Variety (Mar 1906)

VARIETY AMATEUR NIGHT?" BACK! The Cherry sisters (Addle ami Effle) are agai reel Bijou Theatre (vaudeville) in Dubuque) la. They appeared in that place and broke all records lor business, also causing other furnishing of the house to be demol- ished. x ii«_- V.JJI.IIJI BiBii-ia (nuuic aim i^iur; uic ^lin in vaudeville, having been resur/' cted by Manager .lake Rosenthal of the ::„... fffk^i / i....:n..\ i ■ i\..i _» POPULAR MUSIC IN ENGLAND HOUDINI'S BROTHER COMING. M. S. Kent ham has been requested by Jennie Jacobs, the London vaudeville agent, to secure time over here for llar- ^vvn, a brother of Harry lloudini, the jail breaker. VON BIENE IN STOCK. Through Al Sutherland an arrangement has been effected whereby August Von Biene, the 'cellist, will appear at Proctor's Fifth Avenue Theatre during the early part of May in his own piece called "The Musician's Romance." Mr. Von Biene will depart from these shores on May 2C. VAUDEVILLE BY MAIL. Al Sutherland, the agent in the St. lames Building, received the following letter Thursday: Fob. 25, 100(5. MR. ALBERT SUTHERLAND: Dear Sir— I am very much Interested In buck fencing; could you teach vaudeville by dmUI Yuurs truly, WILKES ANDREWS. MISS REDDING WILL CHANGE. Francesca Redding ii still playing "My Friend from Texas" in response to re- quests, but next season will make an elaborate production of a new playlet, "Wyoming." DON'T "KNOCK" CARELESSLY. In the absence of any other vaudeville house in Mount Vernon the New Orplieum Theatre opened in that town last Monday became the opposition to the Doric in Yonkers. And thereby hangs a tale. Kddie Keller, of the Myers-Keller linn, attended the opening performance, occupy- ing a box* jointly with Manager Zeigler of the Doric. ) N According to Keller,SZetgler did not know him, and unsuspicious, spent the early part of the evening "knocking" the bill. • Inst after intermission Zeigler satisfied himself by his run system that the audi- ence was largely "paper," and announced as much to hi^ companions in a very audi- * • hie voice. Suddenly Keller spoke up. addressing the world at large: "Well, 'his is decidedly a better bill than any I ever saw at t he Doric." It wa- then that ZeiglcT dropped. Re did a sprint out front and Asked who h\< unknown box companion was. Thev told him, and he didn't come back. It is fast becoming a condition that no foreign agent over here dare divulcre the name of any act secured until it actually boards the ship. In two notable cases whatever information leaks out is prompt- ly cabled to the other side, when an effort is made to "kidnap** in the usual manner. William Courtleigh. in "Under the Thirl Degree," playing for the first time this week in town at Proctor's Twenty-third Street Theatre, has been retained for the second week there. "It's vastly different in England,*' re- marked Frederick Day, the American rep- resentative of Francis, Day & Hunter, the largest and best known music publishers on the Continent. The linn has recently moved its New York olliee into new quarters at 15 West .'10th street, where Mr. Day, who is a son of David Day, a member of the firm, was found. The New York branch of the Lon- don publishing house has been established here for about eight months, and Mr. Day was asked to explain the conditions exist- ing on the other side and here relative to the music publishing business as he found them. Following up his first remark, Mr. Day continued: "We are not accustomed to this 'plugging' as you term it on the other side. Over here the publishers go to the artists and ask them to sing their songs, using persuasion of one kind or an- other. We never did that in London. "An English artist heard of a song thought to have a fair chance of success, and he would buy an interest in it. After trying it out, the song would be brought to us for publication. Sometimes we pur- chased it outright; other times published on a royalty basis, allowing ten per cent, of the marked price to the owners of the composition. "A song we publ^hed wa9 never 'pushed.' The artist would hear of it and call on us. As a mater of fact, though some of the greatest song successes of Eng- land were not published for a long time after having been pronounced a hit. "English artists have been known to buy a song and after singing it successfully refuse to allow it to be published, pre- ferring to retain the sole singing rights. "Miss Ida Rene owns 'Rake's Progress,' and it has not been printed nor will Miss Rene allow that to be done. Phil Ray, who made a tremendous hit with "Let Her Drown,' kept the original manuscript for a long while before he brought it to us, singing the song meanwhile. "Fred Farle (son «f doe Tabrar, who wrote 'Daddy Wouldn't Buy Me a Dow- wow') composed 'Seaweed,' one of the most popular songs ever run in London and the provinces, yet it was about a year ifter he first introduced it before Francis, Day & Hunter secured the publication rights, placing it in 'The Catch of the Season,' where it was sung by Fred Wright, Jr. "Many English artists write their own words and music, as in the case* <»f Harry Lander and Harry Rendell. "English artists are firmly set in this regard. They prefer to be known as the singer of a song, which builds a reputation for them, bringing fame and fortune. An example of this is Mi-s Vesta Victoria, who opened at the Colonial last week. "She gained a worldwide reputation with the famous songs 'Daddy Wouldn't Day Me a Dow-wow.' and 'Our Lodger's Such a Nice Young Man,' following up these hits while still in her early teens with •Grace Darling.