Variety (Dec 1937)

feidnesJay« Peoeniber 22, 1937 VARIETY 41 on Gdmplaint of acts against , cancella- tions; esp^iaUy; in niteries; is beipg nlet With, ais best as possilble, says the American :^ Federatipiv vof : >^ Uhion, however, lays the: evil right back into the laps of the performers,' who sign phdhey and unfavorable contracts, ;puttin& themselves,. right on the spot. ; '/ --v';;- '-^'-'' '•. Situation is worst-out ^b^ where iacts hpve littliB^ or nb protec- tion but only pressure,; Qf hypothet- ical blacklisting of . joints. AFA can't order acts hot to play a spot but can only aidvise agaiinist it or em-: phasiz6 certain contractuai stipula- tions. It cannot use pressure because . of a lack of cortplete control at pres- ent.'. . - .'■^ : ^ Acts; it ^s ployed, sign: any kind of a vpiece: of paper,. Some contracts ;are even writteh,6ri wrapi)iriig paper; in pencil frequently/.^^ the managers, and operatoies ;to walk odt on their obligations. AFA is trying to correct this, through promotion of 'its foi:m contract tiut does riot have complete cobpei-atiori from acts> in- cluding itis bWn mbitibers; Signing, pf 30 n: Y. spots somewhat helps the local conditions but ^vefri this is still : very incomplete. • . . ■ , State labor i attorneys cannot act ■for perfbrmers, either, because of the lightweight contracts. Eager to work, acts sign. the .best they can get ^nd while. Working (when cahcellatioh :^ofe^ riot interifere) paradoxically cut their pwA throats^. : Caricellations are m^iriy and the reasons for -them jufet as numerous. Eagerness of agents and bo0kers to : get cbhimissionis often' places an act out of town minus any guarantee, whilfe'arrariger. hopes they wiU plick^ No mention is niad? pf audition stipulation, cancellability after first ■ perfbrmaricei mixing with, customers (often forcing acts out voluntarily) . or. other: qualiflcations. . ; . AFA is also trying to thrbtile this girnrtiick thrbugh its N, Y. cpnnec- tibris. lising . the rinfair agent listing. Same cannot be done.with spots, but frequently pressure from AFA forces agent to. deal with club, regarding : act paybff and • leis irregularities. Palace^ Fort Wayne, " Slates Vaude ;-\-;;v' Fort Wayne, Dec; 21, ; Palace . theatre starts hew vaud- film ppiity New Year's Eve. , House has been showing first iruh'pix. this fall but not drawing ..crpwds. Ethel Waters': and . troupe tb ; bpbri .New Year's Eve. for five-day run, followed by Ted Lewis' band, wHibh comes, in Jan. 7 for four days. ' Larry Golde of the William Morris office, in -N. Y. is: handling- bookings for . Harvey Cocks, manager : of Quimby theatres, operators of the Palace.- Gblde. ha's^ ahriouhced Little Jack Little,'- King's Jesters, ^Mr^ and Mrs. Jesse Crawford, Jack Denny, Ina Ray Huttpn, Duke Ellington, Vincent Lopez, Cab Calloway, Hbrbie Kay, Shep.; Fields, •Louis .Ariristrong, jimmy ' Dprsey, ' Hal Kemp, ; Louis Prima; and Ted Weems already booked for ' the winter and early spring. ■ ■ . lidpls. Giets ^Ecstasy* ' Bookings f or Vaude Hit ■ \liidiariapoliSi!^Dec,'?l. . Keith's is resl^owing- 'Ecstasy,' as part.; of/a double .feature ~ bill,- Pi(! showed : her p . last spring at the Indiana theatre arid turned tip in the red.' ■' • • • . -'C:. '■ ■ .■ House previously anriounced book- irig. bt. stagfe..^.'s^ front WLW. for Christmas week, and, ' view of the prestige of film in this town, there is' some speculation as to whether WLW booking bureau will permit^.p^^^ ers to' fblloAy sex picture into- bouse, WL'W shows have: . • previoiisiy playe,d ; Indiana and Lyric theatres here, and have turned in- a profit on both trips. . vi :•:'./ ■' ALBEE IN VAUDE THIRD IN PROVIDENCE : ::(■■ - . Providence, Dec. 21. - Fiay's' theatre, - the tbwn's only .consisterit ; vaude:- house) will have more opposition next week when, the Albee sole RKO house here, rejoins -the. vaude field; : Empire arid Fay's are now" cateririg to vaude fans. • • Albee's new '.stage- , jiolicy will re main indefinitely. Albee has been an in-and-outer in the vaude, field for years. Empire only recently inaugurated stage policy and has beeri thrivirig iince,. Fay's has.had a combo policy since 1915- arid has never deviated frbrii it. •; , ... BullsV Comeback Powers' Elephants go into the Roxy, Ni Y., fbr^ one week opening I