Variety (November 1908)

VARIETY ARTISTS' FORUM THE WOMAN IN VARIETY Coaflne yew letters U 150 word* and write on eae slds of paper only. AaMysseos cesasaaalcatleas wlB net be prlated. Nasae off writer mult bo signed and b« hold !■ strict eoafldeacs, If desired. Tampa, Flm., Nov. 7. Editor Vabhtt. I am very tony anyone hat roasted the time of the "Empire Theatrical Exchange" of Atlanta, Ga., booked by Geo. B. Green- wood. We were signed by the above Sept. 19 to open Sept. 21 for nine weeks. He has more than lived up to the contracts he gave us. All I can o&y is that real artists will be treated right. We were warned by a number of peo- ple to stay away from Tampa, as we would be handed a lemon. We used our own judgment, came down here and are thoroughly satisfied. Oeo. R. Raymond (Raymond and Bess). Grand Forks, N. D., Nov. 8, 1008. Editor Vjjuety. Replying to your request for people who played Mr. Greenwood's time in the South, I wish to state that I played several weeks of it, and I never played any cir- cuit that treated me any better. I have played some of the best. They paid me what I asked, and my time was consecutive. If an artist has the goods they get treated right by Mr. Green- wood. I am,now closing a ten weeks' en- gagement for Mr. Goudron and open Mon- day, 0, 1908, on Webster's time for ten weeks. You can publish this if you care to. May Hamilton, "The Paper Queen." [The above letter and that from Ray- mond and Hess are printed as likely un- biased judgment of the "Greenwood time." A great many other letters from artists who have played in the South have been received. They all coincide that if the act is good there is no complaint to be found in the treatment. W. S. Cleveland, who books from New York for the Greenwood Circuit, says in answer to the statement of "A Vaudeville Promoter" (which ap- peared in Variety Nov. 7), that this par- ticular person was refused time by him and may have a grievance for that reason. Mr. Cleveland also says that as he has never traveled over the Greenwood Circuit he has no- personal knowledge of the houses, and though unable to supply spe- cific information on these points, he does know thaj there have been no complaints received by him from acts booked through his office—and Mr. Cleveland very sen- sibly remarks that no one expects when going South to play a Williams-Hammer- stein chain of houses.—Ed.] Nov. 11, 1908. Editor Variety: I would like to set your Hazleton, Pa., correspondent right. We were the head- line attraction at the Family Theatre there last week, not Bates and Neville as stated. The corespondent could have readily seen this if he knows anything about a program (which I doubt) by look- ing at the listing. Luoo and Luce. The St. Kilda, 163 West 84th Street, New York, Nov. 10. Editor Variety. For the past five months we have been advertising in your paper, and we feel as though we would like to tell you what enormous gains we have had from so doing. Visitors to this country from Europe, and as far away as Australia, have come to our house desiring rooms with a copy of Variety in their hands. On each occasion they came direct from the steamers. So you can see Variety travels somel We have kept our house completely filled ever since we commenced using Variety as an advertising medium, and we want to express our congratulations on the success and fame of your valuable publication. It certainly is "the" paper. The St. Kilda. Boston, Mass., Nov. 10. Editor Variety: Our act, "A Timely Awakening/ 1 is being pirated under the title "When Hubby Realizes" by Wm. Abrams and Agnes Johns, at present in the West. This is tha second time these people have done this. The first time they claimed they had bought the act from a newspaper man in 'Frisco, and then made arrangements with me for a certain time to use the act. This time there is no excuse, and I shall take immediate steps to prosecute them. The act is now leased for that territory to responsible people, Mr. Alexander Von Mitzel and Miss Isis Maynard, and they are the only ones authorized to use it. Abrams and Johns wired me for the rights to my act, and I wrote it was already leased. My informant says they are using the act word for word and played it recently at the Empire, San Francisco. This is an out-and-out case of piracy and of interest to every vaudeville artist who fortunately may have desirable ma- terial. I understand that there are many similar cases to this in the West. Each time this happened to me I have been in- formed by brother artists. Pardon my using so much space, but I know Variety is anxious to turn a search- light on all such offenders. Oarleton Macy. Montgomery, Ala., Nov. 8. Editor Variety: Regarding the "Greenwood time" or Empire Theatrical Exchange at Atlanta, Ga., I wish to say we have found Mr. Greenwood himself a very fine fellow. I know him personally, and we have played most all his time, including that booked by Burgert at Tampa. It is at Tampa that all the trouble oc- curs. I have never heard any complaint from an act until striking Tampa. But, thanks to Variety, Mr. Greenwood has taken the Tampa end up, and I think there will be at least less cause for com- plaint in the future. You may publish what I say if you wish, but would prefer you to omit my name. BY ANNA MARBLE. Miss Richfield, of Ryan and Richfield, is one of the pleasantest women, although I must form my judgment entirely within the limitations of the "drawing-room