Variety (October 1914)

VARIETY ARTISTS' SAURY REDUCTION ON VAUDEVILLE'S BIG TIME Managers and Agents Confer. Managerial Committee Ap- to Temporarily Readjust Salaries of Acts Drawing Large Figures Weekly. Current Theatrical .Conditions Said to Demand Protective Step. The big-time vaudeville managers of- ficially notified the agents Thursday morning that there must be a reduction of salaries by the acts the agents rep- resent. The same afternoon the managers of the United Booking Offices conferred from one until five o'clock over the present theatrical situation that im- pelled the drastic move by them. The outcome was a committee of five man- agers, appointed to go over the lists of acts available for the big time, and temporarily readjust the salaries they receive. The managers say the step is an im- perative one for self-preservation, and as a protection to the vaudeville busi- ness, which has suffered during the de- pression so far this season, along with all other lines the theatre presents. The agents coincide with the man- agers, and retrenchment is necessary at this time, to ensure vaudeville be- ing continued in the theatres that now play it. In an address made to the agents on the subject by E. F. Albee, general man- ager of the United Booking Offices, he stated the big-time managers expected to lose $250,000 before the turn for bet- ter business could arrive, if that turn should be reached this season. Mr. Albee said he believed the actors, who had shared in the general prosperity of vaudeville during recent years, should be willing to shoulder their share of the burden the managers must carry, by the actors agreeing to a re- duction of salary. It was made plain by the speaker he did not believe acts receiving a fair salary in the estima- tion of the managers should be at a loss through the bad times, but the abnormal salaries and those that had been "shoved up" on the managers could stand a clipping to reasonable bounds until vaudeville righted itself. Mr. Albee, in conversation after the meeting, said for some seasons the busi- ness had run along, with bad spots here and there, but an average was main- tained that induced the managers to meet the demands made by acts for in- creased salary. This season, however, everything had dropped off, added Mr. Albee, and if vaudeville were to keep on playing in the first-class houses, a cut in the salary list had to be made, to in part stand off the large loss in gross receipts at the box office. The committee of five managers will commence meeting next week, when the salaries will be graded by the vau- deville men. The agents were given to understand any agent offered an act from to se- allotted for it, the offending agent would at once lose his franchise to book on "the floor" of the United. The agents weie also informed that any act not wishing to comply with the managers' figure for its services, would not offend anyone in the U. B. O. if seeking engagements elsewhere. No "percentage" of reduction was spoken of nor settled upon. The re- duction, it is said, will depend upon the present salary and what the managers deem to be a fair valuation. The acts to feel it the most will be the big- priced turns. MORE SUNDAY CONCERTS. The Empire and Casino, Brooklyn, go into the Sunday vaudeville column this Sabbath, the acts booked in by Lester Whitlock, Fam. Dept., U. B. O. Whitlock already has the Grand and Whitney going in Brooklyn. Ben Sugarman puts in a 10-act show next Sunday at the Majestic, Brooklyn. FANNIE BRICE'S ESCAPE. The loss of a United Booking Offices route was narrowly escaped by Fannie Brice last week, when an overzcalous advertising solicitor on the Evening Journal put Fannie in wrong, with the U. B. O. and the Jewish public. It is said the advertising solicitor, who combines reviewing as a side line for business, induced Miss Brice to part with $1,000 "for publicity." He then gave her a comparatively small space in his paper to advertise that she would appear at the Palace all last week, including Yom Kippur, the most holy of the Hebrew reverences. Several Jewish societies wrote, pro- testing against the wording of the ad- vertisement, and the United Booking office men are reported to have taken Miss Brice's name off their sheets for the affront. The advertising solicitor jumped into the breach, to save his $1,000 and Fan- nie's contract, by saying the compositor had read his copy wrong; that