Variety (February 1920)

VAUDEVILLE in: . GOOD-BYE TO CABARETS SEEMS MOST LIK ELY SWA N SONG NOW No Trade to Support Big Revues Now. Boozeless Menus ... Keep Checks Down. Lack of Real Eats Has Kept Good, Solid Family Trade Away. Booking Agents Out, Too. Nothing to Book, the Answer. / / • FORUM . -a** iwi - ■,.. ■ . ■;--' ?i •?..' With the fatal January 16 gone, the cabaret agents and proprietors are looking about them, giving their pros- pects a self-once over, as it were. And unanimously to a man, they admit the business on the whole is "rotten/ to- quote them. The agents say they know of but k|lf dozen places locally that can afford a revue profitably with the revenue and profits being honestly derived by virtue of the good food and patronage these places are asso- ciated with. As far as the cabaret booking agent is concerned, their number has been and will be considerably decreased for the simple reason there are not many cabarets to be booked. It is only the ' agent who has a revue or two going, several orchestras and clubs who can make a go of it in that field. From the restaurateur's standpoint, - the one who has built up a "family" prtronage, consisting of a regular flow of people who come to one particular pisce tor the. food it dispenses, the musical and entertainment trimmings being secondary in their esteem, a continuance of the former success may prevail. This type of folk come not, for "wild parties" but for food, will-' ingly paying for the pleasant sur- roundings and the good music. The couvert charge—one form of gentle graft—finds no one complaining to any extent. That a number of cabarets have changed and are in the process of changing their policies must only be interpreted that they depended on their revue and the booze to fetch 'em flocking. With booze tabooed, the menu apparently is not very popular. This deficiency'on the,"eats" returns prohibits the maintenance of the show with th« result that they have been compelled to close or change policies. When as famous a landmark as the Cafe de Paris (or Rector's) must change into a Palaise de Danse, one may acquire an idea that .all's not 'well in cabaretdom. This accounts for the numerous "creep joints" that have sprung up on and about Times square. The average Broadway frequenter ciaves excitement and with liquor banned, late hours and festivities pre- sent themselves as but poor alterna- tives. With the report that midnight vaudeville is to be a feature comes the' intention of several cabaret pro- prietors to hold late hour dancing pan- ties. Where one o'clock was the dead- line at liquor dispensing resorts, cabaret and restaurant men contem- plate extending the spieling privilege another two hours or so now that the . "wet" stuff is no more—legally. After- noon dancing is becoming more and more the vogue in places where an orchestra only presided evenings for- merly. % . The outlook for the cabaret busi- ness is not very bright, the restaurant men believe. Plans of revues and star attractions, have been discarded one by one as impractical. People seem to frequent cabarets—that is ._._ those that will do—for the food a par- ticular resort may be noted tor, or De- cause they have no other place to go. of 100th street and Broadway, it is said. •_ ;> • , Loew on Upper Broadway. A new theatre for Marcus Loew is contemplated on the southeast corner NEW ACTS. Donnelly and Tierney, two-act Johnson and Chester, two girls. Alfred H. Walton, sketch. Tracy and Mobr, songwriters. Olga Zarnes and Co. (3) ring act "The High Flyer," sketch, 4 people: "Pistols for Two," singing, 3 people. Pealsen and West, new act George Miller, singing and dancing. Geo Lewis,. singing single. Auburn and Lovelle, sister act • Nell and Elsie Gilbert, sister act Barry Maxwell and Hart, three men, singing. Lyons and Lee, two men, singing and talking. Kelly and Post two men, singing and talking. Snitz Moore and Gladys Sears, two- act Japie Miller and Co. (3) comedy sketch. Henry Marshall and Co., singing, 3 people. Zaza and Adele, dancing. Formerly with "Broadway Echoes." Thomas Saxotet with Eva Hale. (Charles Bornhaupt.) "An Innocent Eve," girl act (Wm. Brandell). Valda, (formerly. Berk and Valda) singing and dancing with Lynn Burno, pianist. 1 "" Billy and Nellie St. Clair ("The Lone-'' ly Romeo"), dancing act (Rosalie Stewart). Johnny Muldoon and Peggy Frank- lyn, assisted by the Six Georgia Jazz Beauxs (Jack Lewis). Lore tta McDermott, Eddie Cox and the Masque Five Band. Hale.is with six girls. Randolph and Holcomb, two girls. The former- formerly appeared with Johnny Ford, and the latter with Will Ward and Girls. Harry Richards (Roehm and'Rich- ards) has written a new act for Mc- Donald and Cleveland called "The Actor Clerk." . Harry Richards has purchased "Mr. Jazz," a novelty act featuring Dot Taylor & Enslie Jackson, and nine people. J. Chris Lonson, and Mildred Man- ning, the latter having appeared with "Happy Days" at the Hippodrome, dancing. William Brandell has again placed his latest girl act in rehearsal. It will feature Eva La Rue. The turn will carry 12 people, the production to cost around $10,000. Princess Wah-letta, a Cherokee Seeress, who appeared with the Mer- cedes road show, made her vaudeville debut at the Hippodrome, Pottsville, , Pa., last week. The act was booked for three days but was held over for the week. (Henry Bellett.) i Harriet Loraine arrived on the Mauretania Monday after a seven months' tour of Europe. Miss Loraine •xperienced some difficulty, being held up by the Cusiom officials for failure to declare some wardrobe. After pay- ing $300 duty she was allowed to land. Miss Loraine will be seen in vaudeville. Sydney, N. S., Jan. 25. Editor VABiwrr: A line or so from the land of forty below. To add to the misery, of bad hotels, impossible theatres, etc., we were treated to an exciting experience at four a. m. today, on our way from Truro to this place. The entire train left ^he track just a few miles out of Antigoniche, N. S. At the time tucked away in our berths we were suddenly awakened by the jumping and bouncing around of the train and when assured no one was hurt we found our coach safely lodged in a snow drift about thirty feet off the track, but right side up. L Every one of the eight cars had left the rails, some were twisted in bad shape but there was no one injured and the baggage so far as we know now is still intact Five acts including ours, Manning and Lee, Alice Manning, Wm. Marrow and Co., Toomey Bros.,'and Louis and Mitchell (now playing for Jeff Davis) were on the ill fated N. S. Limited leaving Truro at midnight Saturday night due here at 9.40 a. m. Sunday." After the usual conversation relating former experiences we all resumed our slumbers until 10.30 a. m. when we were loaded on some second class cars and taken to town for tea and some other food we could not eat and thence to Sydney, arriving at this place, which is about, three minutes from Ireland, in time for supper. While we will have to open in streets clothes, we are all mighty thankful we are here and un- hurt It is 22 below today but there is plenty of good Canadian Club and Scotch to be had at four bucks per. Larry Lee. ifHjP . " - -.,.■■ / Boston, Mass., Feb. 2, 1920. Editor VabibW: / In last week's Vamett I read a/criti- cism by Con on.the act, "McManus and McNulty." They are credited with spe- cial material, outside of Jimmy Duffy's "Dirty Neck Bit," they are using"a song of mine called "I've Been on the Bum Ever Since." This I have done since 1916. I had a complaint against them in the N. V. A. and in the presence of Mr; Henry Chesterfield, Mr. McNulty promised to take the song off. I purchased the song from the late "Harry Cutler's" wife and I have^ done it on every popular price circuit in the country. Thanking you for publication of this letter. Yours truly, Dave Thursby. part of the country I am in, I always ge\ Variety every week and I read it ." from cover to cover—that's why I ; ^ never miss anything. I see in Variety of Jan. H5 your criti- cism of the Fifth Avenue 'bill. In speaking of Felix Adler's act, you men-'. tion Mr. Adler doing mental telepathy. , Felix Adler is a comedian and it he is . " doing mental telepathy, I imagine he " is doing it In a comedy way, using a * * burlesque code, etc. If such is the case, •iMr, Adler is then interfering with me, same as Wellington Cross did for nine weeks on .the Keith time last season. . After hearing Mr. Cross' was doing my version and using my idea, principal points and burlesque mode on mind- reading, I made a special trip from Philadelphia to Brooklyn and. saw Mr, Cross us,e my material at the Orpheum. I cannot understand why some of v these clever comedians; who claim to be original and have a Broadway repu- > tation, will deliberately use another man's material, knowing the man and knowing he has. been doing this cer- ' tain comedy bit-for years and identi- fied with it all over the United States, Canada, England and South Africa.' . You, as well as hundreds of other ■ newspapermen and thousands of art- ists, know that for. at least ten years I did burlesque mind reading and sec- ond sight with Marie Hart. Before, 1 worked with Marie I did this bit with Gus Hill's "Masqueraders," Bob Man- chester's "Crackerjacks," T. W. Dink- in's "High School Girls" and also for J. G. Germon away back in the days of variety and museums out west There is no comedian who can go out among an audience, select or collect- articles or anything brought into a theatre and use a comedy burlesque, code without doing this as I am doing no wand have been doing- it'for so many years. I have covered everything from a toothpick to a live dog. It would be silly for any one to say "I do this bit different from the way Hart -does it." I claim only what right- fully belongs to me. This is my 37th year in the show business, and if any performer can date further back and show proof as I can. doing comedy, burlesque, -mental telepathy, then 1 will put camphor balls on my memory and say no more. Billy Hart. i a ■i I: " Boston, Jan. 20. Editor VAMBTr: In the review of "Anna Ascends" from Boston there was a slight error. I played the part of John Stead and not Mr. Owen Hewitt, as stated. Playing here in "The Unknown Pur- ple," I was called in late and no doubt there was no time to alter the name already programed. Harry Redding. New York, Feb. 2. Editor Varibtt!: In Sime's review of Doherty and Salvatore, he mentions Miss Doherty was trying for Miss Heirford's Matinee number. I want to say that my sister, Anna, and I, known as the Doherty Sisters, have done this Matinee number since 1910 and I have been doing the number single since 1913. - Lillian ' Doherty. Lexington, Ky., Jan. 22. Editor Variety: It do esn' t make an y difference w hat ! i - ■ MARRIAGES. \ Myrtelle Gabrelle("Not Yet, Marie" Co.) to Kennedy Bailey, non-profes- sional', Memphis, Jan. 29. \ Th'omas MacDonald (Eugene Nolan), pictures, to.Irene Burrough, non-pro- fessional, at Washington, D. C, Jan.,31. Robert Gilbert (Gilbert and Saul) to Fannie Gartner (non-professional) at Schenectady, N. Y., Jan. 29. . Isabel Rhys to Robert Parker both of "Monsieur Beaucaire," Nov. 19, in London, announced Jan. 28. William J. Thomas, electrician at the Capitol, New York, . to Effie Allan (dancer) last week in New York. • Lieut. A. T. Westerfield (non-pro- fessional) to "Sammy" Sample at Houston, Jan. 15. Rachel Barton Butler to Boyd Agin (professional) in New York, last week. The bride is the author of the Harvard prize comedy, "Mamma's Affair." \ STOCK AT BOWERY. Miner's Bowery, acquired by P. F. Shea on a seven-year lease from An- tonio Fereri, who bought the property from the Miner state, will -riot open until August. Shea takes possession of the house May \. It will play stock burlesque, with Yiddish shows Sun- day, under the direction of Edwin I. Relkin.