Variety (May 1908)

VARIETY * EMPIRE MEETING IN CHICAGO. Chicago, May 14. A meeting of the Executive Committee of the Empire Circuit was held at the Auditorium Hotel on Wednesday. James J. Butler, Col. James E. Fennessy, Her- man Fehr, Henry Whallen and Rankin D. Jones, the Empire Circuit's attorney, were present. The pooling scheme was the principal topic. It is said about twenty-five shows will be included. It is expected that about all on the Western Wheel, except- ing those belonging to the Miners, Thos. W. Dinkins, William B. Watson and M. M. Thiese, will join. The pooling matter will be placed in the form of a corporation, with a capital stock of $1,000, and to be known as 'The Empire Circuit's Show Company." It will be incorporated in this State. Mr. Butler will be the president, Mr. Fehr vice- president, and the directors are Messrs. Fennessy, Rife (Geo. W.) and Whallen. The purpose of the company will be given as for the betterment of shows and sav- ing in equipment by co-operation. One decision of the Executive Commit- tee was that all Western theatres should be beautified and the shows materially strengthened. The routing of the Western shows for next season will be done under the direc- tion of the Executive Committee. Other details discussed related to matters of a personal or sociable nature. The prospect for general improvement of the Empire Circuit was made apparent, and the meeting of the Executive Com- mittee Beems to have been somewhat in confirmation of the previous reports spreading regarding the intentions of the Western Wheel for next season. DES MOINES REPLACES ST. JOE. Chicago, May 14. The Empire, Des Moines, has been added to the Western Burlesque Wheel, and the shows will play there next season as a week stand under a guarantee. St. Joe will be dropped from the circuit to make the place. CHICAGO GENERAL HEADQUARTERS. Chicago, May 14. The impression here is that the Empire Circuit (Western Burlesque Wheel) will make Chicago its general headquarters very soon. Most of the shows will organize from here, excepting those that may have to open in or around New York. GERARD'S OWN SHOW. Barney Gerard, who for the past three years has been managing burlesque attrac- tions for the Miners, will take his own show over the Empire Circuit (Western Burlesque Wheel) next season. The Gerard offering to burlesque patrons will be called "Follies of the Day," writ- ten by Mr. Gerard, with music composed by Albert Von Tilzer. It will be in two acts, and is a piece Gerard has had stored in his trunk for a year past. The two acts are respectively named "Town Talk" and "The Big Election." In the first part there will be a miniature revue. Sam Sidman, now engaged for the Shubert summer revue at the Casino, will be Mr. Gerard's principal comedian. West and Williams have also been engaged. WESTERN WHEEL RUMORS. Chicago, May 14. Following the meeting of the Empire Circuit's Executive Committee at the Auditorium, Wednesday, it became ru- mored that a new Western Burlesque Wheel theatre in Rochester, N. Y., has been planned. The Corinthian in that city now plays Eastern Wheel shows. '• '• •■ It was also rumored that the M*iners would be asked to change the policies of the Bowery and People's Theatres, New York; the People's to play burlesque, and the Bowery, Hebrew drama, converting the London also into an Italian theatre. If that occurs, James H. Curtin, present manager of the London, will probably take the People's. The information is not definite, and this is the same rumor which spread at the close of the season last year without eventuating up to now. There is a report that the Empire Cir- cuit people are figuring with real estate men for a site in the "Loop District" here. The location is not hinted at. PLIMMER REMAINS INDEPENDENT. A proposal to have Walter J. Pliramer return to his old position as booking agent for the Empire Circuit Company attractions has fallen through. Mr. Plim- mer was invited to join the New York of- fices of the Western Burlesque Wheel sev- eral weeks ago, and after considering this week decided to retain his independent agency. He has already booked some bur- lesque engagements as an independent. REBUILDING IN DULUTH. Although the Metropolitan Opera House, playing Western Burlesque attractions will be torn down shortly, that circuit will retain its stand in Duluth, Minn. The old burlesque house is to be supplanted by a railroad office. Marshall & Nash, who hold the Duluth franchise of the Empire Circuit, have al- ready taken title to a new site on the principal street of the town and by Fall a new house will be ready for use. MOTHER RECOMMENDED ACT. Al Reeves' mother, a gentle, elderly lady, with no ingrained knowledge of the show business, resides in Brooklyn. Recently Mrs. Reeves attended a benefit tendered over in the Baby Borough. She much enjoyed the performance, and after her return home indited the fol- lowing letter to Al: This afternoon I saw a performance, and in it were a couple of young men whom I liked very much. I am writing you to say that perhaps you might make use of them. I am sure they will be satisfactory. They were very good and funny. I don't know where you can find them, but their names are Montgomery and Stone. VAUDEVILLE IN BURLESQUE HOUSE. Chicago, May 14. The Gayety, Milwaukee, will play vaude- ville during the summer, commencing May 17. The theatre closed its burlesque sea- son on the Eastern Wheel two weeks ago. Paul Goudron, of the Sullivan-Considine circuit, is booking the vaudeville. "ADVANCE AGENT"IN BALANCE. Chicago, May 14. Among the innovations to be deter- mined by the Empire