Variety (March 1959)

72 VAUDEVILLE Wednesday, March 11, 1959 P4$rIL ~r Florida’s Boxofffce 'Bests’ ; Continued. from pare 1 i mouth praise or nixing, that makes or breaks a run in a hotel cafe here, works its red-ink influences. Inventory on La Ronde Illustration of this can be found in the Fontainebleau’s La Ronde lineup. Polly Bergen opened the enlarged room for an aborted five- day • deal—the spot wasn’t ready for a longer stand—and clicked big, thanks to her revusical-themed canto. Red Skelton, in his first showing here, toted up a big pull and praise with a many-faceted display of clowning. Jack Benny arrived with Gisele MacKenzie and proved the factor of word-of- mouth in affecting patronage. His act was a pleasant one, but con* tained none of the high laugh points the captious resort crowd seem to demand no matter who the name or what the reputation. Thus, with an act that had its share of solid humor angles, the lack of a peak sequence served to negate BOSTON’S NEW HOTEL completely new HOTR AVERY, with private bath and TV io all rooms, will make your visit to Boston a memorable ^ one. Located in the heart of the shopping and enter¬ tainment district Children under 14 FREE. Parking facilities. Sensibly priced, tool Avery t WaskiagtM Sts. t Comm BO 2-MOO GLASON'S PROFESSIONAL COMEDY MATERIAL "We Sorvlco iho Star*" Big Temporary Special ea AH 35 Gas Film for $15, Plus $1.00 Postage Forot giu sue oa., 35 f or $4* • 3 Parody Books, Par Bk. .. Sit • • 4 B lacks ot Books, Per Bk. . $25 • • Minstrel Budget .$25 • How to Master the Ceremonies S3 per Copy No C.OJy% "Always Open” BILLY GLASON 200 W. 54th St„ N.Y.C., 19 Clrdf 7-1130 (WE TKACH EMCEEING and COMEDY) (Let a Beal Professional Train You) HARBERS I New 5th RETURN SHERATON-JEFFERSON HOTEL . St. Loots, Mo. 1 DALE any lavish post-show praise from the paying customers. End result was a fair two weeks that failed to carry the room’s take into the plus column. In the case 'of a Judy Garland, there were also other factors in decline of customers during her second week. Her opening night was one with a “we’re with you” atmosphere that served to swing her into a big reaction wind. Her name held the crowd-pull, strong for initial seven nights, with grosses hitting toward the high pedestal set by Skelton. But in second week, the talk about a vocal lack as compared to her heyday; the physical factor that dissipated the preconceived image of the Gair¬ land seen in tv film revivals, and her by-rote manner of delivery worked their b.o. havoc to the point where the biggery half its "softest” week of the season. Sinatra: $275,000? It took .Frank Sinatra to bring the 750-plus seater back into sell¬ out status. Riding in on a report¬ ed 5,000 advance reservations fig¬ ure, he’s been playing to room- Sin&tra All the Way « Miami Beach, March 10. Alltime hotel room records for the area (and perhaps else¬ where! have been broken with Frank Sinatra’s first week at the Fontainebleau Hotel here. He’s estimated to have pulled in $145,000 with more than 1,600 attending nightly. Aver¬ age nightly take is more than $22,000, opening night having a $17.50 prix-fixe dinner plus a $5 beverage minimum. The beverage minimums hover be¬ tween $5, $7.50 and $10. It’s believed that the second week will come close to the preem session’s take. Previous high this season wjjs scored by the Joe E. L^wis and Eydie Gorme lay¬ outs with first week $100,000 and about $80,000 for the sec¬ ond frame. fills for two shows nightly and will, if that continues, as expected, through current second week, ring up an estimated $275,000 for the fortnight, with $145,000 in the till on first week. With Donald O’Connor, a big hit at the Deauville last season, arriving on the 17th, and then Johnny Mathis, who has been a heavy scorer elsewhere, the out¬ look is bright. The Eden Roc had its troubles before the Lewis-Gorme zoomer- upper. ‘ Edgar Bergen bowed . oul after an unfortunate four nights that saw a record low. in patrons. At the Deauville, a Cugat and Abbe Lane, with Buddy Hackett brought in at last minute, .man¬ aged to rack a successful first stanza during a year-end holiday dating, but the falloff was notice¬ able when Hackett departed after an eight-day deal. Victor Borge had to pull the big spenders from the Ft. Lauderdale-Palm Beach area in order to end up with gross near the break-even point for operator Morris Lansburgh. DEEK WATSON'S ORIGINAL 99 INK SPOTS Currently Breaking All Records DUNES HOTEL, Las Vegas, Nev. Management: PAUL KALET KNS Associates, Ine. 118 West 57tfi Street, New York City Circle 7-1900 PLaza 7-0530 The booking of “Newcomers of ’28” for