Variety (May 1946)

5» VAUMBVILLB Wedneaday, May I, 1946 Private Transport Spins Vaude Show, Complete With Stagehands, to Dates Chicago. April 30. ♦ Packing acts, props, costumes, j stagehands and themselves into a : private plane, two young' vaude im- presarios are taking a group ot j vauders on a tour ot foreign book- ' inj<s. Joe Callon. 26, former man- : age.' of Frederick Bros, midwest band department, and Morris Mirkin, 27, head up a string of seven acts which left last week on. a junket to Puerto Rico and points south. Lou Mindling, Ex-Navy, Into Personal Managing Lou Mindling, cx-MCA and CBS talent manager, has gone into per- sonal management with a stable of people comprising Martha ■ Tilton, Buddy Clarke, Dorothy Shay and Tommy Dix. working in cooperation j with Music Corp. of America. Mind- , . _ .ling was in the Navy over three Callon. who speaks passable Span-! veal . s - ish. arranged bookings for the lour , ■ C j a ' rkc slarl j the Carnation Milk i» all towns on the Caribbean island ; (NBC) SCTICS j U nc 3 with Percy and plans, after getting down Ihcro, ] Failh new format calling for him to to arrange future, dates in Soulh and oIuciate as a singing emcee. Central Anierica. Troupe has had extensive publicity throughout PR," topped off by a scries of Filmack trailers which have played every island house. Transportation will be supplied by two Army vet friends of the'partners, who bought their own plane, a new DC-3 which will fly the acts, with their costumes and props, to the various dates. Troupe includes Jack Waller, em- cee: Doris Drew, Dawn Brothers; Ron and Mary Norman, Ncal Stan- ley, Ginny Lowrey, and. the Debu- tantes, a line from the 5100 Club here. Travelling also will be special stagehands as well as the scenery. If the tour is successful, Callon and Mirkin plan to buy a house in PR for thejn.selves and the acts. Mean- while, headquarters will be in one of San Juan's leading hotels; Music will be supplied by a Puerto Rican band booked on the island. Morris Agcy. Revamp William Morris Agency has in- creased its capital stock from, 1,000 shares no par value to 1,100 shares, 100 at $1 par and 1,000 at no par value. Move was made because of a rearrangement of stock . holdings between William Morris. Jr., son of the ' agency's late founder, who is now president of the firm, and Abe Lastfogel, general manager. Wilzin & Halperin, Morris office attorneys, filed the papers in Albany. HISTORIC FELTMAN'S CONEY ISLAND, SOLD Benno M. Bechhold, executive vice-president of the swank Savoy- Plaza hotel, N. Y., has taken on a ; plcbian operation with his purchase of Feltman's, fan\ed Coney Island eatery. Me bought the old estab- lished restaurant last week in part- nership with Alvan Kallman and Harry Socoloff. With conclusion of the deal, Felt- man's for the first time 6ince its founding in 1874, passed out of the hands of the Fcltman family. Until its sale, spot was operated by Charles L. and Alfred F. Feltman, sons, of the. founder, and Charles A., son of Charles L. In its heydcy Feltman's was one of the swank spots in the N. Y. vicinity and handled carriage trade almost exclusively. Among those en- tertained there were P. T. Barnum and Jenny Lind-. With the auto- mobile and the subway, came the mass invasion of Coney Island and consequent change in character of the spot. After many, years, of serv- ing choice viands, specialty of the house became hot-dogs. To the nine restaurants and two bars were added an open air movie; rides and a shooting gallery. Because of help shortages during the war, operation dwindled to two restaurants. Andrews Sis Invading Northwest Vaode Houses Andrews Sisters go into the North- west for the first time next month, opening up new vaude time In Spo- kane, Seattle and Oakland, Cal, Unit they will head is virtually the same "8-To-lhe-BairRanch" show with which they played the Paramount theatre, N. Y., last summer. It is- be- ing sold oh a 50-50 from the first dollar basis, without guarantees. At the Par the trio drew $20,000 weekly. Northwest vaude houses have lately been developed, with the ina- joritj^of .the talent playing that area consisting of western film .stars .such as Tex Rittcr, Gene Autry, etc. Hence, the Andrews' unit, with its western flavor, fits the overall picture. In addition, they have never been shown in the territory. Unit will consist of Vic Schoen's' orchestra, comedian Pat Hcnning, who'll do a hew western act; Charles Leighton, -harmonica tooter, and Johnny. Bond and His Red River Val- ley Boys. They'll work, in order starting May 14, at San Diego, Golden Gate, San Francisco, Oakland, Se attle, Spokane,. Yakima, and Port- land, Ore. Dario