Variety (October 1958)

64 VAUDEVILLE PSkmISTy Wednewlayv October 8, 1958 K.C. Coronation in Own Bidding At $7.50 Topftovacs & Adams 1-Niter Kansas City, Oct. 7. Number of new.twists will be in¬ corporated in the Coronation Pageant which takes place here Oct. 17, kicking off the annual American Royal Livestock and .'Horse Show, Oct. 18-25. Corona¬ tion event will be held for the first time in the American Royal’s own building on the edge of the stock- yards district, breaking tradition in moving from the downtown Municipal Auditorium. 4 Coming in to appear at the Friday night event only are Ernie Kovacs &*Edie Adams. There will be the annual crowning of the American Royal queen, presentation of soci¬ ety belles, the “Botars,” and a 35- piece orch directed, by Jack Lee. Show will be produced by Richard H. Berger, production director of the Starlight Theatre, who has; an¬ nually doubled on these events in recent years. An innovation in the coronation program will be a special intermis¬ sion, stretcheti. to 30 minutes so that guests may stroll through the animal pens adjacent and see the farm stock and horse flesh which will star during the following week of the show. A tab version of a horse show also will be presented Friday night by way of wising up the patrons for what’s to come. A policy change also will see a Kansas City girl crowned queen for the first time, in contrast to former practice which drew the queen from outside K.C. in tribute to the trade territory.. Also new this year will be a top price for the coronation of $7.50, against $& which prevailed at the 8,000-seat auidtorium. The A.R. building seats only 6,200, neces¬ sitating the change. The building, incidentally, is ..undergoing a con¬ siderable dolling up for the occa¬ sion. _ The daily horse shows will have a number of added attractions, in¬ cluding the 32-man troop of Cana¬ dian Mounties. who will appear throughout the show. “Whi 2 zo,” popular clown on KMBC-TV, will appear in several events of interest to childreh. The annual Saturday amr-matinee of the Rodeo Kids, will be held on the final day. ' The sweeping changes are being made to give a sharper focus to the basic livestock and horse show theme and to center all activity in the American Royal, it was ex¬ plained by Dallas Alderman, pres¬ ident, who is back in harness after recently suffering a broken leg. CANADAS SPECTACULAR NEW THEATRE THE ;^VHEARJ OF CANADIAN "SHOW BUSINESS ' PLAYBILL RESTAURANT TO HAVE LEGIT MOTIF It’s costing as much to build New York’s new r est theatrical eatery as it does to produce an average Broadway musical. Ap¬ proximately $300,000 is being shelled out by the Zeckendorf Hotel Corp. for the Playbill Res¬ taurant,. which preems Oct. 26 in the recently - refurbished Hotel Manhattan, N. Y. The room, which will have facili¬ ties for about 250 diners, plus a bar, will have legit motif. . Deco¬ rated by Melanie Kehane, the spot will be patterned along thea¬ tre lines c in having the menu in Playbill form, the service staff dressed as ushers, the cashier’s desk as a boxoffice, the cloak room a “Prop Room.’’ the ladies’ powder room as “The Make-Up Room” and restaurant seating in simulated “boxes.” The wall of the Playbill bar will be dominated by the first theatre mural ever done by legit cari¬ caturist A1 Hirschfeld. The pic¬ ture of a typical opening night in¬ termission, caricatures the first- stringers and other regularr preem patrons. It will include Wolcott Gibbs and Herbert Bayard Swope, who have died since Hirschfeld fin¬ ished the drawing. Circns Acrobats Aren’t Born, They’re Educated In Soviet Tour-Year’ Plan Washington, Oct. 7. Moscow’s .four-year Circus School —where gymnastics and equili¬ bristics are .taught along with geography and-physics — is de¬ scribed in the new, issue of the magazine, USSR, ‘ published in English’ by the Russian Embassy here under a Russian-American agreement. The author, Mikhail Dolgopolov, explains: “The ^course of study is four years. The first two are de¬ voted to training in acrobatics, gymnastics, juggling and equili¬ bristics. During the third year the student turns to: specialzing in the type of performance for which be has shown the most inclination. In the senior year, he prepares for his final examination with the teacher’s aid. “All circus school students re¬ ceive state scholarships or stip¬ ends, the size of which depends upon their progress and all tuition is free,” Dolgopolov reports. And, he says, “plenty of jobs” are