a five-week tenure In the hotel’s Casanova Room proved a frustrating—and puzzling—one for all concerned. The Jackie Barnett “New¬ comers” package garnered the most enthusiastic criticial praise of the budding season; had it-'s share of word-of-mouth and still failed to hit a dick mark on the ledgers. Only in the latter part of its five-week stand was there a profitable seven nights. With Jerry Lewis arriving Friday (13>, Lans¬ burgh expects to recoup some of the losses. ■Other Rooms The more modestly budgeted rooms are hitting a comfortable break-even or better margin. Lou Walters’. “French Dressing”—the winter tenant of the Carillon’s Club Siam—operating with a $10,- 000 nut, is serving the inn as a ‘free extra” attraction for guests, who are admitted for a perfonn r ance on a speciefid night, as part of the overall rate. Obviously, management regards this as a part of its overall cost for the show, which is also pulling enough biz to warrant continued holdover through March. .It opened during Christmas week. The Americana’s departure from the high-pay-for-attractions ranks to experiment with an original Sid Kuller-Selina Marlowe Harris re¬ vue, “A Rag, A Bone & A Pony Tail,” is nabbing grosses satisfying enough for owner Larry Tisch to keep picking up the options on tte production. Already in its 13th week, the revue is being held again for another two stanzas, with strong possibility it will re¬ main longer. The nut for the pack¬ age is estimated at $8,000, a figure that can be easily readied with just strong dinner show business. 100-Week ‘Mardl Gras’ The Lucerne’s “Havana Mardi Gras” low-budgeter is another of the revues that can be held for a continuing stay actually, it's been in the hotel’s Club Chalet for over 100 weeks Although slow in biz pickup at first, it bit the solid draw pattern of its two preceding winters some weeks ago. The cost for this Selma Marlowe Harris package is reported at $7,500 weekly, at most, with a lesser fig¬ ure probably nearer the mark. Of the indies, as noted in Variety last week, Copa City folded fast after trying a reopen¬ ing with another Sid Kuller unit, ‘Jump For Joy,” with Duke El¬ lington heading the cast. A $100,- 000 loss was incurred during its brief run. Ciro’s, just around the comer, tried again, with Alan Gale for the Xmas-New Year period (and profitable); then. repeated with Gale in early February, but this time to. in-the-red returns; It shut down, then reopened recent¬ ly with a colored show consisting of talent from the defunct “Jump For Joy.” Again, the resorters stayed away, forcing a shut down that included the adjoining lounge^ which had been going along at an! even keel but could not carry the entire operation. LQ and Schnozxola The Latin Quarter has had its ups and downs; Sophie Tucker and then Betty Grable helping to at least defray costs during their re¬ spective dates. With Jimmy Dur¬ ante currently drawing the patron¬ age from hotel row in largest numbers of the season, the Palm Island landmark seems due to at least wind its winter run on a sat isfactory note for its auditors. End results and effects on the future for all are moot* But one thing is certain: the booking com¬ petition will,'be even fiercer next season. The failure of top names without a strong enough act to keep the show-wise cafegoers in this area coming in heavy num¬ bers, means a casting about for the vet nitery toppers with assured patron values. It’s a small core of talent, at best, and lack of availability may mean a spreading out of the production idea in com¬ paratively low-geared ($7,500- $10,0000 weekly) budgets for the winter of ’59-’60, with occasional addition of money-in-the-bank top¬ per such as a Joe E. Lewis, Sina¬ tra, Davis, and the like. New York Jack Carter inked for a Sept. 10 date at the Latin Quarter, his first at this spot . . . Will Jordan fol¬ lows his current Sands, Las Vegas, stint with th£ Ko Ko, Phoenix, March 13 . . . Bob Melvin into the Sands April 1 . . . The Wanderers hit the Apollo Theatre March 27 . . . Yma Sumac pacted. for the El San Juan, San Juan, March 28. Chicago Drake Hotel’s > Camellia House darkens for Holy Week following current stand of Roberta MacDon¬ ald . . . Chi now has two femme impersonation shows in the nabes —“Jewel Box” layout at Herm Rob¬ erts’ Show Club, and “Parisienne Jewel Revue” at the Mist . . . Dorothy Shay, who started last week at Empire Room, opens at Shoreham Hotel, Washington, April 7, and goes back to the St. Regis, N.Y., April 30 for five weeks . . . Hoofer Elisa Jayne signed on for Brown Hotel, Louis¬ ville, March 26, with an April 13 bow at Buffalo’s Town