Variety (April 1932)

26 VARIETY VA U D E V I L L E Tuesday, AiirU 26, 1932 4 RKO N. Y. Wks/lis Siimmw^ ^ 11)51 ps. to Palace and Hipp May Go Dark Four weelcs fn New York Cl.tj') th€ lowest figurfe for the principal vaudcvi!!^ circuit in .more than 20 years, will be reached May 13 when RKO's Coliseum, «6th Street, Ken- more and Flushing theatres drop stage shows. A three, week shrink- age Occurs elsewhere on the RKO book, with Akron and Youngstown going straight pictures next week and Washington having folded Fri- day (22). These houses go straight pictures. . , .. The bnly New- York . RKO thea- tres remaining in vaudeville after May 13 will be the Palabe, Albee, Hippodrome, iladlsoh and Fordham. A possibility of only t\Y"0 weeks In New Yprk duping the summer looms through the likely closing of the Hippodrome, and a policy • (Continued on page 55) Rich Fills in Layoff At Cleveland Cafe Cleveland, April 25. Larry Rich's viiude unit went Into the Golden Pheasant, cafe, rather than layoff here. With Jack Ajlbln's band con- tracted for another week, cafe, of 600 capacity had the biggest nut in it^ history but broke even. Rich splits this week between Youngs- town and Akron for RKO. Drop 3 Asst. Bookers Frank Sullivan, with the booking office for 17 years, was among three asisistant bookers let out by RKO last Veek. Others were Tommy Reilly and Ernie Morton. , Usual agency franchises were olTered to all three along with dis- missal notice. RKO VAI!DBV1I.LE INTACT TT (Wteli April 30). Lw A|iB«lw THE ORANTOS vi^cads Up" World'»-OnIy-Double-Perch r Act (Direction of Jack Welner) MA S t E R S ■AND . GRAYCE In "GESS WHO'TIS (Dir. Je88 Freemnn-Chas. Morrison) An ArtlatlV Idea From Par'la ' '♦LIVING JEWELRY" with HOOVER and CAMP . Evelyn, singer and .Stanley Slnimone (Direction of Chaa. Morrison) DON ZELATA The Philosophical Pianist (Direction 'of Weber-8lnrion> KKO VAUUeVlM.E INTAri 76 (Wetk AbHI 23), Le» Awwiw. CalH. VERNON RATHBURN "The Prince of Rhythm" AND HIS SAX-O-TBTTK (Dir. Harry Ward—Max Gordon) EDITH BOW With Her "MAN TROUBLE" Songs' by Jean Paurel (Direction of Lee Stewart) THE ELECTRIC TRIO Was and Lisa Adams . Bernice Mershon (Direction of Harry Fitzgerald) DOCTOR ROCKWELL QUACK-QUACK-QUACK (Direction ot Harry Fitzgerald) RKO VAI'DEVILLE INTACT . 83 • (We«fc April 30), 8«aHI«. Waih. ; BOSETTE and LUTIMAN In "Dance Storiei" With OBACE & BEATRICE WTUE (Dir. of Max Tlahman, Plunkett office) DE YITO and DENNY • with DOT STEVENS in "Lady Harr'oper't Reception" (Direction of (jbas. Wilshln) LITA GREY CKAPLIN "The Charming Chantrei*" Personal Mgt. Ntcl^olatf Oyory (Bo'oked by Weber-Simon) BKO VAUDEVILLE INTACT 15 . (Week. April 30), Salt Lalce CHy HAZEL MANGEAN'S GIRLS with ADELITA TATALI 4 SPBEDSb-AND NO DRAKES (Dir. of John HlcUey-Jock Curtis) HOWARD-FINE-HOWARD "THE THREE LOST SOLES" with JACK WALSH (Direction of Blondell & Mack) THE DECEITFUL ENTERTAINER FRED KEATING In Spite 6t "Tlie Gr^at Alexander** (Dir. ChnB. H. Allen—Hi. B. Bcntham) ADELAIDE HAL L 'The Crooning Blackbird' Personal Mgt. Nicholas Qyory (Direction of Weber-Slmion) BUO VAI'DEVILLB INTACT 14 (Week April 30), Denver BOB STICKNEY with LILLIAN ATLIN ill "UP A TREE" ■ iDlfw-tlon of Harry FltMer«ld) MAKER and REDFORD IN "The Ear Bender'* (Dlrccllou or .Jack Curtli) BKO VAUUBVILLB INTACT 8S . (Week April 30). Taeemi. Waah. GLOEY E. LEE and HABBIS TWINS TWO JACKS AND A QUEEN .Ofp PEP (Direction of Sam Shannon) V I C 01 I V E R Europe's Oift to America with HAROOT CRANGLB ; (Direction 6t Phil Offln) CASSV MACK and OWEN "On the Up and Up" (Direction of Sam Tlahman) NAN H A L P E R IN Tells You About Women Here, there and. Every where (Direction of Jack Welner) RKO VArOEVlLLE INTACT 81 (Week April 30). Portland. Ore. JOY FINLEY. rex WALTER (Mouse) POWELL Benny's Bad Boy and . "RED" PEPPER . The Cayenne Comedian Tlie Three riayboya DENNY LYNCH MYRL ALDERMAN RAY EHRHART The UUimate in Barmonv BENNY EROFF and Ilia Famooa Oroheatra Pertonal Ugr .Oeoric Wood (Dlr, Bin McCaltery-Leo FItzEerald) THE WORLD FAMOUS SINGER'S MIOGETS OF 1932 'Dlnrilon oi \\(dlen-Srliiiltri KUU VAUIIEVILI.E IMACl IS (Week April 30), Oakland. Calif. . CHAPPELLE . CABLTON "On the Stairway" (Direction of Marty Fbrklna) KRUGEL —RODLES 'drunk"again' (Direction of O- L. Oz—Morrta A Oz)' DON RUIZ and BONITA , The South -Amerioati Dancers ■ with SultRiia and Vlvera Marie Potrl—At the Flano (Direction of Harry A. Romm) FRANK LIBUSE The Colonel of American Nuts 'xoith Myrtle Lanaing (I'erBonnl ^fB^., Jesso H, Martin) BKO VAVDEVILCE INTACT 88 (Week April 30). 