waiting for all graduates in the. 51 stationary circuses in the Soviet Union, along with 15 travel¬ ing tent circuses which visit “more than 150 cities each year.” Also, there are “more than 50” traveling circus companies which perform ‘Variety theatre stages” in small towns and at collective farms. Brussels Counts Up Fiascos ; Continued from page 1 ; Circus Review Cirque Medrano, Paris Paris, Oct. 3. Jerome Medrano presents circus revue in two parts, ‘'Bravissvmo" by Walter Farnedi , Jacques Prely; staged by Geo Sandry; choreog¬ raphy, Miss Doriss; sets and cos¬ tumes, L. Aguettand; music, Gio¬ vanni D’Anzi. With Rino Salviati, Raoul Delfosse & Christian Duva- leix, Guido Basio, Anedda Mando¬ lins (6), Dorris Girls (18), Ghezzi. Sisters (3), Salvatore Scandurra, Michele Marconi & Andre Raney, Likajos (3), Tux, Wiskys (2); $2 top. long before the Expo opened, by extravagant rules. Nobody seemed to care at the time because hopes rocketed high: the Fair was to be a hen laying only golden eggs, every invested franc would mul¬ tiply. Apparently everybody was in the illusion that fortunes would spring up mushroomwise. When hard facts dispelled that illusion and customers pulled thin purses, when not even expenses got cov¬ ered and no tax relief could even be considered, the wailing began. But the Expo offered no wailing wall to lean against; neither was there a possibility to pull out. Contracts had been signed, clauses had to be respected. It is expected that many of the victims, while swimming against treacherous cur¬ rents, have lost not only their in¬ vestments but everything they possess. The amusement park, perhaps the most disappointing fixture at the Fair, was most disastrously hit. Right from the beginning there was no real public response. Small wonder too: it offered nothing but a glorified local fairground. The heralded “best and most up-to-date Coney Island in the world” never came to pass. Only Saturdays and Sundays brought a semblance of interest to this very average amuse¬ ment park. The Palladium, billed as “the biggest music-hall in the world” (with names of Sinatra, Judy Garland, Nat King Cole waved as bait but never booked) closed down almost as soon as it opened. It was subsekuently forcedj into existence again, functioning^ on very modest prices, and it is democratic prices, boomed; for th prospective buyer there is the al traction of having acquired some thing from an “aloof” country. Another peculiar^ phenomenoi has been the sudden appearance, ii the heart of Brussels, of souveni shops all hearing the names of Iroi Curtain countries. What was no sold at the Fair will undoubtedl: come in handy here. As for the motel situation righ from the start these hastily erectet “shelters” for unsuspecting travel Iers were labelled “perfectly un comfortable” and “unduly expen sive” by irate victims. A barrage of well-founded criticism subse¬ quently hampered the popularity of these motels whose operatinj results have been disappointins to say the least. ELLINGTON’S 1ST DATE IN BRIT. IN 25 YEARS London, Sept. 30. The Duke Ellington Orch will make its first appearance in Brit¬ ain after a gap of'25 years when ii opens a concert tour at the RoyAl Festival Hall next Sunday i5). The band will be presented by Norman Granz in association with Harold Davison and will feature Johnny Hodges and Ray Nance. On the British end of the swap is the Ted Heath outfit. The Ellington orch will play 18 twice-nightly concerts and one- nighters in major towns. The. ma¬ jority of the stints will be at Rank theatres. Final date Will be at the said that losses are 'appallingly | gaumont State, Kitburn, Oct 26. , . i __x ___ Tho n pyi rnamr Amprinan hand ‘Capades’ Whammo 490G Cleveland, Oct. 7. “ice Capades,” one of Cleveland Arena’s top money-makers* did it again by boosting attendance 31.2%, over last year’s figures. Management claimed a smashing $490,000 in 25 performances, from estimated attendance of 165,226 at $3.75 top. D.C. Pigskin Club s; Continued from page 63 acts as the* Ted Shawn dancers, waltzing bears, Carmen Cavallaro, Harold LeRoy, chorus girls, barber¬ shop quartets and Meyer Davis’ society orchestra through the years. The top show has always been the last of the season here, in December, when ' Santa Claus makes a surprise entrance, always by a different form of transporta¬ tion. And . ideas have almost been exhausted by now. The old gent has entered by helicopter, rocket, circus car, horseback, parachute, Brink’s armored