Variety (July 1913)

VARIETY ROAD SHOW'S $10,000 SALARY UST FOR 3-STAR COMBINE Qertrude Hoffmann, Polaire and Lady Constance Stewart- Richardson Feature of One Bill. Will be Circused Over Country, Playing [Often]|^Two Towns Daily. Three Men Ahead and Three Managers. Opening in Washington. $10,000 will approximately mark the weekly salary list of the three-star combination Comstock & Gest will put out next season in the form of a vau- deville road show, booked through the Shubert office. Gertrude Hoffmann, Polaire and Lady Constance Stewart-Richardson are the three attractions under one tent The combination will be cir- cused over the country, a la a Lauder tour, with the show most often play- ing two towns daily. In the big cities it will make a week stand, and at Washington, where the combination opens, it will also remain six days. The Hoffmann road show may not make New York, although there is a chance ic will play the Hippodrome for one Sunday evening. Besides the three stars, a few vaude- ville acts will be added, Polaire and the English title appearing in the first half of the entertainment. Miss Hoffmann will furnish the second part, and carry 35 people for her portion of the per- formance. It is said Lady Constance and Polaire are oh a salary basis with the company, while Miss Hoffmann will have an interest in the net earn- ings. Terms equalling those secured by William Morris for Harry Lauder have been granted Morris Gest, ac- tive manager of the troupe. These are about the highest percentages ever given by house managements. While many believe that with the at- tested drawing power of Miss Hoff- mann and the novelty of seeing an English title undressed while dancing, Polaire, the Frenchwoman of the trio, is hardly necessary to the suc- cess of the show. She will play her sketch, "The Visitor." About 28 weeks have been laid out for the troupe. Lady Constance is under contract for 12 weeks, with two options of 10 each to follow. It is said she is receiving $1,100 weekly for the tour. Her personal manager on this side is Abe Levy, who will travel with the show, having been released by Willie Hammerstein. There are to be three men ahead, one representing each star. A couple or more will re- main back with the show to preserve harmony. The official title of the combina- tion will be the "All Star Alliance of International Celebrities." MARCELINE HEADS KOAD SHOW. Marceline, the Hippodrome clown, has affixed his signature to a three years* contract with the newly form ;d H. & S. Producing Co. (Inc.), Zach M. Harris and Jed F. Shaw, general manitjrrs. He will head a road sliDV which H. & S. will send out early in Au- gust, playing K. & £. houses. Rehears- als will start Aug. 11. With the Marceline show will be quite a number of prominent vaude* ville acts. The H. & S. Producing Co., recently incorporated for $2,000, is composed of Jed F. Shaw, treasurer of the Little theatre, "Zack" Harris, a well known advance agent, and M. C. Friedberg, not connected with show business. The show opens Aug. 30 in Pough- keepsie. FREDERICK WARDE ROAD SHOW. Frederick Warde, the Shakespearian actor, has completed arrangements to tour through the south and southwest next season, with a vaudeville road show under his own management Mr. Warde has adapted the first act of "King Lear" for his vehicle. He will carry from 12 to 15 people for use in the tabloid besides using 20 to 30 supers in each town. GIiANGY*S COMEDY CAR. Jim Clancy, the agent, has a new automobile. It's a Cutting, and Jim traded ^ his second-handed Ranier for it. Jim liked the Ranier because it cost $4,300 when new and Jim thought it was a 1910 model. But the Ranier made his 16-months old baby laugh so heartily every time she taw it the doctor ordered a regular machine to keep the child from dislodging its first teeth. Clancy paid Lew Welch $550 for the sewing machine. He had it six weeks and took five full rides in it. The re- pair bills were $756 and Jim swapped just in time to save two new tires. Mrs. Clancy a§d her husband had four arguments during the first ride. Jim's wife said they were approaching a railroad track; she could hear the train coming. Jim answered it was the auto making that noise, but his wife declared no machine could do it The second difference of opinion came when Mrs. Clancy charged Jim with teaching the auto to hurdle. Jim said it was a dent in the road, but the car repeated upon him. Mrs. Clancy offered Jim the alternative, his family or the Ranier. Jim admits a fondness for his folks so gave away the $4,300 scow in exchange for a 1913. As the exchange man examined the Ranier he informed Jim it was built in 1906. Jim was glad to receive the exact date as he got $175 more in trade than he paid for the machine. THE U. B. O. BOOKERS. The entrance of John J. Collins into the United Booking Offices as a book- ing man gives £. M. Robinson a sec- ond assistant Mr. Collins is to have charge of the books under Robinson's supervision for Cincinnati, Louisville, and Indianapolis. Mr. Robinson's other assistant is Ray Hodgdon. Mr. Hodgdon will place the bills for Toledo, Columbus, Cleveland and Syra- cuse, while the Grand Opera House, Pittsburgh, will likely receive Mr. Rob- inson's personal attention. It