Christmas Day;, First, theatre date .for the bulls in 10 years,, having been in outdoors .all the time. . Set .by (3ebrge Hamid office. .' S. Minneapolis, Dec. 21. For th'e first time '..within niembry, local loop will be- entirely, withbtit a stage show New Year's ■ eyfe.. The Minnesota Amuse. Co. arid Mort. H. Singer had expected- tb have Wayne King's band for the latter's Orptieurij New Year's, week, "but King .decided to take no- theafre. dates at this time^ leaving the' film, houses' without any flesh.. entertaihmeri^^^^ The Gayety (stock burji^queO V. closed uritil fiaster ^weekV ■ and; the... riext' ^^^^^ attraction, 'Birbther .Ratv isn't due uritil Jan. 3.'. ■ ! John J; Friedl, Minnesbtd Amusfe (Publix) gericral manner/gays, name stage attraclioris never have been so scarce. - He avers he is willing, to go the limit to obtain them-rrthat price vis no ob ject—but they can't be found.The only Orpheum. under- lines are Ted Lewis and his^band. in January and, possibly, Eddy puchin . Stage shows . minus names .don' pull here. With a unit show saris a big name, the .Orpheiim dropped $2,000 New Year's week two years ago.. Last year,; with : anbther uni; show lacking a box-office name, the sariie house took it ori the chin for $iiOoo.:. • . N.T.G: IN A DITHER Withdraws Troupe at IndplS. Party , When Aude Throws Coins ': . . Ihdiariapblis, peC. ' 21. While doinjg^ a benefit perforriiance at the Christmas.party Of the: Press Club here .s^tu.rday night . (;i8.)r T. (Srahlurid temporarily- withdrew m'Tibers of- his troupe during the middle of the program . and ^sharply ^ rebuked some of .the person.s in the iabiidierice for tossing coins-^ a .hi,s daricers. ^ -.r'-. ■ ■ Nv Ti -G:; head, of his .oWn.-Ut]iit.'cur- rently on the stage at the Lyric iheatfe hcre>;is a former .riews^)aper^^ riian arid wais a! guest of hpnor at the club's party.. As a friendly gest'ui'e, le had brought along-hiis performers to entertain. After denoiinbing those who had 'insulted' his dancer Gran- Jurid called off the .entertainrinent.. An apology land:. explanatibn fol- lowed, however, arid, the affair . was smoothed, over; A^N:#DiMiPR0F^ IGHTRACKErSOW -• Annual epnventibn .: of Dancing Teaichers' Biisiness- AssnV to jie .held it the Park Ceritiral hotel, N; Y-, Dec. ; 28 arid 29, will include discussion tp abolish 'racket, ■ mushrpom terp Schools . thrpughout, the xoUritryr . y Thomas E. Parspn, •executive., seb- i-fetary; has arinbuncei^ thsit lorganizat tipri .bf l^O legit daricirig school opei:-; ators bf U. S. arid Canada will take steps to erase the chiseling, flyrby-. nights. . :•/ ' ' .'. : Discussion of tightenihg up of re- quirements fbr membership and demonstrations of all phases pf dan- cirig Will aisb be included. Directors are Margaret B. Ihslee, Mariori Howell. Mildred Drewes, Jack Man- ning arid Frank Hall. HARRIS, LONDON, SETS BOOKING LoridPh, Dec. 21. , For many years one of. the best known cabaret bands in; Loridon, Jack Hairris goes iritp vaUde for the | | first time. ■ American niae.stro will only play four weeks in town: for General theatres and Moss Eriipires,. so as not tb. conflict wi^b his perma- nent engagement at Giro's Club, in which he; has a big financial inter: est. '■ '. . % -" ' : : Another famous stick wielder tb : make his vaudeville debut is • Lbuis Levy, for years musical advisor to Gaumpnt-British. Levy will: have a symph of 33; He is already ; dated up for 14 weeks. Jack Hylton has. booked and will present both atttactioriis. ' ,;, ' . of Taft StertiBg to Be Published Shortly Ciribirinati, Dec. 21. . Starting New Year's;eve, the indiie Taft aUditbritirii will be tenanted for a run of Vaudfi^lm under diriection bf Milford Unger, mariager of the fotnier legit Grand Opera, House for many years. Initial stage show will be; *Wa;ikiki Nights." vHtV the, first fiesh-^ic. combo for Cincy this sear son. Last .season the RKO Shubert linked revues arid vaude" with pix b ut Is straight screen riow. ' Taft will have only two perform- ances;, for its first night. Thereafter . it will grind, ipur-a-day with addi- iional performances on Saturdays and. Sundays. Shows will- be changed:! weekly. -^-/^ ■'•.'; , Chicago, Dec. 21. , ■ .Uridcr sporisorship, - of Mayor Edward J., KeUy, , the fifth annual .; 'Night i)f §tai:s* camc pft