Variety (Mar 1936)

♦VARIETY'S* LONDON OFFICII, • m, Mmtla's Mm* Trafalcar Sqaar* INTERNATIONAL SHOW NEWS Telephone Te«*to Bar M41-S04* Cable Address: TAIffOTT, LONDON 73 Marcus Unit Booked-— Showman May Build An- other Sydney Theatre— Mostly . A m e r i c a n and English Acts UNITS EVERYWHERE By Eric Gorrick Sydney, Feb. 5. Sir Ben duller is "returning 1 to his .first love—vaudeville, showman says he.. is convinced that vaude will prove a large factor in the Aus- tralian entertainment field this year, fie is so sold on' the ideia that he is importing the A. B. Marcus show from. Atnerlca for a season starting, next April. Half ah orchestra will make the trip with the unit, rest of the musicians engaged locally to comply with , union ruies'. . At the present time Sir Ben is dickering- with the City on a site for a theatre which he proposes to build here-this year. His g.m. W. J. Douglas,, is now in London, fol- lowing his long .illness in Berlin, Douglas may be well enough to make bookings prior to his return. . Sir Ben points out that the strong local success of vaude and vaude- revue ie due to the fact that the public, with more money to spend, is seelcing Other avenues of enter- tainment, besdes. talkers, and their choice has fallen on vaude. States that vaude-revue in the principal cities of Australia has scored an emphatic success. In Adelaide b'iz with, the George Wal- lace unit .has been very big; In Brisbane a Frank O'Brien unit Is doing well, and in Melbourne Roy Bene, is doing capacity on two-a- day. All these shows are playing in qpposition. to other vaude units without any hurt, to one another. .In. "Sydney *YankT~NeIl is solidly set on two-a-day. 1 Knight mentions that the major element .of success is due to the im-' portation of overseas' acts. Snider-Dean will take over Sir Ben's Apollo, Melbourne, in a few .weeks for pix, but is reported anxious to secure another theatre for the presentation of a vaude policy. Hoyts is also trying a little vaude with pix in some of its Mel- bourne theatres. Acts at present in- clude Long Tack Sam and Argus. Greater Union is not so Interested in vaude just now, but during the visit abroad of Stuart F. Doyle in the hear future some attractions may be booked for a tour of the cir- cuit in conjunction with pix. Several indies are also figuring on breaking into the vaude field, and overtures have been made to Sir Ben Fuller for several of his the- atres in New Zealand, with the Knight not at all anxious to part with any more theatres. Units and acts currently playing here include George Wallace, Frank O'Brien, Roy Rene, Connors-Paul, Sadie. Gale, Argus, Long Tack Sam, Norman Thomas Quihtette, Jean Flbrlan, Croel & Allen, Johnny McGregor, Allen & Breen, Lassetirs, Rene, Charlotte Ayres Co., Angus Watson, Harry- Marconi, Phillis Dixey, Elsie Gilbert, Les Diamonds, Sanderson, Orlandos, Ardini Trio, and Maudie Edwards. Every incoming English and American boat brings a fresh load of performers for an Australian tour, with this year expected to see vaude and vaude-revue at the zenith of success. What Hurt Paris, Feb. 26. Local actor named Lyjo signed a dozen acts for five performances at the small Salle d'lena, profits to go to stage charities for which Lyjo works. At 9:30 on opening .night, there was still nobody out front. Lyjo, telling the acts there would be no payoff, said that what hurt him most was that seven people had bought seats in advance and even they didn't show up. BOOKING BATTLE IN PARIS VAUDE, U. 8. ACTS CAN GET TOP COIN NOW New Savoy Show London, Feb, 23. New Savoy revue, due in March, was written and produced by Wil- liam Walker' Lineup includes Dorothy Dickson, Ivy St. H.ellier, Hermione Gingold, Nelson Keys and Jean S.ablon. Will be staged by Dennis Free- man, a former British Broadcasting Corp. producer. 12 U. S. ACTS NOW IN REICH Berlin, Feb. 23. Twelve American acts are' cur- rently playing in Germany. They are the Three Swifts, Howard Nlchr ols, Three American Babes, Bonell and Bay, Clemens Bellings, ..Don Del Monte, Arthur Barat, Four Ortons, Al Trahan, Raymond Baird, Lamb and Allis and Emily Loosen. All these play in vaudeville; none in cabarets, which throws a light on salaries In. the night spots. As to the circuses, the season hasn't started yet, but big indoor circuses like Krone in Munich, Sarrasani in Dresden and Magdeburg, and Jacoh Busch in the-R-hinelands are going full blast over the. winter months but no American acts in the cur- rent bills of any of 'em. Both the Scala and Wintergarten, Berlin, are understood to have many American acts under contract for future dates. Reason that most American acts appearing here do not take on any additional German time is advance bookings in France or England be- fore they open in Berlin.. Offers are plentiful from local agents, but, not being able to. accept them to follow Berlin, It's hardly worth while re- turning for them. Rare cases like that of Joe Jackson, American tramp cyclist, coming from London to play 15 days at Leipzig and go- ing straight back to London. It is v more of a personal craving for 