and Jimmy Vernon Present BEE KALMUS Broadway's Favorite Singing Star Currently at the LA MARTINIQUE NEW YORK JUST COMPLETED • 8 weeks—Blackamoor Room Miami Beach, Florida • 4 weeks—Kitty Davis' Airliner Miami Beach, Florida • Hollywood Beach Club, Hollywood, Florida Kalmm alwdyi gowned eiqalstttly catches Hm eye ami mar wnon she itngs her vibrant Ipv* ballad medley." —Dorothy Raymer Miami Daily Newt, March 20, If46. "Bee Kalians bat been long a favorite singer of this department. She seems to get better as she goes along. We don't know what salary Miss Kalmns commands, but If she Isn't In the top brackets now, she should be. From her opening theme of 'Sunny Side of the Street* to her 'Cavalcade of the Stars' every note was a tug at the heart. Her Gershwin medley was like a granite memorial to the late composer." —George toarke Miami Herald, Jan., t»44. "Bee Kaimus acts as emcee, hostess and sings, a triple assignment, each excellently performed. Such showmanship. . —Paul M. Bruiin Miami Beach Sun-Tropics, Jan. 2, 1*44. v P. S.—My profoundest thanks to Ben Gaines and Kitty Davis for 12 of the happiest weeks in my career. Pitt Nitery Ops se Union's Edict Oppos Security CatskiD Mt. Resort Ops to Meet With AGVA This Week on Problems Nitery Pair Nabbed By FBI on Navy Theft Rap New Orleans, April 23.' An emcee and a photographer at two local night spots were arrested by FBI agents last week on charges of receiving photographic equipment stolen from the Navy. Emcee, Wil- liam J. Zibilich, of the French Casino, and Verne Dear Landers, photographer at Pat .0|Brieii's and the Casino, are charged with pur- chasing stolen equipment from a sailor. Landers, was reported by the FBI as having in -his possession u camera, light meter, three inters and a lens. Zibilich is accused of having 112 flash bulbs in his possession. Pittsburgh, April 30. Smaller Pittsburgh nitery ops. are threatening to cancel talent because of demands of the American Guild of Variety Artists for posting of cash bonds by all cafes. While beefs are coming from smaller spots mainly, the Nixon is one major considering cancelling shows and using musical cocktail acts and bands only. Move is a result of conferences held between cafe owners. Only spot, exempt from the AGVA is the William Penn hotel which is part of the Statlcr chain. CATALINA IS DUE FOR COMPLETE FACELIFT . Chicago, April 30. Gum magnate P. K. Wrigley is on his first jaunt to his Catalina Island properly in more than four years, with plans to give the entire place a complete face-lifting. Rebuilding job will be done on the St. Catherine hotel and a name band policy will be reinstltuled there. Two dance halls and other island concessions will also be refurbished with an eye, wherever possible, 1o bringing name entertainment there. Wrigley, : who also owns . the Arizoha-Biltmore, will' remain on Catalina for two nionlhs. during which time he will also supervise resumption of the boat and plane service between the island and Wil- mington, mainland harbor. Lyric , Seattle Landmark, Where Cort, Arbuckle Figured, Gets the Axe Seattle, April 30. One of this town's last ties with its colorful and romantic past is fading witli the wrecking of the old Lyric theatre _at Occidental avenue and Washington street. First playhouse to rise from the great fire of 1889, the Lyric was for a number of years, in the '90's and early 1900's, the town's leading night spot. It was never the house for heavy melodrama, specializing in- stead on vaudeville, burlesque and tab shows, and its casts always in eluded plenty of girls. The Lyric hit its peak of popularity during the gold-rush days of '97 and '98, when its draw was added to by the popu Jarily ot a famous saloon, Our House Bar. on the building's first floor. John Cort, theatrical magnate, controlled the Lyric for a while, and Russell and Drew, as well as Lewis and Lake, were other Lyric produ- cers. Ot late years the house has been unused except occasionally for a mission or as the gathering place for some religious sect. It lies in the very heart of the skid i'ow dis- dirt. Among famous names who got their start at the Lyric was Roscoe "Fatly"' Arbuckle,- who played in burlesque there in 1907 before he wcnl on to Hollywood and fame in the movies. A Dog Once Had Same trouble With a Bone Chicago, April 30. "Go. .10 sleep and make $10,000," said Joe Sherman, co-operator of the Loop Garrick Lounge to his partner, Danny Goldberg. ■ So they did. But nothing happened. Pair had been mulling selling the spot for a few months now, figuring on asking about $75,000. Last week a couple of New Yorkers offered Sherman said to Gold- ask for $90,000, and anxious." So