Variety (Mar 1907)

VARIETY MARINELLI UNDECIDED. It was stated in the H. B. Marinelli ofltae this week that Mr. Marinelli would prob- ably aail to-day from the other side for New York City. No understanding has been reached by the office here as to which booking agency, if any, the II. B. Marinelli will give allegiance. A. Wolheim, of the London Marinelli branch, who arrived here last week to look over the situation and decide, evidently found it too complex, for he has called his principal to the scene. It was authentically reported this week that if the Marinelli office failed to arrive at a decision shortly, either Klaw & Er- langer or William Morris would take steps to establish a foreign branch for their importations. BURLESQUE WANTS A THAW. Mortimer M. Thiese is in negotiation with Howard Nesbit, brother of Evelyn Nesbit Thaw, to feature him as a mem- ber of his "Wine, Women and Song" com- pany. Just as .soon as the famous trial has been concluded, it is designed to start young Nesbit out, booming him with flaming posters. GIRARD GIVES UP AGENCY. On May 1, Robert D. Girard, the agent, with offices at 12(>5 Broadway, will close his agency doors, according to Mr. Cirard's statement this week. A change may come over this plan, but Mr. Girard says now he will quit the agency business, returning to San Francisco, his home. VION AN AGENT AGAIN. Joseph F. Yion. who retired from the agency business when the Vaudeville As- sociation was formed, has been induced to re-enter the field by a number of head- liners desirous of having him once more take over their business* Among the acts under Vion's direction when he was formerly in business were the Four Co- hans, Ethel Levey, Elinors Sisters, Rus- sell Brothers, Lewis and Ryan, Marie Dressier, Charles T. Aldrich, Cushman, Holcombe and Curtis, Artie Hall, Charley Case, etc. It is Vion's intention to operate in fu- ture on somewhat different lines, giving especial attention to the production of new acts. Joe Weleh has already placed his exclusive vaudeville booking for the coming Summer in the hands of Yion. HART'S CLAIM AGAINST PINCUS. Joseph Hurt declares that he intends to bring suit against Henry l'incus to enforce an agreement he claims to have with that manager for a partnership in the lease on the Madison Square Roof .Garden for the coming Summer. Hart says he agreed to »o into the deal with Pincus and visited the Garden offices with Pincus, depositing his check for $1,000 with Charles Schroeder. manager of the establishment, to bind the lease. On his next visit his check was returned and he found the name of Mortimer M. Thiese substituted for his as co lessee with Pincus. Robert'!'. Krilgora, lately associated with F. M. Ram. - in the tatter's agency busi- ness in Chicago, will soon re enter vauuc ville with liis old protean sketch rewritten and staged for the purpose. ROBINSON'S CLOSED. Cincinnati, March 1. Robinson's Opera House, which has been running popular-priced vaudeville for sev- eral weeks, has closed very suddenly. The venture was a losing proposition from the start and the Crystal Amusement Com- pany, which backed it, was in arrears with the rent. Louis Kramer, a lawyer repre- senting the Forepaugh Stock Company, the original lessees of the house, caused the suspension of the theatre. When the Crystal people took the sub- lease payment of rent was insured by the deposit of a guarantee fund in a local bank and it is believed that this will be sufficient to cover all indebtedness. It is not likely that the theatre will be re- opened this season. The Forepaugh lease expires in June and at that time some other arrangement will probably be en- tered into with the owners. GIROUS NEWS. LYRIC BURNS DOWN. Altoona, Pa., March 1. The burning of the Lyric Theatre here last Saturday night, conducted as a Keith vaudeville house, brings out a pretty'com- plication arising from the entry into t v <e vaudeville field of Klaw & Erlanger. The scheme to erect a variety house in this city originated with and was pro- moted by J. K. Burk, who suggested it to D. F. Hennessy, of the Keith agency in New York. Mr. Hennessy, who had given James Forbes his vaudeville start with Rose Stahl, proposed it to Mr. Forbes, and he in turn succeeded in interesting ITenrv B. Harris in the venture. Both Harris and Forbes invested in the enterprise, ani Burk received a good in- terest in the company for promoting the enterprise. The complication referred to arises from the knowledge that Mr. Harris is an ally of the syndicate presided over by Klaw & Erlanger, and if the house is rebuilt it will probably be added to the new vaude- ville circuit. At the New York headquarters of the United Booking Offices it was stated that Manager L. B. Cool had wired from Altoona requesting that no bookings be cancelled, as he fully expected to secure temporary quarters in Altoona in which to continue business, and that he would have the hou«e rebuilt for opening again by the fall. CLEVELAND OPENS OFFICES. W. S. Cleveland has opened booking offices in the Knickerbocker Theatre Build- ing. Mr. Cleveland has a considerable list of acts which he is prepared to submit to managers for time. FILSON AND ERROLL WILL RETURN. Chicago, March 1. The vaudeville prospect for the artist has such a brightly shaded hue that Fil- son and Erroll, a well-known sketch team, who have not played for some time, will return to the variety stage if engagements to be secured prove sntisfa< tory. Avery and Hart nave been booked to open at the Palace, London, for twelve weeks bejjinninj; Julv 8 next. When the first of the Klaw & Frlanger vaudeville houses opens -namely