Variety (March 1950)

Wednesday, March I, 1950 VAUDEVILLE 49 American Guild of Variety Art-4 i$ts has completed a new set of regulations to govern the outdoor field. AGVA’s Outdoor Advisory Committee, comprising 25 performers who work fairs, circuses, expoBitions, parks, etc , has been working for the past weeks with organizer Vic Connors and AGVA national board, Vaude Acts as Feature Of D.C. Sports Show Washington, . Feb; 28. . Number of vaude and carnival putdobr-type acts .'will feature thie ahnual Sportsmen’s and Outdoors Show which opens at the National Guard Armory Friday (3). Brooke Johns, onetime “ Ziegfeld Follies” star and more recently a radio disk jockey and politician in .this area, Wiii emcee the performance which includes divers, animal acts, archery, trick shooting, etc. The show, which will run 10 days, annually attracts thousands to the Armory. One of the major changes is the modification of exclusive option contracts. Heretofore, acts have been signed for the forthcoming season In November. Consequently, if an agent signed too many acts or if a fair /cut dowhi on talent, certain turns didn’t get a sufficient amount of work. Under the new rule, acts signed to contracts in November must be notified by March 15 as to the amount of work available; If ah agent cannot offer 12 weeks in 15, or four weeks out of five on shorter contracts, option cannot be exercised. ■ ; Under the new set pf regulations, ; to fftS first time in man5' years engagements of three days. If date London cates are guying talent di is more than a week, each day .• r.®Jpt fiom the U. S, Since Ian. 1, over seven must; be compensated whff n ; T/pndOii ^ottle by one-seventh of the regular sal; outlawed and the^ curfew ^relaxed •ary, New mips also call for ;ein-i;^dr ^regjilation;,^ r estauran t. s. ;a JljL ployer to pay transportation on cafcS, some American acts have Max; Liebman to Produce Unit at Palmer House, Chi Max Liebman will produce a unit for the Palmer House, Chicago, in June. Liebman, who produces the 90-minute “ Saturday Night Revue,” telecast on NBC-TV, previously did series of units : for the Latin Quarter, Boston. Cast of the nitery unit is still to be lined up. William Morris agency set jumps over 350 miles. AGVA's ; committee Rene Fraday; show director at Le Lido, Parish is on his last lap before returning to France after a looksee at ..talent in Havana; Miami Beach, Mexico, Hollywood, Las Vegas, Chicago and New York. He is practically set with Kay. Thoffip^ son, currently at the Versailles, N. Y., to open at Paris’ Les Ambassadeurs; which the Lido management ( Pierre Lbuis-Guerih ) will also operate this summer in anticipation; of the peak European season because of American tourism, the Holy Year pilgrimages to Rome, etc Orange Show Has $30,000 Budget San Bernardino, Feb, 28. Orange show, which open s March 9, will have, a "talent budget of upwards of $30,000. Line of girls and five standard acts will be used during the nine-day stand of the , exhibit; Stan Meyers will baton a crew of 16, George Jessel will appear opening night, followed by Ralph Ed ■ . Doubling of shows from niteries to Vaudfilmers is on the unbeat in New York. Latest cafe display to be set for a vauder is the Chinn DolL N. .Y., revue, which doubl« into the nearby : Roxy theatre, March 17. . China Doll show will be headed by Long Tack Sam, oldtime Chinese act, which; hasn’t appeared on Broadway for nearly two deer ades. Before returning to performing he operated theatres in China until recently when Chinese Communists made things diffi wards, Kay, Starr, Peggy Lee, Andy i.„14. : fJ , , , . . * and Della RusseU, Judy. Canova IIe s reputed independently and Art Linkletter. Bill (“Hopa i wealtny> • long”) Boyd Will, make a p.a. on 1 Others On the show will include ■ , March 18, Mills Bros, also are | Toy Wing, Ming & Ling, FlOr . pencilled in for the final day; Phil , ence Ahn and the cafe’s line./ Bloom agency here has nabbed the Currently the Latin Quarter Reaceount and is . lining up talent. Ype is bicycling between the Lou Walters cafe and the Strand the-: atre. Recently the Roxy used the show . from, the : Copacabana. > The doubling of cafe shows into yauders has generally worked out well for both theatre and nitery. i Thea tie . bookers . feel... it’s a good ; idea to get a show that’s already ^ broken in and has been previously publicized in a cafe.. The cafe ; The recent cold snap has cut owner gets a slice from the theatre/ heavily into cafe grosses in New as; producer and at the same time . /fioni£ace&-ai^incliqedrio benefit^ ^ ■ • . ' . . . i'. '.IUimL iL n 4 iL A t » r A n l U Alt In ama ‘ «*A • ’ A ! 