Variety (December 1909)

10 VARIETY LONDON NOTES <Mall far Al WO* .) VARIETY'S LONDON OFFICE. 41* trmAjra, w. «. la laropa If addrMM* ear* VARIETY, aa aaara, will London, Nov. 24. Larola, an eccentric tumbler; The May- villes, a marionette show, and Alex Can- are among the acta booked for America by the William Morris London Office. The London office, with Marinelli, have arranged for Seymour Hicks for two years in the towns on the Barrasford tour that the Stoll Circuit does not touch. Eame Derringer starred herself in a sketch at the Metropolitan last week, with H. A. Saintsbury as her support. Saintsbury should be the star, as all the work of the sketch rests on him. There is a bit of class to the sketch, and this was probably the reason for it going over the heads of the Metropolitan audience. The plot is quite a novel one. "Mrs. Simp- son" is the name of the piece. It ought to get along where there is any intelli- gence in the audience. The Licensing Committee has recom- mended the Camden Theatre for a music hall license. Very shortly the theatre will be in fine running order for the Gibbons Circuit. It is a nice looking house in a corking location. Situated about a hun- dred and fifty yards from the Bedford, its effect on that hall may be disastrous. The Committee also recommends the Hip- podrome for its drink privilege. This will be a big help. Moran and Wiser are going over the Stoll tour, returning to the continent when finished. Alfred Butt, in speaking of his trip into Russia (after looking over all the shows in the rest of the continental countries) says that outside of a few small turns which he has booked for the Palace, there was nothing abroad worth talking about. Mr. Butt adds, however, he has a few big ones, coming that he discovered outside the music halls. The Juggling McBanns are in right at the Palace where they opened last week. The boys are throwing the clubs as hard as ever, and the audience is very good to them. They are using the "boom- erang hats" to good advantage now. Fred Emney and Harry Grattan showed "The Plumbers" to the Palace audience for the first time last week and did quite well. About Bodlat It has been exciting for the Doc. since he was made to quit at Glasgow. The medical students started what has de- veloped into real warfare between stu- dents of all parts of the country and the "bloodless surgeon." In Glasgow, Bodie made a statement, saying he was pre- pared to brave the mobs in London. The London students all got together, buying nearly the entire house at the Canterbury for Monday night. Early in the day it was announced by the papers that Bodie was too ill to appear. The students went to the Canterbury, anyway. They had a merry time. None of the acts could do anything. It was students night. They were angry because Bodie got cold feet. Lucky for the Doctor that he did have the much-talked about "nervous break- down." In the meantime at Glasgow, in the music hall world there, strange things have happened about Bodie. The Co- liseum, where Bodie quit, belongs to Stoll, as does the Empire. Bodie was billed in flaring lines at the Coliseum, something like this: "Idol of the Vaudeville World. The Man Who Commands the Biggest Salary in Vaudeville." It looked as though the Stoll Tour had stopped for weeks in the way of elevating the music halls, for before these bills of Bodie's were torn down, the following were being shown for Stoll's Empire: "Dr. Awful Bogey, who has been all over the.world and up to the Magnetic Pole (in his dreams) will in- dulge on this visit his showman's privi- lege to the utmost and present an act full of Electric Blunders, Hypnotic Hum- bug and Mirthful Magnetism, intro- ducing the Human Jam Jar and The Cage of Codology. Sixty laughs a minute. A sure cure for the 'blues. 1 " This all seems very funny, but when a manager or man- agers put on an act like Bode's one week and bill him legitimately, turning around the next week and take it all back, peo- ple who pay may have something to say. Burlesque is great, but Stoll's inconsis- tency is surprising. Dollie Toye immediately upon closing at the Empire will go to Brighton, then to Glasgow. The engagements were fixed by the William Morris office. Daisy Harcourt, after working out about three more weeks in this country, will most probably sail for the States. Bert Coote, who opened at the Tivoli in the sketch, "A Lamb in Wall Street," immediately scored. The sketch is a big laugh, and the audience never lose interest for one minute. Coote is going to be very popular. Jean Bonaparte, who claims to be a descendant of the famous general, has been very successful in the provinces where he is playing a sketch. It ia noticed in the program of one of the suburban halls that they have an artist billed this way: "A novelty ven- triloquist who extracts the Maximum of fun from the Minimum of precociousness in the person of his comic assistant." It is not known whether this is meant seri- ously. Odette Valery is now playing the Stoll suburban halls. Burt Howell, of the William Morris London office, will shortly take an ex- tended trip through the provinces. Cornelia and Eddie and Moran and Wiser are among the hold-overs at the Hippodrome this week. The new hall in Glasgow about to be built by the Palace London Co. Alfred Butt will act as managing director, while T. Ernest Polden will be the