Variety (February 1914)

22 VARIETY Frank Morrell has two more weeks at Rector's. The rapid rise to popularity of the dance craze is eliminating the cabaret singing turns and the song ptuggers who follow the night restaurant routes. Maria Corio is with Dinus at the Ho- tel Plaza, Havana, Cuba, where they will remain until May. Dinus has a big dancing school down there. The Clef Club» composed altogether of colored musicians, mostly engaged in cabarets, gave a beefsteak at Reis- enweber's last Sunday night. Plates were $3.50 each, and a large crowd at- tended. The Foliea Marighy (44th Street Theatre) will hereafter be known as "Bernard Granville's Folies Marigny," named after the comedian of "The Whirl of the World." Granville will assume personal direction of the en- tertainments offered there. The old trot seems to have passed. A turkey trot contest now simmers down to three or four couples quickly with the trot almost forgotten. What is now called a trot is a cross between a hesitation waltz and a tango danced to ragtime. It seems too bad, for it not only does away with the trot but also has quite finished the tango, by far the most graceful and quaintest of all the modern dances. ''Fancy ituff** isn't popular any more in the better cabarets either. Straight dancing that carries with it any intri- cate movement goes, but the couples who try to imitate the Tenth avenuers' "Tommy work** find no recognition. Even the dip is in bad form, though used quite often, mostly from long practice. Dancing is growing more po- lite, although often any one wise to that sort of thing will see some "dirty work" going on among couples on a crowded floor. And this rag stepping is the worst in the world for that, and the easiest, if the dancers want to go to it. The contest fever has hit pretty strongly in all the neighborhood danc- ing resorts. Monday night is contest night at the Danse La Fleur (Hamilton theatre). The section on upper Broad- way turned out solid this week and the contest aroused as much enthusiasm as an extra inning ball game. A different method of judging will have to be de- vised if the contests are to hold their interest. Dancers known to the judges get all the best of it. This is driving promising aspirants to cover. As judged at La Fleur Monday night the contest became a farce. A certain few with noisy followings friendly to the judges caught all the attention, while many of equal if not superior ability never got as much as Attention from the judges. It is but a question of time before the winners of these local dancing contests will be offered book- ing in the houses in their vicinities, and for this reason better judging should be given. Healy'a, at 66th street, tried to settle the amateur championship of Greater New York among the rag dancers in a contest held there Wednesday night of this week. Healy's announcement stated that this was the first event of the kind held, but it could hardly say that since Holly Arms held a similar contest that lasted all during the past summer, and still the question who the amateur champion is isn't settled. But about 20,(XX) dancers believe they are, so the question will likely remain open for some time. The Shuberta' press department sent out a notice this week that last night the members of "The Whirl of the World" at the Winter Garden would make the rounda of the Broadway res- taurants after the performance, start- ing at the Palais de Danse and winding up at the Follies Marigny. They were to take one drink and do cne dance at each place. If they did it, they arc still traveling, but as the Palais de Danse and the Follies Marigny are both located in Shubert theatre build- ings, the show likely made but one jump. Emily Hooper and Elsworth Cooke, who dance in the Tea Room at the Hotel Astor, are doing the old-fash- ioned gavotte and minuet, instead of the more "modern" "society" dances. The Astor patrons appear to like what- is almost now an innovation in ball- room work. Jack Haskell and Angie Wiemers are presenting the other type of stepping at the Boheme. The cabaret orchestras about town, or most, should get up earlier and look the city over. Several of the leaders have apparently forgotten any music was ever written excepting for a popu- lar sheet music publisher who will "nrive up" to have his pieces played. As a result some of the orchestras are s'iU using rags the publishers them- selves recall with difficulty. It sounds funny and looks badly to the well-in- formed when these old tunes are con- tinually repeated in Broadway dancing cabarets. More so, too, after several of the production numbers that are ever so much better suited for rag dancing. These production melodies, tuneful and with an easy swing, will make the average rag composer change his style of composition. They are really waltz rags and hard to resist. The "coon song^' music alongside of them is harsh, noisy and discordant. That may be also a cause for one or two of the more progressive orchestras taking up the "French rag" for dance time. It's soft and much more melodi- ous than the American-made tune for trotters. The "Maxixe" and "Tango" music is having an influence on the choice of selections for the remainder of the dances in the "society" list. ARTISTS' FORUM