Variety (Oct 1906)

VARIETY HARRY TATE HERE. Known in America through his owner- ship of "Motoring," the laughable satire on the sport which played vaudeville here, Harry Tate, the E^nglish producer, arrived in the city on Thursday last. . Mr. Tate is clean cut in build and looks and would be more quickly taken for an American than an Englishman. His new act "Fishing" will be produced at Ham- merstein'a V^ictoria Theatre on Monday next. Two other acts not before seen in this country, "Golfing" and "Gardening," will be brought over in the spring. Mr. Tate remains on this side until De- cember 10, when he returns to London for the pantomime season. The company here will remain. It is the same that ap- peared with Mr. Tate before the King and Royal Family in England, at the King's request. - •• .''.;•• ■.;' -^'■■'.■-/,: ARTISTS' FORUM FULL PAY; LITTLE WORK. Booked for this week at Sheedy's The- atre, Fall River, Mass., the St. Onge Brothers were agrwably surprised when informed by the Morris office that the en- gagement would not have to be fulfilled, time having been shifted to Tuesday and Wednesday afternoons only at Suffield, Conn., with a Sunday night show at the (^arnegie Music Hall, where a benefit is to be given to-morrow evening for the em- ployees of the Metropolitan Street Rail- v.ay Company. The cause of the joy was the remark that a full week's salarv would co with the change in time. yNITED MAY MOVE. So numerous and persistent have been the complaints against the blocking of the hallways of the St. James Building that the United Booking Agency will probably move its oflices to the old Gilsey Build- ing, over the Viith Avenue Theatre. Their press bureau is already located there and E. F. Albee is seriously considering the feasibility of taking the entire first and second floors for the use of the booking oflices. If it is decided to move, Martin Berk will be asked to conic along with the ofllce of the Orphcum Circuit. NEW COLORED ACTS. Billy Johnson, formerly of the colored team of Cole and Johnson, is rehearsing a new act carrying eleven colored peo- ple. The new off'ering is to be a sort of revision and extension of Johnson's last vaudeville venture, "Creole Belles." An- other colored act will be tried out at the West End to-morrow night. It carries twelve people and is sponsored by Myers & Keller. It lias alreadv been booked for tlie Koitli and Voli time beginning Octo- ber 10. NEVER HEARD OF "K-P.»* Last week at the Harlem Opera House, while the life of the former management was slowly expiring, a young woman walked up to the box oflfice saying, "I would like two seats for some night next week, please. What play will be here?" "\o pla\' next week," replied the treas- urer. "Keith-Proctor will be here then." "Oh," answered the girl, withdrawing her money, "never mind the tickets. I never heard of that show.'* CoalliM your AnonyiMNi* ktid In strict t« 180 words and wrlt« oa iualcstlons wNI not b« printed. . If dsslrMl. Nf sld« nf pnpsr onljr* ■• of writor arast bo i vi Pittsburg, Oct. 2. Editor Variety: ^.■■■- '■■■:■■'■' '^.'^■w"-.':-:"-y--: ' ;." I wish to call your attention to a song which is being used by the team of Brown- ing and Bentley, who arc now pla^ ing with the "Bon Tons." It is a medley composed of the national airs. Hoey and Lee are using a medley on the same order, but only similar because of the fact that they also use the national airs. Now Lee claims title to the song because they used it first. I will acknowledge that fact, but when Chas. Hoey says that he is the man who composed it he falls off the truth. There is only one man who wrote that medley, and that is myself. In conclusion I wish to state that this song was written six years ago, and at that time Chas. Hoey and myself were writing parodies together as partners. I also wish to state that Will Bartel stretches the truth when he says that he writes all of Joe Morris' songs. I am responsible for at least three of the songs Morris is using at the pres- ent time in "Lovers and Lunatics." Joe Browning, Of Browning and Bentley. Syracuse, N. Y., Oct. 1. Editor Variety: In reviewing Marquis' Ponies you say "the ponies go through the high school work smoothly." As a matter of fact, the ponies do not do "high school," but what is known as "liberty" work. High school, or haut icole (wrongly called in America "menage act"), is used in connection with a saddle horse, while a ••liberty" horse performs tricks at liberty, i. e., with no rider up, obeying signs or commands of the trainer. A "talking," "counting," "posing" or "drill" horse is called "liberty." I have found almost a universally wrong impression over these terms since I have been in this country and think this explanation will in a way correct it. /. 