Variety (October 1955)

64 VAUDEVILLE No Bearish Spirit in Vegas Despite Spa Jitters, Ebbing Coin, Biz Falloff By BILL WILLARD Las Vesas, Oct. IS. The coming months may bring the first winter of real discontent to. some operators of Las Vegas plush hotels. The long pull over the months to summer's upswing, despite four big interim holidays to hypo biz, may even cause a jit¬ ter of two in the older casino-spas. Meanwhile there is the readjust¬ ment toward some semblance of financial solidity among the newer hotels, but this will not be made any too easy because of the 10-way stretch of ebbing coin. To brighten up the picture, how¬ ever, there is little negative think¬ ing along the Strip, even with the falling off of biz. The combined effort for getting tourists into Vegas the easy way is being shoul¬ dered by the Resort Hotel Assn., and by next year a web of direct flights to and from major cities will be in full swing. Add this region¬ al promotion to the statewide ad¬ vertising and publicity campaign to lure vacationers and industry to Nevada. The Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce reveals that the state’s Dept, of Economic Develop¬ ment has $315,000 in the kitty, $313,800 is set up drumbeating for tourists, and $1,200 for the wooing of industry. A glance at these fig¬ ures should tip off what Nevada believes to be its economic future. The state of Nevada will be rich¬ er at the year’s end by more than $4,000,000 from gambling taxes, with the major percentage of that sum flowing in from Las Vegas. Even if consideration is taken for the heavier tax assessment slapped on the casinos .put into law by the 1955 Legislature, the figure is very healthy. The amount stacks up neatly when compared to the pre¬ vious year’s gross gambling take. The Tax Commissions’ release to come at the end of the fourth quar¬ ter is likely to show no decrease in the amount of silver dropped on the greenfelt and in other gaming receptacles for the entire year. Most of the recent financial troubles in the newer Strip hos¬ pices (Riviera, Dunes, Royal Ne- Eileen BARTON CORAL RECORDS Dir.: WILLIAM MORRIS AGENCY Press Relations: BILL HEGNER COME TO HOLLYWOOD'S NEW¬ EST SUNSET STRIP MOTEL APTS. 3 in an Apt.—$6 a Day on Mo. Rato Heated Pool — TY Write Rental Agent 8265 Sunset Blvd. or Phone HOIlywood 7-6234 vada), which .caused a flurry of speculation about Las Vegas’ sur¬ vival, is not regarded as a major calamity here. The reason for their muddled money hassle was due to lack of efficient operation in the casinos, overburdened pay¬ rolls. a pay-you-later attitude to building contractors, plus the al¬ most simultaneous grand openings which spread the action too thin along the Strip all at once. The older spas could ride out the de¬ creased biz because of banked capi¬ tal, whereas the new spots had to dip into reserves almost at once. On-top of this, the entertainment angle plays a most important part. There just weren’t many big, big nitery personalities at large to swing a deluxe ooening for the Dunes and Royal Nevada, although the Riviera did manage to entice Liberace away from the New Frontier for $50,000 a week (it says here) for an opening splurge. Not only do Vegas ops demand more top and supporting acts for 12 .months of the year than any of the other resort bonifaces in the world, but they have learned the hard way to rely upon certain names to bolster biz at the right time of the year. These names or acts must have special appeal to stimulate heavy play in the casinos. Only a few star names have become very hot property to be coveted and con- I tracted for long terms. Some who may only be good attractions else¬ where have managed to become great for Las Vegas because of this special appeal not only to the $5 tourist good for the grind trade, but to the boys who can toss con¬ siderably larger bankrolls on the tables. In a Class Alone Acknowledged to be the biggest gambling draw in this respect is Jimmy Durante. He’s in a class alone. Then come the other top¬ pers on the gamblers’ hit parade: Joe E. Lewis, Frank Sinatra, Tony Martin, Danny Thomas, Billy Daniels, Ritz Bros., Lena Horne, Sammy'Davis Jr., Kay Starr, Mil- ton Berle, Peart Bailey, Martin & Lewis, Nat (King) Cole, Frankie Laine, Peter Lind Hayes & Mary Healy, Mills Bros., Tallulah Bank- head, Sophie Tucker, Martha Raye, Eartha Kitt, Donald O’Connor, Ray Bolger and Marlene Dietrich. From the list of these Vegas all-timers, consider that only Billy Daniels was available for one of the new hotels, the Riviera. The Royal Nevada has not been able to lure over any of the big ones, but has been riding for many weeks on the tab version of “Guys and Dolls,” a most expensive out¬ lay and one which is not pouring back overwhelming returns into the casino. The picture here is soon to change, however, with the en¬ trance of Bill Miller as general manager and prexy of the hotel’s corporation. It will henceforth be “Bill Miller’s Royal Nevada” (he failed to swing a deal at the Vegas Riviera which would have tied in with his