the Carriek Theatre, Philadelphia. April 22-- one of the acts to be presented there is Charles R. Sweet. A very serious complication has arisen in the plans of the new Wallace-Hagen- heck consolidation that may compel a renaming of the organization. Under the contract permitting his name to be used in connection with an animal exhibition Carl Hagenbeck never sanctioned its use for circus purposes and will take imme- diate steps to prevent what he regards as an unauthorized and unwarranted liberty. This action on the part of Hag enbeek is undoubtedly caused by the ob- jection of the big circuses who have dealt with him for years, paying him millions of dollars for wild animals. They regard the use of the Hagenbeck name in connec tion with a circus as an invasion of their sacred precincts. John Singling arrived in town on Tues- dav to arrange some railroad contracts, and left Thursday morning for Boston, for a similar purpose. He is due to return to New York to-day. Pressed as to the truth of a rumor that he had entered into an agreement with the Barnum and Bailey people as to a division of terri- tory, Mr. Ringling said he preferred to say nothing on the subject. From another source, however, it is caimed that Barnum and Bailey, Buf- falo Bill, the Ringling show and Pawnee Bill will be in the East at about the same time. Incident all}' it is understood that wherever a clash of dates arises the first three will work together in harmony against Pawnee Bill, whom they regard as an "outsider." The Barnum and Bailey clique are particularly desirous of "doing"' Major Lillie in order to squeeze Eddie Arlington. In later years Arlington was very close to James A. Bailey. With the death of Mr. Bailey Arlington was im- mediately placed outside the breastworks. The Pawnee Bill Show opens its South- ern season in Nashville 'early in Sep- tember. While abroad John Robinson, Jr., pur chased a number of animals for the Hob inson CircUS, among them a female hip popotamus, the most expensive animal in captivity. "Slivers" Oakley, who made one of the big«*c<t hits ever known in London, at the Hippodrome, with his football pantomime, sails shortly for America, to join the Bar- num and Bailey Show. Fred Zobedie. the Four Nevarros and the Eight Cornallas are three of the acts engaged for the Forepaugh-Sells Show for the coming season, which open* about April 10 at Columbus. Ohio* According to present plans'the Wallace- Hagenbeck show won't come any farther Fast this Summer than Williamsport. Tn their efforts to secure Decoration Day in Altoona thev discovered that the Barnum show goes intO that town ahead of that dale and are preparing for a bill-post ing war there, inn. (J. Robinson, Jr., arrived from Europe on the ftsiserifl Augusta Victoria on Tuesday and left for Cincinnati on Wednesday. Sol. Stephen, sis companion on the voyage, stopped over in Philadel- phia to visit the Zoo there for a couple of days and then followed Robinson on the Western trail. By an agreement between Colonel Fred- erick T. Cummins and the Cummins \^ild West Exhibition Company, for which lat- ter, through action of Cummins, a receiver was appointed last week, the receiver was discharged February 22 at Ashtabula, O., and the custody of the company's prop- erty turned over to Walter L. Main, the principal stockholder, who is to see all debts liquidated. One of the reasons for the alleged enmity of the Barnum and Bailey folks for Paw nee Bill, outside the ordinary sim- ilarity of the attraction to their Buffalo Bill organization, is the announcement that Pawnee Bill has entered into an agreement with Arthur Voegtlin, owner of the copyright to the title "The Great Train Robbery," by which he is given the exclusive use of the name for open air attractions. There has beens a change of plans of the Barnum and Bailey directorate with icgard to the double somersaulting auto- mobile. The novelty was controlled by Ben Thompson, late of the Wallace man- agement, but was never absolutely per- fected. Thompson financed the idea and after killing one man and burning up a lot of money, Thompson remarked to a friend that he wished he had never seen the thing. Barnum and Bailey have, however, im- ported from France a mechanical device that permits an auto to leap through space in a manner calculated to thrill the most jaded speefcator. 'Uncle John" Rivers, the veteran circus down, i* dead in San Antonio, Tex., after 40 years of life as a circus performer. "Uncle John" came to this country in '56 from London, England, and was said to be the dean of the circus fun-makers in point of service and age. He was eighty year* old at the time of his death, and served his apprenticeship with the trav- eling organizations in the time when trooping under canvas was a good d*al rougher life than it is now. He retired to San Antonio several years ago and was self supporting as long as his health re- mained. In his last illness the old man was cared for by local artists and friends. An oldrtime circus man, seated in the Mctropole Hotel the other day, related among other reminiscences, the following: In the davs of the John O'Brien Circus, some thirty years ago, the show was having a siege of hard luck, and as a con- sequence, were on short rations. When- ever the bell rang for meals there was necessarily a mad rush for the cook tent. During one of the wild scrambles one of the canvastnen stubbed his toe and fell Hat on his face. He rose and slowly re- traced his steps in a most dejected mood. From the eating place a voice yelled: "Hey, loll, ain't \.r coming?" The un- fortunate answered: "What's the use— it's t«»o lite."