8. Wolfing, ^ Wolfing's Arabian Stallions. ^Milwaukee, Wis., Sept. 27. Editor Variety: I see in your issue of September 22 a review of the "Lid Lifters" by Rush. He says Collins and La Belle do a dancing act "head downward, with clogs beating taps on the under side of the pedestal." Now I would like to state that those peo- ple are supposed to be great friends of mine, have worked on the same bills with us an(f they have the nerve to steal my act bodily. I am the originator of up- side-down dancing and my apparatus is patented. Thejse pirates have even stolen that. I can furnish proof that I am the originator of this act. Leo Carrillo's car- toon on "act stealing" ought to make theui ashamed of themselves. They should be billed as the "Act Lifters" with the •Lid Lifters." Favor me by publishing this. Contino and Lawrence^ The Original Upside-Down Dancers. New York, Oct. 3. Editor Variety: Have noticed in Variety several artists billing themselves as "The Girl from Dub- lin," which title belongs to me. I wish to state that most of these so-called Irish girls evidently never saw Dublin, as some of them are doing buck dancing to an Irish jig tune. I was bom, reared and educated in Dublin and made my first pro- fessional appearance at the Gaiety Theatre on King street in that city under the man- agement of Michael Gunn in the panto- mime of "Little Red Riding Hood." We will play an engagement in my home city (Dublin) the coming season. Kittic O'Brien (Of Daly & O'Brien). With Grieves' "Parisian Belles" Co. Birmingham, Ala., Sept. 27. Editor Varietv: In your issue of September 22 Louis Epstein claims the title of "The Lemon Kid." I honestly believe it belongs to him. as I have heard him called by it for the past two years. Art PhillifM, * Witii •'Bachelor Club" Burlesquers. Worcester, Oct. 3, 1906. Kilitor Variety: Talk about copying stufl". Your Mr. Hush ought to swell up after reading the enclosed review of our show ("Star Show (Jirls") in alM>ve town. Just look over your issue of September 1st and compare the two. You will notice word for word the same as Rush's article in Variety. This is the Worcester Telegram. What do vou think of that? Lew AdaniH. McVEIGH AND DALY TOGETHER. _ Johnny McVeigh and Nellie Daly have been engaged by Jos. Hart for a comedy sketch he now has in rehearsal called "Smith's Companion." It will be played by Mr. McVeigh and Miss Daly without other assistance. SUING ZIEGLER. BERNSTEIN SUES WITT. Through I, N. Jacobson, an attorney with offices at 13 Park row. New York, suit has been instituted by Freeman Bernstein against Max S. Witt to re- cover .$l.r>00. The failure of Mr. Witt to play Mr. IVrnstein's Pleasure Bay theatre in New Jersev last suninier. as contracted for, is the basis of the claim. An aftermath of the ill-fated vetrture of •'The K<«ast and Furies" come« in tne suit brought i^ainst Henry Ziegler by Mrs. Elsa (\>(t<'r to rec(»ver $175 salary of her- self and dau;:litcr. which she claims re- mains unjiaid. Mrs. Cotter alleges that during the time she was with the "PVast and Furies" show she received $0 above her board and expenses. TRIXIE IN AGAIN. After an absence not sufliciently long to eclipse her memory. Trixie Friganza is to return to vaudeville. The route will be looked after by Jack Levy, Miss Fri- ganza o|H»ns at the Olympic, Cincinnati, to-morrow. GEO. EVANS ENTERTAINS. Philadelphia, Oct. 5. George "Honey Boy" Evans, who is fin- ishing his fifth week at Keith's Theatre after the most successful engagement in the history of the house, wined and dined a number of his friends here at the Garden Hotel on Tuesday night. Evans has been treated royally by the various newspapers in this city during his engagement and several of the most promi- nent dramatic and vaudeville critics of the Quaker City were among those present. During the evening Ev&ns was presented with a handsome gold-mounted umbrella from his Philadelphia friends and a char- acter sketch of himself by Frank J. Duck- ett. A cinnamon bun, for which the au- thor of "Good Old Summer Time" has a keen liking, was built especially for the occasion and was the table centrepiece. There were vocal selections by Ren Shields, who wrote "Waltz Me Around Again, Willie," and who came over with Will J. Cook from New York to preside; Willie and Eugene Howard and Willie Weston from Keith's, Charles Dooin of the Philadelphia ball club. Will J. Cook and others. The newspaper men present were: H. Dieck, the Record; Harry Knapp, the Inquirer; Harry Hoagland and D. J. Mc- Conneloug, the Press; H. T. Craven, dramatic editor, R. Parkhurst and George M. Young, The Public ledger; J. R. Robin- son, the Morning Telegraph. The ball players included Charles Dooin, W. J. Bransfield and Sherwood Magee of the Phillies and John Coombs of the Athletics. Among the other guests were: H. T. Jor- dan of Keith's, William Manning, Willie Weston, W. J. Oarroll. M. D. Swisher, Leo I. Donnelly, Hugh Kennedy, Frank J. Duckett and Dr. Hampton Brown. GERMAN GIRLS GO HOME. Unsuccessful at securing other engage- ments after leaving the vaudeville or- ganization of The Great Lafayette, the MacLord sisters, four in number, have re- turned to Germany, their home. The girls claim that an engagement was offered them in the Rentz-Santley bur- lesque company, but upon calling at the Murray Hill Theatre last week when the company played there they were informed by the manager that Mr. I^fayette had advised by mail that they were unreliable. Utterly discouraged at what they consid- ered unfair treatment, the young women engaged passage. NEW YORK MELODY IN CHICAGO. Chicago, Oct. 6. Albert Von Tilzcr, representing himself, and Jules Von Tilzer, with another music publishing concern, are contemporaries at the Sherman House, where both have sep- arate suites and pianos. They manage to keep the guests awake with the mixture of melodies and vocal strains coming from their suites. THREATEN TO ENJOIN. Ijeffler and Outcault, who claim to have the sole rights to the production "Buster Brown," threaten to enjoin "The Scottish Fusileers" from appeariifg at the New >'ork Theatre to-morrow (Sunday) night, where thev have been l>ooke<l. Tlie act is taken frorn the piece and the managers <lispute its right to show without their consent.