Variety (August 1907)

VARIETY ■> * ■ m — w- ,-a "! KLAW & ERLANGEk S PLA N OF ORG ANIZATION. Development of the System Under Which the "Advanced Vaudeville" Circuit will be Operated Rapidly Assuming Shape. Managers Engaged. Tho plan of Klaw & Erlanger for the organization of the system under which their vaudeville circuit will be operated was outlined this week by Louis F. Werba. the Klaw & Erlanger general vaudeville representative. The vaudeville business end of K. & E.'s theatrical enterprises will be conducted by the United States Amusement Company, the corporation formed at the time the Shubert affiliation with the "Syndicate" occurred. The general offices of the con- cern will occupy the fifth floor of the New York Theatre building. About seven of- fices are now in use, and other suites on the* floor will be acquired upon the termi- nation of existing leases until the entire flodr will be devoted to the affairs of vaude- ville. Klaw & Erlanger's vaudeville map of the country will be divided into four districts, East, Middle-West;, Far-West and South. Each will have a general manager to cover the territory in his district. For the pres* ent, or at .the opening of the season, Charles P. Salsbury will be stationed in th* 1 Middle-West. Alfred E. Aarons will take temporary charge of the East, but Mr. Aarons* duties when the circuit is in full swing, will be to travel over all districts, impacting the houses, and noting the manner in which ttyey are conducted. kThe Far-West and the South will re- cqite no immediate attention, but will have general managers appointed when theatres •shull have been thrown open for K. & E. vaudeville in them. In addition to the managers who will continue in charge of the legitimate houses -converted into vaudeville, or those who have during the summer shown an aptitude feu- the directorship of the theatres placed in their charge, Klaw & Erlanger will re- quire 12 more, besides 18 stage managers, and 18 orchestra leaders. Negotiations are no^ under way with several seasoned vaudeville people for staff positions, and the following have already been engaged: E. D. Price, Ed. Lester, Melville Stoltz, Louis C. Kilby, Charles A. Williams, A. Coodrich, Ward Johnson, Hugo Marks. William T. C.rover, David Robinson and W. J. Rostetter. Mr. Price will be in charge of the vaude- ville theatres at Philadelphia and Pitts- burg, with assistants for the active man- agement of the houses in both cities. Mr. Kilby, until this week resident manager of Poli's, at Hartford, will have charge •of the Klaw & Erlanger theatres at Springfield and Worcester, Mass., with also an assistant for each. Mr. Goodrich was until recently the stage manager at Percy O. Williams' Al- hambra. Messrs. Johnson, Marks and Ros- tetter are musical conductors. The press work and advertising will be under the general direction of Mark A. Luescher, who will have for assistant. E. Lawshe. formerly dramatic critic on the Louisville "Courier Journal." The press department will be sub-divided into the ter- ritorial* districts-apportioned for'the houses. Hugh McXally will have charge of the press work for RoSton. In all cities where uiore than one theatre is Operated by K. tic E. for vaudeville, there- wHl be a house manager attached to each, with a super- visory manager over all. An innovation for the systematic con- duct of a vaudeville circuit is an idea of Mr. Werba's, who has planned the entire organization. An entire room will be given up to small wooden compartments, contain- ing a box wherein will be placed all bill- ing matter, and a large aperture for photo- graphs of each act. , Routes and bookings will be arranged by Mr. Werba and William Morris. A secret service system of reporting on acts in and about New York will be adopted, and the identity of the reporters not revealed. They will pay admission to all theatres called at, and report direct to either Mr. Werba or Mr. Morris. A system of dupli- cate reports from house managers will also be made, one to be filed in the offices of the company, and the other for the Morris office. Room 2 on the fifth floor of the New York will be the "Bureau of Information." • Here all callers will be received and ques- tions answered. A room will be set apart for the foreign and*. native departments, and space provided for agents. Mr. Werba, while giving the general de- tails of the organization scheme remarked that he had decided to give one hour each day to personal interviews with artists, agents and anyone who had a complaint or grievance. Mr. Werba said he wished to come into personal contact with vaudevil- lians, and while he- did not care to have his time taken up with trivial matters, if an artist believed he had been unjustly treated, or had good cause for complaint, he (Mr. Werba) wanted to hear the art- ist's side. The hour set apart, commencing with the opening of the season, is from 12 to 1 p. m. Mr. Aarons will have charge of all house staffs, and all reports of consequence on the circuit will be forwarded directly to the general offices in New York. The production branch will be located on the same floor, with Jos. Hart and Her- bert R. (iresham in charge. Mr. Werba said that by next week a full list of the staff engagements could be given out. CONTINUOUS IN BROOKLYN. When the Shubert (formerly Park) opens in Brooklyn on Sept. 2 continuous vaudeville will be played. William T. drover will be the overseer of the Shu- bert, in connection with his duties at the Grand Opera House in the same Borough, but Parker will be the man directly