they sleeping on it over- * Matt Shelvey, head of American Guild of Variety Artists, has depu. tized Arthur Kaye, an assislani, to meet with group of operators of N. Y. Catskill Mountains Area resorts, to discuss talent bookings for forthcoming season. Meet will be held latter part of week, iii either Monticello or Swan Lake, N. Y., spot to be designated by the owner group. At this meeting, the ops and Kaye will discuss talent budgets for forth, coming season on which salary bond sums will be based. Kaye will also explain to the ops the special con- tract the talent union will invoke on such dates this year. It is expected he will bind all spots to AGVA pacts calling for cosh security guar- anteeing performers salaries. This will be demanded of the ops this season. Since majority of such dates include room and board, this angle will be worked, out also at the con- fabs. Group of agents which handle bulk of the resort bookings met with AGVA last week and ratified the union's closed shop stand on agents this: year, which means thai only AGVA-franchiscd agents can- book AGVA member-performers into AGVA-pacted spots. This practical- ly eliminates freelancers or both categories that had romped the mountain circuit in previous years. Among agents attending were Buck- man & Pransky, Charley Rapp, Abe Lyons, Jack Segal, Sid Licpsig, Jack Fink, Seymour Shapiro. Room and board facilities for per- formers consumed a major portion of the discussion. It developed that in some instances the agent books the shows in as a package.. In such cases responsibility will be .upon the agent to adequately house per- formers in vicinity of places ot en- gagement, with accommodations sub- ject to AGVA approval and with agents lifting the tab for room and . board in addition to salaries. In cases where acts are booked individ- ually, hotel owners will be required to give performers food and lodging comparable to paying guests. them $80,000, berg, "Let's don't appear asked for it, night. Next morning they called the guys at a Loop hotel but they had gone back to N. y. British Midget Act Due Dudley & Midgets, British teeter- board act. Joins the list of English talent imports to this country. Act is booked for a scries of fair dates In' August. Salary is $800 weekly for seven people. Berg Takes Over Sepia Nitery in D'town L. A. Hollywood. April 30. Billy Berg, operator of Hollywood nitery bearing his name, has taken over Shepp's Playhouse, now-closed L. A. colored club, and will reopen spot June 12 with Joe Liggiiis' Honeydrippcrs and a flock of Negro acts' as yet unset. When new venture gets underway Berg will have effected unique oper- ation. Whole show will be moved from one spot to other. At Shepp's. bid will be for colored patronage; at Berg's, for while; Saranac Lake By Happy Benway Saranac Lake, N. Y.. April 30. Arthur Alverez, colony member and quiz master over local station WNBZ, cited by Sylvan Hoffman, who authored "History of America," as having one or the best quiz pro- grams on the air. . . ■ Al Brandt, of Brandt-Edwards circuit, shot in al the Rogers for brief stay and checkup. ■Dr. George E. Wilson, medical su- perintendent of the Rogers, off oh a three-week furlough. Marilyn Shaw trained in from N. Y. and is at the Rogers for a general checkup and rest routine. Palace theatre. Lake Placid^shul- tered for refurbishing,' reopens next week. Benito Collada. N. Y. nilery owner, in for a two-week stay, selecting camp site where he will vacash this summer, . Peter Hagen in from Brooklyn, N. Y., to visit daughter. Edna Hageri, who surprised him, with good clinic reports. Toolie Emerson, who is flashing good reports, elated over surprise visit from Mrs. Beverly B. Baird, of Minneapolis. .• Ben Nadler handed his go-home papers and shoved off for home in Cleveland. k . Adele Carlson in for weekend to visit sister, Helen Carlson, who is doing nicely at the Rogers. IJr. William Stem, Rogers medico, back from Florida vacation. Among ex-pros who are doing OK in this colony are Kd Lamy. Carry Doyle. Mike Kagcn and Johnny Highland, ex-prize lighter- - and wrestler, who loured with carnivals. Write to those who are ill. AFTER 26 SUCCESSFUL WEEKS IN RIO DE JANEIRO LAURETTE AND CLYMAS Dancing Humorists BOOKED FOR ONi WIIK (APRIL *TH) ot tho SH0REHAM HOTEL WASHINGTON, D C. IMMEDIATELY BOOKED for RETURN ENGAGEMENT (within two wotki) CURRENTLY (APRIL 29 TO MAY 11) SH0REHAM HOTEL WASHINGTON, D. C. • Hunks to MAX LOWE ami To Oar Old Pal HANS LIDHI* "Curtain calls . . . to Eddy Manson at the Village Vanguard." -Walter Winched. "Tht Htihlz of rho Harmonica" 5th WEEK and HELD OVER MANAGEMENT. GALE AGENCY 48 West 4BHi St. N. V. C,