Variety (February 1959)

66 VAUMSV1UJI Wednesday, February 11, 1959 By JOHN QUINN ' Kansas City, Feb, 10. ■ 1 Th^ ,, AnrtriGa& entartaftnment- f ciriwf intMir has bad 44*-habits radically changed, in. the short space of .10 years. Today • people generally go to bed earlier, and therefore there are fester abroad aPUffiT 4 thtf-first ^ow. 11 '’?!& a night chib, better get It on the first show, if possible. That’s when there'll be the most people, j the most excitement and the most] spending. But it wasn't always that way.! Only a decade ago it was a tossup for patronage honors between the supper show and the midnight Show. These views on running a night club in the midwest came to the fore last week as the three Eddy brothers, George, Sam and Ned, celebrated the 10th anniversary of; their deluxe downtown spot here. What's brought about the change! is difficult to say, but a steady] finger must be aimed at television. ] It runs through most of the good programs by 10 p.m., and so if you’re home there isn’t much else! to do but retire. Besides, it’s too late to go out to a dub, according to deductions by brother Ned. The weather outlook is very strong in the picture as an element which decides whether a party will go out. The public is much more] alert to weather developments,! thanks to radio and tv which have 1 made it a practice to scare listen-! ers stiff at the first sign of indent-! ency of the elements. People used to come and go as they pleased. Now they listen for the weather re¬ port first, brother Sam says. Nor is there anything as good to help business as a multiplicity of events in the downtown area. Take a night when a legit musical is in town, the auditorium arena has an event, and picture houses have strong product, and people are 108 WALTERS' FRENCH DRESSING Exdtieg PotUnm Imt FOURTH SMASH WEEK CARILLON HOTEL A£ami Beach, Fla. Booked bv HERBERT MARKS AGENCT NEW YORK MIAMI BEACH 113 W. 57 St. * *00 liac«h M. IWf. downtown. And they’re dresSed up, fit to gar any place; arid dm ’Nights without events' ere, uspaQy.. night* with fewer customers,' as brother George sees it. ' - ; . Other deductions over 10: year? —expense account spending. has tightened meaSureatdy aS business is more, alert to all the implications [rand business itself. has tightened up. Convention? don’t last as long as they did,'-and agendas are mote confining for the. attendees. The general public is hot’dnnldng.as much, or at least not as many drinks per person per session: Urn* deubtediy the intensive safetyeam- paigns are making themselves felt' here. Entertammentwise; there has de¬ veloped a bigger spread between the top names and the more mod¬ erate magnets-at the mike. The Fort Knox acts are prohibitive fbr the general run cf nightclubs, and there isn’t much to be had "between the few surefire names and:-the rest, the run of J the mill: Tlie sturdy in-between class of -acts is disappearing and there isn’t much being developed to'fill the void. The Eddys rose to the occasion by treating each customer to a free drink and a piece of cake during the week. It also gave an oppprtun-. ity for some more Intensive adver¬ tising and promotion^ Nelson Eddy ic'Gale Sherwood played the. week through Thursday. - Toni & Jan Arden played it out Friday, and. Saturday, as the opening of their two-week engagement. Mex’s Cfcmtiazo Nailing 21G iaU.S. Cafe, TV Dates; Comic’s Tearfid of Gags’ Mexio City, Feb. 10. Mexican comic billed as ’ Clavil- lazo (The Nail), whose, act high¬ lights expressive, "fluttering hands, will play night club and television engagements in Chicago, New York andXos Angeles. Comic, claims he will- dear $21,- 000 during a three-week- tour, be¬ ginning with a five-day stamLin Chicago (Feb. 13-17), followed Dy appearances in N.Y. and LA. Clavillaza gets 15,000 pesos ($1,200) per program over tv chan¬ nels in his native Mexico, with this making him the highest paid comic in t^e republic, except for Cantiriflas (Mario Moreno). His advise to all comedians: con¬ stantly change your bag of tricks and patter. Clavillazo says he has enough new material to last him for a year on his return to local tv. Kangaroo’s Self-Kayo Chicago, Feb. 10, A downstate dub called a Chi animal aet agenf, looking for novelty like a boxing kan¬ garoo, and got this response: “I’ve got a kangaroo, but it’s tired and won’t box any more. ,r RCA-Ylcfor Reetfrds ExcluMV.ly Mgt. m MiTTLER, UH B e e e dw a y. Mew York ‘FDR 19Q0 AadWon*’ * -XltHa^w/Feb. 10. BillBird, national chairman, in Scotland of the (franklin Boq$eVrit JuKemorial. Polio. * Fund;, will hesconting later this year for trip. U. S. acts to play, his annual ball-cabaret date at. the classy Central Hdr - tel,. Glasgow, next •: January. * Names who have aided 1 him'in the past -include Boh Hope and .Vera-Elleti. Show just con- . eluded featured Vniy native -product .(see news review). “ Ball is attended-by all top names in'$cofecommerce and society; , and attracts attention of tv and radio. • Boston, Feb. 10. Establishment of headquarters of the American League in Boston Is seed as benefiting all forms of entertainment—niteries, theatres, jazz spots, communications and the hotel bhf. Shift of the capital of the league from Chicago to the Hub.