Variety (September 1908)

VARIETY LONDON NOTES VARIETY'S LONDON OFFICE. 411 8TEAHD, W. 0. (Mall for Americans ami Ktiro|M>aiiR In Euro|H If ml<lr«nm><l curr VAKIETY, n» nltovo, will ba promptly forwarded.) London, Aug. 27. The management was very quiet about Emma Francis substituting for Maud Al- lan at the Palace Aug. 17. The incident was not noised about until a day or so ago. Miss Francis remains at the Pal- ace until Sept. 12. Then she goes to the Berlin Wintergarten, with Hamburg and Vienna to follow. Week of Aug. 17 Frederick Melville's "Motor Girl" scored at the Coliseum, al- though the style of act is more or less familiar to the Londoners. Hawthorne and Burt were on the same bill, in closing place after a long show. The weariness of the audience worked against their talk, but the dancing gave a strong finish, and they passed flying. Bosanquet is the hit of the Empress, Brixton. The musician was billed for only the Monday matinee, but finished the week. Ike Rose came to town this week and jubilantly announced that while on the Continent he had secured the services of Voight, the Captain of Koepenick, for the music halls over there. Voight is the es- caped convict who, disguised in a uniform, bluffed out the mayor of a Berlin suburb and carried off a considerable sum of money from the safe. He is the talk of Europe just now, having been pardoned by the Kaiser. But according to the press reports, the government has forbidden him to make any public appearance. Still Rose declares he will exhibit the captain, and there the matter stands. Little Tich is waging war against the London Animated Picture Company, seek- ing the aid of the courts to prevent that concern billing him in front of their mov- ing picture theatre in such a way as to make it appear that he is part of the en- tertainment within. The moving picture Company agreed to discontinue the use of the offending paper if the plaintiffs would agree not to force them to pay costs. Tich's counsel refused to consider such a compromise and the case will be fought to a finish. Mitchell and Cain are just playing the last of their thirty weeks' tour on the Moss-St oil tour. They sail for America Oct. 1. Before leaving they will re-engage for an appearance on this side next sea- son. McCarf s Monkeys opened here Monday at the Palace. The next production to be presented by Fred Karno will be named "The Yapps - Yapps." It is now rehearsing. Thirty people are in the company. It is understood over here that Odette Valerie, the "Salome" dancer has not bound herself to appear in American vaudeville. She will appear during early November at the Manhattan Opera House in a grand opera presentation of "Salome," contribut- ing her dance to the production. The United Booking Offices are said to have an option upon her services after such time as Oscar Hammer8tein no longer demands her attendance at his opera house. Daisy Wood is playing the Oxford and South London this week, trying out a few new songs that she is going to spring on the New Yorkers. Hal Godfrey, who opened at the Coliseum August 24, was forced to leave the stage at the night performance when he was taken ill. It is not known as yet whether Mr. Godfrey will be able to finish the week. Horace Goldin repeated his former suc- cesses in this country at the Coliseum last night. Tambo and Tambo did well in an early position, while Truly Shattuck did fairly farther down on the bill. There will be a special meeting of the V. A. F.'s next Sunday (August 30) to discuss (be stand of this body in refer- ence to the intended merger of the man- agers. Joe O'Gorman stated last night that he was not prepared to give a state- ment regarding the organization's plans in case of the merger, but he let it be under- stood that the artists were fully prepared. It was stated at the Morris London office that the Van Diemans (aerial act) were not booked by the Morris office as stated. At this office it was also stated and shown in form of contracts that Will- iams and Tucker are booked through this office for America. Dick Knowles is back at the Tivoli and is the usual big noise at this place. Jim Donovan is back from a few days' trip to Paris. Jim says Paris is the goods, but he says their knowledge of the Irish language is very limited and it is tough when you can cuss so well and nobody understands. Charles E. Evans is in London with his wife, who has not been very well. This is his sixteenth trip abroad and in all this time he has never accepted a foreign en- gagement. Mr. Butt, of the Palace, returns from n three weeks' vacation in the country, August 24. Mr. Scott will retire shortly from the Alhambrn, which house he has managed for years. TWO "DEVILS" IN VAUDEVILLE. There were two "Devils" in vaudeville this week, breaking even with the legiti- mate on the score. "The Devil" with Preston Kendall "showed" at the Dewey for a single per- formance. It is under the direction of Al Sutherland. The other "Devil" played Brighton Beach. I. A. L. NOW MANAGER. Commencing with Tuesday last (Sept. 1), the International Artisten Loge of Ger- many became the manager of the Circus, Dusseldorf, in opposition to J. Gluevk, of the Appollo in that city, who is president of the German Managers' Association, and the leader in the agitation whioh resulted in the I. A. L. declaring a boycott against six German music halls. The sixth to be included and not previously mentioned in the despatches is in Stettin, Director Bar- tuscheck. Advices