'at- mosphere' than anything else. 200-YEAR-OLD HOUSE DESTROYED BY FIRE Rome, Feb. 21. Season^ of lyric drama at Turin will be continued despite the com- plete destruction by fire of the Regio Theatre. House itself will-be rebuilt as soon as possible. Hoped the Beason can be continued in another Turin theatre despite ob- stacles, ajid that not a single play of the program will be scratched. Fire broke out after a perform- ance of the opera "Liola." Theatre was built in 1738 after the architec- tural design by Count Benedetto Alfieri, and was inaugurated in 1741. It was completely renovated in 1908 and again in 1924, at which time the stage was greatly enlarged and a cupola added. Seated 3,000. '.Guardian's family, consisting of three women and four children, trapped on the top floor of the blaz- ing building, were dramatically res- cued by the firemen. 'Pride* Clicks London, March 3. ?Pride and Prejudice,' Helen Jerome's adaptation of the novel (same as current in New York) opened at the Saint James Friday (27) and was enthusiastically greeted. LOoks like a click. 'Promise' at the Shaftesbury opened Thursday (26). It is a fine adaptation of the newest Henri Bernstein French play of the same title, which has been doing good business in Paris for some time. It is a model of theatrical construc- tion, though a typical- French' play of the old school. Good entertain- ment. Enforced Click Berlin, Feb. 23. Acceptance of the new Ed Kuen- necke • operetta, 'Die GrosBe Suerid- erin' (•'The Great Sinner'), for the Berlin State Opera by order of a highly placed state official and against the wish of both general music director, Clemens Krauss and Intendant Heinz.Tietjen has caused quite a turmoil.. Play, has since been given, under music director Gerhardt Steeger,. staged by Oscar Waelterlin and turned out a click. CHEAP SAT'DAY SHOWS FOR POOR IN ITALY Rome, "Theatrical Saturdays' are a new institution in Rome. They have been, arranged at the request of the Duce in order to given 'the people', an op- portunity to see plays and hear music which they could Otherwise not afford. Thus on Saturday the four prin- cipal theatres of Rome, the Royal Opera theatre, the Argentina, the Valle and the Quirino, give matinee perfonhances at nominal entrance prices. Only laborers and peasants and their families are admitted. Families of soldiers now in East Africa are given best seats free of charge. Employees of stores and government offices also get a break. Hoped eventually to extend benefits of the. 'Theatrical Saturdays' to all that 'small bourgeoisie* who used to love theatre;, and who have hot been able to go of late because of pro- hibitive admission prices. Mangan s New Show At Grosvenor, London London, Feb. 23. Next Grosvenor House floor, show will be staged by Francis Mangan. Lineup thus far includes Edna Covey, Bendover, s Martinet and Crow> Doris Niles and 12 show girls from America. Overhead of show is limited to $2,500 per week, with Mangan in on percentage of profits.!. Show opens March 9, with 12 weeks guarantee and option. Felix Ferry denies - that the cab- aret show produced by him and Jacques Charles at Grosvenor House was a failure. Production was en- gaged originally for a run of only five weeks to fill in a gap between two already existing contracts', he says. Payne to S. Africa London, Feb. 23, South African Theatres has signed Jack Payne and band for its cir- cuit. Payne will line up his own unit, comprising, besides Payne, George Jackley, Donald Stuart, Delfont and Toga, and Gladys Chappelle. Sails March 13, with twelve weeks guaranteed salary and percentage, plus option. r Political Import Berlin, Feb. 21. 'Olive— Der Kampf urn Inrticn' CCliv.e—The Fight for India'), his- torical play by W. P. Lipscomb and R. J. Alinney, had its premiere at the Altona Municipal theatre, arous- ing special interest in the German press. Germany's demand for return of her lost colonies is one of the big political topics of the day. Pluy was obviously chosen for its po- litical idea rather than its artistic quality. ABC and Alhambra Now Faying Bigger Salaries for Yank Headliners Than Americans—Opposition Becomes Fierce Paris, Feb. 25. Battle between the A.B.C. and Alhambra, rival local straight vaude houses, wages fiercer as the sea- son approaches its climax. It's a booking fight. Talent supply is below demand, and both houses have upped salaries beyond what Paris can ordinarily stand in order to get what'll bring 'em in. Re- sult is that American headline acts here get substantially more than they can . command in the United States'. Rottembourg and Goldin, who run the A.B.C., think they feel the WHAT IT COSTS TO PRODUCE IN PARIS Paris, Feb. 24. What it costs these days to put on a musical show in Paris is re- vealed . by figures published regard- ing the Franz Lehar operetta 'Song of Happiness/ which closed at the Gaite Lyrique after 135 per- formances because it couldn't get out of the red in spite of grossing 3120,000 in 32 days. Figure of this size should normally mean success in Paris. Gaite Lyrique Is a municipal the- atre rented to the