Variety (February 1961)

Wednesday, February 8, 1961 93 VAU»EVftXE Filipino Showman Urges Asian Circuit Of Top Foreign Stars at Low Admish Tokyo, Jan. 81. Filipino sugar tycoon J. A. Aranata, who has brought top-line global entertainment to • the peo¬ ple of Manila at rock-bottom .. prices, is seeking to spread the pattern in Japan and throughout Southeast Asia. In Tokyo for a week en route to the U.S., Araneta has been hud¬ dling with Japanese promoters trying to stimulate Interest in establishing ah Asian show circuit that would bring about an inter¬ change of foreign talent with a sharing of transportation costs. Araneta, who has Nat King Cole booked to open May 19th at the coliseum that bears his name, dis¬ closed to Variety that Toho offi¬ cials would like to get Cole for five days of dates in Japan. “We have the authority to nego¬ tiate for Cole in Japan and Hono¬ lulu,” said Araneta. “I may even share in the promotion here,” he added. “Toho likes that idea.’* The problem in Japan, Araneta continued, “is' that there is no large place with the proper acous¬ tics, They are looking for some¬ place bigger than Sankei Hall. Suggests 28c Tickets “I am trying to interest the Korakuen people to build such a place when they demolish the velodome,” Araneta revealed. “And I will substantially contribute. Japan needs it. If you have to charge too much, as they are doing now, the ordinary people can’t go. I suggested that they charge 28c admission. Anybody can pay that; newsboys, drivers and your cook.” Araneta’s sweet talk is not a residue of his sugar exports. He has proved his point on his home grounds. Last March 16 he opened the Araneta Coliseum in Manila with a dime-store admission policy. Seating as much as 36,000 for box¬ ing and 26,000 for theatrical pres¬ entation^ the arena'has seen some 1,300,000 people pass through its (Continued on page 94) Newhart Pulls Capacity 246,111 Seattle Concert Seattle, Feb. 7. Bob Newhart, kicking off a three-month concert tour, got^away to a great start here Saturday (4) with a capacity $24,000 at the Or- pheum. The 2,600-seat house was scaled to $4 top. Newhart was booked for two per¬ formances but did a third late Sat¬ urday <o a full house. Following windup of the tour in the east, he's due to start a film on the Coast. It’s tagged “Hell Is for Heroes.” MARCO POLO NAME IN HONG KONG DISPUTE Hong Kong, Jan. 31. What’s in a name? Nothing. But everything if it’s Marco Polo. A legal battle appears to be de¬ veloping over the decision taken by Americans Leo F. Corrigan Sr. and Toddie Lee Wynne Sr., own¬ ers of the $10,000,000 luxury hotel now being built, to name their ho¬ tel Marco Polo. The owners, have stated through their lawyers here, that they want¬ ed this name because it was synon¬ ymous with travel, adventure and luxury. Meanwhile there is a dwank nightclub-restaurant named Marco Polo which is situated in the annex of the Peninsula Hotel. Like the hotel, this restaurant is managed by the Hongkong and Shanghai Hotels Ltd., who, through its lawyers, has made it known they , intend taking action to pro¬ tect their interests. BOSTON SMASH HIT THE CLAMOROUS NEW HOTEL Show folks ire raving about the all new Hotel Avery. All new, large, beautifully furnished de¬ luxe rooms with private bath, tel¬ evision & radio. Air conditioning. AVERT A WASHINGTON STS. COMEDY PARTNER for young (IS yr.) Comic "Nichols and May" Type Humor ROW SAVAGE 6741 Crittenden St. Pttla. 19, Pa. GE S-40S* Inti Talent Fest Sets Mario Lewis Mario Lewis, former producer of the Ed Sullivan Show, has joined the staff of International Talent Festival, an organization which Is promoting talent contests on a worldwide basis. It plans to pro¬ duce a tv show with the winners and. tour them around the world. Lewis will be the talent con¬ sultant. Directors of the plan are Martin Cohen, who’s produced several shows on Broadway, and David Gordon, who has been packaging tv shows and was aligned with CBS publicity. Both are in the process of promoting the new festival' which they hope will start in the fall in several countries. . The contests will be open only to professional talent, and will be sponsored through various organi¬ zations including radio and tv sta¬ tions, disk companies, ^ Variety Clubs in some situations and Chambers of Commerce. Their feeling is that with the need for fresh talent being universal, it’s a feasible method of introducing fresh faces in many countries. The first year, the finals will be run off in the U.