Variety (February 1917)

VARIETY <> VARIETY Trade Mark Registered PuMUhed Weekly by VARIETY, Inc. Sime Silverman, President New Y«rk BBaaeaesa Advertising- copy for current issue will be accepted at the New York office op to Wednes- day night. Advertisement* eent by mail should be ac- companied by remittance. """ SUBSCRIPTION ~* Annual $4 Foreign |S Single copies, 10 cents. Entered as second-class matter at New York. Vol. XLV. No. 10 Imitator*, in and out of vaudeville, are confronted with a complex condi- tion, owing to the decision of the U. S. Supreme Court, restricting copyrighted music and songs or both absolutely within the province of the owner of the copyright With what regret must the imitator, more often the imitatress, ap- Ereciate that no longer can "an act" e composed of the most melodious 6r popular "restricted" songs for presenta- tion as "impressions" of those creating the numbers in the original productions or acts. That is, of course, if the cruel- hearted producing manager, act owner or publisher refuses to lend his con- sent to the nervy imitator's never-paid- for-act In times past the imitator blithely represented that merely the "impression" was being given, the song was incidental, and invited the owner of the number to go into court, under- standing all too perfectly court pro- ceedings would mean publicity equiva- lent to the loss of one number. For an imitator, if the secret must be let loose, seldom imitates but one person or uses only songs from one produc- tion, for that very obvious reason just mentioned. No longer now is it thought a matter of publicity, injunction or court proceedings. For if there are court proceedings they are apt to be of a harsh trend, and if the imitator is told not to, it's not, not perhaps. And now we shall see what we shall see, most interesting of which will be to count up the survivors of the acts that never had an act but got over with an act made up of other acts. In all vaudeville there has been nothing quite so brazen as the imitator or "impres- sionist" Excluding the bare two, per- haps three, legitimately entitled to the artistic appellation of impersonator (alias imitator) there has never been one "imitator" really qualified to pre- sent "impressions" before an audience, but many have, in vaudeville, and many have tried in productions, only to re- turn to vaudeville, excepting those qualified who remained with produc- tions. Mrs. Reed Albee has gone to Palm Beach, Fla., for two months. The Allston theatre, Allston, Mass., has been added to the Marcus Loew books (Boston). The new Pantages theatres at Seattle and Vancouver are expected to open by March 1. Walter Weems has returned from Australia and will work east over the Orpheum opening in Oakland, Feb. 18. Louise Edwards (Edwards and Louise), who underwent an operation recently, is recovered. Abe Silver, of the Broadway Music Corporatoin, is in Lakewood, N. J., on a short vacation. Edward Lewis, assistant manager ?.+ Procter's- Fifth Avenue, leaves there Saturday. The W. H. Straus act, "At the Stage Door," has been taken over by Henry Chesterfield. Mae Latham, prima donna with "Merry Rounders," has left the Colum- bia wheel show to do pictures. Seats for "The Man Who Came Back" at the Playhouse are on sale as far ahead as the special Decoration Day matinee. "The Love Mill," operatic, produced by Andreas Dippel, will open Feb. 5 in Allentown, Pa. It will play Boston be- fore being brought to New York. Mort Singer and C. E. Kohl, execu- tive heads of the Western Vaudeville Managers' Association, afrived in New York for a three-day visit this week. . The Grand opera house block, Pitts- burgh, formerly playing the big time vaudeville bills (now at the Davis) suffered a bad fire Sunday. C. Brady, for several years assistant treasurer of the Orpheum, Montreal, Can., has been appointed ^treasurer of the Francais, in that city. Chas. Williams, resident manager of the Temple, Detroit, is visiting New York this week for the first time in ten years. 