from Berlin arriving this week say the I. A. L. is resting pending the final action upon the form of contract to be submitted by the Managers' As- sociation as reported in last week's Va- riety. The operation of the Circus, Dussel- dorf, by the Loge, is for an indefinite run. The contract under whioh the I. A. L. obtained the house contains a two weeks' clause. William Berol, brother to Max Konorah, the I. A. L. president, will prob- ably manage the artists' house, if his serv- ices are at present available. Through some of the I. A. L. members holding stock in the Appollo at Dussel- dorf, a confusion of theatre names result- ed, the first information giving the Ap- pollo as the theatre the I. A. L. would direct this month. It is reported from Berlin that the Ger- man managers object more seriously to the activity of President Max Berol-Konorah as the head of the order than any other cause. A proposition was made by the managers to settle all differences if Mr. Konorah would retire. The* Executive Committee of the I. A. L. without con- sidering the offer, tendered the President a vote of confidence immediately. It is said by prominent I. A. L. men that Konorah has done wonders since he returned to Berlin, giving his sole at- tention to the affairs of the Loge. He has had frequent interviews with the Ger- man Minister of the Interior, a circum- stance viewed by the managers as in- credible, although apparent. MAYNE REPLACES WALDO. James Blake, acting for Walter Plimmer, this week appointed Lester Mayne to take charge of Plimmer's vaudeville agency in the Knickerbocker Theatre building, and the office is again running for the first time since Frank Waldo deserted it about a month ago. In a letter to friends in New York Plim- mer declared that when he left New York he had no debts outstanding and that if any had been incurred by his office it was because of unauthorized expenditures by Waldo after his (Plimmer's) departure. Waldo held a power of attorney from Plim- mer to collect between $000 and $700 due the office on back commissions and was to have received half of all profits, paying the entire cost of operating the office out of his percentage. PICTURES IN ROBINSON'S. Cincinnati, Sept. 3. The Casino Company of Detroit has in- augurated the regime of moving pictures in Robinson's Opera House here. Mr. Overpeck, formerly of the English Opera House, Indianapolis, has charge of the en- terprise. The show runs from 1 to 11 p. m. In addition to the pictures two vaudeville acts are given at each show. DANIELS MAKES CLEVELAND SIT UP. Cleveland, Sept. 3. Harry Daniels, manager of Keith's, has caused more talk about town than his hcadliner. For the time being he was his own headliner. It was all because he had commissioned Press Agent Hastings to bring him back some glad raiment while he was in Europe last summer. Hastings executed the order and the result was that when Daniels appeared in the lobby Monday the incoming audience gasped. Daniels wore a curious looking coat with a wide, flowing collar, a> tie of white baby ribbon, lemon colored gloves and a white waistcoat, cut decollete like a so- ciety dam's ball gown and decorated with blue glass buttons. The lobby became so congested finally by the audience stopping to examine this strange phenomenon that Daniels retired to his office and shed his fine plumage, reappearing in everyday garb. DUMONTS FIFTY-FOURTH SEASON. Philadelphia, Sept. 3. The Eleventh Street Opera House (Du- mont's Minstrels) opened for its fifty- fourth season on Monday with a minstrel show along the same lines that has been given at this house for more than a half century. There is probably no other amusement house in the world that can show such a record of continuous man- agement, George W. Barber having been identified with the house for a period of forty years, and Frank Dumont has been there since J885. A new idea this season is the discard- ing of the regulation minstrel first part costume for double-breasted blue coats, white trousers and shoes. Frank Dumont is still the interlocutor, and such favor- ites as Vic Richards, Hughey Dougherty, Gilbert Lossee, Ben Franklin, Jerry Cun- ningham, J. E. Fox, Charles Turner, J. A. Tully, Clifford Wood, J. E. Dempsey, R. Lily, J. Perry, W. Ward and R. Dickson have been retained. New members are Casper Nowak, the midget comedian; Vaughn Comfort, Joe Cheevers, McDevitt and Kelly, Walter Johnson and John E. Murphy. OPTION ON HOWARD AND BARRIS0N. Immediately following the large sized hit scored by Joe Howard and Mabel Bar- rison at Percy G. Williams' Alhambra last Monday afternoon on the occasion of their appearance, Arthur Klein, the Will- iams representative who secured the act for his principal, came out with an an- nouncement that his agreement with How- ard and Barrison carried an optional clause, giving him the further claim to their services beyond the Williams en- gagement. This to contravert the booking by Will- iam Morris of the pair to follow that time. Mr. Klein says he can not see how that can he done, without his consent. Under the circumstances, he also states, he has lost the consent for any engage- ment sounding like "Morris." Mr. Morris stated this week he held an absolute contract with the act, and it would play his houses. Mr. Morris added his contract could be used to prevent the team from playing •'l.-rwhc™ prior to the engagement with him wrre he desirous of taking advanfjti" of the contract's pro- visions in tlii u v-.-p'i't.