in charge. The leasing of Hyde & Behman's the- atre to the Kasfern Burlesque Wheel has given the K. & E. side the impression that they can do business under an all- day policy at popular prices. SHUBERTS IN LAW OVER LYRIC. Cincinnati, August 2. The suit of the Shuberti against the Hueck Opera House Company to enforce the carrying out of a booking contract, ha9 led to an interesting situation here. The plan of the Hueck people is to secure the cancellation of the contract under which the Shubert-Klaw & Erlanger book- ings are to play the Lyric, and play inde- pendent attraction*. Arrangements are said to have already been made for con- siderable of this sort of time. By this move the Lyric will come into opposition with K. A E. as well as the Slulterts, and it is figured that K. & K. will fight the Lyric to i,he last ditch. •'ames Fennessy is a good fighter also, but it is the local conviction that he will ultimately be forced to put in vaudeville or burlesque at the Lyric. The Hueck Opera House Company really controls four theatres in Cincinnati; the People's (Western Burlesque Wheel), Hueck's Opera House (Stair & Havlin), Lyceum (Stair & Havlin) and the Lyric (independent). The three first named were big money makers last season, but the Lyric showed a loss. The Shubert suit is pending, and comes up for trial Sept. 12. Both sides will offer proof and an immediate decision is looked for. If the Hueck Co. wins, Cin- cinnati is closed to "Advanced Vaudeville," unless a theatre is erected. NEW YORK OPENS AUG. 24. Saturday night, August 24, the first "Ad- vanced Vaudeville" bill will be presented at the New York theatre under the direc- tion of Klaw & Erlanger. AH acts to appear have been notified. The date was at first set for August 20, but the Saturday opening later decided upon. - "FOLLIES" ON THE ROAD. "The follies of 1907" will take to the road after closing upon the New York Roof. The piece will be rewritten to tell more of a story, and the cast changed about. Bickel and Watson will ramain with the show, and this disturbs the heretofore placid course of Bickel, Watson and Wrothe as a trio of comedians. It is un- derstood that Hurtig & Seamon held the men under contract, but when a "certain party" sent word to H. & S. that Bickel and Watson were wanted, Hurtig & Sea- mon remarked not. Grace LaRue will also probably remain. (Jeorge Lederer was under an impression he had engaged Miss LaRue for his forth- coming Chicago production, but Florenz Ziegfeld holds the contract and the girl. "BILL" LYKENS' BENEFIT. "Bill" Lykens is to be the subject of a benefit at Saratoga some time next week. Saratoga was chosen because the horses are running there, and Lykens figures that the presence of the track bookmakers will work 1 to his profit. The agent has been a constant patron of the betting ring this summer and that's why the bookmakers all own automobiles. The occasion being so appropriate, Lykens may appear at his own benefit, featuring his own great bal- lad success. ,, Good-bye > Mr. Greenback." ERLANGER MAY TAKE TRIP. It is within the range of possibilities that A. L. Erlanger will visit Europe dur- ing the month of October. His trip witr have a bearing on vaudeville, and he may be accompanied upon _the sail over by Thos, Rarassford, the English manager, who is expected to arrive here the same month. A confab between the managers will probably precede their departure, and this may have something to do with the head of the '•syndicate" leaving. FOUR MORTONS STARRING. Vaudeville will not see the Four Mor_ tons during the coming season. They have arranged to again go over the legitimate time, and probably "Breaking Into So- eiety y will serve the family for their second year. Tony Hart has been engaged as a mem- ber of the cast. NEW CASINO SHOW. The new piece which will be presented at tho Casino on August 19 will have a sort of "Passing Show" flavor to it. Sydney RosenfelcL >vrote the book, and Ralph Post, Alex. Carr, Jefferson De- Angelis, Blanche Ring, Maude Raymond, Frank Doane and Melville Ellis, besides several others, will have parts. ALICE LLOYD'S DATE POSTPONED. 1 London, July 26. On unquestionable authority it is learned that Alice Lloyd and, the Mc- Naughtons will not appear on your side until March 2, 1908. This postponement was obtained by Klaw & Erlanger, who intend to play the two acts continuouajv once they arrive, placing them in a musical production when they shall have ceased playing-vaudeville time. ■ ' \ » ' ■ • I LAFAYETTE AGAIN IN DETROIT^! Detroit, - Aug. 2. I The Lafayette Theatre, wbitfi playcl vaudeville during the latter part of last season, with bookings from the William Morris office in New York, is being re- modeled, and will again give variety en- tertainments commencing with the sea- son. The bills will class about with those previously played. COLORED COMPANY COMING. Chicago, Aug. 2. The Pekin Theatre (colored) Stock Company, with Harrison Stewart and most of the original cast, is scheduled to soon appear in New York City. They will appear in "Captain Rufus," the piece now running at the local house. The colored organization while in this city hns received much free publicity. RYAN IN FIST FIGHT. Cincinnati, Aug. 1.1 John J. Ryan has been indulging in fist fights lately. Lower Vine street and the Stag Cafe were the scene. Ed Anthony, manager of the Lyric, Cleveland, and sup- posed to be a friend of Ryan's, mixed it up with the former vaudeville "magnate." Bystanders prevented serious damage. The reason for the fracas was lost in the fight.