in- terior" where the delightful Hagger-tays hold forth. I do not know Miss Rich- field, but I have long admired her quiet, almost placid demeanor. She gives the suggestion of being a nice comfy per- son to live with. Her imperturbability makes a capital foil to the nervous eager little Irishman depicted so faithfully by Mr. Ryan. What a wee bit lassie is Daisy Lloyd I Considering that fact, the shapeliness of her -er-er black silk stockings is some- thing of a surprise when she sings the "fishing" song. Come to think of it, they were blue silk—and most attractive. One could not help surmising what kind of hoisery they might have been, however, if one of our own marcelled show girls had been given the golden opportunity which Miss Lloyd's ditty offers. Can't you see them? Spangles and lace inserts all over the place! When I grow tired of taking my type- writer in hand to earn an honest nickel, I shall exchange it for the wash-tub and apply for the privilege of "doing up" the stage wardrobe of the Bogannys. It must cost a mint of money to have those im- maculate white bakers' suits laundered. Of course they can't possibly wear the costumes more than one performance with- out re-laundering, and then there are so many little Bogannys, big Bogannys and medium-sized Bogannys. A Boganny laundry! —There's Mill - ions . Amelia Caire might add an imitation of Margaret Illington in "The Thief" to those of her repertoire. She is very like Mrs. Dan Frohman. When Miss Caire puts en a wig, however, the likeness is lost. Miss Caire could give a few speeches from the third act climax, where the wife confesses her theft and seeks extenuation. Leila Mclntyre has a voice which is the twin to that of Anna Laughlin. If you had your eyes closed, sure you couldn't tell wan from the other at all at all. It is the speaking voice to which I refer. The resemblance is noticeable in a certain tremulous, juvenile quality, and a cres- cendo and diminuendo in the cadence as it were, so to speak. While Bessie Kyle is an acceptable suc- cessor to the late Miss Havel of O'Brien and Havel, she lacks something of the spontaneous charm of her predecessor and likewise some of the dash and vim. It may be that Miss Kyle has not yet had the experience to make profit by; but I still remember with pleasure Miss Havel's dainty lingerie and brisk retort to her partner's badinage. Miss Kyle will do well to stick to the light dresses in her ward- robe; they are "livelier" than the black satin which she sometimes wears. se^m managed the wrong way?" Every- one of us feels like that at timet. But in calmer moods we realise it's a poor and false philosophy. That's a stale old prov- erb about the darkest hour being before dawn. I think a more comforting recol- lection is the knowledge that everything changes—everything continues to change —it is a law of Mature. If you are having a streak of hard times, comfort yourself with that assurance as best you can. Daisy Harcourt has grown very stout since she made her debut in America. Now that she has added more eccentrio work to her act, we do not have an opportunity to judge just how much avoirdupois is real and how much assumed, but I wish she would wear at least one pretty short gown. She used to have a very attractive frock of flowered silk, with a skirt that was wired to stand out at the hem in a wavy flounce effect. Of course that fash- ion is out of date now, but she really ought to wear at least one of those "Lotta Faust" effects—if only to offset her funny make-ups. Fearfully and wonderfully made are the lyrics of vaudeville. Yet who would have the heart to point out to one poet that 'Greet" does not rhyme with "beech," to another that "talk" does not rhyme with "New York," or that the word "game," having been used to end one line, cannot be made to rhyme with itself at the end of the line following. Also, "dove" and "above" are not the only words to rhyme with "love," and "girl" has other words for rhyme than "curl" and "whirl" and "pearl." There is an ever-so-con- venient rhyming dictionary, complete in one volume and easy to carry about. I won- der that some of the song writers do not avail themselves of its help. All you have to do is to turn over and find the word for which you desire a rhyme, and there you are, with all the known rhymes for it in the language. And as a good exercise for those who aspire to some in- genuity in their verses I suggest that they look over the rhymes of W. 8. Gil- bert, than whom there has been no greater writer of English lyrics. Study, for in- TIPS: To Mabel Hite: Hope you have a bou- doir done in salmon pink—it's your color. To the women who use a typewriter on the stage: If you don't know how—have some one show you the proper way to operate the machine. Some of you girls attack it as though you were having a fit Don Monroe, the very affable husband of Daisy Lloyd, leaves to-day for Eng- land, where he has managerial interests demanding his attention. Miss Lloyd will follow in about two weeks, finishing her engagement upon the Morris Circuit Nov. 20. She is engaged for Christmas panto- mime in London. A letter received the other day said: "I am worse than discouraged; I can't get hooking, and I am drawing to a point of absolute need. Doesn't everything in life Geo. Ali will retjirn from Kurope next spring, when he will produce two new nets for vaudeville. They are at present in preparation. Mr. Ali sails Nov. 28. going direct to Ix>rulon.