1 i 1. 1 boys already are studying French has also been used, but. they Were selected Alert s ■-uiuiiiiLLce ..«> ai>u I1*001 talent playing/ iii Europe. • anticipation . The Ambassadeurs taken Y steps to correct that it ?inc« acts «!ere already over there. plans a May 15 debut with a coriv torns an'ibuse of charging acts ' Ior, bination ice-floorshow policy, 40% from $50 to $100 for printing a de, Thompson booking, although her ; think that the weather is more re trailerize his cafe. trans-Atlantic transportation, . g ■ e First deals from N. Y. for Lon scription and photo of performers don cafes we?.e set last week. *n * catalog issued to buyers, n Among those signed are the Mack der the new rule union mustap-.^ Bobb/Brcen and Connje prove such deals. ; • Sawyer. Pact for Julie Wilson, current at the Maisonette of the St. Regis hotel, N. Y., is being negotiated.^ Acts booked are for the Colony l and Aster clubs, London, and they i \vill double between both spots. Monte Proser, planning to open 1 Operators of these cafes, Eustace a nitery on the site of the former Hoey and Harry Morris, have been sponsible for the business drop Cafe Society Uptown, N. Y. (more conferring for the past . week with head of the N. Y. branch of the Lew & Leslie Grade agency of London. recently Le Di rectoire) , declared ; Harold Dobrow Of the William this week he is delaying work on j Morris agency, and Eddie Elkort, the new spot untir his tangled af' ' ‘ ' fairs with the N, Y. Copacabana management are cleared up. Proser. who is still listed as president, of the Copacabana,; owning35% of its stock, is currently having his attorney, Samuel Becker, prepare papers for a suit demanding an accounting of all profits in the Copa for the past TO years. Papers are directed against Jules Podell, the. Copa’s supervisor. 65G AT CHEZ PAREE, CHI .. .. i There would probably be more than the ^combination, of the dim cafe-theatre dates /but for the fact ?rUVt r anc^ income-tax time. ! that the number of cafes with large Until the freeze, business had been pr0(juctions is rapidly decreasing. only to the portable tank. An Eng1 on ^ par witk last year. _ . i The only big cafe that hasn’t doulish line is being brought over | , Along Broadway the Latiri Quar bled its shows into theatres is the from London, and the idea is to | ter lsfiommg Up fairly well, other Diamond Horseshoe. At that Billy 1 wise the west side cafes are doing Bose, at one time, produced p'aralfrom fair to poor. The Teast side is in a comparatively better position than the at Copa City, Miami, says she's Broadway spots but business is agreeable to taking a cut for the Mroewh*t-o# m^ engagement but will have to ^ play 1 ^ Operate it on a class basis a la the Copacabana, N. Y., utilizing a basic format and changing stars. Carmen Miranda, whom Fraday saw . 1 el editions for vauders. Paris before or after Miss Thomp S ; the Blue Angel and Le Ruban Bleu The fcopa’s receipts aren't up to (Miranda’s) picture commitment goes in April or August; Fraday also is. talking to Sorija Henie for the third headliner, also with a “prestige” pitch, since . obviously there is a money hurdle for the 4dO-capaCity roOm. Shorter Revues Meantime, the new Lido show will essay French 10 and par. VHCS SEEKING SHOW BIZ Boff Take on Fla. Dates St. Petersburg, Fla., Feb. 28. Hildegarde is continuing her phenomenal success pattern which she ! employed in off the beaten path . bistro dates in the northern area ! with similar success in Florida. Last week in Daytona Beach at the .Ocean Room of the Sheraton Plaza she jam-packed the 350-seat room . , ( Means