'The Lodger" at the Bandbox has been extended from Feb. 3 for an addi- tional week, when it goes to Boston, opening there Feb. 12. Lydia Barry opens on the Orpheum Circuit in Duluth Feb. 11. Two weeks later the Barry Girls open in the same town. Richy T. Craig has placed in re- hearsal "The Merry Burlesquers," a one-night stand burlesque show. The company will open about Feb. 15. Aaron Jones, of Jones, Linick & Schaefer, who has been in town for a week, returned to Chicago Tuesday. He devoted most of his visit here look- ing after his large film interests. Dorothy Bailey and Marie Weirman. of the Al Jolson show, were operated upon for appendicitis within a week of each other. Both are reported on the way to recovery. C. J. Brunne has placed in rehearsal "The Love Thief," an English dramatic piece, which opens Feb. 19 at the Lin- coln, Union Hill. Oily Logsdon re- cruited the American company. * Elsie DeWolfe. who Rave her illus- trated war lecture at the Elliott last Sunday to a capacity audience, is to re- peat the performance in Chicago, Bos- ton and Philadelphia. Sig Bosley resigned as Chicago man- ager of the Shapiro-Bernstein Music firm this week, being replaced by Joe Bennett, formerly an assistant in the same office. William McKaye has succeeded Charles Porter as dramatic editor of the Chicago "Examiner," Mr. Porter be- ing shifted over to the staff of the Sun- day edition. Charles Cutler, the "wrestler," has quit the mat game and is now training wealthy Chicagoians as athletic direc- tor of the Mystic Athletic Club, an off- shoot of the Shrine. Mr. and Mrs. Charles L. MacDonald (Charles and Sadie MacDonald) will celebrate their silver wedding in their Boston home, 38 Bowdoin street, Feb. 2. 'Mark Monroe is wandering around the neighborhood with a Stetson style sombrero that the bunch claims cost him $15, but Mark won't confess what he paid, although the hat is not to be confused with a Monroe $15 suit. Charles Van (Charles and Fannie Van) has placed his former comedy acts with Max Hart (Palace theatre building) to be disposed of, as Mr. Van does not expect to return to the stage at present. Jere Cohan will preside at the regu- lar monthly meeting, Feb. 6, of the Catholic Actors' Guild of America at the Hotel Astor. An entertainment in which prominent players will take part will be an incident of the meeting. The plot of ground adjoining the Palace, on the southeast corner of Seventh avenue and 47th street, was sold at an executors' sale Tuesday by Joseph P. Day for $450,000, to Sol Bloom.- The property was part of the estate of the late Peter De Lacy. A traveling indoor circus will be started by Jules Larvett Feb. 15 at Shenadoah, Pa., playing one-night stands with the opening dates so far secured guaranteed. One dollar top will be the scale. About six circus acts (doubling) are to be carried. E. L. Perry has been appointed resi- dent manager of the Riverside theatre, the new uptown house recently taken over by the Keith interests. Mr. Perry has been a Keith representative for a number of years and was most recently at the Orpheum, Montreal. The final division of the estate of Max Anderson was made Tuesday and all moneys paid over to the respective heirs. Anderson's brother, who had in- tended contesting the will, has been settled with, the bulk of the estate go- ing to his sister, Mrs. Bleyer. Conn & Wildrow, Inc., who operate the theatre at Haverstraw, N. Y., have taken over a house in Suffern and will operate it with vaudeville, booked by Fally Marcus, opening Feb. 12. The same firm is negotiating for several other towns in Central New York. The action of Howard Jones against Weber's theatre for an accounting of the receipts of his piece, "The London Follies," which played but one day at that house in 1911, was settled last week. The case was in litigation for six years. The piece was taken off after its first performance. The East-West Players, which gave four performances recently at the Gar- den theatre, are being backed by the Educational Alliance. Negotiations were under way for the securing of the Bandbox by the Alliance, but they fell through when "The Lodger" was moved to that house. Frank Reynolds, the stage door man at the Palace theatre, is constantly an- swering inquiries as to the whereabouts of Mrs. Vernon Castle since the be- ginning of