Variety (March 1921)

■I VAUDEVILLE Friday, March tl, 1821 PENN. WOULD KEEP ACTORS' COMMISSIONS WITHIN STATE Three More Restrictive Measures Affecting Theat- ricals Introduced—Penalties for Seating Behind Post or Overselling Seating Capacity. Harrlsburg, March 9. Deducting employment commis- sions from actors' salaries if the money deducted is to be sent out- side of Pennsylvania would become illegal if a bill just introduced in the legislature becomes a law. Rep- resentative Harold C. Pike, Mont- gomery county, .Is the sponsor of the bill. It prohibits any individ- ual, firm or corporation engaged In the amusement business . from making any deductions unless the commissions are to go to persons or firms within this Commonwealth. The penalty for a first offense is $500 and for a second offense it is $500 or six months in jail, or both. If the manager of a theatre sells a ticket behind a post or other place in his playhouse where a clear view of the stage is not possible, he can be fined from $10 to $25, or if he does not pay the fine be sent to jail for five days. These* provisions are in a measure offered by Represen- tative Joseph M. Denning, Schuyl- kill county. His bill provides that in all places of amusement every seat shall be so arranged that the occupant can obtain a "full, fair and complete view of the stage during the performance." A third bill relating to amusement places came from Representative MRS. STEINDL SUICIDE. Wife of Famous 'Cellist Throws Self in Lake. Chicago, March 9. Mrs. Bruno Steindl, wife of America's most famous 'cellist, her- self a concert pianist, committed suicide by throwing herself in Lake Michigan. Steindl was in the East with the Chicago Grand Opera Com- pany. Mrs. StendVs mind had been af- fected since her husband's difficul- ties, when he was charged with be- ing a German sympathizer, as a re- sult of which he resigned from the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Since then she has been in a sanitarium at times, and recently was seen on the streets, acting strangly. Steindl's brothers have been in vaudeville as the Steindl Trio, instrumentalists. WIDOW FORBIDS USE OF HERRMANN NAME Instructs Lawyers to Stop Her Magician Nephew. Mine. Adelaide Herrmann, widow of the Great Herrmann, magician, has instructed House, Grossman & Vorhaus. her attorneys, to enjoin Felix kretschman, a tfaudevllfe magician now on tho Loew circuit, from using "Hermann the Great," or "The Great Hermann." While only one "r" distinguishes one from the other typographically, Mrs. Herrmann's grievance is that the similarity is too close, considering her offering is parenthetically billed as "the widow of the Great Herr- mann." Kretschman, who is a nephew of Mrs. Herrmann's, signed an agree- ment Dec. 30, 1909, when Mrs. Herr- mann was about to bring similar proceedings at that time, agreeing to desist from using the litigated billing professionally. Tho late magician's widow is of the opinion he has been employing that "name for some time on the road, and through her counsel has instructed the Loew people to that effect. GIRL SUES LEO EDWARDS. Syb.l Schwartz Asks $15,000 Heart B»lm. Leo Edwards, brother of Gus Ed- wards, and associated with the Shapiro-Bernstein Music Publishing Co., is named defendant in a $15,000 breach of 'promise suit begun by Arnold W. Blumberg, Philadelphia, i Sybil Schwartz in the New York and it prohibits the sale of more Supreme Court. tickets of admission than the seat- The complainant, who is a non- ing capacity of a playhouse The! professional, is represented by provisions of this bill relate to'Gross & April. She alleges they SHUBERTS' MAN, SHELDON Has Carte Blanche from J. J. 8hu- bert—Interested in "Count- Ups. COMEDY ACTS TO TAKE LEAD; DAY OF BIG REVUES WANING Keith Bookers Declare Laugh Producers Will B* Given Preference Next Season —Cite "All- Comedy" Bill as an Example. • > tv WILLIAMS' KEITH DATE Comedian, Out of "Brevities," Ap pears -at Lawrence. theatres, moving picture house? or other places of amusement where a charge is made for admission. The penalty for violation is a fine of $25 to $100, or imprisonment for one to three months, or both at the discre- tion of the court. JACK MILLER DISAPPEARS Left "Hitchy Koo H at Bluefield. Va., Feb. 19. The mysterious disappearance of Jack Miller (Miller and Davis), both members of Marty Sampter's "Hitchy Koo of 1020," ^Jille the company was at HimnVid, Va., has not been solved. Miller vanished Saturday, Feb. 19, and was last seen at 11 p. m. on that date. He left his trunks and other personal belongings. The act is man and wife, who were doing a blackface turn on the Southern Keith Circuit when the manager of the Sampter aggregation signed them. Thoy, opened with the Hitchy Koo" in Birmingham. The Bluefield authorities took the caso in hand and" sent out a general alarm and a description of the miss- ing artist, but all efforts to locate him have so far proved fruitless. were engaged to be married in No- vember, 1919; that .they were con- stantly seen together and that Mr. Edwards was wont to Introduce her at the time as his "future wife." BERT CLARK ACCEPTS The controversy betweea Bert Clark (Clark and Arcaro) and the Orpheum executives was patched up this week with the result the act will open on the- Orpheum time March 14 at Memphis. Pittsburgh, March 9. There's a new man on the road for the Shuberts. He is Arthur Sheldon and is reinforced with a letter of authority from J. J. Shu- bert. The letter gives Sheldon carto blanche when in a Shubert house and also permits him to move about without explicit instructions. N It is said Mr. Sheldon usually ar- rives at a 'theatre Just about the time the count-up commences. Boston, March 9. Bert Williams, who played four weeks at the Shubert here with "Broadway Brevities/'flayed the Colonial in Lawrence, the Keith house, Sunday. Before he accepted the Keith offer JWilllams got in touch with the Shuberts and in- quired If it was permissible for him to do so. He was told that as "Broadway Brevities" finished Sat- urday and was going to Buffalo, and as he was playing the vaudeville en- gagement on his own time, there were nc objections. For several weeks past there has been a row on between the Keith house and the Cobe house in Law- rence, with both bidding for big acts for the Sunday shows. Eddie Can- tor, while here with the "Rounders," played the Cobe house on a Sunday, without permission from the Shu- berts. Comedy acts will take precedence over all other type of entertainment for next season, in the opinion of the Keith bookers. The booking men 8 have concluded that the public have been surfieted with the elaborate revues of the season past, where it was a not unusual thing to see three acts of the same type on a big time bill. The bookers contend that in jus- tice to the producers they continued to play this style of turn long after its usefulness and novelty had worn off, to the general deterioration of the* bills. Next season producers, they say, will put the* heavy pedal on the "laugh producing" styles in preference to the heavy production and big chorused type. To prove their contention they quoted figures produced from a MM cal house where an "all-comedy" bill- showed the biggest average gross for the week, excepting possibly when a big "name" was featured. 4th CHANGE IN "BUBBLES" William Kent Obliged to Leave Through Death of Father. NESBIT-N0RT0N REHEARSE In New Act with Fletcher Norton for Orpheum Time. Evelyn Nesbitt and Fletcher Nor- ton have teamed for vaudeville and are now rehearsing. After break- ing in for a week or two in the East, the turn will play out the rest of the season on the Orpheum Cir- cuit. It will be an Orpheum "office act." PALMER-SIEGEL MARRIAGE. n Shimmy Dancer Marries Pianist in Davenport, Iowa. Davenport, Iowa, March 9. Bee Talmer and Al Siegel, her pianist, were married here a week ago (March 2) at midnight by a local justice of the peace, while the Palmer act was at the Orpheum. Miss Palmer gave her age as 22. home as Chicago, and stated it was her first matrimonial venture. Siegel said he was 25 and lived in New York. There was some attempt to keep Mie marriage a secret '•KID" DOUBLE Elizabeth Kennedy, 10 years old. who has appeared in legit with Maude Adams and Eleanor Painter, is rehearsing a novelty "kid" double turn with Ben (Jrauer, last in "Florodora," 11 years of age. The act is titled "Twin Stars" and is being staged by Sam Jaffee of the "Samson and Delilah' company. BRIGHTON OPENS MAY 23. The Brighton theatre, Coney Isl- and, is scheduled to reopen for its regular summer season May 23. The Brighton will play two a day vaudeville this season, as formerly, with the bills supplied through Lawrence