8eiiBi Bend. Ind. THE GENIAL ROTUND R I C H with CHERI ■ "MlsB Pert of Paris" TOMA GENARO South Amerlca'a Newest Dancer. TOMMV LONG ."The Elongated .Expreaa of Comedy" AL HODGES "Oklahoma's Ambassador" ENGLAND ONG The Chinese Helen Kane JOE BELL 'The Voice with a Heart" GILBERT LAWRENCE ^nd Hla-Snake Hlpa And the RICH RHYTHM BAND (Direction of Blondiell & Mack) RKO VAUDEVILLE INTACT 87 (Week April 30), MInneapolU. Minn. THREE BREDWINS Athletic Comica . (Direction of Hugo. Morris) MADELINE PATRICE Protege of the Late EniHco Caruso (Direction of' Morris & Oz) NAYAN PEARCE and JAY VELIE in "RED RHAPSODY" Boyd Davis, llual'cal Director (Direction of Ed. S. Keller) AMERICA'S EGOTIST Harry J^Conley In Person (Direction of Curtis & Allen) RKO VACDEVILLB INTACT 86 (Week April 30). St. Paul, Minn. The Dark Cloud of Joy BILL ROBINSON IN "HOT FROM HARLEM" WITH JOHN MASON PUTNEY DANDRIDGE MYRA JOHNSON NAOMI PRICE FERDIE LEWIS J ELI SMITH JACKIE YOUNG • aiid "THE BROWN BUDDIES" CiioniB of Eighteen ' ' (Direction of Marty Forklna)' RKO VAUDEVILLE INTACT 84 (Week May 7). Seattle, Wath. The Mirth Provokera . ' ot a Nation I d L S E N J 0 HMO N .'and Their "ATROCITIES OF 1932" 22 Nuts of All Kinds All WUh One Idea and One Purpon* — To Make Tou Laugh— DATA and BESSIE KAPPLE ''Two Beautiful Dancing Singers"- The Eight Mlss-takeb ' "Xestllng . In a Bouquet of: Idiots" With. Moore and Shy, Geo. Moore, Joe Perry, Sidney Olbson, Gibson, Uibeon. Gibson, Olbson and Gibson Also "Speedy" Paterson And Sundry Nuts—too Numerous to . Mention !l ' No Wholesale Exchange of NBC-RKO Air-^Vaude Talent, Says Aylesworth der as J^ect Harry Hollander, v/i\o has been in charge of the Artists Booking Olllce, Publlx's own act a-Sency, Is no longer with-the organlzatlo>n. H left Friday (22) for "a vacation In Bermuda and. upon return will en- ter, the agency field. He will tie with Ton) Rockwell from reports. As a result of the liollahder elimination Boris Morros, produc- tion-music head of Publtx, tempo- rarily takes charge of the A. B.: O. Tom Shayon, assistant to Morros, resigned last week to Join Fan- chon & Marco. a;3 assistant to Jack ^Partington. ir-t: On Testing Tab Musicals, Plays Publlx Is apt to branch out ex- tensively its use of condensed- versions of both legit plays and mu- sicals for-its sta,ges. On top of re- cent experimentation with boiled down musical shows in various spots; mostly big kieys, attention Is now being directed to straight plays. A condensed version of 'Madame X' a week ago was. played for a half week In both. Walliston and Salem, Mass., as . a ' test. Results were only fair and this cut down version of the well knoWn play has not been booked further. Publlx, however, believes it Is on the right track. One executive opinion is that if the tabs are to be used they will have to be shortened versions of such oldtliners as 'Old Homestead,' 'Uncle Tom's Cabin,' etc. or of mod- ern shows. .For the smaller spots, it is believed that either in these classes would prove bigger draws than a play of the type and period of 'Madame X.' Decision on musicals as a definite draw, and in consideration of their cost, is still somewhat indefinite as far as Publlx Is concerned. Idea there is that they have proven themselves spotty for business. As a result Publlx is proceeding cau- tiously, on these bookings, and pick- ing its spots for a thorough test. Dallas, April 25. Publlx is routing a couple of .tabs as boosters for sonie of the smaller Texas keys. Shows are Ches Davis' 'Chicago Follies' and 'Showboat Minstrels.' Latter headlined by Billy Dauss and Jimmy. AUard, former P-P m. c. Towns selected, Austin, Waco, Galveston, Corsicana, Wichita Falls and Tyler. Fallow Replaces Benson As Club Dept. Head Edgar Benson has left as head of RKO"s New York club department. Sam Fallow,, fornier indie booker, takes his place. When retained recently by Mar- tin Beck, during a general shaving of expenses in the club dept., Ben- SQ/i was taken off the salary list and placed on a . drawing account and commission basis. Commish arrangement is understood to pre- vail for Fallow. Chicago, April 25. " Tom Powell becomes head of the local RKO club department. He succeeds Ralph Williams, who held the job for about two months. Powell is the former Keith agent here and recent manager of the RKO hou.