the "Patria" film engage- ment at that house. The first week over a hundred people journeyed to the stage door insisting upon seeing the dancer herself. Four members of "The Other Wom- an" were injured in an automobile ac- cident in Kansas City last week. Clay T. Vance, manager of the company, was cut by glass from the broken windshield; Vaxa Belle suffered slight injuries; J. Lovay Butler and Helen Claire Benedict were attended by a physician for shock. Walter J. Naylor, manager of the stock at the Lyceum, New Britain, Conn., denies the members, of his com- i/any did not re*.rive their salaries for the week ending Jan. 20. Ernest Lynds, who was a member of the company, claimed a portion of his salary wgs not forthcoming on that date and he re- turned to New York. Ethel Robinson, of the Robinson Amusement Co., has the contracts for the outdoor attractions for the North- western Circuit of Exhibitions for the 10th consecutive year. The circuit em- braces Moose Jaw, Calgary, Red Deer, Edmonton, Brandon, Regina, Saska- toon, North Battleford, Prince Albert, Yorkton and Weyburn. At the regular meeting of Theatrical Protective Union No. 1 the following delegates, H. L. Abbot, Wm. Bass, T. F. Burke, J. F. Corrigan, W. S. Davis, S. Driscoll, James Maxwell, Sr., J. M. Meeker, VV. E. Monroe, J. W. McDow- ell, T. J. McKenna and J. Tierney were elected to represent the local at the coming convention of the I. A. T. S. E. in Cleveland week Feb. 25. The Lyceum and Palace, Amsterdam, N. Y., have been sold by Sol Bernstein to Manager Klapp, having the picture houses in that town. The Palace is un- der construction and will play pop vaudeville when finished, which the Lyceum is now doing, all vaudeville bookings through Bill Delaney of the United Booking Offices. The sale oc- curred last Friday and the new owner took possession Monday. The Grand Mancini Opera Co. played at the Tampa (Fla.) Baby Casino for one performance this week, offering "II Trovatore" to an audience of 200. The management of the house advised one of the cpera company's members that business could not be expected better as the "house was but recently remod- eled, having been until then a swim- ming pool. The member retorted by asking the manager "Why did they ever change it?" A new author looming up, who, ac- cording to himself, promises to over- shadow the leading dramatists of the day. He is Jean Hickenlooper, of Al- bia, la. Jean sent the manuscripts of six plays this week and wrote a letter saying, "the sooner you fellers realize I am in this play writing business to stay, the better for all of us." One of his efforts is a drama in four acts en- titled "Outwitting the Devil." It con- tains dialog and business and the entire play can be read in exactly 17 minutes by the clock. The Loew office basketball team composed of Alex Hanlon, Sol Turek, Charlie Moskowitz, Moe Schenck aud Abe Friedman played its first game Saturday of last week, having as it? opponents the heavyweight team of the University Settlement The Loew boys were defeated 19-14. Their op- ponents are considered one of the best amateur teams in the city. Following the game a banquet was tendered the players at the Monopole Cafe, the guests including Dorothy Reuter, Edna Stevens, Victoria Blauvelte, Grace Hur- ley, Flossie Flynn, Ruth Fallow, Joe Horn, Jimmy Lyons, Louis Lavine, Eddie Resnick, Sam Fallow, Nathan Lavine, Chas. Diamond, Harry Nestler, Leonard Harber. Doc Steiner, the most versatile dia- lectician in vaudeville, finally admits someone "put one over" on him this week. An acrobat approached Doc at the soda water fountain in a drug store and began boasting about the value of his act. Doc was annoyed, but patient- ly waited until the man declared he stopped the show at the Fifth Avenue theatre, whereupon the old physician lost his temper and with his strongest dialect and basso profundo voice passed the "iiHly word" and started to move (.IT. The man fallowed and offered t«» \>v\ Dot: ihry .stopped tilt show. " VVircir ihcy both put their dimes up the acro- bat whispered to Doc that the show was stopped for three full minutes because his wife was not fully dressed at cur- tain time.