Casino. Fire Razes B. C. Arena Vancouver, March 10. Fernie, British Columbia border town, is sans arena owing to its total destruction by fire eight days ago. Dominic Ferrarelli, a hockey player, perished in the blaze. Loss to community is reported around $200,0uu. Vaude, Cafe Dates Detroit Merri Leone at Club Cliche . . . Chico Hamilton quintet in return stand at Baker’s Keyboard Lounge . ... Billy Webb, comic, and singer Gay Surkin headline Killarney Supper Club show across the De¬ troit River in Windsor . . . T-Bone Walker celebrating his 10th en¬ gagement at Flame Show Bar . . . Club Alamo is featuring song-and- dance impressionist Arnold Dover, Sherry Carlyle and Maureen O’Shay .. . Billy Maxted jazz band is at Crest Lounge . ; . Eileen Bar¬ ton winds at Knife & Fork Club and heads for N.Y. and a recording session, her first with United Art¬ ists label. Diamond Beach m Continued from page 09 and Eartha Kitt and Carmel Quinn in so-so engagements. Last season, the club aided by considerable more public knowl¬ edge of its existence, accumulated much better returns with Martha Raye and Jonathan Winters as the season’s blockbusters. An attorney who represents one of the creditors claims that a rep¬ resentative who clocked persons entering the Beach Club last sea¬ son found that as many as 8,000 paid the $1 entry fee in a single night last summer. The Diamond Beach motel itself, consisting of more than 100 units, was at least 80% occupied during the entire season. With James retaining control, it is certain that the name policy will continue with engagements by Miss Raye and the McGuires said to be already in the works. Meanwhile, center city clubs with more advantageous locations are continuing expansion opera¬ tions. This is in strange contrast to last season’s claim of below-par‘ business by some of the bonifaces. The Hurricane, which tried its wings with a name policy for the first time with Charlie Grade last summer, its enlarging to include nearby stores in its property. Club is owned by the Berkowitz-Rosen- feld family. Sylvan RoSenfeld for¬ merly owned the S. & S. Beverage Co. of Wildwood and Atlantic City, leading beer distributing firm in the area. He has already signed the Playboys and is seeking other talent. The Grenoble hotel and cafe Is also enjoying growing pains with a facelifting and expansion of the cabaret property. Local cafe circles were saddened by the death of Harry Roesche, owner of the Beachcomber club, during the past winter. Since the club has Hot been sold, it is as¬ sumed that Mrs. Roesche will con¬ tinue the operation.. Steve Gibson & The Red-Caps will summer at the Schellenger Ave. spot. Hollywood Mamie Van Doren opens a *two- weeker at the Mapes Hotel in Reno July 23 immediately follow¬ ing completion of two Metro pix . . . Gloria Wood has injected “I’m the Girl Who’s Heard by Millions,” tune penned by Larry Finley and Eddie Garrett, into her nitery act . . . Actress-singer Erin O’Brien plays a one-niter at the Flamingo Hotel, Las Vegas, April 6, sup¬ planting Burl Ives who takes time off to attend the Academy Awards presentation on *nat date . . . Songstress Lisa Carroll holds over an additional two weeks at Mil- ton F. Krais’ Signature Room in Palm Springs ... Gateway Sing¬ ers join current show at Inter¬ lude which now features Earl Grant and Matt Dennis . . . John¬ ny Otis doing one-niters in north¬ ern California. THE GOLDEN GATE QUARTET (World Tour) Cnrrentfy KOREA (Auspices ANTA) AVAILABLE IN MAY Dir.: BIRNEY GOLDEN CIRCLE ARTISTS CQRP. 48 Wh t 48th Street, N. Y. PL 7-7100 SPECIAL LATE LATE SHOW AT 2:15 No Mia. - No Cover Appearing Nitely Bobby Short 'On a of America's Great Singing Stars' Plus The RALPH STRAIN Trio Continuous entertainment Nitely Prom 9:30 PAL lo 3:30 AM. Bxcellont Cuisine •'Luncheon - Dinner TheWEYLIN Lounge 1 40 E. 54 St., NYC PL 3-4907 Diners Club Seiler and Seabold . March 13tfc thru 22nd CLEVELAND SPORT SHOW Auditorium Cleveland March 23rd thru 28th HORIZON ROOM Pimbargh. Poaaa. FOR sale h , 2#00 used upholstory thoatro chairs food condition $1.50 each 1200 DROPS—REASONABLY PRICED STATEN ISLAND THEATRICAL RENTAL SERVICE , Staton Island, N. Y. Gibraltar 2-7475 N EW! Slant arafouttaal aaa Ola. Ovk 1000 kllarisus elawflaff a i libs! Rsaular $3.00 vatua. ONLY $1.00! List frw aa naoast EDMUND ORRIN Dot. C. 1819 Golffan Gats Ava. Saa Fraaclwt 15, California Fred Petty Agency \ New England's Top Agency j Little Bldg., Boston Liberty 2-2328 Tho Amazlnt Stan off "WHAT'S ON TOUR MIND* Lucille and Eddie ROBERTS Currently and Until April 1 THE TROPICANA HOTEL, Las Vegas, Mev. April M to U HORIZON ROOM, PMsbunh Mgt. M.CJL