Variety (March 1959)

Wednesday, March 11, 1959 P^RIETY VAUDEVILLE 69 Cleve. D.S. Court Upholds Nitery In Not Collecting Tax Pre-Showtime Cleveland, March 10. Herman Pirchner, former owner of Alpine Village here, won vindi¬ cation and confirmation of a Fed¬ eral Court ruling that he did not owe the Government $30,204 in amusement taxes on his night club when it went broke in 1957. Decision was made by Federal Judge James C. Connell in review¬ ing an early precedent-setting opinion by bankruptcy referee Carl D. Friebolin of Cleveland. Latter ruled Pirchner was legally correct in not collecting cabaret tax during a specified dinner hour when there was no floorshow, . When Alpine Village. went into bankruptcy, the Internal Revenue Service claimed owner owed about $56,000 in taxes. It received about $20,000 of this wlieii club was sold to new owners. Feds charged op¬ erator should have collected 20% tax during dinner hours as well as after. Pirchner testified that to im¬ prove business, he presented din¬ ner checks to customers a half- hopr before showtime. If they changed minds and stayed for din¬ ner show, a new check covering drinks and food bought from that time was issued with cabaret tax added. Elated over Federal rulings okaying this practice, Pirchner and several * other Cleveland nitery proprietors said they will not col¬ lect 20% cabaret tax on their din¬ ner business any more. Dispute forced 26-year-old Alpine Village to go dark nearly six months until It was sold to owner’s wife, Con¬ stance Pirchner, and Lawrence Higgins, who reopened it last year with Pirchner as manager. Dare Gardner Drug Case Holds Over in Atlanta; Medicos May Testify Atlanta, March 10. Dave Gardner, 32, night club comedian, had his hearing con¬ tinued in Atlanta Municipal Court last week for the third time on a charge of possessing dangerous drugs. Judge James Webb granted con¬ tinuance for one week after enter¬ tainer and his attorney, William Hall, said they would • make ar¬ rangements to fly a New York physician to Atlanta as a witness. Gardner was arrested in his hotel room on Feb. 13 while play¬ ing a date at Domino Lounge in the Imperial Hotel. He said that drugs seized at that time in his hotel room were from prescrip¬ tions written for him by Dr. Leo Ruskinr of New York, and a Bir¬ mingham, Ala., physician. Attorney Hall told court he had attempted unsuccessfully to have photostatic copies made of the prescription issued in New York. He sought to introduce affidavits from both physicians that they had treated Gardner and given him prescriptions, but Judge Webb ruled them inadmissible. Gardner made an impassioned plea before the court to have the charges dismissed, concluding: “I am not addicted to anything except the spirit of God.” Amato’s Sold; Port. Cafe Sets Oriental Style Bills * Portland, Ore., March 10. George and Mary Amato have ■sold their Amato’s supper club to Hoover Lee and Herbert Norris. The mainstemmer has been the showcase for many big names. The sale ends a nitery career of 25 years for the Amatos. Spot was re¬ modeled last August from a big stage vauder type policy to an in¬ timate one and two act layout. New owners took over yesterday (Mon.) and started to remodel back to a vauder setup with large stage. Johnny Walker is in as house book¬ er and will have a Chinese layout including an Oriental line and two or three variety acts. The Ho-Ti will be the name after relighting. Ray Shaw Preps El Toro on A new nitery is being blueprint¬ ed for Broadway by Ray Shaw, one¬ time operator of the Living Room and the Jamaican Room, latter having been credited with starting the calypso vogue a couple of years ago. Shaw’s El Toro will start on the site of the defunct Singapore restaurant, which closed a couple of months ago. El Toro, as the name indicates, will be on a Latin policy. Spot will be built a la a bullfight arena with tiered boxes and tables. Opening date hasnT~been de¬ cided upon. See Another Try For New Frontier Via Richardson Ohio Court OK’s B-Girl If Sh’s An 'Indie Contractor Columbus, March 10. In a case which may have many ramifications, a Franklin County jurist has ruled that if a dancer in a night club show is an “inde¬ pendent contractor,” slie is at liberty