Wednesday • (15), with the majority ■ of talent - corisistirig bf i)|t .band musicians. Mayor Kelly could have had the cb- . operation of every, petiormer-. and actor in .t.bwn, :jis he has had. preVir: ■ ously, ;except that .he, refused to give . one cent of the $360,000 gi^pss tb any actprs' fund although the; Theatre . Authority, had asked cpbperatibn. . . Making iwb trips to Chicago, Alan . Corelli, executive. secTetarjl of Thea- / tre Aiithority'j Inc., riiade. every. cOnr ' cession in .the.'list' to -Mayor Kelly to 'corifprm,- with "TA ruling; Veven . . promising, that the TA share , woiild: be used fbis Chicago actors' funds : exclusively. TA a.sked 15% of ticket sales only,- not of donatrons, which ' would total $1,500. Corelli was told by , Jfeyor .Kelly; perspriall'y that he ' .(Kelly).would, have riothing whatr ever to dp-.with actor's' unions, and . that he'd .run his bWri-. ahow- hi-s own Way if; he had tb use aimateurs. • • Daily paperis. either -riiisun Corelli's purpose, Pr else they de- liberately went but : bf . theiiV way to; .. harm. ' One story, after another fi orni the. Mayor's bffice Was printed as given. Only, brie, .When cpnfpbrited • by Corelli, made ariy retraction, In consequence' of beinjg pushed around, Corelli: declared the .benefit ■ unfair, and irieriibers of Equity and .. American Federation of Actors were '■■ barred firorii playing it. On the other;: hand, James ;C;. Petrillo, Chicago ., FederatiOri ot Musicians head, said thai if the perforrriers failed to apr ; pear at Mayor Kelly's benefit, he'd ; pull the music out bt the spots these, perjoririers were wbrkirigi. ■ As given, 'Night of Stars' seemed to - be ..a., misnomer fpr the projgram. ; There Were no stars on the bil1.;The 4*30 performers were mostly mu- sician's. The rest Were radio people,'. vaudeville -and nitery acts; and flock' of, ariiateurs.; . •' Although scheduled fot- an appeiar- \ an.ce, nbt.one le^itperformer-shoiWiMl^;.^^ up. " Several ' names froiin . other . branches of the business were also ; billed, but did not appear. Sfadiiim was S.R.6. but all the people saw Was Mayor 1 Kelly sur^ , rpunded by faniily-time vaudeville ■acts, .some radib and nitery turns,/, and a pit band that , changed per- '''f'- sonriel every few riiinutes. While Corelli, Was not .sucpessful in .; combating ithe 'political setup of. . City Hall, as it is" run by 'the pre.sent . body, he nevertheless did get the Theatre Authority established as a force as far as Chicago is cpncerned. . This is'^npt only becaiise there were rib stars at the 'l^ight. of Stars' but also becai^.'.the msftt'er .has not yet. been dropped. Corelli is tP ask Screen . Actors Guild to reprimand Warner Bros., bcfcaiise of ari alleged studio. Wire: to Maypr Kelly, offering' to help him in the faee of. his op- position, even suggesting WB ,pipe in a show for the purpose:; y WHEELER TRTINGOIIT REVUE IDEA ON COAST ■ ■ ; Hbllywobd. Dec. 21. ;B*rt Wheeler opens New ■ Year's Eve in Portland" Ore., with a two- > hour show tagged 'Hollywood Bevue,' and is taking along a troupe of 30, including a number of film ^rsbn- alities. Idea :is a .new. one in eriterV tairfment and, if it clicks, Wheeler plans a return here and bobk further engagements iijL the south and east. Headliners include Wheeler, Helen 'Tweiyetrees,; , Bert ' Walton, Sally Hainesv and Will and Gladys Aherrie. Also a band of .11 pieces and a. line of. 12 girls, together With three advance rrieri for ballyhpo. Initial tour will play two. weeks pf bncfnightbrs. . Pit Problem Solved ., Ken Murray, with Oswald arid Marlyn Stuart, has bebri set for a seifies of vaude dates., Opens Jan. 14 at the 'Palace, Chic by the. Bbstoh, Boston, and the Palace^ Cleveland. ■'■ . Sammy Wcisbord, of the Morris office, agentid. ,, ' ■■''■ e NEW YORK 154 W. 4eth St. HOLLYWbpP c:acRGO i7d8 No. Vine St. 54v W. Randolph St. LONDON 8 St. Martinis PI. / Lancaster, Pa., Dec. 21. ; 'When Ray O'Conriell, manager of ' the Cajpitbl h'ere,. switched his . or- chestra fromi the pit to the stage he . . Solved all. his vaiide problems but • one:—what to do With the pit.. :. .. Solution is his - *DoWn in - Front. Club'- menibership, limited tb one day, which is .secured bi buying i^; seat..in the pit at prjeitiium; price, '(Sag ha^ Wcfr 4 ^*im ■ ; ■