truck, inside a Christmas tree and train, among others. The new 16-man chorus (eight of whom sing professionally in New York as the Brigadiers) has made its bow out of town—at the'Red¬ skins’ first league game, against the Eagles in Philadelphia, Sept. 28. The Redskins Band, under the direction of Richard H. Viancour, is easily the best dressed in pro football, with white uniforms and huge, fuzzy white feathered Indian chief’s headgear, . Marshall is in complete charge through the actual production, keeping in telephone contact with several locations on the field simul- taneouslyr- In an effort to renew itself and keep abreast of the rising music halls, this permanent one-ringer is now more a revue-in-the-round than a circus. This one mixes Italo locale, bel canto singers and vaude numbers with a couple of French comedians who give it a thread by their adventures on the run from police in Italy. It moves briskly and has a fair eye value and enough diversion for the young trade. But it does not loom as the thing that will give this circus back its crowds ol yore. Only circusy things are , a girl dancing with a horse, a trap¬ eze entry, and turning the ring into a tank for clown falls. Christian Duvaleix & Raoul Del- fosse have some moments as tfte French tourists involved in haunted houses, dreams of ancient Rome, etc. Rino Salviati is a sug¬ ary Neapolitan singer while Guido Basio is a syrupy tenor. It is okay for those going for the bel canto. Anedda Mandolins (6) supply a nice authentic pizzicato air. Ghezzi Sisters (3) are a hefty femme group who do some savvy acrobatics for good mitts. Salvatore Scandurra eats plates, pots, nails, etc., but act is not for the queasy as he has a -tendency to cut him¬ self and drag it but. Tux is a deft juggler who foots kitchen utensils onto piles on his head, and the Wiskys (2) add a good trampoline interlude. Likajos (3) fight a duel over a shapely girl, and Tosca De Lac does fine arabesques and one- hand swings on the trapeze. Classiest act is . Michele Marconi & Andre Raney as a dancer terpa with a horse in not only imitating it but assimilating its stance and gaits. It is eyecatching, smart and applause-getting. Dorris Girls (18) do all sorts of dances and are young and goodlooking enough, plus being decorative, to overcome the lame choreography and gauche dancing. In ajl, this is passable enter¬ tainment for those with circus lean¬ ings, but it lacks the derring-do and tinsel associated with this old form of show biz.. This does not add to circus precepts, and is just another step in Medrano’s search¬ ing for a direct new formula for a segment of show biz that has been wavering here for years. Music, sets, costumes and general produc¬ in'gh, a casualty amongst many others. More than once, in this unhappy Fairland, concessionaires said. “A- signature on a contract is like i noose around one’s neck.” Electric¬ ity was supplied them only at much above normal rates, not by the official Brussels electricity com¬ pany but by the Fair which, con¬ trolling everything, made up its own prices. In fact a general dissa¬ tisfaction with prevail'ng condi¬ tions — these even extending to Merry Belgium, where not every¬ thing has been rosy either but which has nevertheless fared much better in spit of crushing taxes— has been noted here. Cinerama was knitted into the patchwork of this so-called Amuse¬ ment Park. Cinerama at $1.10 and $2, with the additional charge of the 30 francs (60c). Fair ticket, make this a real luxury. The highlight whs stolen by the Russian Kinepanorama with a 2Q francs (40c) admission and plenty of queues to keep the boxoffice healthy and happy. This Russian Cinerama was just as impressive as its American counterpart, same process even slightly improved and propaganda values difficult to match. Between Cinerama and Kinepanorama, latter has won the battle. The Soviets, Poles, Czechs and Hungarians, all with well-stuffed shops, if not exactly practising i The next major American band attraction planned by Davison is the Count Basie orch which is skedded to do a tour next February. ii' tr THE COMEDIAN The Only Real Monthly PROFESSIONAL GAG SERVICE THE LATEST — THE GREATEST — THp MOST-UP-TO-DATEST Now in Its 98th Issue, containing stories, one-liners, poemettes, song titles, hecklers, audience stuff, mono- logs, parodies, double gag s, bits. Ideas, intros, Impressions and im¬ personations, political. Interruptions. 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