Variety (January 1910)

TEN CENTS VOL. XVII., NO. 6. JANUARY 15, 1910. PRICE TEN CENTS. E. D. STAIR OFF FOR FOREIGN TRIP WHILE CIRCUIT SHRINKS Reported That Al H. Woods Will Withdraw Most if Not All His Companies This Month. Stair Bound for Egypt. The report gained circulation this week that before Feb. 1, Al. H. Woods would bring back the dozen or so melodramatic ■hows which have been touring on the Stair & Havlin Circuit under his manage- ment. The dropping off of business was presumed to be the cause of this un- expected move. "The Girl From Rector's" and "The Girl in the Taxi" will remain on the road. At the same time the unannounced de- parture of E, D. Stair and Mrs. Stair for a pleasure trip in Egypt on Saturday be- came known. The couple were accom- panied by Mrs. George H. Nicolai. The wives will remain abroad indefinitely, but according to the present plan Mr. Stair will return in March, at which time Mr. Nicolai will sail for the Orient to join the party. The decline of the popular priced legitimate business does not seem to have affected the members of Stair & Havlin seriously, for the voyagers -were luxuri- ously equipped for their jaunt. An auto- mobile was included in the baggage. The week's developments excited much } comment among those in touch with theatrical events. It was recalled that few of the managers who were formerly active in the popular priced dramatic field were prospering just now by their S. & H. affiliations. Here are some of them: Gus Hill has retired entirely from the popular priced business and confines himself to his three burlesque shows; Will E. Nankeville is no longer managing road companies; the Mittenthal Bros., have reduced their enterprises to com- paratively few. and Charles Vale's last road show, "The Devil's Auction," closed two weeks before Christmas. The pro- duction was sold at public auction Satur- day in Pnrkerpburar. West Virginia. The show had been out for twenty-five years without an interruption. In addition Charles E. Blaney has prac- tically abandoned his producing business as far as the S. & H. time is concerned. Chicago, Jan. 12. One night stand productions and Stair Si Havlin week stand shows going out of Chicago are closing rapidly. Business is reported to be very bad for the for- ner, and the latter find all of the Stair & Havlin time has been played thus early in the season. The Western Thea- tre Managers ("Open Door" concern) have lost the Shubert attractions, due to the Shuberts pulling out of the one nights altogether. "The Blue Mouse" and "The Wolf" end their season Saturday. "Girls" and the "Great John Ganton" (other "Open Door" shows) have already closed. F. M. Wade jumped his "Royal Chef" from Columbia, S. C, to Brantford, Ont., and reopened it Monday night. H. H. Frazee's "A Knight for a Day" closes at Fort Wayne, Ind., Jan. 16. "The District Leader" closed at Marshalltown, Iowa, Jan. 0. "The Candy Kid" closes at South Chicago, Jan. 2(>. despite having played to $3,600 at Havlin's in St. Louis last week. "The Cowlxiy Girl" closed Jan. 1, at De- troit. "The Brand of the Thief" closes at the Bijou, Chicago, this week. "Dan; Devil Dan" closed Jan. 1 at Richmond, Va. Harry Askin's "Lo" will not go out again, and a rumor has it that Askin is trying to buy "The Goddess of Liberty" from Joe Howard, with an idea of starring John E. Young in it. TAKING OVER MINSTRELS. Chicago. Jan. 12. Herbert Llovd has arranged to sail for England on Jan. 28, taking with him "The British-American Minstrels" to travel on the other side. The Porto Rican Quartet and Anderson and Evans have been engaged as features. BERNHARDT MAY REFUSE $17,000. (Special Cable to Vabocty.) Paris, Jan. 11. It is not yet settled that Sarah Bern- hardt will play the Coliseum, London, dur- ing the month of September, and receive the $17,000. Oswald Stoll has agreed to pay the tragedienne through the Mari- nelli Paris office. Mme. Bernhardt has declared she under- stood the Coliseum to be a legitimate theatre, and may repudiate the contract for her vaudeville appearance upon that ground. It had not been settled up to today. The contract calls for a salary of $15,000 to Bernhardt for the month, with $2,000 additional for expenses. It is reported here that Mr. Stoll may contract for Mme. Bernhardt also for October. He is now searching for other continental actresses of note, according to information. DE LORIS A HAMMERSTEIN HEAD- LINER. John De Loris, the champion "lay off act" of vaudeville, has a job at last. Mr. De Loris will present his "Bullet Proof Lady" as the headline feature at Ham- merstein's Jan. 17. This newest act of De Loris' has been held in reserve by the marksman, he hav- ing declined nearly every offer made him for the past two years. Hammerstein's wanted the act several months ago, but the salary figure stood in the way. "The Bullet Proof Lady" is reported to be a sensational turn. During the few weeks De Loris played it in the south and west, the newspapers all proclaimed it a wonderful feat. At Atlanta, Ga., the commander of tlie army post nearby with a detachment of infantry occupied the stage during De Loris' performance, supervising the load- ing and the discharge of the regulation armv rifle in use. LIONEL BARRYM0RE IN. At Yonkers on Monday "The Jailbird" is to be shown. In the sketch will be Lionel Barrvmore, I'hvllis Rankin and McKee Jiankin. The Casey Agency books the act. Will- iam L. Lvkens, of that office, uncovered it. BREAKING FROM BARRASFORD. (Special Cable to Variety.) London, Jan. 12. The DeFrece-Barrasford deal by which the Pavilion, New Castle and the Hippo- dromes in Nottingham and Sheffield were to have passed to the DeFrece control, has been called off, after all preliminaries had been arranged. These houses and others have broken away from their affiliations and will form a new circuit. Bill Oollins will take the post of manager for the newcomer into the field, which may have a booking agreement with the Payne Syndicate. The future of the Liverpool Hippodrome, Brighton, Leeds and Al ham bra, Paris, is a matter of speculation. Rumor suggests the possibility of DeFrece taking them over, although it is the general opinion that such a course would not pay him. According to the latest report DeFrece is being backed by a London manager other than Oswald Stoll. HACKENSCHMIDT FAILURE. (Special Cable to Variety.) Sydney, Australia, Jan. 12. The company organized for a tour of Australia with Hackcnschmidt, the wrestler, at its head, has failed both in Sydney and Melbourne. Wise and Milton, Americans, colored, have just opened at the Gaiety, Melbourne, scoring a hit. ••THE GODDESS" QUITTING. The "No. 2" "Goddess of Liberty" with May De Sousa. which has had a short run at Welx-r's Theatre, New York, closes there this Saturday night, poor business causing the collapse. On next Wednesday or Thursday "Miss Molly May" will take a try in the theatre. It was reported around during the week that there had Ix-en some salary trouble in "The Goddess" company when the last pay day fell due. OPERATIC SINGER'S PLUNGE. Tin- vaudeville plunge will be taken •Jan. Jf by Clifford Wiley, the operatic singer, who will then appear at the Fifth Avenue, New York, for his variety debut. Mr. Wiley will have four pianists ac- company hiin. Each will have a special orchestration of the musie.