past nitery operations in N. J.), as he severs all connections with the Sahara, and a prediction could be made that some of the top Sahara names will lind their way to the RN marquee in time. In the case of the Dunes, it was not until the Sands took over the operation that any cohesive plan of management became effective, and certainly there were no stellar acts DANCERS USE SCALING NET FOR THRILLING DANCE AGAINST SKY IN Wednesday, October 19, 1955 to hypo the early summer preem or to build up. biz in the weeks to follow. Negotiations are cur¬ rently underway to split this man¬ agement, with Jake Freedman seeking “full" control of the Dunes and selling out his 50% interest in the Sands. Whether he will con¬ tract Jack Entratter to supply acts as of now has not been revealed. But, unless he does continue his present (Sands-Dunes) entertain¬ ment setup with cross-booking of the large list of Sands’ topliners, Freedman may be in trouble. First Alarm There is enough sag in luxury spending nationwide^© . sound the first alarm in Vegas. On becoming fully aware of this condition, look for casino brass to pull the ostrich- in-the-sand routine no longer. They a.e already holding show buying figures steady. The fan¬ tastic paychecks to entertainers may have reached the peak, and for survival there will be little if any overspending in this depart¬ ment. In every {fhase of Strip hotel operation, there is a hint of re¬ duced expenditures to set up Vegas gambling on a healthy com¬ petitive basis. Hotel room expan¬ sion will have to be taken under consideration to handle future con¬ vention crowds. The city of Las Vegas and the Strip are split on the convention hall issue, with city hall wanting to float a bond issue to buy the defunct racetrack from Horseshoe Club owner Joe W. Brown, and a few Strip chieftains (notably among the Desert Inn crowd) wanting to raise the loot and keep everything centralized in Clark County. With the convention bond issue, there was the joker of . annexation of the Strip to Las Vegas which seems improbable if for the tax angle alone. Wherever gambling is not cen¬ tralized, there is almost an 8 to 1 that Berkeley had testified he met (Continued on page 68) Vaude, Cafe Dates New York Imogene Coca pacted for the Baker Hotel, Dallas, Oct. 21 and thence to the Sahara, Las Vegas, Nov. 1 . . . Eartha Kitt moves into the Mocambo, Hollywood, Nov. 15 . . . Joe E. Lewis tapped for the Chez Paree, Chicago, Dec. 28 . . . Rusty Draper an Oct. 31 opener at the Copa, Pittsburgh . . . Myron Cohen down for the Prevue Club, Collinsville, Ill., Nov. 10 . . . Rob¬ ert Clary has a December date at the Blackhawk, Chicago . . . Page & Bray into the Dunes, Las Vegas, Dec. 19. Chicago Chi Chez Paree op Dave Halper trying to get the Will Mastin Trio back for an Oct. 31 date; Sophie Tucker was originally set, but had to cancel out. If the Will Mastin booking goes through, it’ll be a quick return for the Sammy Davis group, who closed the Chez Sun¬ day (16) . . ..Chi’s Oriental Theatre playing with the idea of a limited show policy; house has been featur¬ ing an organist at intermissions to try it out . . . ‘McGuire Sisters currently at Chi’s Chez Paree for one frame ending Sunday (23) . . . Wally Griffin and Nino Nanni set for return dates at the Park Lane, Denver, in January, May and August of 1956 .: . . Ana Moreno into the Club Crescendo, Houston, Nov. 9 for two. Omaha Stuart Allen, comic, opened at Don Hammond's Seven Seas Fri¬ day (14) . . . Pianist Walter Scott in at the Airport Hayden House ... Paul Moorhead orch featuring vo¬ calist Annie Maloney at the Pax Room of the Paxton Hotel. Hollywood The Szonys open a three-weeker at Cocoanut Grove Dec. 6 . . . Lottie Brunn opens at the Bilt- more Bowl Nov. 16 for six weeks, on bill with the Doubledaters . . . Paul Gilbert opened a two-week stand at Reno’s Riverside Friday (14) . . . Comic Jack Durant will appear in the Gale Storm show opening at the Cocoanut Grove Nov. 9 . . . Matty Malneck opened a one-week stand yesterday (Tues.) at the Mocambo . . . Allan Jones signed deal calling for two . en¬ gagements yearly at Thunderbird, Las Vegas . . . Gwen Bari booked into Eldorado Oct. 24 . . . Mel Torme tees off a four-week Australian tour at Tivoli Theatre, Sydney, Friday (21) . . . Lili St. Cyr at Copa Club, Pittsburgh, for two stanzas . . . Ho-Lo's into Eddie’s, Kansas City, Nov. 4 for two weeks. Texas State Fair Sets New Record; Negroes PuD Out Over Segregation Dallas, Oct. 18. State Fair of Texas, midway in its 70th annual outing, Oct. 7-23, racked up what’s claimed to be a new world’s record for single day expo attendance Saturday (15) when 323,224 visitors, at 60c each, packed the 187-acre fairgrounds. Total topped the previous claimed one-day attendance record of 305,- 500 set by the Canadian National Exposition at Toronto last Sept. 3. Previous high here was 296,784 on Oct. 16, 1954. Record draw here boosted the halftime attendance total to 1,413,629, well ahead of last year’s 1,308,241 draw for the first eight daVs, and