- has im¬ portant ramifications - outside the realm of the national pastime. Lo¬ cation of the. baseball league’s headquarters in the tower suite on the sixth floor of the new IBM building has been pacied. Boston show biz figures to bene¬ fit from flow of Visitors here as officers and directors of baseball clubs in other' American league cities come to headquarters-here. Joe Cronin, new prexy of the American League, was in this week to study plans for space. Funds* of the league -will be transferred to banks in the Boston area. For a publicity angle. Hub will benefit from increasing fre¬ quency of Boston dateline on base¬ ball stories* Rathbone, Jack E. Leonard Tim Time’ Team m Chi Chicago, Feb. 10. Jack E. Leonard and Basil Bath- bone are set to headline ‘Tun Time,” producer Jules Pfeiffer’s next vaude layout at the Stude- baker Theatre. Show kicks off March 30 for two weeks. Set in support are dancers Nicki & Noel,. Ivy Five vocal group, comic Nip Nelson, and a line of Budy Noel girls. Still to be determined for the bill is an or¬ chestra. House will be scaled to $4.50, with a $5.50 top Saturday nights. Isy Walters Back In Vancouver, Feb. 10. Isy Walters, who sold his Cave nitery last year after a cardiac set- baric, has resumed as a boniface. He opened on mainstem, West Georgia St, calling -the spot Isy’s, a 300-seater. Nitery's as yet sans liquor li¬ cense, but is netting brisk trade on triple flqorshow policy, running 6 pjn. to 2 ajn. .Atlantic City, Feb.; 10. Despite; constantly .growing com-, petition* for • convention. business, with tropical islands'qff. the. United States; now actively in'the bidding field’, and working diligently, this resort, expects, on a basis of -busi¬ ness already booked, one of the best years in its history. Wayne Stetson, manager .of the city’s convention bureau, semi¬ private group Which * works to bring . such gatherings into the city, estimates a 1)3% hike " this year over 1958.- Bookings'already- made, he jsays, indicate that nearly 500,000. delegates and their faini- lies will come here for conventions in 1959. In addition,, three other large, conventions have been booked for dates beyond’ 1959*: They Sre the, American Assn, of School Admin¬ istrators, whieh Comes here, not Scot Names Stud Layout For Roosevelt Polio Fuad In Glasgow‘Most’ Event Glasgow, Feb. 10. . Cabaret .lineup was spangled with many leading Scot names for entertainment of Central Hotel tablesitters- at this important Scot- Amprican event, high, spot of so¬ cial season hereabouts, and with resultant coin going to Boosevelt Polio Fund. Cover charge was $9* Bill Bird, national chairman of the fund, assembled a varied bunch of performers with .two diminutive Scot comedians, Alec Finlay and Larry Marshall,doingtheemceeing chores and attending to-a charity auction, when a set of prize golf clubs brought $900 to the charity. Boyal Scottish Country Dancers (8), from Edinburgh, gave . neat terping display of. folk dances, while eight other young dancers, this time, iri lively -jive, jumped and stomped explosively on the floor as the Lindellan Jivers, exit¬ ing to solid palming. Mary Millar; .blonde thrush from the “Old Chelsea” musical play, won more mitting for her vocaliz¬ ing in a fine soprano. Jack Milroy, local comedian, scored with tra¬ vesty of kilted rock ’n’ roll boy singer Jackie Dennis, being assist¬ ed in the stooging dept, by his femme. Mary Lee, herself a for¬ mer danceband chirper. Kenneth McKellar, another wearing the kilt, garnered heavy palming for Scot tunes, notably “The Biver Clyde,” and Jimmy; Logan closed an 85-minute seg¬ ment with some, witty dittying at the piano, hitting at local types with a personalized version of the Noel Coward time “Let’s Do It;" Backing for the cabaret spots came from the Tommy Maxwell Quartet, foursome from indie tv’s own midday show on the local net¬ work. GoTd. Only this month .but has been signed fbr I960, 1962, and 1983. It drztws 2f»,609- educators in one of -the 'worst iijxmths for resort busi¬ ness. The Triple Industrial Supply. Convention comes here in 1961 arid 1964, bringing 2,600 delegates. The National Office : Furniture Assn, meets here for a first time next year. Meeting was originally Scheduled-, for New. York but was shifted here; ’ Convention . season gpt off to good start last month with sbi-day Atlantic City China & Glass Show, held for a first time in Convention Hajl. •• \. > More than 50 , get-togethers scheduled this year are one-bring¬ ing from 1,000 to as many as 40,- •000 delegates into town. Largest’ will be the Shriners, Jnly 5-10, with .40,000 visitors. Other large conventions include •American Medical Assn., June 7- 12 (30,000); School Administra- 1 tors, Feb. 14-18 (26,000);- New Jersey Education Assn., Nov. 12-14 (25,000); National Institute of Dry-Cleaners, March 5-8, National Housewares Show, July 13-17 (each . 16,000); National Catholic Education Assn., March 31-ApriI 3. (14,000); Supermarket Institute, May 24-27 (124)00). Twenty-six are scheduled for Convention Hall, the others in various hotels. Palace, London, Tattle London, Feb. 3. Bernard Delfont Will stage a vaude season at the Palace .Thea¬ tre after “Where’s Charley?” folds en Feb. 21. It- begins on Feb. 25 when Connie Francis will head the layout. Johnnie Bay will follow for a two weeks’ season beginning March 9. The vaude span wilPrun for six to eight weeks and will he followed by a new revue starring Benny Hill. • THE GOLDEN GATE QUARTET (World Torn-) Cerreetfy MALAYA (Auspices ANTA) AVAILABLE IN MAY Wr.t BIRNEY GOLDEN CIRCLE ARTISTS CORF. 4t West 4M Street. N. Y. PL 7-7100; The DEEP RIVES BOYS Starring HARRY DOUGLASS liti n riw l Twr CURRENTLY 2nd Return Engagement CORK CLUB, Houston Recent BngagementM ROOSTERTAIL, Detroit EMPRESS ROOM* Oevetaed EMI 01$. Ft. Woyae MIUHLEBACH HOTEL, K. C.' • AMKARACiUI^ Pitt. EL MOROCCO, MeaVreol Personal Mgt.: ROY DUKE 155 W r 44th Street, Hmk Y^fR ^ Ki«* 7-5300