the prin- ter made "including" out of "excepting" in the reading of the Yom Kippur line. He was so abject in his protestations of what might follow were he found guilty that they alowed him to get away with the silly excuse, as it seemed to "square" the protesting societies. AD NOVELTY ACT. Los Angeles, Oct. 7. "Sunkist" is the title of a rather novel turn showing the transit of an orange from the tree to the consumer, includ- ing the picking, packing, shipping and selling process. Several girls and two men comprise the company, two of the girls being expert citrus packers, showing how to pack 126 oranges in a box in one min- ute and 58 seconds. It will play the Pantages time. Comedy Stock at Feature. The Crescent in the Bronx, which M. H. Saxe manages, is trying musical comedy stock as a feature in its pop bill. The Morgan-Hackett company, former- ly at the 116th street, is there, with Joe Lyonell and Mabelle Leverton. Circus Razes Airdome. Atlantic City, Oct. 7. Failure to find a suitable lot forced the Ringlings' circus which played At- lanta Monday to raze the defunct At- lanta Motordome Company's plant and grandstands. The plant was bought by the circus people to get the show lot. if another's list, attempting cure a larger sum than ERNEST PANTZER AND CO. Who arrived this week on the St. Louis, having come direct from Brussels by special permit from the German military cr nmander, after having undergone a series of dangerous and blood- curdling adventures. Their journey from Bruitsels to the Dutch frontier occupied three days and nights, by wagon. Throughout the journey tney were within half a mile of the Permanent address, VARIETY, New York. 10c. RECORDS The "canned music" or disc and phonograph record field is likely to see an upheaval November 1, when Henry Watterson will first place* upon the market his new patented "Little Won- der" record, at ten cents each, retail. It is a flat record of the usual kind, containing any vocal or instrumental selection, and is 5J4 inches in diameter. A phonograph built to accommodate the record is also being manufactured at the plant Mr. Watterson has in- stalled at Rahway, N. J. The phono- graph will be retailed at $5. Demonstrations have lately been given of the improved cheap record at the offices of Watterson, Berlin & Snyder in the Strand theatre building. The volume and notes of the smaller record are fully equal to those of the large records the public has been buy- ing for many years past, paying as high as $4 for some of the featured records made by operatic stars. REDFORD SEIZED AS SPY. Montreal, Oct. 7. Samuel Redford, of the vaudeville comedy juggling team of Redford and Winchester, was arrested at Rouse Point early yesterday as a German spy, while on his way to this city to fill an engagement at the Orpheum. A custom official boarded the train as it crossed the U. S.-Canadian line. Redford's overcoat hung in the dress- ing room while the comedian slept in his berth. A false beard in the coat pocket aroused the brass-buttoned of- ficial's suspicions. "Hist, a spy," he muttered and prepared for dirty work. He ordered Redford off the train. On the platform stood a file of uni- formed custom men. The actor was taken to a hotel and kept there under guard. A search of his trunk revealed an assortment of pistols, cannon balls and scores of comic disguises. "Two Hifts!" growled the sleuths. "We've got him." Meanwhile the Orpheum was short an act. The manager managed to se- cure Redford by explaining to the of- ficials over the long-distance telephone and he was permitted late today to pro- ceed to Montreal in custody of a guard. JOLSON REPLACES LEONARD. Chicago, Oct. 7. Eddie Leonard, who was booked to appear at the Majestic this week, was not present. It was reported that he had an attack of ptomaine poisoning. Harry Jolson was brought in to take his place. Jolson left the bill Monday after- noon. When he learned the salary he declined. Fox Leaves Syracuse. Syracuse, N. Y. f Oct. 7. William Fox, vaudeville, is no longer playing the last half of the week at the Rastable. The house continues to give Columbia burlesque the first half. firing linei. Juggler Gets 15 Months. Philadelphia, Oct. 7. Edward R. Leonard, formerly a jug- gler in vaudeville, pleaded guilty to sending a blackhand letter to E. L. Perry, manager of the Palace, on Mar- ket street, and was sentenced to 15 months in the Eastern Penitentiary.