Variety (June 1954)

Wednesda y* Jup* % 1954 - . ' i " ■■■ * tv. '■ <* t'SiiiETY VACDEVIIXE ) Chicago, June 29. Biz is sock on the nitery scene currently as semi-annual furniture conventioneers turned out 12,000 strong hereJast, week. All major spots in the downtown sector reg- istered hig with' the spenders, and even the northside Edgewater Beach Hotel, Where • the Ames Bros, are current, reaped some of the benefits. Nearly all the big Loop hotels are filled, and some furnituremen have had to find accommodations in better outlying hostelries, like the Edgewater. Weeknight biz at . dinnertime shows was terrif at Chez Paree, where Myron Cohen was holding forth, Palmer House where Jose Greco is the attraction, and at Black Orchid where Gertrude Nie- sen is appearing. Curiously enough, late business went to small, inti- mate bistros along Rush St. like the Opera Club, a non-exclusive key club. That room reported Monday and Tuesday biz stronger than the previous weekend. This conclave fairly forecasts the picture for the rest of the summer here, as business will fluctuate be- tween hot and cold depending on size and quality <of -conventions. HYDE’S $16,000 DEAL WITH SWEDISH CIRCUS Stockholm, June 29. Vic Hyde, touring with the Furu- viks Circus throughout Sweden, will play a total of 75 cities by the time he’s through .with this jaunt, which ends Oct. 25. Contact calls for a total of about $16,000 in American money. Unfortunately, it’s difficult to convert from kroner to dollars, and so a lot of this loot will have to be left here. Down the Middle Honolulu, June 22. Several Isle mteries . have switched to Japanese enter- ’ tainment. * Others, especially those downtown spots drawing heavy servicemen’s traded find that hillbilly-western trpupes pay off.. New Club Hubba Hubba pol- icy plays it down the middle, featuring Cherry Blossom Girls, from Tokyo, and the* Cotton Pickers, billed as “Those Touring Troubadours of the West.” For added fillip, there’s Ber- nie’s Band, composed of Is- landers. Dallas, June . 29, . The Jack Benny Revue, first summer production of the State Fair Musicals’ 13th season, drew a fine $50,000 gross for its second and closing week through Sunday (27). Opening week take was $51,- 000. Staged by Macklin Megley, Benny’s, show included the Will Mastin Trio, starring Sammy Davis Jr., Gisele Mackenzie, Beverly Hillbillies, Stuart Morgan Dapcers, Channing Pollock, Nita & Peppi, and Mahlon Merrick as musical di- rector. “Wish You Were Here,” first of five book shows to be produced by managing director Charles R. Meeker Jr., opened a two-week run last night (Mon.) in State Fair Auditorium. Gale Storm, Sheila Bond and Richard Allan Star in the Arthur Kober-Joshua Logan revival. Featured in the fortnight run are Sammy Smith, Pat Chan- dler, Sidney Armus, John Vivyan and William Thourlby. Frisco Cracks Down On B’kfast Clubs (Not The Don McNeill Variety) /Follies’ 163G, Seattle Seattle, June 29. • “Ice Follies” at Civic Arena, 5,200-seater, scaled from $3.50, did a big $163,600 in 12 days, beating last year by <$4,000. It was the 15th annual appear- ance bf the Shipstad-Johnson show here under aegis of Frank Nixon, Bookings for the July 4 weekend indicate a good season in the borscht Belt. -The mountain inns, according to the bookers, will have tj> go along with a full talent sched- ule. Possibilities of a business dip, they say, force them into a situa- tion where they will have to main- tain a steady diet of shows. Most spots, according to the bookers, will riot be able to get along on staff entertainment exclusively un- less a full resident company is em- ployed. The bookers have been able to get as mribh talent as needed for the mountain dates thus far. There has been no opposition by ' the American Guild of Variety Artists despite the fact that a fullscale agreement is not in force. Many acts will be playing two and three dates a night during the weekend. The July 4 session rep- resents the key to the entire sum- mer, frequently setting the pattern for all other weekends. Through the reception, an operator-is fre- quently able to tell whether he’ll need a larger or smaller show or whether he* can get along with band entertainment only. At any rate, for a great number of performers, this is the major source of revenue, not only for the summer, but for the entire year. The hill-country is also the major developing ground for new talent. It’s one of the few areas which can incubate new acts for cafes, video, etc. X ' * By JOE WALKER Atlantic City, June 29. It’s Centennial Year in Atlantic City, a year the resort hopes will result in grosses larger than any since the city Was founded 100 years ago. * The city has arranged an almost continuous program of events through the two big months, July arid August, ranging from another round-the-island swim to golf tour- naments at the A. C. Country Club, motorboat races, free outdoor con- certs Sunday* night by the A. C. Festival orchestra, directed by Wil- liam Madden;' band and chorus numbers on Saturday night as ar- ranged by the city’s Centennial! musical director, William Me-1 Mahon, the A. C. Press music edi- tor; plus hundreds of social events The Montreal situation is still status quo, according to the Amer- ican Guild of Variety Artists’ head office in New* York. Spokes-j men for the organization said that i the American Federation of Mu- sicians has not pulled a single or-^ chestra from any. spot playing! AGVA acts. Originally, the Mont- real local of the AFM set a June 21 deadline for its members. After that date they would have to re- fuse to work when an AGVA mem- ber was performing. The deadline was later extended to June 23, but nothing was done on that date either, according to AGVA. It’s reported that Montreal cafe men were prepared to take out in- junctions against the AFM should the Montreal local move in. This, hasn’t been necessary, said an AGVA spokesman, because they have not acted to enforce the orig- inal ultimatum. to be held