Circuit (Western Burlesque Wheel) this summer, will be the probable abolition of "advance agents," or "business managers," who ar- range the preliminaries for the shows along the circuit. The matter came up for discussion at one of the executive meetings, and it is said that a number of the owners of at- tractions favored the idea, which will be more fully defined and debated at the general meeting to be held on June 17. The managers say from $1,500 to $2,000 can be saved for each show a season, without affecting the patronage. The plan to be adopted in the event of the movement being passed is simple; the manager of a show will order and send his own paper, hotel list and other de- tails to the manager of the company a week ahead, and on arrival in the city lay out the printing for the house to handle. | j 4, This method is to be followed all sea- son, and for the extra work the man- ager with the show will be endowed with a $5 weekly raise in salary. The amount saved during the forty weeks, it is esti- mated, will pay for a part of the equip- men or "extras," or used to better the shows: While the report appears au- thentic, no information as to the pos- sibility of the plan going through has been secured. BURLESQUE RUMORS THICK. Cincinnati, May 14. E. D. Stair, of Stair & Havlin, has been in the city, conferring with Col. J. E. Fennessy. With Mr. Stair was Geo. H. Nicholai, the general manager of the S. & H. chain. It is said the conference had naught to do with burlesque, all the parties men- tioned being interested in the Lyceum and Heuck's Opera House here. Chicago, May 14. It was reported here this week that E. D. wStair, of Stair & Havlin, and Rich- ard Hyde, of Hyde & Behman, had an ap- pointment to meet in Chicago last Mon- day. They did not, however. There are any quanity of rumors afloat regarding burlesque connections next sea- son. DRAWING BURLESQUE DATES. The date for the annual drawings have been set on both the Eastern and West- ern Burlesque Wheels. The Easterners will gather in Brooklyn June 17 to draw for their opening engagements on the circuit next season, the Western people meeting June 20 in New York. The Empire Circuit (Western), accord- ing to one of its prominent members, will have thirty-nine or forty consecutive weeks to draw for, including three newly built theatres—Schenectady, Brooklyn (Flatbush Avenue) and Williamsburg. Geo. Fuller Golden was handed a check for $10,000 the other day by Geo. M. Cohan for an advertisement in Mr. Gol- den's forthcoming book, "Miladi Vaude- ville." BURLESQUE ON PACIFIC COAST. The Orpheum Circuit people are about to try an experiment in Los Angeles which may result in the establishment of a burlesque circuit on the Pacific Coast. "Billy" Lytell, who wrote the present ve- hicle of "Tne Behman Show," will leave New York early in June with a complete company to put on stock burlesque in the Los Angeles Grand Theatre. Clarence Drowns, the Orpheum's Coast manager, was in New York until a few days ago completing arrangements for the new policy, he left for the West this week. It has been the custom to play melo- drama in the Los Angeles house part of the year, but this season attractions of that sort did not draw well, and in search of a substitute Mr. Drowns hit upon the stock burlesque idea. The scheme has never been thoroughly tried out in Los Angeles, and the Far West is without a burlesque circuit. It has been a pet idea of a number of managers that a "wheel" arrangement in this territory would be a successful enterprise, and if the Los Angeles venture of the Orpheum people succeeds it is possible that other houses will be framed up into a small burlesque wheel with traveling companies for a sea- son of ten weeks or so, with repeats. Mr. Lytell has signed with the Orpheum people for a year, which time has been fixed as the limit of the experiment. He will secure his principals in New York, traveling to the Western city in time to open the season there the last week in June. "BEHMAN SHOW" DEAL OFF. "The Behman Show" will not play on the Madison Square Roof after all this summer unless there is another switch in the arrangements. Jack Singer, the show's manager, imposed a condition be- fore allowing his company to appear at the aerial resort, which Henry Pincus, as one of the Roof's managers, declined to accede to. The present plan now is to organize a musical comedy company, and a piece is being written for the summer season atop the Garden. SCORE SOUNDS PHONY, BUT Washington, May 14. "1—0" is the result given out of the baseball game played here last Saturday by the "Bachelor Club" (Eastern Wheel) against the employees of the Gayety The- atre, where the show played. The "Bachelor Club" nine won. The score sounds "phony," but still it was a game, for these were the players: "BACHELOR CLUB." GAYETY THEATRE. F. Peacock, 8d B. King-. P. F. Henning. P. Havenner. C. J. Ralph. 0. Beaugard. R. F. H. Hawkins, R. F. Decker, 8d B. E. Williamson, 8. 8. Xatifmann, 8. 8. A. Pittman, 1st B. Kelly, 1st B. t. Cohen, C. F. Cavtaine, L. F. P. Apel, 2d B. O'Brien, 2d B. R. Ash, L. F. Charles, C. F. J. Ralph Is reported for single rnn scored. Hits: B. C„ 5; O. T., 3. Errors—B. C, 2; O. T.. 4. Twobase hit, Ralph. Time: 1 hr. 45 mlns. Happy D. Hill is building an amuse- ment park at Morris, HI. It will be known as Grace Park. PICTURES KEEP COLUMBIA OPEN. Cincinnati, May 14. The opening of the Grand Opera House with moving pictures and four vaudeville acts for the entertainment will probably cause the Columbia to extend its season at least four weeks, and perhaps as long as the Grand holds a vaudeville act.