Variety (Jan 1906)

VARIETY « ARTISTS' FORUM "The ArtliU' Forum" Is for the artists excjuslvely. Any Just complaint any artist may have or considers he has will be printed In this department. Or any comment that an artist may desire to make. Also any artist or act that disagrees with a reviewer on Variety in his review of the artist's work or act may have his criticism of the criticism printed In this column, and It will be answered by the reviewer. Confine your letters to 150 words and write on one side of paper only. Memphis, Tenn., Jan. 10. Editor Variety: Sir:—I have just seen a letter dated the 10th of this month and written you by a Mr. A. McAllister, the manager for Miss Ida Rene. If the wording of this letter was not so absurd I might be inclined to take it seriously from a legal point of view. ■■:'■ ■■:.,'•: ' ■^■- --■•' ' It is true Miss Rene sang two of the songs I am singing (out of five and six I am singing at every performance) in Lon- don, also that she sang these songs in the Royal Chef over a year ago. It is also a well known fact that Miss Rene left this country disgusted after the latter engagement, and vowed and declared that she would never sing here again. She, however, apparently has changed her mind, and came over with her husband, Mr. Arthur Prince, and once over here. Miss Rene has been trying to get engage- ments at an enormous salary. Failing to persuade the managers of her worth, Mr. McAllister, her manager, rushes into print to air his grievances under the cloak of my name. He accuses me of purloining Miss Rene's property. I do not think he quite understands the meaning of this word "purloining" and in his ignorance, too, he goes on to say: ".She 1h uctually living, mOTiiig and having nor iH'Ing on the rewiltH of nnotbor's brains." This sounds very spiteful, and I cannot imagine that Mr. McAllister knows of what he is writing. Does he mean to in- sinuate that Miss Rene wrote the songs lie speaks of? If so, he is quite mis- taken; Miss Rene did not write those .«*on^s, but was very fortunate to get the Hinging rights (I believe) for England, that is all. -" " I)o<3 he mean that I copy Miss Rene's style of work? If so, again he is wrong. —I have my own int«rpr6tation of A dong, and have found it very successful, too. I do not require the assistance of Miss llcne's brain power to help me in my work, and surely not that either of Mr. McAllis- ter. Mr. McAllister is evidently unaware of the fact that (except under extraor- dinary cohditions) any songs may be sung in this country, and the two songs I am ^jinginR I bought and paid for in this cf)un- try. and I shall continue singing thorn so long as I like, and the public and mana- jL'ers will stand for them. When Miss Rene changed her mind and wanted to work over here again, Mr. Mc- Allister should have written me person- ally, telling me of this fact, and saying I . was spoiling Miss Rene's chances to get- ting the enormous salary she thinks she is worth, and then perhaps we might have come to some amicable arrangement. I can quite understand that Mr. McAllis- ter as Miss Rene's manager, wishes to make the most of her talent (of which I myself have always been an admirer), but he must not allow his anxiety for this lady's interest to blind him to the fact that "there are others/' and also that every refined artist has a refined follow- ing, whether in England or any other country of the world. It is only the vulgar artist who keeps nice people away from the music halls in any country, therefore Mr. McAllister's re- mark, "that Miss Rene brought to the l>ondon Variety Theatre the class of pub- lic who had hitherto professed contempt for the music hall," is to say the least of it "far fetched." However, before closing this letter it remains for me to thank Mr. McAllister for the advertisement he has given me. - . . May I ask you to give this letter the same prominence as thit given to Mr. Mc- Allister's letter? Thanking you in anticipation of your kind consideration, I am, dear sir, iours faithfully. May Belfort. January 22 190(j. I'Mitor Varietv: In a recent criticism of Chicot's in your paper I was compared to W. C. Fields, "the tramp juggler." In fairness to me I ask you to correct that statement over Chicot's signature. My juggling act re- sembles Mr. Fields' in no particular. De- pendent as I am on billiard ball work, I think Chicot will recollect upon reflection that Mr. Fields does not attempt anything of this kind either straight or as comedy, and no comparison is possible. A. W. A»ra. Note.—Mr. Asra quibbles. He knows, or should know, as well as the writer, that W. C. Fields has done the billiard table trick, and that both derive their ideas from the same source, the work having been first done by an Austrian named Hurgini (now dead). It is also done by Brunin, who was a former member of the Agios Trio. He and Fields were in the Orpheum road show at the same time and Fields caught the idea from him. Chicot. Jan. 25, llKXi. Editor Variety : Sir—A reient issue of yt»ur paper stated that the Crane Hrothers, "Mudtown Min- streKs," were the first to place an act of this kind in variety. I take exception to that statement. In 1882 in New York, I put on u three-part minstrel act, playing in it myself; again in *91, at the Xew York Theatre, with Dan McAvoy and \VilIiam Burn'ss, Not that it makes any particu- lar diiT» lence. but still the correction will do no harm. Ch<iA. II. J*rinc€. January 23, 1906. Editor Vtiriotv: Sir: I enjoy reading your publication, but will you kindly deny the report in your last issue that any one is to replace me in the part of Kid Burns in "Forty- five Minutes from Broadway"? If anv one has been asked to play my part it is for a No. 2 company. Since reading last week's Variety a number of people have asked me why and when I was leaving the «how. I have been offered three times my former salary in vaudeville, but I am under a three years' contract, and am very well satisfied. Wishing you much success. Victor Moore. DU VRIES MAY COME IN. In spite of strenuous denial, it is not at all improbable that Henri Du Vries may be seen in vaudeville before his con- tract with the Leavitts expires. Should he do so one of the greatest protean ac- tors will entertain the