of ^bringing in sliowhusi a|. aimost every perfofmance of her >say a departure , the . ness support of Veterans Hospital | |Wo-hour concert at $4 per head. , i.e., two shows nightly at i Camp shows will be discussed at a > nn tnn nf that manaepmpnt rp1 a;m. That will mean two meeting of the VHCS board slated ; portedPthat d"rii;g the intermission. Chicago, Feb. 28. Despite zero weather and heavy . snows, Jimmy Durante, broke all Proser declares that work on his j cjfi nitery records in his second new cafe, still unnamed, will pro, week at the Chez Paree. Although ceed as . soon as that suit is under . the average tab was slightly less way. i than the opening week, there was Proser*? name was recently I copiplete turnover at almost every In opening days of her engagement here in the Soreno hotel ballroom, which seats about 500, she «k v . . . i «« | j j* a f • ' . . . . . wvi.i*wu. uiu v uufJiiiA tuv, mvwimiouivii different shows, curtailed to 40 |„to be held tomorrow (Thurs.). Abe ancj after the show an average tab minutes each as against the nsual j Lastfogel, VHCS president, carpe : of $3.50 was spent On drinks. Room lV^-hour revues which Donn Arden I in from the Coast to attend the ' t^kp ern^pd *10 000 and Ron':, Fletcher-, are .dance-stag; meet and will probably return 850 * • ’V ' • lng; as they did last summer. New ! after the confab, show opens in May and will be j VHCS hopes to make the enter Satirically pointed at the visiting : tainment of hospitalized vets a : I ramritv at *3 75 ad Yanks, with accent on “Paris as | community project pf the Venter < ^ssiort : In addSshe' SS the Americans see it.” It will ■ be tainment industry. Organization j in the idiom of Irving Berlin’s was put on its own at.-the begin ^ nd' sh6uld to d the Daytona gross ow. “Oniy. For Americans” song, out of , ning of the year when its parent * ral thousand Amazirig^art v.,v. — r. Second frame beat the first week j ‘ Liberty,” and the “Gentle; organization,. United Services^ Or ^ tfje pr6yiou$ week is that busi , rentiy lias no part in management j by almost $4,000 with a new high I f^eri Prefer Blondes current stag1 ganizations dissolved. . VHCS ^at ness grew an^ days were Mon Of that spot. There have been diL [ gross of $65^000 being reached, j ing. Carrie Finnell will do Must that time had enough funds for day and Tuesday, last part of the Acuities between Proser and Po ; Comedian closes March 15 to re j mguett, and will feature her W.k. three months^ Of operation, date. Chanteuse did a three-hour dell for several years over running.’ turn to Coast for another, picture, j ^Uscular-eontrol specialty. The 4 | Manor problem of the board is to pr0gram Tuesday. * v i Step Bros., whom Fraday signed ( line up sources of revenue for the ^ .... , , while’ at Copa City, will also be ! coming year. in it. For the. first time a line of > — 1 — | eight American chorus boys, each taken off the marquee and pro. grams of the Copacabana, and cur show. A-,..' Minsky to Tour His Fla. Show on Cafe Circuit on of that cafe. Prosfer stated that lease for the new cafe is in his name. Realtor Irving Maidman, who negotiated tile deals, for .the Copa. and the . uuv,, v.. | to paris. Bela Kremo, currently Beachcomber, cafe,, which Proser j Harold Minsky, operator of the • the Palmer House, Chicago, who ^ years ago, is in Colonial Inn, Hallandale, Fla., is , was briefly at Le Lido two years with him on the new cate deal. ; planning to package his current • ago, will be featured.. unit for a tour of cafes. It’s the j Fraday, who flies back to Paris second year that he’ll put his nite! ry show on the road. Dates are j being lined up for the Desert Inn, „ . , . ^ ... j Las Vegas, and the Beverly Hills Rose is ^ ^labning^a ® | Country Club, Newport, Ky. Last ; season’s display was routed out of | the Carnival, N, Y;, which -Minsky Rose Auditions For Diamond Horseshoe (Continued on page 52) jockey stanza for his Diamond Horseshoe, N. Y. So; far he hasn’t decided upon a platter-pilot, but ' operated ^at the Tirhe. : is continuing to hear audition • rPAAf/ic in hnnoc pnminf? un ' Cast will . include Ray^ /.Malpne; : Besides . lin.ii>g^ yA Worcester Sunday (26) to join the one-day performance here Sunday, records in hopes of coming up , rnri • nri Tit Valdes Gloria . mour and Abbott and Costello foi " , • . .. 