at the beachfront or avenue hotels. At the Globe, burlesque con-, tinues to drawr—the one stage spot that seems to go on year in and out, under management of Jack Beck. The Steel Pier, with the George Hamids, as the motivating forces, has been called the b?st amuse- ment bargain in the U. S. if not the world, at 55c to $1.25. This is what the average customer can catch: a boardwalk picture theatre with a top feature; vaudeville, offering four or five acts, plus a pic; Tony Grant review for youngsters; on Sunday night a television • broad- cast emceed by Paul Whiteman; dancing to name bands; .water sports show and thrill circus. In the night club field the spot booking best acts is* Paul (Skinny) D’Amoto’s 500 Club on S. Missouri Ave. This year's biggest attraction will be Dean Martin & Jerry Lew- is, who come in July 16 for a week. Larry (Good Deal) Steele’s “Smart Affairs of 1955” opened Thursday night (24) at Club Paradise, sepia spot some blocks north of the boardwalk, and operated by Ben Aliens and Cliff Williams. In other years operators had put on shows at two Negro night clubs, the Har- lem and Paradise, bucking each other, but a merger was effected early in the year, and Steele moved out of Harlem into the larger Paradise Club* Harlem 1s now a musical bar. BQth spots man- aged by Jack Southern. Other night spots featuring acts include Hialeah, where Bob O’Neill, absent | since last fall, returned for the j season on Monday (28); the Yacht : Club; once the popular Babette’s, ; now Mambo City, with Spanish | food and entertainment featured; < the Paddock, and Jockey Club, be- • sides the big hotels. ( Only gambling will be at the ! Atlantic City racetrack. Authorities I have closed everything tight, even i the slots, once allowed in private ‘ clubs. 4 GUY8 AND A DOLL LOU WALTERS ENTERPRISES, Inc. MOM RECORDS Cm* Franklin, Mar. Whan In BOSTON Get Your Mail at tha HOTEL AVERY Avsry St. and Washington St. AIL MAIL HELD FOR ONE YEAR on Request The Home of Show Falk Whu le Buffalo step at the ' ROANOKE APARTMENT HOTEL Ai Apartmint fop th* pries of a Room Compfoto Cooking Fadlrflok : - M- Unchnor, Mgr.,204fo. Elmyood AV. San Francisco, June 29. District Attorney Tom Lynch characterized breakfast clubs as “public nuisances” and threatened to take action against them in a letter to police chief Mike Gaffey as the opening gun in a crackdown on after-hours spots. Clubs have been increasing in number this year, most of them of the set-up-and-bring-it-yourself va- riety, offering food and entertain- ment as well as icecubes and soda- water. Recent murder of dancer Lynri Williams after a tour of these spots brought on the heat. 8-Year CCEA Revenue Hits $2,196,434 Total Ottawa, June 29. Gross revenue of the Central Canada Exhibition Assn, in the eight years ending Nov. 30, 1953, was $2,196,434. Various operations in Lansdowne Park, CCE site, grossed $628,566 in the same pe- riod, with a net from both of $797,- 522.. Figures were in a statement issued by CCEA prez S. F. Dadson, issued to rebut what he called “gross and misleading charges” from “certain civic circles.” The charges included city hall Infer- ences of vast profits retained by CCEA and demands by the mayor that the association pay its own insurance on grounds and build- ings; although they are city-owned. CCEA operates them on contract. The Dadson. statement listed $681,387 as grandstand gross, with an operating profit of $428,127 in the eight-year period. About two- thirds of the profit went to grand- stand improvements, including new seats and lighting. The eight-year period was used because Lansdowne Park was oc- cupied by the armed forces during the war as 1 a'training centre, and considerable sums had to be spent after the army left to rehabilitate the park and Its buildings. Ex- clusive of that expenditure, $782,- 050 was spent on equipment, im- provements and maintenance, ac- cording to Dadson’s statement. .A Comic Don Rice heads the bill at; Bimbo’s 365 Club in San Francisco opening July 8 for three weeks, with the Wilder Bros, and an act as yet unselected also on the bill. N.Y. Ops Expect The New York niteries still open expect a fairly good summer. Boni- faces say that they expect a profit- able season if only because of the fact that they will be sharing the trade tliat used to go to the now defunct Riviera, at Ft. Lee, N. J. The nitery formerly operated by Bill Miller on the Jersey side of the George Washington Bridge had grossed as high as $90,000 during some weeks of the summer. Natu- rally, this diminished the gold available to the other cafes in the area. At end of last season, the spot was razed to make way for the Palisades Interstate Parkway, which cut through the property. Thus the outdoor cafe is iio more, and those that patronized the Riviera are likely to go to night- clubs in New York proper. The spring has been fairly good for the bonifaces. As usual, the prom trade filled many spots dur- ing the past month. In addition, crowds in for the Marciano-Charles fight upped nitery trade consider- i ably for several nights. Starting next week, the operators expect a batch of vacationers, aftd the N. Y. Convention Bureau has been hit- ting extraordinary success iri. book- ing a batch of palavers for New York. Consequently, in contrast to ear- lier this year, the nitery owners are now optimistic. The com- petition isn’t as fierce as it used to be, arid it’s believed that the. trade will be more equitably dis- tributed. Fisher’s Grove Record Eddie Fisher closed an 11-day Stand at the Cocoanut Grove of the Hotel Ambassador, here, after setting a new record for the first week of his engagement. He drew 5,200 covers for only eight shows in the full week, which is a room record. World's most NOVEL NOVELTY ACT LOU FOLDS Presenting "CONTINENTAL CAPERS" Currently SHAMROCK HOTEL Houston, Texas Post Engagements — — SAVOY HOTEL, London "CAROUSEL,” New York MOULIN ROUGE. Paris "ICE TIMEi"New York ROXY THEATRE, New York (THIS ACT NOT TELEVISED)