Variety (December 1907)

VARIETY NOTES. Conn, Downey and Willard were espe- cially engaged for the week of Dec. 16 at the Majestic, Madison, Wis., not playing at Springfield, 111., as routed. This week the act is at the Majestic, Chicago, with the other K. & C. houses to follow. At the Novelty, Brooklyn, on Christ- mas, Ben Blatt, the manager, was called upon the stage, where he was presented with a gift from the house staff. Lewis and Chapin close with the "Fay Foster" show to-night, returning to vaude- ville. Marie Lloyd did not appear at Keith's, Philadelphia, Monday, her absence from the bill having been caused by a slight cold. She played from Tuesday on. Rossi and his Musical Horse did not appear at Bennett's, London, this week, and Mile. Margurite stepped into the va- cancy. Jeanette Lowrie will probably enter vaudeville via Philadelphia, in which city she scored distinctly in Alfred E. Aarons' "Yama." Moran and Wise, a juggling act, no»v with "The Casino Girls," have been booked in vaudeville by the Marinelli New York office to open next July. Welch and Maitland, at present with "Vanity Fair," sail for England at the end of the season under the direction of II. B. Marinelli. Irene Lee and the "Kandy Kiu>" are re- ported to have made a successful open- ing on the Moss-Stoll tour in England. The act first played at Liverpool. The RuSrSell Sisters have bought a dia- logue act in "one," called "The Lady and the Cook," written for them by Ernest L. Waitt, dramatic editor of the Boston "American." Mr. Waitt has also sold a one-act sketch called "The Angel Child" to Stella M. Peet, in which a quartet will be a feature. Lillian Coleman, who was last seen at the Lyric in "The Babes in the Woods," and who ha^ been two years in retirement, will seek to secure vaudeville time with a single singing and dancing specialty. H. Meyers Peters, the comedian, and Mrs. Blanche Day were married recently, and are now visiting relatives in Texas. It was while he was connected with the Majestic, Dallas, Tex., that Mr. Peters met his present wife. Eddie Lane, formerly of "The Stage Struck Kids," has formed a partnership with Jos. S. Watson. Jos. M. Woods will manage the act. George Abel, the English comedian, who has been playing about in America for six months or more, made application for pre- liminary citizenship papers last week. When he has completed the prescribed period of residence he will become an American citizen. INTER-STATE DENIES RUMOR. Chicago, Dec. 27. General Manager E. F. Carruthers, of the Inter-State Circuit, wishes to deny em- phatically the rumor that it* chain of Ma- jestic theatres in the South has affiliated or contemplates booking in conjunction with any Eastern circuit. Other circuits in the Southern territory, Mr. Carruthers says, are regarded as op- position, and will be treated as such. Mr. Carruthers adds that Jan. 13 the New Majestic, Chattanooga, will open un- der his own direction and control, playing the same acts as the Inter-State houses. A new vaudeville theatre at Oklahoma City will be added to the Inter-State next season. The only vaudeville in the South which might be regarded as substantial opposi- tion to the Inter-State through being lo- cated in that territory is the present and proposed ventures of the lately formed Weber & Rush-Wilmer & Vincent com- bination. ON FIIvST AND LAST BILLS. There will be but one act on the open- ing of "Advanced Vaudeville" at the New York Theatre to play at the close of that entertainment in the same theatre. Grace Hazard has the honor. Miss Hazard was the second number of the first program at the New York, in her "Five Feet of Comic Opera." Commencing with January 20, marking the beginning of the last week of variety shows in the New York, Miss Hazard will again appear, having played continuously on the Klaw & Erlanger Circuit since it opened. CHARITY FUND BENEFIT. The benefit for the Charity Fund of the White Rats of America will be held at the Grand Opera House, Brooklyn, Jan. 5. One of the largest programs of "all- star" acts ever presented around New York City will appear for the charitable cause. PAT ROONEY WASTES NO TIME. Rooney and Bent played at Poli's, Worcester, last week, coming into New York to visit at their new home on Man- hattan avenue over Sunday. While in the city "Pat" found time to reduce to manuscript two songs which had been bothering his musical mind for some time. They are called "I'd Like to Sit and Look at You" and "Babyland," both written in Pat's best style. One will probably be made a "number" in a Broad- way production. While in the city Pat found time to decline an offer from Charles Dillingham for Rooney and Bent to strengthen his "Lonesome Town" in Chicago. With the coast clear, Pat and his wife, Miss Bent, trundled on to Poli's, Water- bury, where he discovered last Wednes- day what an awful day Christmas can be in certain places, Waterbury not excepted. Two shows daily will be the vaudeville program at the Fifth Avenue when it re- opens with variety shows on Jan. 0. Mov- ing pictures and vaudeville, making a continuous entertainment, will be the policy at the Twenty-third Street house, with price/! set at 10-20-30. "The Song Binls," Eva Tantruay and "The St ;i r Bout" will likely he the features of the opening bill at the Fifth Avenue. WHOLESALE INDICTMENTS IN KAN- SAS CITY. Kansas City, Dec. 27. The Grand Jury here returned 938 in- dictments, mostly for Sunday law viola- tions. Of the number, sixty-five were against theatrical people for violations last Sunday. The "Colonial Belles" played the New Century (Western Burlesque Wheel) and escaped the first batch of indictments, for the reason that none of the players' names were printed on