new. HARRY C. 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It is a wonderful place. We have many boys of profession. LAWRENCEBURG ACADEMY, Lawrenceburg, Tenn. Minstrel Costumes SCENIC — ones EFFECTS. WIGS — greareaene OR MINSTREL AND MUSICAL SH Send a = stamps for our 1923 ‘“‘Minstrel = ~ a Minstrel Menu—a program from ‘“‘soup to nuts”—FREE. STAGE YOUR OWN SHOW. eal Our Guide Books and Free Service Department will help you to do It. =) HOOKER-HOWE COSTUME 46-52 Main Street, (Cox 705) H® VERHILL, MASS. KER How Mimerery sommes ERE tS ONLY ONE FAMOUS SCHOOL OF ACROBATICS STUDIO FOR STAGE DANCING This School ia so far ahead that all others are left in oblivion. OUS SCHOOL a ACROBATICS We Guarantee Results FAM 225 WEST 46TH ST., NAVEX BLDG NEW YORK. Phone 1586. 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CY IED cactaveckdicodaabiitaaadien 52.00 a 1D scsvendewens SbScecetaceen’s a 80 Third Page ... Ce cccccccccccess 21.00 Quarter Page ........ CO ccccvcccccccccce 16.50 See Ge cnccsaneims foee 15.00 PE WD ciscctakenne 10.50 Wide Column, per inch. 3.00 Narrow Column, per inch THE eee y is filed at al) THE BILL. RD Offices in America. nee ovewa: 18 Charing Cross Road, London, SCOTTISH OFFICE: 141 Bath Street, Glasgow. BRAZILIAN AMERICAN THE BUSINESS BUILDER OF BRAZIL. Tilustrated. Filled with news and information about the —— and most fascinating country in two con tines “SUBSCRIPT! ON PRICE, $7.00 A YEAR, Send 10 Cents for Sample Copy. BRAZILIAN AMERICAN, Caixa Postal 629, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, a two-hour session wherein matters were discussed, such as on what basis if any shéuld the barrier be dropped. There exists among the German artistes the same feeling that the coming of British would mean lesser work for the “home defenders’ or those acts which could not get a living outside the German Empire. This is also represented in a similar manner among certain V. A. F, members and is quite a natural one. The man with an ‘‘international’ act thinks differently and is anxious, how that the mark has become stabilized, to resume his inter-country work. British and German agents are certainly alive to the situation, but all in all it is more than possible that even were the barrier to be removed say by June 1 that for the first few months the exchange would be in favor of British artistes. The peak of any German or foreign invasion would not start to rise here until next fall or later, with perhaps the year 1925 seeing foreign acts great numbers. When one realizes that this week out of the published ‘‘Calls’® there are more than 10) revues playing regular mus halls, the average pro. with an empty date book thinks that whatever happens work as regards himself cannot be any worse. The question to be decided is whether the raising of the bar while giving British acts an opportunity of immediate work in Germany would affect Britishers here later on. This question will be discussed at an extraordinary special general meeting of the V, A. F. March 28, and will be one of the most momentous decisions ever taken by the vaude. artistes of Great Britain, Near Arrest of Monte Bayly in Berlin Much chaffing and incidentally much space in the daily newspapers has been given to the phonetic similarity of names of Monte Bayly and a Major Bailey, who murdered bis wife at Brighton three months ago, The latter has gotten away. When Bayly arrived in Berlin in accordance with the law he filled up the police form that night. The following morning the hotel porter came to him in the breakfast room with a small photo of the missing major, requesting Bayly to accompany him to the office, where a detective was awaiting him, This gave Bayly a good laugh and he soon proved be wasn't the man. Nevertheless the English papers got hold of the story (after he got back to England) and many and various were the versions of the “sensational arrest’’ of the Vv. A. F. national organizer, even to the extent of flashing it on The Dally Express electric bhews bulletin in Trafalgar Square, So Bayly now knows what it feels like to be notorious.