to accept drinks from cus¬ tomers. This decision virtually pulled a rug from under the State Board of Liquor Control, whicn had earlier found the Roxy Musi¬ cal Bar-" of Cleveland guilty of having B-girls and suspended its license for 14 days. The situation arose last summer when a dancer at the club asked a fan to buy her a drink, according to the patron, who turned out !o be an agent of the liquor board. The State Board then , found the Musical Bar guilty of using B-girls, thus violating its Regulation 59 that bans “the permit holder, his agents, or employees” from solicit¬ ing drinks. However, the Musical Bar ap¬ pealed the decision, denying that the dancer who accepted the drink was an employee or agent of the license-holders. Sanford S. Arnoff, counsel for the nightspot, said the girl was an independent contractor. “No withholding tax is deducted from her pay, and no social se¬ curity, therefore she is an inde¬ pendent contractor. Most of the entertainers in night clubs prob¬ ably are independent contractors,” Aunoff said. “As far as I know, they are members of the American Guild of Variety Artists and are hired as independent contractors through booking agents:” It was said that. the decision might bring a considerable boom in Ohio in what hitherto has been frowned on ap B-girl activity. Whether the state liquor board would appeal was not made im¬ mediately known. Las Vegas, March 10. The New Frontier is reported ready to reopen under the aegis of Sid Richardson, who at one time operated the Royal Nevada Hotel here. Richardson is reportedly set with backing from a .wealthy insur¬ ance executive. The New Frontier was last oper¬ ated by a combine following take¬ over from Jake Kozloff, and closed a little more than a year ago with heavy losses. Both hotels.have had a check¬ ered. history, both having been opened and reopened during their comparatively brief careers. There are several lawsuits, pending against the former managements of both hotels. Howev e r, indica¬ tions are that the oast encum¬ brances against the New Frontier will not be held against the Rich¬ ardson management if deal to take ove- is finalized. The New. Frontier some years ago was operated as the Old Fron¬ tier, with Beldon Katleman as the major owner. With extensive reno¬ vations, the inn was retitled and was to have opened with Mario Lanza as th* preem attraction. Lanza cancelled out because of laryngitis, and spot had one of the less distinguished openings in Las Vegas history. George James Keeps Diamond B’ch Until Sale Authorized; Chi Group Upset; Other Wildwood Activity Lollipop Park Opens As Part of Dallas Market Dallas, March 10. An amusement area called Lolli¬ pop Park has opened here as a basic part of Big Town, multimil- lion-dollar shopping centre in East Dallas. Gerri Von Frellick, prez of the shopping centre, said that a nor¬ mal traffic flow of from 25.000 to 35,000 persons per day is expected, Wildwood, N. J., March 10. George James, owner of one of the world’s largest theatre cafes (3,100 seats), the Diamond Beach club here, has forestalled credi¬ tors urging a bankruptcy sale for at least one more season. Legal maneuvers have upset the sale to a Chicago syndicate headed by Dr. John Vermeren. Although another sale can be jslated in June, it means that ownership operation of the Diamond Beach property will repose with James at least through the summer of 1959. Although Dr. Vermeren. has ex- with seasonal peaks of 100,000. . Allan Herschell Co. designed! pressed a willingness to increase Lollipop Park which includrs min- • his bidding price to $756,000 or iature train, helicopter; roadway, $800,000, which would cover all lia- rodeo, sky fighter, boats and ! bilities of Diamond Beach, he can- Brownie tractors. A ferris wheel | not enter the new bid until the and hand cars complete the ride j next sale. His original bid was lineup. I $500000. A storybook theme is used fea-j Even if it were feasible for the turing a - magic mountain, Indian ! Chicago group to gain control'this village, miniature farm and Birth- 'year, it is much too late to schedule day Land. The kid nark will o-er-. any conventions which are slated ate year round with hours from : as much as several years in