the programs. Fictitious names were given instead. These were included in the lists made out by the marshal and all Kansas City is laughing at the performance of the Grand Jury re- turning indictments against "Mr. Don't Care," "Mr. Young Sleuth," "Mr. Can't Explain," "Miss Led," "Miss Used," "Miss Construe," "Miss Fortune," "Miss Calcu- late," etc. J. R. Donegan, manager of the New Century, was called again before the Grand Jury and aga«? r«f»sen* to testify after being kept waiting in the ante- room four hours. Mr. Donegan has al- ready been indicted for alleged Sunday violation five times. ANOTHER SHOW FOR PANAMA. Eugene Dial, of Dial & Armstrong, will shortly send an American specialty show and circus into Panama, for which he has secured a Government permit. The show will travel under canvas, the grounds for the tent being furnished by the Isthmian government free of cost. Todd Siegrist recently went into the same country with a circus. He has been there now for three weeks, and reports which have come North indicate phenom- enal business. Beside the vaudeville and circus acts with the Dial show, an airship and balloon leaper will be carried. Mr. Armstrong, of the firm, left for Panama two weeks ago to look over the ground. LES TROMBETTAS GOING BACK. The Italian-French act known as Les Trombettas, playing at Haramerstein's this week, will return to their foreign home the early part of January. Lea Trombettas were booked by Percy G. Williams when the manager was abroad last summer. Mr. Williams wanted to en- gage the act for twelve weeks at the time, but over four were refused, Mr. Trombetta remarking the vaudeville com- petition over here would be so keen he would prefer to speculate on future time after the engagement. With the closing of the vaudeville op- position there has been no competitive bid- ding for the further services of the act. HOLIDAY BARGAIN SALE. "Two songs for $1 or four for $1.50" is the scale of prices at which one FTed W. Martin, a Brooklyn (X. Y.) agent, offers the services of "Little Elsie" Martin, a young singer of illustrated songs. In a letter to Hen Blatt, manager of the Noveltv, Williamsburff, Mr. Martin say*: "I am now manager of 'Little Elsie' Mar- tin, who has just returned from Canada. 'Little Elsie' will be open f«>r engagements until Jan. 1, 1D08. After that her time is all filled. Play her week of Dec. 10 and you will book her a return date for Christmas week to crowd your house. Two songs, $1; four songs, $1.50. For one week only.' »» "HIGH SCHOOL GIRLS." After struggling along at a low level of entertainment through fifty minutes of the first part, "The High School Girls," wake up and put over a screaming burlesque that keeps the audience on tiptoe of interest to the final curtain. "The Mayor of Nowhere" is the first piece. It tells an uninteresting story and the comedy bits interspersed through the action somehow miss fire. Whatever is of value in the comedy "bits" is due to Mat Kennedy as the Englishman. There are a few bright flashes in his work, but for the most part the proceedings are very dull. Thomas Duffy plays a German comedy role in the familiar way and Robert Athon handles the "straight" rather more smooth- ly than the average. Maida Dupree works very hard with her dances and shows more changes of costume than any of the other women principals. She has good ideas of burlesque dressing, getting away from the glaring effects, but she affects heelless slippers which rather take away from the attractiveness and trimness of her appearance. Her musical numbers go nicely in the first part, but she fares rather badly with an "audience song" in the olio. This is more the fault of the song than of the singer. Jeannette Young has a brilliant soprano voice (for burlesque), but her knowledge of elocu- tion, stage bearing and the art of making up is not complete. Kitty Sutton has an uncongenial part and did not impress herself upon the audi- ence until she appeared as a "kid" in the burlesque. In this she looks extremely well, handles herself prettily and should have a part in the opener of which she could make something. Hetty Wiora, of the Wiora Sisters, who make up an olio number, contributes an excellent dance in both pieces, and these were really features of the show. Tom Duffy, Pat Hanley, Joe Herzog and Jack Kearns form a quartet. They have very pale and inconsequential parts, but did extremely well in the olio. They dress neatly in well-made Tuxedo coats, but a more up-to-date design in waistcoats would improve their appearance. The chorus of sixteen is one of the best looking and fastest working organizations that has been seen in a local burlesque house for some weeks past and the costum- ing scheme is somewhat above the average in quality and extent. Half a dozen changes are provided for the first part and half as many for the burlesque. Maida Dupree opened the olio with a single act, followed by Robert Athon and Jeannette Young, who offer a* worthless comedy sketch. Athon is a capable come- dian. In other hands it would be a pain- ful iifTair. As it stands it is utterly un- worthy of its principals. With proper ma- terial they would deliver good entertain- ment. Sutton and Sutton have a first rate con- tortion and acrobatic number. Kitty Sut- ton works with a grace equalled by very few women contortionists. Her feats are entirely lacking in the suggestion of gro- tesqueness, so frequent a drawback ^o this sort of work and she dresses pret- tily. The Wiora Sisters close the specialty part with th«ir well-known dancing net. The costuming is pretty, but the trio should by all means substitute some other arrangement for their present awkward and unsightly system of underdressing. Ruth,