vaudeville patrons. At present Mr. Du Vries is entertaining the audiences at the Madison Square Theatre, or at least those who have the nerve to ait through the three dreary acts of "The Braisley Diamond," or the fore-knowledge enabling them to get in just before the star comes on at the close of that lamentable offering. Du Vries is a protean actor but not a quick change artist, although his changes are accomplished in from thirty to forty- five seconds. It is as an actor that he makes appeal, and as a versatile player of parts he is the most remarkable we have ever seen. The stage shows the Interior of the office of a magistrate, who is holding an in- vestigation into a case of arson. In the seven witnesses, including the accused, his half-witted brother, his father-in-law, a police sergeant, a grocer and a painter and an inn keeper, Du Vries finds a re- makable range of cliaracters. Not only does he change his physical appearance, but he seems to increase or reduce his stature at will. The policeman seems fully six feet tall and broad in pro- portion. The half-wit is not more than five feet four and slight. But this is merely a trick of make-up; a clever outworking of the art of the eostumer and wig makers. It is as a ilclineator of character that the Holland actor should be praised. No more per- fect contrast has been seen on the New York stage in years as is found in the two appearances of the accused. At his first entrance he has the con- fident bearing of the man whose crime has been so carefully planned that he fears no discovery. At the close of the investigation he is brought back and this confidence is gone. The confinement has told upon him and he is nervous and ap- prehensive. The first few speeches of the mngrjatrafe show that things h a v w gone against him, and he breaks out in a cold perspiration. At the conclusion he is a man broken in spirit going to his doom and yet not once has he raised his voice; not once has he indulged in melo- dramatics. It is through the little things; the points most men overlook, that he tells his story. He is a master of detail, an artist of the minor, and each of the seven characters is absolutely distinct from the others. His present offering is somewhat too sombre for vaudeville use, but his art would »arry even this through, for he is an artist to his finger tips, buried behind a weak three-act farce. Chivot. BERT HAVERLY TO BE EXAMINED. Bert Haverly, the old-time minstrel, \Nhose name in j)rivate life is (Jeorge P. Oliver, was committed to Bellevue llospi tal this week for examination as to his sanity, at the instance of his wife, Mrs. Oliver claimed that her husband had ma«le .several attempts upon his life. AGENTS TO ORGANIZE. Preliminary papers were filed in Al- bany on Tuesday of this week with the Secretary of State for a new associa- tion of the vaudeville and theatrical agents of this city. It is to be a cor- poration under the New York state laws and to be known as the Theatrical Agents' Society of the State of New York. ''"^ ■•'■^.'•..■-•■;■;■ .. While no definite announcement of the purpose of the organization is made, it is understood that its object is to work a reform in the employment agency law, which in its present operation, includes the theatrical and vaudeville agents in its restrictions. Frederick Keating, for- mer license commissioner of New York has been employed as counsel, and when the association enters upon its legal ex- istence, he will draw up a bill, which will be introduced in the state legislature this winter, embodying the ideas of the agents on the license question. This week's meeting of those interested was held in the offices of Bellows and (iregory in the Holland Building, James Armstrong acting as chairman. B. A. Myers, Eddie Keller, Will H. Gregory, of Bellows and Gregory; James Arm- strong, Rol)ert Girard, Cullison's Dramatic Exchange, the Packard Exchange and Henry Pincus were among those entered as charter members.. • .. "The object of our organization," said one of the members this week, "is partly to get the agents of New York together in a mutual society so that they may proceed as a body in such matters as af- fect them in their business. One of the matters that will receive our early atten- tion will be an effort to drive out of busi- ness the irresponsible, self-styled 'agents,* who have their offices in their hats and operate on the Broadway curb. "Men of this sort are absolutely un- scrupulous in their dealings with mem- bers of the profession and bring odium on the agents who are responsible business men." IT'S A CHUCKLE. Lasky & Kolfe's new Hindoo act called "Hadlia'' will ajijiear at the New Voik 'i'heatre to-morrow night, for the first time in |)ublie. Our pink contemporary, the Evening Telegram, has been squeezing a lot of lemons for its vaudeville tipster lately. They have prmluced a lot of foolish talk alxnit the Poli deal, but the limit came Wednesday of this week when t^e pinklet (lublished this: "'llu' .MuKCOt Ikloth" In the «m1<1 n>iiiH> of a h«mi ^iitiDiiiii iiiiistr hull illiislim Just ltii|M»rl«Ml rroni i:iini]M-. iN'iry Wlllliims' tJifHlri's will liavi- It ilrst, IIS ••Tli»' Moth" «)|M'ns lu'xl Mf>ii<lH.v nt tin* <'i>|miiIiiI Tlioitrr. Tlio llliiNlnii Ik Siilil to !»<> of :i ri'iii,irkahl<> <-)iiirart«>r. ItH iiiaiiHK*'i'H i-lal(iiliiK It •IS tl\»' iiii»st iiiystir.vl/i^ that has «'v«»r Iwoii jir*' s«'iil«'(l iH'foH' 111 thl« or any otlu'r roiiiitry. So ;:r«'at \\.\h Immii Its siirr«'ss oti tin* oth»»r hid** that iiiiisi)' h.'ill iiiMiiaKcrs iHMik It for an ('iitln> HfaK(»ii .It thi'ir hons«»s. Ati Aiiii-rlcati t»y tlu' name of MflHkel.vne is the Inventor; It is all right, only it is not mystifying, as tlu' man who works the act is so <'luinsy that even the babe in arms is able to penetrate the alleged mysteries; the act opene<l last week not next week, and it was not invented by an American by the nam«' of Maskelyne. The blush- ing pajMT could be forgiven the local data; it never does go strong on fact of the moment, but surely even the dramatic man of the Telegram must have heard of Maskelyne and Cook, of Egyptian Hall, London. For a quarter of a century the name has been identified with magic the world over. It's Maske- Ivne and Devant now.