Variety (Jul 1946)

Wednesday, July 3, 1946 VAUDEVILLE 41 N Y. Niteries to Retain OPA Ceiling; Fear Boomerang in Price Hikes New York niteries will attempt to* hold present ceilings though OPA ' prices are non-operative until Con- eress passes new legislation or re- news the present-fixing act. Boni- laccs declare that they'll attempt op- eration with present ceilings fixed in April '43, unless food prices advance to the point where these levels can- not be held. Gate operators anticipate that ceil- ings will be resumed shortly and consequently won't' attempt any hikes fearing that such action would influence public-opinion in the wrong direction. , 'it's felt that present levels will be held especially in niteries catering to a mass trade, as any menu-lifts would put cafe entertainment out of the roach of the average spender. The Allied Restaurant and Enter- tainment Industries of Greater New York, cafe-owners' organization, has ' taken no action on this matter yet, inasmuch as its felt that members will voluntarily hold the line. ■ Some cafe men feel that lifting of ceilings will end the food black mar- ket and after a brief session of higher tariffs, competition would re- sume to restore prices to normalcy. They say that legit slaughterers haven't been able to buy stock at prices where they could resell at ceiling levels. But now that the lid is eff, they'll be back in business and will ultimately force the blricklcg- gers out. Itnrbi OK'd by AGVA As Yaude Talent Agent Jose Iturbi has received dispensa- tion from American Guild of Va- riety Artists to open talent agency in Hollywood. Last month when concert' pianist-conductor applied for AGVA franchise, Tess Diamond, who then.headed union's Hollywood branch, nixed application because AGVA bylaws preclude performer operating as agent also. Mitzi Green's Elness Sets Back N.Y. Cap Date Illness of Mitzi Green has caused her to postpone appearance with July 11 show at the Capital theatre, N. Y., to. following bill. Joey Adams, Mark Plant and Tony Conzoneri who were to have opened with the Gene Krupa band, have been moved up to the July 11 date, and Miss Green switches to the Krupa show. George Paxton orch is set for the Adams layout. LATIN SHOW PROD. HIT FOR $2,253 BY AGVA Hollywood, July 2. American Guild of Variety Artists has collected $2,253 from Carlos Valadez, producer of "Revue of the Americas," which recently played five performances at Wilshire-Ebell theatre here, and distributed funds to cast of show, six acts and six chorines. After one of the acts and the line- girls beefed to AGVA that they had rehearsed five weeks at half-pay. union moved in. In making deal with Valadez, Florine Bale, local AGVA chief, secured for the per- formers the equivalent of four full weeks' salary for each member of cast. It is known that of the money obtained, $1,400 came from the box- office take at the theatre. Originally, show was molded by Valadez to appear at new nitery which he planned to open in build- ing which formerly housed the dis- continued Hollywood Canteen. Vaia- dez has been stymied by numerous technical difficulties in getting spot set, and also hobbled by inability to obtain building materials he felt he needed to shape up the site prop- erly. Hence, with a rehearsing show on his hands, under contract, he towed troupe into Wilshirc-Ebell to try to get back some of the money he was shelling out. Models Paid Off in Trenet Walkout on MOT Stint Final difficulty resulting from Charles Trenet's appearance at the Embassy, N. Y., was cleared up last week, when the Screen Actors Guild announced that salary claims were settled for models used in a March of Time short which was to have been filmed wtih Trenet. SAG refused to announce the terms of the settlement or name party paying the femmes. Difficulties stemmed from the Trenet refusal to appear in a scene at the Embassy club after agreeing to do so. Consequently Roger Dannes, singing at the La Martinique, was booked as a replacement. Deal was originally made with MOT by the Embassy's press rep, Howie Horwitz, and Bill Miller, Em- bassy operator,' agreed to pay the models after the MOT Embassy scene was released. At the first shooting Trenet, pleaded illness and didn't .