is said for next season Harry Mun- dorf, who assisted Eddie Darling the past season, will book for the U. B. O. houses in Richmond and Atlanta. Aaron Kessler is now Darling's aid. He is securing small time turns and in- ducing acts to book direct with the agency. It is also said the Orpheums at Mem- phis and New Orleans will be booked along with the Keith southwestern houses next season, with the Keith acts placed on the end of the Orpheum sheet to follow the southwestern time. If this is so, it will leave George Gott- leib in the Orpheum office placing bills for the Majestic and Palace, Chicago; Majestic, Milwaukee, and Columbia, St. Louis, considered quite enough work for one man. Jean Kernan is now helping out Fred Schanberger in the booking of the former Empire (which may be renamed Palace), Baltimore. When the Mary- land, Baltimore, reopens for the regu- lar season, Kernan will also assist Schanberger who bills for that big time house, according to report. TRAINOR REINSTATED. Pursuant to the final opinion by the Court of Appeals in the action for re- instatement brought by Val Trainor against the White Rats Actors' Union, Mr. Trainor was reinstated as a White Rat at the meeting of the organization Tuesday night Immediately thereafter it was said Trainor was notified charges had been preferred against him, and he was called to trial on the customary three days' notice. The charges are similar, it is reported, to those first laid against Trainor and under which he was expelled, which lead to the court proceedings on the ground the Board of Directors had ille- gally acted in trying the accused with- out a quorum present PROGRESSIVE'S STARTING DATE. The official opening of the Progres- sive Circuit shows is set for Aug. 25, although the independent burlesque managers plan to get in a week's pre- liminary playing to get a line on their shows. The Circuit starts with 26 houses with a repeater of ten weeks at the dis- position of the Progressive managers. Two "Human Hearts" companies, un- der Chas. R. Reno's direction, will take to the road the latter part of August. His "Along the Kennebec" show opens July 8. SAM SCRIBNER, SOME BOY. Up around Bedford Heights or wherever Sam Scribner has his garage there will be an addition in the family of the Scribners shortly. It will be Sam Scribner's second, and undeniably removes him out of the A. K. class. When not at home Mr. Scribner is generally managing the Columbia Amusement Co. INTERSTATE SHUT OFF. When Celia Bloom, booking agent for the Interstate Circuit arrived in New York Tuesday she found instruc- tions had been issued through the United Booking Offices that no U. B. O. agent should furnish Miss Bloom with acts until orders were given that they might. The U. B. O. instructions were said to have been issued at the instance of Martin Beck, of the Orpheum Cir- cuit Becks' reason, according to re- port, was to force the Interstate book- ings in the east through his agency in preference to having the Western Vaudeville Managers' Association of •Chicago collect commission, although the inside story regarding the matter told of another attempt by Beck to make Carl Hoblitzelle, of the Inter- state, to "do business" with him. The latter thing Beck has tried several times, mostly by issuing announce- ments of invading the Interstate ter- ritory in the south. Up to date Hob- litzelle has stood pat, the best way to land Beck on one of his pipes. PANTAGE8 ROUTE CHANGED. Chicago, July 2. Alexander Pantages has decided to go into Southern territory. Scouts are now in Texas digging up houses and towns in which to bring the Pantages road shows back east over a gulf course. The houses in Pueblo and St Joe booked by pictures have been crossed off but Denver will remain, booked direct out of the Chicago of- fice. San Antonio, £1 Paso, Houston, Dal- las and Galveston are the towns into which Pantages would like to enter. It is in these that his scouts are now feeling about This would run the western circuit into opposition with the IntersUte, at the present time con- trolling the situation in the far south- ern field. Arrangements have been completed between the Pantages office and the Canadian Pacific whereby it can import their acts from England to Edmonton at a very low cost and in the future the acts will sail direct from Liverpool with transportation to Edmonton. A late of $72.60 has been given for the trip. Later when the acts will open in Winnipeg the rate from Liverpool to the opening point will be $60. The first turn to come over under the new rate and conditions will be Bert Swan's Alligators opening at Edmonton Aug- ust 4. HOWE*S SHOW DOING LITTLE. The Sam Howe summer show at the Columbia, New York ("Kissing Maid"), has been doing little since the second week of its stay there. This is the fifth week. For the first two the management made some money, the first week's receipts approaching around $6,000. The second week also showed a profit, but the third barely gave an even break for the show, while last week and this, it probably lost money. The end of the run may arrive any time now, dependent on weather conditions. Pete Curley left the company last Saturday. Fred Nolan returned to the Curley role, which was Nolan's, orig- inally.