ad* 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Prices for the j van « e rides are 15c each or four for 50c. j sin?er Frankje Lainei wlth a : $16,000 mortgage, is listed among ! the creditors. Laine opened the club originally at a salary of $40,- 000 for 10 days. During *his en¬ gagement, the spot, handicapped by a Gulf Coast hurricane scare and lack of advance Dromotion, didn’t even take in $40,000. Immediately thereafter, Soike Jones did not ap¬ pear as schedu’ed due to a tv series that he signed for after his Dia¬ mond Beach commitment. Ted I . . , I Lewis was rushed in to sub for The Dept, of Social Welfare of: Jones and the bewildered public , New York State has been urged to f Waited buzzing the grapevine that i investigate the AGVA Foundation j t ] ie was no t successful. 'fr.lnTrvf” “ COm ' The Lewis engagement was has- ml Tn 6 f S.or!.m le »n n thi G i^n:rtm.nt ■ tH y concluded when the boxoffice i foundered_ on his opening night. ‘Clean AGVA’Unit Asks State Agency To 0 . 0 . Foundation HARRIS COOLING OFF ON ‘CAPADES’ FOR USSR Pittsburgh, March 10. John H. Harris is understood to have .abandoned plans to take his “Ice Capades” to Russia for a brief tour early this summer. Harris was in Moscow a couple of months ago making tentative arrangements, but even at that time believed that difficulties of transporting the en¬ tire troup there after regular sea¬ son closed, and getting them back to Atlantic City in time for the an¬ nual warrii-weather run, might be insurmountable. The project hasn’t been entirely dropped but may have to wait a year. Meantime, the USSR will see another skate show, “Holiday on Ice,” starring Dick - Button, who originally turned pro for Harris in “Capades.” That revue wall play Leningrad and Moscow late this month and early in ApriL Jail, Fine 2 Cafe Ops In Galveston; Contempt Rap Galveston, March 10.: Two local night club operators, Peter Athanasiou and S. W. Nolan, were sentenced to jail and fined by Judge L. D. Godard who found them in contempt of court. Athanasiou, Who operates the Band Box Club, drew six days in the county jail and two $100 fines in two separate contempt citations. Nolan, who operates Stan’s 88 Keys, was given a three-day jail sentence and was fined $100 and costs on, one contempt citation. Special Assistant Attorney Gen¬ eral Jim Simpson of Texas City filed the contempt motions against the pair for alleged violation ,of state- injunctions prohibiting Il¬ legal liquor sales at the clubs. Simpsdn still has about 30 other contempt citations against other local, nitery operators pendihg in the three ^district courts here. Most of'the injunctions were is¬ sued against local clubs in the sunK mer of 1057, when Attorney .Gen¬ eral Will Wilson staged a crack¬ down on vice and liquor violations in Galveston County. Strong Vaude Array Set For Blackpool’s Ssmtmer With ‘Big Show’ Topping Blackpool, Eng.. March 3. A stronger lineup of vaude tal¬ ent than last year is likeiv for the summer vaude season at Blackpool, northwest England show biz mecca. Main fare. “Big Show of 195.9,” opening under the George '& Al¬ fred Black banner at the Opera House. June 27. will star comedy duo Jewel & Warriss and singer Jill Day. Two other George & Alfred Black shows, being set are at the Winter Gardens Pavilion, opening June 20, and the Palace, June 13. Bernard Delfont, London im¬ presario, has pacted Charlie Drake, Edmund Hoekridge, the Mudlarks, Three Monarchs and Doreen Hume, Canadian songstress, for his “Show Time,” opening on the North Pier May 15. This looms as one of the stronger layouts, as does also the James Brennan revue starring Dickie Henderson, comedian, at the Queen’s Theatre, May 16. s Lat¬ ter layout will also feature pop singer Ronnie Hilton, comedian Jimmy Clitheroe, and Dominique, conjuror and “pickpocket.” Morecambe & Wise, English comedy duo now in Australia for a vaude tour, will arrive in the U.K. to open for Peter Webster in “Let’s Have Fun” at Central Pier Pavilion. Jimmy James & Co. will buttress the comedy side of this show, with other acts set including the Trio Vedette, aero and dancing humorists, and Vendrys, the Dove Man. This show runs twice nightly. First Blackpool show to open, as always, will be the