fair execs are confident this year’s turnstile total will top 1954's record 2,506,500 payee count. Current expo run had its head¬ aches. Annual Negro Achievement Day, Monday (17), lost support of the local Negro Chamber of Com¬ merce, which charged in a tele¬ gram to fair officials that “segre¬ gation and discrimination are still being practiced” on certain mid¬ way rides and concessions and in other expo facilities. A resolution stating that the Negro org “finds itself unable to continue its sup¬ port of Negro Achievement Day at the State Fair of Texas so long as these discriminatory practices are maintained” was passed Friday (14) at a meeting of the group’s board of directors. Resolution was passed after C. B. Bunkley, cham¬ ber’s prexy, said he attended the fair and was denied admission to a concession. *• The Negro org made two specific segregation charges in its tele¬ gram: (1) that Negroes are not per¬ mitted to ride on two rides on the midway; (2) that they cannot eat on the midway except at stajids that have no seating facilities or N.Y. La Vie Fate Hinges on 9G Fate of La Vie, N. Y., hinges on whether it could raise about $9,000. Deadline is tomorrow (Thurs.) and at presstime, sum was still to be raised by Bernie Kammett', gen¬ eral manager of the nitery. Monte Proser, La Vie’s operator, was in Las Vegas conferring with opera¬ tors of The Tropicana, where he will be the booker and production boss. Haymes’ La Vie salary is $5,000. Trouble started last Thursday (13), when the check given to head¬ liner Dick Haymes was returned for insufficient funds. Kammett wanted to sign over to Haymes the sum due to the nitery from the Diners Club, but officials of The American Guild of Variety Artists held that he must be paid in cash. Coin wasn’t raised and Haymes wasn’t, allowed to appear. Freddie Stewart substituted. Odd part of the affair lies in the fact Jhat La Vie had its heaviest week since its opening. Business had been really solid, but necessity of paying off some really pressing debts left the operation in worse shape. Money was raised by the dead¬ line given on Saturday night and on that evening, Haymes, Billy Vine and The Gerardos did three shows. at stands that have only stools Also, Brig. Gen. Benjamin Davis’ scheduled to receive the expo’s fourth annual National Negro Achievement Award, advised expo officials that he could not attend due to “unforeseen c rcumstances.” To Maintain Harmony” James H. §tewart, executive veepee-general manager of the Texas expo, made an official statement: “The State Fair belongs to everyone and is open to all peo¬ ple at all times, regardless of race creed or color. A few minor re¬ strictions are kept in force to maintain harmony and good oper¬ ations. If these are resented by anyone, the management of the State Fair is regretful, but feels that they are in the best interests of everyone.” Stewart also ex¬ plained that two rides, the Scooter and the Laff-in-the-Dark, were barred to Negroes because “physi¬ cal contact with white persons” was involved. Eating places were closed, he said, in accordance with the same practices dictated through custom in Texas. Tragedy occurred Tuesday (11) on the midway when a seat on the Sky Wheels, a twin ferris wheel, broke and dropped a 15-year-old Memphis, Tex., schoolgirl to her death and” injured two girl com¬ panions who shared her seat. Sky Wheels, after examination, was dismantled and removed from the fairgrounds. Despite its troubles, the Texas expo is headed for another record- breaking attendance. Top enter¬ tainment lure is “The Pajama Game,” with Fran Warren, Larry Douglas and Buster West, in for 25 performances in the 4,285-seat air-cortditioned State Fair Audi¬ torium, scaled at $1.20-$4.80. Tour¬ ing-show opened Friday night (7) with a boff $150,000 advance sale. “Ice Capades of 1956” is at the Ice Arena for 23 performances, scaled to $3.30 top. “Ice Cycles” has drawn better than 100,000 frozen-water fans into the 5,600- seat arena for the past four annual fair runs. DIR: IRVIN ARTHUR ASSOCIATES COMEDY MATERIAL For All Branches of Theatricals FUN-MASTER THE ORIGINAL SHOW-BIZ GAG FILM (The Service of tho STARS) First 13 Files $7.00-All 35 issues $25 Singly; si.05 per script. • 3 Bks. PARODIES, per book .$10 • • MINSTREL BUDGET.$25 O • 4 BLACKOUT BKS., ee. bk.. .$25 • • BLUE BOOK (Gags for Stags) $50 • HOW TO MASTER THE CEREMONIES $3.00 GIANT CLASSIFIED ENCYCLOPEDIA OF GAGS, $300. Worth over a thousand No C.O.D.'s BILLY GLASON 200 W. 54th St., New York If—Dept. V Circle 7-1130 night amounting to $1,000 was posted. However; Jackie Bright, AGVA national administrative sec¬ retary, insisted that the full week’s salary be gotten up, to be held in escrow for the entire show. He also told the manager that he would require a full bond for Buddy Hackett -and other perform- ers who go In tomorrow (Thurs.). WHEN IN BOSTON It's the HOTEL AVERY The Home of Show Folk Avtry ft Washington Sts. Radio in Evory Room_ CAB CALLOWAY Currently GOLDEN HOTEL RENO Mgt. BILL MITTLER, U19 Broadway. Nrw York