Variety (July 1912)

Vol. XXVII. No. 5 NEW YORK CITY, FRIDAY, JULY 5, 1912 PRICE 10 CENTS BECK REPORTED GIVING UP VAUDE VILLE A LTOOETHER Rumor of His Resignation from the Orpheum Circuit to Come, Leaving Him Free for the Legitimate or Other Pursuits. Chas. E. Bray May Succeed Beck. A report is gaining circulation that Martin Beck does not intend to return to vaudeville. It says the general manager of the Orphoum Circuit will resign his position by Sept. 1 next to engage in thef legitimate branch of theatricals or some other pursuit, still retaining, however, his vaudeville in- vestments. These include interests in the Orpheum Circuit and middle west- ern houses, besides the 28 per cent, taken by Beck and Morris Meyerfeld, Jr., of the Percy O. Williams sale to the B. F. Keith company. With the close affiliation established between the United Booking Offices and Orpheum Circuit, in addition to the system Mr. Beck built up on the latter chain of vaudeville theatres, the story says Beck has not sufficient left in his capacity of general manager to keep him actively employed. The visit last week of Mr. Meyei- feld to New York was followed by a strong rumor Beck will resign, before or after his return from Europe where he is at present. The routine of the Orpheum Circuit is now said to be a simple matter, needing but a regulating rather than an executive hand. A fortune of $2,000,000 or more is credited to Beck, and a yearly in- come amounting to about $150,000 is added to that as reasons why he would not continue in a position that offered no further opportunities for expan- sion. Some of Beck's friends think he may reside permanently in Berlin. In line for succession to Beck's present position is Charles E. Bray. He resigned as general manager of the Western Vaudeville Managers' Asso- ciation, Chicago, last week. Mr. Bray is fully familiar with the Orpheum Circuit, having been in the main of- fices of it for a number of years be- fore taking charge of the Chicago agency. NEW FIDDLES BETTER THAN OLD. Paris, June 24. The contention that only old vio- lins, for which thousands of dollars are paid, have the best tones is ex- ploded. A contest was made in Paris, June 20, at night in a dark room. A number of fiddles were num- bered, and played before experts, who had to give an opinion regarding their tone without any knowledge of the make. The finest-toned v'olin was judged to be a Belgian mark, made this year, the second, French, made in 1911, while the third only was a genuine Stradivarius valued at $15,000. The fourth was a Orancino, but the two following numbers were also of quite modern manufacture. HACKETT COMPANY LEAVING. The preparations have been made for the James K. Hackett Company to leave New York July 12, going di- rect to San Francisco, where a stay of six weeks will be made. From there Mr. Hackett will carry his peo- ple to Los Angeles and Salt Lake City. About twenty-five people are in the company. CORT'S BOSTON THEATRE. Boston, July 3. John Cort is reported to have pur- chased a site in Park Square here from Lawrence Minot, a N. Y., N. H. & H. Ry. trustee, whereon he will build a new theatre to be patterned after the new Cort playhouse, New York. Cort expects to have the house com- pleted by Jan. 1. His opening attrac- tion will be "The Olassblowers," John Philip Sousa's new opera, to be pro- duced sometim in October. AFTER THE BIG ONES. Joe Weber and Lew Fields evident- ly do not intend to rely entirely upon their own names to attract patronage to the new music hall. "Names" are being sought and the salary only seems to be a secondary considera- tion. It is known that the reunited pair sent an envoy to Mme. Nordica with an offer of $5,000 weekly. The sing- er declined with thanks, stating that were she at any time to consider an offer of the music hall sort, Lee Shu- bert would have first call. It was understood at one time that Mme. Nordica had agreed to appear at the Winter Garden. Turning from Mme. Nordica, the comedians have set out for Fritzi Scheff, whose salary is $4,600 each week. Just how the comedians ex- pect to get along with Marie Dress- ler's salary tacked on to their own and the $4,500 mentioned is difficult to figure, even in a house with 2,600 capacity. There has been a rearrangement of the seating plan for the new Weber & Fields music hall In course of con- struction. Instead of 850 orchestra chairs as at first planned, some of the lower boxes will be eliminated so that nearly 1,000 chairs, each with in- dividual arms, will be installed on the ground floor. GOOD USE OF THE SPOT. New Orleans, July 3. The spotlight is serving a double purpose this week at the Dauphine, where the Drury Midgely Stock Co. is playing "Woman Against Woman." The spot in its double capacity Is being employed to locate the audience. "NICE LETTER" TO BRYAN. A "nice letter" was written to Wil- liam Jennings Bryan by Frank Bohm. Mr. Bohm admits it was nice, as nice as any vaudeville agent would h^ve written to the wise boy of Nebraska. The agent asked the Progressive bug if he wouldn't like to linger around the theatres and tell the peo- ple what he is thinking of. Then\Mr. Bohm signed his name so Bryan couldn't be certain who was trying to bribe him for HtaRe purpoRPs. WILLIAM MORRIS RETURNING. The Mauretania brought In William Morris last Friday. When the boat next sails from this port, July 23, Mr. Morris expects to be a passenger once again. He returns to England to look after his interests there, including the provincial tour now being made by Annette Kellermann. Mr. Morris had little x o say upon his return. He was satisfied with re- sults obtained abroad during the last trip, he admitted, but became very reticent when asked regarding his fu- ture plans over here. It is understood that during the week he had conferences with F. F. Proctor, E. F. Albee and Lee Shubert. ANOTHER SUIT NECESSARY. The Appellate Division of the Su- preme Court decided last week that the papers were defective in the suit brought by Olga Nethersole against Liebler & Co. for breach of contract She claims $26,000, and will now have to begin over again. SHOW GETS ANOTHER WHIRL. "The Triumph of Truth/' which was placed in rehearsal last season wffch Robert Edeson and Emmett Corrigan in the principal roles and later tried out for a few days without Corrlgan, is to be given another whirl the com- ing fall, under the direction of Samuel Wallach, with Walter Hampton and an English actor named Cooper, In the main parts. GOOD SKETCHES FEW. The scarcity of good sketch manu- scripts is shown by the fact that out of 139 new playlets submitted to Pat Casey's recently established produc- ing department, but seven received favorable consideration from B. K. Nadel, in charge of that branch. Nadel submits a specimen of the ma- terial he is compelled to read: An aristocratic lady is speaking to her pet poodle—"Mama will be with you in a minute" (goes over to dog). "Did my darling enjoy his morning outing?" (Dog acts pleased). Nadel is wondering what would happen if the dop failed to "act pleased" nt the proper cue.