Tower Circus March 26: Other layouts are for the Royal Pavilion (a legit house), Icedrome, the Grand (also a legit house, featuring a play witb Thora Hird), the South _ Pier, and the Hippodrome. Names mentioned for Blackpool include Jackie Dennis, 16-year-old kilted rock ’n’ roller, and the cast of tv show “The Army Game.” The cafe then tried a no-star policy with the Charlie Spivak band for sent last week, the committee stated: “As loyal members of the American Guild of Variety Artists j Thta was a complete flop. wjThen the star policy was resumed j ' vith Martha Raye and the McGuire counsel Harold Beig to whitewash, S j sters SCO ring resounding SRO f Continued on page 72' Texas State Fair Woos Dellas for $2,500,000 To Build ‘Western Town’ - * Dallas. March* 10. The State Fair of Texes is seek¬ ing $2,500,000 from City Coun¬ cil to build a sort of Texas style- Disneyland on the fairgrounds. James II. Stewart, executive veepee and general manager of the fair, made the request in a letter to City Park Director L. B. Hous¬ ton and the City Park Board. Stew¬ art suggested a revenue bond is¬ sue in that amount to finance con¬ duction of the western style vil- Grand OF their improper representation to the membership as to the AGVA Foundation Inc. which is supposed to belong to the membership of AGVA, but legally does not. AGVA membership is unaware and never authorized soliciting of funds for foundation. We urge you to in¬ vestigate thoroughly. Names are omitted because of retaliatory and dictatorial tactics of administrator. If you conduct an investigation, the members who want a clean union will volunteer their identi¬ ties.” How the Dept, of Social Welfare will communicate with the commit¬ tee isn’t known. The address given is the same as A.GVA’s national headquarters. The senders of the wire will have, to call at the AGVA office to find out if there’s any answer, but it’s figured that they won’t do that, since this would re- lage to be known as ceal their identities. ; Texas.” Berg went to Albany last weekj The concession would be located to file for a certificate following a \ on a six-and-a-half' tract adjacent warning from the department that; to the Fair Park Midway, it would turn the. matter over to j Stewart, in suggesting the bond the state’s attorney general un- ; ; routet sc j d that the bonds should less the foundation complied im- j be issued -only after plans 4iad been mediately. The department stated j drawn and bids taken, determining that it had come to its attention j jf the p~o'ect could be built " ,; thin that the foundation had solicited : the $2,500,000 figure. In addition, funds, which is illegal without a ! Stewart said that lease contracts certificate of registration from the;—minimum of $150,000 per year state agency. Frank Fouce’s Act Prowl In Mexico for L.A. Spots Mexico City, March 3. Frank Fouce has arrived here on a talent hunt for night club and theatre acts for the Los Angeles area, and also to sew up tv shorts and musical programs for L. A. outlets. According to Fouce, biggest^ conglomeration of Mexicans, out¬ side of this capital, is to be found in L.A. This is why Mexican tal¬ ent, while getting a spotty recep¬ tion elsewhere, is well received in personal appearance and cafe dates in California. Signed to appear in Los Ang¬ eles, among others, are Amalia Mendoza, Olga Guillot, comic Tin Tan, Silvia Pinal, Luis Aguilar, Lalo Gonzales, Lola Beltran—all picked because of special appeal to Mexican public. for a five-year period—should be signed before bonds are issued. He asked Park Board approval of a contract between the fair and Peter Wolfe Associates, which would direct the concession. Houston said the Park Board would consider the request and later make a recommendation to the City Council. CHATEAU MADRID UPS BUDGET; CHAVALES SET Angel Lopez’s Chateau Madrid, N. Y., is increasing its budget con¬ siderably. Latin nitery- has booked Los ^havales de Espana starting March 12 for six weeks. The Span¬ ish song and instrumental group had been playing the Hotel Wal¬ dorf-Astoria as their regular as¬ signment in N. Y. Chateau Madrid has gone in for specialized Latin attractions peri¬ odically, * having had the Carmen Amaya troupe recently.