president of the Board of Directors. The cost will, it is said, be about $260,000. It will be called the Alhambra. There was opened a new theatre in West Hartepool, called the Grand, last week. Richard Warner, the agent, is chairman of a company that has opened a new res- taurant, called "Maxim's." Lola Lee and her snakes have returned from South Africa. Jim Corbett has finished his provincial time. The ex-champion will play a few weeks around London before returning home. Tom Hearn, who has been for some years known as "The Lazy Juggler," has built up a new act along different lines, and "tried it out" at the Empire, Shep- herd's Bush, last week. Hearn is booked to sail for South Africa in a few weeks for Sydney Hyman. Phil and Nettie Peters, Caryl Wilbur, and Jules Garrison are on the list for the Hyman houses in South Africa for this season. Garrison sails for the Cape in two weeks. The others go some time next year. The Nottingham Hippodrome, added to the Barrasford Tour in Sept., 1908, will shortly be sold to an independent com- pany. There has been some talk of the McNaghten Tour taking the hall over. The reason for the sale is said to be the failure to show any kind of a profit. Wilkie Bard is the big attraction at the London Pavilion, where he has not played in some years. It is said that "The Syndi- cate" is going to lose Wilkie when his present contracts run out. SOME FEAT. The Four Bards returned this week from a long tour in the west, having been away from New York for seven and a half months. They are training in the city now, having a new acrobatic routine in preparation. One trick which they assert has never before been done has already been perfected. It is described by the acrobats as a throw from the basket, the top mounter turning a somersault and a half, and a half-twister, alighting in a hand-to-hand stand. The men say that after a dozen practice trials they are now able to do the trick without the use of a "mechanic." Zeno, Jordan and Zeno have also placed a new trick in their casting act. Gus Jordan, while blindfolded with a sack over his head, does a double somersault from the swing and is caught by "Sport" Zeno. It is now finish of the act. Sydney Hyman will visit continental cities for the next two weeks. Mrs. Eliza Brown, mother of the Car- men Sisters, died Nov. 29 at her home in New York City. LONDON COLISEUM. Loudon, Nov. 23. A hIiow that coutaius inuny expensive acts was shown at the big hall last week. With better arrangement the bill could have been made the most entertaining one there yet. The Great Northern Troupe of dancers opened the show and did very well in that position. Phil Parsons, a "single," was on second and helped take up some minutes. An acrobatic and tumbling act, The Van Dames, started the good things going. They pulled down the first hit. The con- tinentals have a very good act. Barry Lupino, always an easy winner, came away great with his songs and eccentric dance. An excellent dog act is shown in Dun- cans' Collies. The dogs perform some re- markable tumbling feats and nre very good "dog comedians." The slight draw- back is the apparent forcing of the animals. In the first part, the dogs seem to be frightened and try to shirk, but towards the finish they lose all this. Archie Naish is an entertainer at the piano. While he shows nothing new in giving imitations and so on, his style is pleasing and he has a good idea as to how to send his stuff over. Zena Dare and Stanley Brett appeared in the piece that Seymour Hicks played here last year, "Papa's wife." Brett is much like his brother, Hicks, and does fairly, but funny dialog should never have been handed to Miss Dare. Some day someone will realize this. The piece is an- other case of "name," that's all. No one else would dare play this In the first place and no one would want to in the second. The act suited only part of the Coliseum audience. If Brett is given an oppor- tunity, he is going to show something. Aa for Zena, they sell her pictures on the post cards. Madame Alice Esty was back again last week and in excellent voice, was applauded vigorously by the upper parts of the house. It is the greatest gallery in the world for "kidding' 'themselves along. Any one with a grand opera "rep" can get away big with that Coliseum gallery. The Russian Balalaika Court Ochestra had an easy time of it. Seymour Hicks and Co. in New Acts. Alice Raymond in the closing position surely had a hard proposition, but it sur- prised many to see her pass to big applause. Besides closing the show, the act had to fol- low "The Hampton Club" and some two numbers after the Russian orchestra. But it got there, just the some. UNDEFEATED ENGLISH WRESTLER HERE. Apollo, the English strong man, re- turned to New York last Friday, having in tow John Lemm, the undefeated Eng- lish wrestler. Apollo has brought Lemm over for the purpose of meeting Frank Gotch, Ameri- ca's champion of the world. Lemm's man- ager says both Hackenschmidt and Gotch has side-stepped matches with Lemm, who weighs about 200 pounds and is of medium height. Apollo's intention is to follow up the Jeffries show and try for the $1,000 Gotch offers nightly to anyone who can last with him for fifteen minutes on the mat. Apollo claims his man won't be permitted to try. He made an attempt to wrestle Gotch in the Madison Square tournament on Wednesday evening.