producer., M, Byavard, under theoretically fa- vorable conditions. But here are some of his running expenses: 10% to the Public Charities department, $12,000; authors' royalties, 12%, $14,- 400; rent to the city at $80 a day, $7,360; salaries to cast of nine prln-^ cipals, $28,000; electricity, $4,000; orchestra, $7,360; special royalties to an imitation ice-skating patent specialty, $10,000. This totals $83,120, without count- ing sets and costumes, ballet danc- ers, chorus, stagehands, machinists or advertising. PLENTY PROPAGANDA IN NEW ROME PLAYS Rome, Feb. 21. First three plays presented at the National Theatrical contest, taking place this montli at Florence, were chuck full of nothing but morals and good Fascist lessons. First, 'Rye Bread- by G. Luigl Marcoli, was about a farmer named Pietro who was a Patriot, and his son, Giacomo, who volunteered to fight for his country in the World War, and his other son, Nanni, who volunteered to fight for his country in the current war. against Abyssinia. C-iacomo was a deserter in the World War, thereby breaking his mother's heart. Twenty years .later he redeems himself by volun- teering to go down to East Africa. Second play, 'The Cqnvcrgents' by Ricardo Averini, is a modern story Of the prodigal sOn who goes away from home and makes good, is rich and honored, but finds he is unhappy because he cannot take root away from his home. Moral lessons get ev*»n thicker in the. third, 'Rythrnns of the Nineteen Hundreds' by Ugo Maz/.oncini. In this one the author-contrasts in two acts the lives of two modern fam- ilies of the same social level. First Is .spineless arid frivolous and lives on Imported luxuries. Other is sane and strong and lives in the spirit of simplicity and sincerity inspired by the Fasrist Revolution. Former turns out all bad; latter all good. Alhambra weakening under the strain of keeping up the sterling programs which are necessary to fill its 2,500 seats, and in con- sequence are turning, on the -heat. This fortnight they have Tlno Ros- si, pop Corsican singer, whose plaintive airs are big b.o. lure, in all of France. There is now not a bigger draw in the country, and he commands top pay for A French number, On top of that house has slapped on Borrah Minevitch and * his gang, which costs a pretty penny, too, ReaBon for thiB splurging is that Robitchek and Bizos will open Fri- day (28) with Mlstinguett, In both houses the bills last a fort- night, And that of the A.B.C., which opened last Friday, will overlap the Alhambra's Mlstinguett bill. Rot- tembourg and <3qldin : expect it to cut in the draw of the a.k. girl star. A.B.C., in this battle for sur- vival, has the edge on the Alham- bra In many ways. It's only a spot more than half the other house's size, with a consequently. smaller nut. This .advantage can- be a boomerang, of course; if the cost of. acts get so high that even full houses at the A.B.C. won't , pay, but up to very recently Rottembqurg- and Goldin have succeeded in at least keeping the general price .of the bill fairly reasonable. Then, Rottembourg and Goldin have an Organized subway circuit behind them, and can offer a month's time to certain acts,. In ad-. dition to the A.B.C. They also have a booking agency that can get out-of-town dates, and even Paris dates to double. All this is a heavy advantage in booking. Alhambra also has a booking" agency, now, but it's of newer formation and . not nearly so ^active. Was created by Yyea Bizos and A. Tavel, latter formerly an indie booker, and it has the Foster Agency exclusivity In Paris—which doesn't mean quite as much as it used. to. Its greatest importance is for collecting commissions on num- bers booked at the Alhambra, to keep the 10% in the family, rather than for offering additional time to acts. There was a tendency at first for the two houses to specialize in dif- ferent kinds of bills, and to conflict lAs. A. B. C. had mostly French type programs, with few American acts and almost no big Yank head- liners, while the Alhambra copped most of the foreign numbers. At one time' an attempt was made by one of the competitors to persuade the other to come to an agreement on this, to keep down salaries, A. B. C. agreeing not to outbid the Alhambra for art American number and the Alhambra not to outbid the A. B. C. for a French star. But nothing came of It. • Alhambra has always found that It needed a French name to top the bill. Americans keep up the qual- ity, but there are few American acts, if any, which can draw like a French star with a rep and fol- lowing. That's why both houses have been going into legit and pic- tures for name headliners who are rare in regular FVench music halls. At the same time the A. B. C. has found it necessary, to go into the market for Yanks In order to keep up with the ontertalnment standard f;ct by Its rival. Distinct weakening was fel* in the Alhambra's take after the Christmas holidays. Advertising budget Was drastically cut in an attempt to bring the nut down. A. B. C. hasn't felt the slump nearly as much, and that's why Rottem- bourg and Goldin are socking tin competition now.