* "Miss Victoria is singing now two im- mensely successful numbers, 'It's All Right in the Summertime' and 'Waiting »t the Church' or 'My Wife Won't Let Me.' The last named has a most humorous lyric an 1 I'm "tire will become equally popular on thi> side through Miss Victoria's inimitable style." Mr. Pay has composed himself, and sev- eral light musical pieces produced abroad bear his nom de plume "Edward Montagu" on the title page. As an authority he was asked for an expression regarding the more ready reception of American ditties in England than the English songs in America. "It is the splendid lilt introduced in American melodies of the 'Rosy Rosy' and 'Bedelia' order, and then of course the syncopated touch of the inevitable rag- time gives added zest. "There is a peculiar catch to the English songs, which only an English artist can give, but your American melodies have become popularized through the advent of the colored professional people in England, and now the Britishers have the craze, in \ word, the English composer up to a few years ago wrote for the stage and sold his manuscript to the artist—the publishing end being a secondary consideration. But with the advent of the 'free' song—as worked in America, the English writer is already holding his own. "America is music mad, though, which is an important item. Over there we con- sider a song selling 100,000 copies a big hit. 'The Soldiers of the Queen,' which has never been equaled for the English multitude, sold 300,000 after two years on the market. I understand an American publisher doesn't esteem a sale of less than 200.000 of one composition more than a* moderate 'hit,' and if I have been cor- rectly informed, a big popular success here sells from 000,000 to 1,000,000. It seems incredible and is indicative of what a popu- lar music loving race the Americans are. "I don't wish to compare royalty state- ments of the Engli-h and American writers. The remarks about sales cover that. I could scarcely believe that an American song writer received as much as $25,000 a year for his royalty alone, though, when I heard it. "Francis, Day & Hunter is the stand- ard firm of publishers in London. The English swear by us, and it is the inten- tion of the firm to place the most success- ful English numbers in this country. We shall adopt the American method of popu- larization, but do not intend to handle the British numbers exclusively. We have American writers connected with our New York branch, and have now a song written by Edward Madden, author of 'Blue Bell,' which we consider the peer of all marches. It is 'Coming Through the IVye, Jenny Mine.' "You may imagine it's a change from the dignified atmosphere of our London office to the hurlv-burlv hustle and bustle of the music publishing business in New York city," said Mr. Day, as he arose from running over the choruses of Miss Vic- his seat at the piano where he had been toria's songs. 8im€. Oh arm ion. the Parisian trapeae artist, styled the perfect woman, who was booked to play at the Colonial. Lawrence, the week uf February 10, is at present confined to her bed at a Lawrence hotel recovering from two operations. The second opera ti-tii followed a plucky attempt to finish the engagement. Her recovery is looked • |'on as only a mutter of time. LONDON NOTES. The Englishmen are calling Morrii Cronln "the mysterious pantomimic jug- gler." Mason and Keeler in 'Hooked by Crook are playing a return date at the Palace. Oswald Stoll produced at the Coliseum a burlesque absurdity entitled "S'Xero; or, a Roman Bank Holiday.** Walter Slaugh- ter wrote the music, Roland Carse the lyrics and the book is by Chris Davis. Conn and Conrad are appearing in the West End for the first time. They go -ig- Arthur Playfair and Kate Cutler are appearing in "Hero and Heroine." "The Human Bullet" is the latest sensa- tion proposed for the Hippodrome. "The Bullet" will be propelled from a cannon weighing (5,000 pounds, erected on the dress circle hwel, to a trapeae 120 feet above the arena. A similar act you will remember was a circus feature in America years ago. W. W. Cole had it first, it is believed. Large salaries are still being paid to the legitimate as well as the music hall artists. Arthur Trayson will receive $1,000 weekly when he appears at the Royalty Theatre in the Spring, under the management of Gas-ton Maye by arrange- ment with Arthur Collins, who has Mr. Trayson under contract for the next four vears. May de Sousa, who is still over here,has been engaged to play the leading part in the next Christmas pantomime to be put on at the Drury Lane. The piece is at present under consideration. Miss Louise Taylor, for several seasons of the vaudeville act known as Adamini and Taylor, has dissolved her partnership with Mr. Ada mini and will shortly appear ' In a solo offering. Charles Boss, of Ross and Fenton, ap- peared at a benefit during the past week in a single turn, for the first time in twelve years. Louise Montrose will play a "home date" week of March 10 in the new Mount Ver- non vaudeville house. Mi.ss Montrose makes the suburban burg her home. The Theatrical Brotherhood at St. Louis gave their annual Mardi Gras carnival last Tuesday night (February 27). Over 10.000 revellers attended. I. T. A. S. E. buttons were consph-uous. All members of shows playing St. Louis attended. "The Mascot Moth," which scored a dismal failure when it opened at the Co- lonial, will return next fall to play the Orpheum and Keith circuits. Brandon and Wiley will go to London soon, while Johnson and Wei la, another colored team, will open at Budapest. Both were bonked at the foreign halls by B. Obermayer. TM* has been the best seasofl of i*s career so far for the Howard Atheneum in Boston. Everhart, the hoop'roller, is being heav- ily featured In the CJerraau speaking coun- tries he i.-; nOW playing.