Confln* letters to 160 words and write on one side of paper only. Anonymous communications will not bo printed. Name of writer must be signed and will bo held In strict confidence, if desired. Letters to be published In this eolumn must be written exeluslyely to VARIETY. DnpUeatod letters will not be printed. The writer wh* duplicates a letter to the Forum, either before or after It appears here, will not be again permitted the priv- ileges of It. New York, Feb. 16. Editor Varibtt: I am glad to see the Complaint Office open again, and had you told me be- fore, we might have gotten our names in it last week. The little kick now is against Jolo, the small time wonder, who got us at the Columbia one Sun- day when we were going good. He couldn't find anything to say against us excepting that Charles Inness did not change canes during the act. Charles Inness is my partner (Inness and Ryan, Reisenweber's 'phone). Your Mr. Jolo is all wrong about the case. Mr. Inness does change them and if Jolo doesji't believe it, Charlie will show him the original canes he does it with. Of course the change is quick and made off stage, calling for an expert on wood to detect the dif- ference between the sticks, but Charlie does make the change and any stage hand will swear to that. Please don't have Jolo get the impression I am try- ing to say he is not a wooden expert, for I don't want to start anything with him, or the next time he gets us we would probably have that "Good for the small time, Jolo" label, but I won't stand to let any ordinary theatrical critic say that my Charlie is cheating on the canes. And don't forget that there are lots of good critics like myself laying off nowadays. Maude Ryan. Buatonoby's, on 39th street, has gone the other dancing cabarets one better. It holds a dancing contest every even- ing. Bustonoby's has not lost any business through the increased compe- tition. It continues to draw its own peculiar crowd, largely composed of college boys. Bustonoby's matinees aie about the best patronized in New York. It's a small place, with little floor space, but the good music may be the answer. Mr. and Mrs. Dore and Ethel Clif- ford are now dancing at Wallick's (iormerly Cadillac). The Dores in- struct in the afternoons. Wallick's has come across as a winner. It ran nlong for a while with uncertainty the only outlook, but a brace arrived and since then the pretty dancing room of this restaurant has been pulling capacity to its rather limited number >f seats. The Alamo, Harlem's newest danc- ing rathskeller, looks to be over. It is doing business. That the girls from the burlesque shows which play Hur- tig & Seamon's theatre above it go downstairs to the rathskeller after thet performance hasn't hurt the male pa- tronage any. The Alamo has about the best dancing floor of any of the rathskellers. Chicago, Feb. 14. Editor Varibtt: Will you please settle a bet by in- forming the writer whether there is a rule that the burlesque shows must have a "table scene" during the per- formance, and why some shows ?ise better chairs for this than others? James O'Flanagan. Minneapolis, Feb. 18. Editor VARiBTr: In reply to Ben Deely's letter, in which he says that he never heard of Frank Eldred, would say the first in- timation I ever had that such a person as Ben Deely existed was when I was informed that he was using my original material. Furthermore, my wife and I were an extra attraction on the Orpheum Cir- cuit nine years ago under the name of Les Parisians (which we have bills to prove). The main point of the argument (the date he produced his idea of a dancing dummy) he is discreetly silent upon, and, after claiming originality himself, he goes back 25 years and concedes the idea to someone else. The fact remains we can prove we originated a lady and gent dancing and being burlesqued by comedian and dummy seven years ago; and the sud- den epidemic of dancing dummies only started after we left for our round-the- world trip two and a half years ago. F. Eldred. Dancing cabareta may be said to have caused more family disturbances in the time they have existed than happened among an equal number of people of the same calibre for five years preceding the real dancing fad .vhich struck New York about eighteen months ago. The afternoon "dansants" are undoubtedly the cause of more broken homes than the night affairs. Women with open time on their hands wander into these afternoon places, in couples, or more. It means dancing sooner or later, and with strangers. The women may escape it the first or second time, but they fall in the end, if continuing these "afternoons," which are as firm a habit with some females as poker playing is to others. The men, the majority of them married and elderly, likewise manage to secure time to kill the latter part of the after- noon around the dancing restaurants. It usually ends one way, and after the pace of the day's doings in the dancing line, home doesn't look like it uster. If the cabarets could talk or the wait- ers tell all they know, the state would have to open a few extra courts to keep up with the rush. Agnes Wiemers, who so often danced in Broadway musical comedies with Lillian Rice, is now a professional cabaret society dancer.