9ft with a guy that might hypo things Frendh Jean Courtney, ’ Murray j forthcoming vaudeville season at comic and work on the Times Sq. Fyina_‘c Director Daniel S Ba«t the cafe. „ ! Briscoe and a 16-girl line. Other the Ldridon Palladium, Lew Grade opening •^VVeitman.^lso^ecem . witb whom the applicatfon .._?? ? ,S ZJ'Z ■■ Performers are atill to be set. ««« , l° SJ>r,n?fie,d °n waS filed, said he would place it Bob Hope troupe, including film istory actress Jane Russell and Les Brown and his band, opens at the Paramount the a tr e, Broadway ! showcase, today (Wed.) after a warriiup in t w o Massachusetts .towiis. Robert. M. WeiimanyUnited London Feb. 21 . ; paramount veepee, trekked to Ilildegarde was to address luncheon group of several hundred at the Maas Department store here but mob grew so large that platoon of policemen had to escort her through the thousands who clogged ,the aisles and store reported the greatest crowds in its Ringling Circus Dickers For Atlantic City Date Atlantic City, Feb. 28. Representatives of Ringling Bros. Circus have filed application with -the City Commission for a • upbeat in ’•New York. Monte’s | Trtgalls is agenting deal, restaurant installed Earl Wilson : oh a WINS wire this week. Ed Weiner recently started a show from the Hickory House, and Aldrich Joins Sherman Mickey Aldrich has been named Horne for an early July d£te iol Monday (27). ..... •• before the other Commissioners at lowing her four weeks at the Baev Hope played one-day engage ^ieir next meeting. The citv has cara chib, T^aris, where she opens ments in each spot following the: a license fee of $1,000 a day for May . 29. . troupe’s plane-out from, the Coast, circuses Others are Peggy Ryan/ and ^Ray, Saturday (25). Comic, is slated for. jf the application is granted it Leon & Eddie’s is also reported ( eastern re pf o rEdd l e S h ^'Macdonald, in return, due here tw0 . ^eeks at the Paramount on , will jje. the first license8 to be isinterested in reinstating a disk will rebre > April 3 for an extensive provmcia a weekly guarantee of $50,000 plus sued a circus for many years, spinner. . Jack Eigen of the Copa-agencr in N. Y.. Ajarieh ^“^ePAr® t tour for Mos.^ percentage. Amusement interests and business opUHlCl. uaciv iilgcu VI nit r*' ... ; . , . . j. ;a\. \ — vm • . . cabana, is generally credited with sent Sherman s acts inc uding Ab circuit, with Palladium to follow. ; ’ ” ° u-ii ■ PnoFnlln Allhn .mnPS. ■ . i • J 1 starting the trend. Burley Foldo* Baltimore, Feb. 28. | bott and Costello, Allan Jones, ^{iail Jones is playing return dates ; i Rudy Vallee. and Gloria Jean. , on entire Moss and Stoll circuit ; Shearinfir,s B’wav Bow Aldrich, who was formerly with ; apenins May 29, Gene Marvcy re. R nianisl Georee Shearing will vu.e Sherman booking office, will j tUr ns in early June Tor an rep acts and will not.be involved: isiVetour Leo De Lyon us set Tor people here have opposed circus licenses on the theory that it takes money out of town. the in the booking of theatres. four weeks at Palladium beginning a date at the Strand theatre, start . The Gayety, landmark of bur lesciue here, folded last week when ' je$sie Crawford, Jr„ daughter of ; ’^ack "Triplet/ Ifor' Bacarra DEBBIN’S NEW BEBTK Nat Debbin has joined the N. Y. bit hit a new low. / : the "Sganist; started engagement ;‘'i;;;ing'‘ApVil To fo,-7ou"r House hes been playing wheel as a singerjnjhe Shelton Corner, | wee^i and due gt palladium July shows and may resume with week N; Y. She’s been -playing and i four weeks* With Moss dates ahd Roger Ray. end frolics by a stock burlesque club dates under the name of , 3 wui weens, wim l oss a Another a(it is for balance of season. ‘ Laura Leeds. j to lonow. Agency of London. He’ll be on the bill with Tito with Eddie Elkort. Guizar, George Andrce Martin He’ll work still to be set. Debbiri was former personal manager of Lena. Hornet and pjrior to that was & music publisher.