«how up. On the subsequent date, Trenet insisted that a full band "ac- company him, instead of piano play- er, and subsequently refused to go on. Models made claim for their sala- ries, and Miller refused to shell out, citing his agreement. Matter was finally adjudicated by SAG. Charles Trenet Cancels Canuck Tour When Promoter Fails to Lay 5G on Line Veloz-Yolanda First Postwar Hawaii Pact Veloz and Yolanda, first attraction to appear in Honolulu since Pearl Harbor, has been inked by George D. Oakley, of Artist's Service, there, for five performances at McKinley Aud., Honolulu, and one perform- ance on Isle of Maui, first week in September. Dancers will appear in produc- tion, "Dansation of 1946," assisted by Jerry Shelton, accordionist; Eliza- beth Talbot-Martin, Amelia Gilmore, Betty Black and Lothar Perl and Paul Schoop, duo-pianist. Round trip will be made by Clipper. Dance duo, managed by George M. Gatts, also will be featured at- traction at Centurama, Milwaukee, week of July 26, salary of $10,000 claimed an all-time high for dance team for two-a-day week's engage- ment. Deal set by Harry Kalcheim, of William Morris office. Charles Trenet, French swoon- singer who recently closed at Bill Miller's Embassy, N. Y., stepped into a new mess of trouble here as se- quel to the many "incidents" which have dogged him since hitting North American shores. Trenet was slated to do two one- nighters Friday and Saturday nights (29 & 30) at the Forum, but can- celled the dates after a brush with the promoter, Armand Vincent, that neared fisticuffs. Also involved is Lucien Meloche, local businessman and backer, who claim's he shelled nut $1,500 to Vin- cent on the understanding that Trenet would do the dates. Original deal with Trenet called for a 50-50 split between the singer and Vin- cent and Meloche, the latter two to split 25% each. Trenet was sup- posed to get a $5,000 gurantee but he hit the ceiling here when he learned the dough was not forthcoming. This, according to what Meloche told Vabmstt. is what happened: Meloche asked Vinc'Piit some time ago to line up Trenet for a tour of Canadian centres. He advanced Vin- cent money for expenses and Vin- cent went to N. Y. to confer with Lou Wilson, of the William Morris agency, who handles the Trenet ac- count. Eventually it came out that Vincent signed a pact guaranteeing Trenet $2,000 a performance for 14 p.a.s. Tour would start in Montreal and guarantee for that date would be a fiat $5,000. Meloche claims that Vincent stalled because he knew "he (Meloche) would not ac- cent that kind of a deal. Trenet told V/Hit-Tr Wednesday (26) that he was arranging personal appearances here at the Monument National July 5, 6 & 7, and pro- duced a contract with the theatre to that effect, Thursday night (27) he said he had changed his mind and wasn't going on with his new deal. Promoters Wrangle Meloche claimed that the contract he signed with Vincent was n.g. since the sporting club Vincent claimed to head didn't exist. Vin- cent, was a former sports pro- mpter here. Meloche claims that the original deal was bad from the start and he wouldn't have okayed, it if he'd known the details. It called foi a tour of cities in Ontario and some in Quebec, he said, where jt would have been impossible to' gurantee Trenet the $2 000 per performance tor 14 performances he asked for. Matter of fact, though some tix for the Montreal dates were placed on sale, it was discovered that only about $85 worth were sold on the first day of sale. So Trenet's draw here is questionable. Vincent's answer to Meloche's charges is that they're untrue, he didn't advance him that much money, and that Meloche got cold feet when he saw that tix weren't moving and refused to put up the $5,000. , . The setup is now that Trenet is doing nothing more about p.a.s in Canada, and Meloche' is trying to find out from his lawyers what ac- tion he can take to get back the $1,500 shelled out to Vincent. Embassy Club, N. Y., Folding for Summer Embassy club, N. Y. shutters to- morrow (Thursday) and will re r open in the fall. Meanwhile spot is reported on the block with Bill Mil- ler, spot's operator, asking around $150,000. Cafe, which, opened last December, has had several changes in policy. It started with a production show, went into a w single performer, (Charles Trenet) and after that dropped shows in favor of a band policy. Miller is currently pre-occupied with running the Riviera, Ft. Lee, N. J., which is, reported holding its own with a good dinner trade but slim supper business. Mortah Sisters booked for the Latin Quarter, -N. Y., on the Ted Lewis show opening July 14. . "lovely J>aJf o/ July 4th to 17th HIPPODROME Baltimore August 2nd PARK PLAZA HOTEL St. Louis FOR 6 WEEKS UNDER EXCLUSIVE MANAGEMENT OF PAUL SMALL ARTISTS LTD. INC. 201 WEST 52NO STREET • NEW YORK 19. N. Y.