<!e in Madison. Ebsens In Show Vllnia and Buddy Ebscn, form- erly with the Bonny Davis unit, go into the 'Fourth IJltle Show' this summer, It;s their flrpt legit attempt to- gether. Air Pair's Breakin Smith Bros., who have broadcast for the cough-drop hour, will show Tor RKO Ihrongh Webor-Simon. Reports that with M. H. Aylea-. worth as president. of RKO therer win be. a wholesale use . of RKO acts on NPC as sustalninig talent, Is denied by Aylesworth. . : The report resulted from con, tra-cts between RKO acts whereby the latter caii be called upon to ap, pear before the mike without addi- tional salary. Aylesworth declares thalt at present there Is no plan to use vaudeville acts on the air to a greater degree than before, or vice- versa. . • -,' Just now be believes the major- ity of vau,devilliS"~aKJts are not ready.- for the ailr. Perhaps In the future, Ayleswbrth stated, RKO ..and NBC may be able to work out a 'plart whereby a wholesale exchange of vaudeville and radio artists will be arranged. CBS Not 'Out' ^ ' Aylesworth's position as presi- dent of ijoth RKO and NBC will, not affect the playing of CBS artists by; RKO, Aylesworth stated! Had NBC. in any manner decided to shut out CBS talent from the RKO vaude theatres, it. would have done so before^ Aylesworth declared . he welcomes the CBS compotition on the air and In theatre bookings .as a healthy sleni Inasmuch as com'- petitlon is Insjalrlng. While admitting CBS has booked, more o£ its radio artists with RKO than has NBC, Aylesworth men- tioned that . NBC has booked more of Its attractions with Publlx than has CBS. The. latter organization,'* were until recently afUliated. ACTORS' 'SEMI-UNION' BOOKING THEATRES Los Angeles, April 25. California Artists Protebtiv* Assn., vaude actors' semi-union,' will opicn a booking office next week in opposition to the regular agencies. Books will be in charise of Chris Brown, one time head booker for Sullivan & Considlne. Club claims it has seyerar houses lined up but none .of the downtown vaude houses admit being on the list. Members oiE the CAPA will get dates without paying comrrilssion or booking fee. Club will obtain its revenue from the theatres on a 5% booking commission. At its inception, the club an- nounced that It was a social and welfare organization and would not enter the booking field. No F. & M. Tab Masicals Until Demand Assured 'Los Angeles, April 26. Fanchon & Mxrco has the Amer- ican tab rights to a number of mu-. sical plays, but will start produc- tion on the first of these this sum- mer only if the midget versions, have not lost their popularity by that time. Marco's reluctance to go into this type of entertainment Immediately is his feeling that. It WoiSld be use- leas to produce them for the long circuit tour until it is certain there'll be a sustained, demand for the tabs. Also, P. & M. is at present loaded with material for new units and it will be some weeks before the schedule will allow the inser-i tion of tabs. CABL REITEB DIES Seattle,. April 25. • Carl Relter, veteran showman* died Saturday (23) foUowlng a long period of falling health. He was 62. Apoplexy was the direct cause. For 25 years he was manager of local Orpheum, prior to that with. Orpheum, Kansas City. He re- tired from Orpheum three years ago. Survived by widow, and .son, Bernard. Armand VVith Peabody Los Angeles, April 26. Wlien Eddie Peabody t.'ikes to the road Jh a Fanchon &.Marco unit, ho. will carry Joan Armand as his man- ager and p,a. Armand was with Peabody before the latter wont to Europe,