Goldie, of the Keith office. George Robinson will again oper- ate the Brighton. With the fourth change of the lead role, that of a comic, in "Bubbles," last week, the Chas. B. Maddock turn has made someching of a rec- ord in bad breaks in the cast. The father of William Kent was killed in an elevator accident in St. Paul Wednesday. The son Immediately withdrew. This brought William Lynn back to the act this week. Lynn was in the turn originally, and is said to have left because of ill- ness. He was succeeded by Bobby Woolsey. but the latter had a con- tract for'a show. Woolsey jumped into the act for four performances last week when Kent left. Kent was engaged to play in "Bubbles" for four weeks. It was intended* the business used in his own act was to be inserted in "Bubbles." The booking of Kent in two acts for the same bill brought about a change. It is not known when Kent will return. It is under- stood his father left a large estate. NELLIE REVELL WALKS A • • May Venture Out of Hospital Within Few Weeks. Nellie Revell, who has been at &U Vincent's Hospital for a year and a half, and most of that time bound in a plaster cast, was up and walk- ing around her room for brief periods this week. Recovery from her Illness is e±W pected. She may leave the hospitat within a few weeks, for short ex 1 * cursions at least. JOHN M0RAN ILL. Removed to Hospital in New York, Suffering from Internal Trouble. DUFFY AND SWEENEY PAKE Duffy and Sweeney, the vaudeville comedians, have dissolved partner*" ship. Sweeney Is to do a three-act with the Callahan Bros. Duffy's future plans arc unknown. At present he is ill. The team was forced to cancel an engagement at Proctor's 58th Street this week on account of Duffy's illness. Duffy and Sweeney have been a team since the end of the recent war, having formed a partnership while both were in service. Jimmy Duffy formerly was partnered with Jack Ingliss (Duffy and Ingliss). John Moran, of the Pat Casey Agency, is at the Presbyterian Hos- pital, New York, suffering from in- ternal trouble. Mr. Moran is re- ported in a serious condition. A couple of weeks ago Moran started for Florida to regain his health. At Jacksonville Moran's condition precluded further travel south and he was taken off the train, going to a local hospital. Later he returned to New York. ACT SPLITS INTO 'SINGLES' Mother, Son and Daughter Each Appearing Alone. AGENTS TOLD OF BLUE STUFF All artists' representatives doing business with the Keith office hava received Instructions to inform their acts that all "blue" or "suggestive* material must be eliminated forth* with. The order is in line with the re- cently instituted Keith "clean-up* campaign. GABRIEL HAS PNEUMONIA. Master Gabriel was stricken with pneumonia March 4 while playing the Colonial, Akron, Ohio, and waa unable to open at Keith's, Syracuse, March 7. The diminutive comedian is con* fined in a local hospital at Akron. Three "singles" where but one act bloomed before is the result of the disintegration of the former Luba Meroff turn. The son, Ben Meroff, la doing a •"tangle" on (Hi Loew Circuit; the daughter, Sonya, is doing likewise for the Keith office, and Luba Is offering her former turn. Lew Brown wrote all three acts. • LYDIA (Single) BARRY What JACK LAIT (Variety) Said: Lydia Barry grabbed the comedy honors. Miss Barry has Ween re- viewed in this department so often it need only he added that she never misses and sho has a sense and style of humor all her own and more material that answers this de- scription than most vamicvillinns. She kicked it through the roof Mon- day afternoon for a walloping wow. Always Working No Life Savers — Absolutely Alone. Direction, FRANK EVANS. JOE HART'S FOREIGN VISIT Joseph Hart is going abroad next month accompained by his wife, Carrie Pe Marr, who retired from the stage several seasons ago. He is taking over a number of playbts which he will produce in England. AL LEWIS' TRIP Al Lewis (Lewis and Gordon) will sail for England in June on a com- bined business and pleasure trip. HAT. C'MFF NEWPORT and STIRK Regarding "Cleaninc: vp Vaudeville. 4 Now playing 25th week on lx>ew cir- cuit, without having a Single "gatf" or "piece of business" cut out ; and tli'ie Aaron Hoffman may accompany him to supervise the staging of are some censors on this trip. "Welcome Stranger" in London. • Booked by J. H. LUB1N.