-S., prior to a show¬ casing Jn television, and before they are toured in auditoriums and arenas, and thence to foreign coun¬ tries. BLACKPOOL SHOWMEN’S COPE WITH FUTURE Blackpool, Eng., Feb. 7. . Blackpool Tow'er Co., major show biz enterprise firm here, plan re-development schemes to keep pace with changing conditions. Palace block of buildings on the seafront is to be re-developed. Site includes Palace Varieties, a cinema and a ballroom. Douglas Bickerstaffe, company chairman, stated at annual meeting here that, if theatre business fur¬ ther deteriorated, it may become necessary to re-develop the Grand Theatre. Progress for the next two years are to include a major renoyation to the Blackpool Tower building. Trading profit of the company in 1960 showed a sum of $993,303. This is $363,000 up on the previous year. Net profit was $408,000 against $384,000. Mexico Sets April 30 Cafe Permit Deadline Mexico City, Feb. 7. The Office of 'Public Entertain¬ ments has given all cabarets, night clubs and other centers of public diversion until April 30 to revali¬ date their annual licenses. After this date managements will face stiff fines and, in case of flagrant violations, shutdowns for indefi¬ nite periods. It’s been learned that it wiil be tougher to obtain licenses this year, with authorities carefully go¬ ing over backgrounds of club own¬ ers and others before Issuing new permits. Apart from cabarets, dubs and restaurants permits have to be re¬ newed for legit theatres, film houses, bullrings, the race track, sport parks, boxing arenas, vaude houses, television theatres, mobile film roadshows, drive-in theatres, etc. , BURNS AND BYRNES EYEING NITERY DATES Among those lining up dates on the nitery circuits are George Burns and Edd (Kookie) Byrnes, latter from the ABC-TV show, “77 Sunset Strip.” Burns, who played Las Vegas niterles, was negotiating sometime ago to appear at the Copacabana, N.Y., but deal fell through. He’s now ready to accept a string of dates to be booked through MCA. Byrnes worked in Las Vegas re¬ cently—but as a parking lot attend¬ ant at the Sands Hotel during a rift with the Warner* Bros, studio, which produces the “Sunset” show. However,, this time he’ll work on¬ stage. Gotta Get Back to Fundamentals, Agents First; Execs Second-Sez Baum The agencies long ago lost their functions as agents and must re¬ turn to it, says Martin Baum, Coast-based General Artists Corp. veepee, who last week stopped off in New York to attend to a few chores. The top agents, he said, have become agency executives and have left the functions of agenting and talent building to subordinates. The men, of many offices, he charged, are no longer interested in building talent, looking after the careers of many of their top players, directors, writers, etc., but hav.e become more interested in packaging and profits. “It’s about time we got back to fundamentals,” he declared. Baum, one of the founders of Baum-Newborn Agency, which merged with General Artists Corp., asserted .that the industry has suffered as a result of the new concentration on items other than individuals. “It is the duty of an agency man to be an agent first,” (Continued on page 103) # THE BROTHERS FOUR — most extensive COLLEGE CONCERT TOUR ever played! Including Feb. 2—U. of NEW BRUNSWICK, Canada 2—ACADIA U. f Canada 4—ST. ANSELMS (Mat.) AUBURNDALE TOTEM POLE (Eve.) 7- —COCA COLA Commercials, Hollywood 8— COCA COLA Commercials, Hollywood f—U. of NEBRASKA 18—-CONCORDIA COLLEGE 11— ST. OLAFS 12— U. of MASS. 13— COCA COLA Commercials 14— COCA COLA Commercials 15— COCA COLA Commercials 16— U. of PITTSBURGH 17— McGILL U. 18— ELMIRA COLLEGE 19— CLARK U. 21—BOSTON U. 22—SPRINGFIELD, MASS. 24— U. of VERMONT (Mat.) DARTMOUTH (Eve.) 25— MIDDLEBURY COLLEGE 26— BUSHNELL MEMORIAL, Hartford 27— Travel 28— U. of ALABAMA Mar. 2—MiSSISSEPPI COLLEGE 3— MEMPHIS STATE 4— ATLANTIC CHRISTIAN 6— Recording 7— Recording 8— Recording 10— BLOOMSBURG STATE 11— NEWARK STATE 13— ST. VINCENT COLLEGE 14— EMORY and HENRY COLLEGE 15— U. of WEST VIRGINIA 17— BALL STATE TEACHERS 18— CASTLE FARM, CINN. J Personal 127 Madison Ave. New York 22. W.Y. Ft 1-3344 Direction MORT LEWIS EXCLUSIVE REPRESENTATION INTERNATIONAL TALENT ASSOCIATES, Inc. LARRY BENNETT BERT BLOCK SHELDON BRODSKY RUDY VIOLA DAN REARDON 916 Kearny Si. San Francisco. Cat EX 2-2576