Variety (September 1921)

r Friday, September 2, 1921 VAUDEVILLE IINESE RESTAURANTS PART OF NEW CABARET CHAIN Jbterchange of Shows Feature of Business Revival of Dining Place Entertainments—New Revues in the Making. Denpite the differing opinions by 4ke cabaret men as to the betterment •f the business or otherwise (the ma- jsrity TOting optimiHtically), sctiritics Isr the new season are going on fiipace. There art at least three caba- ret rirr in the process of forma- tion with plans fairly well set, calling for the interchange of shows at stated periods. Other independent shows are b'.bo being readied for immediate gMoiiiKN, and the organisation of the Knerican-Cliincse Theatrical Corpo- ration, capitalised at $15,000, intro- es another new phase to the busi- The company is l^ing up all Chiuc.^c restaurants and installing s Slid orehestras. Y. S. lit, an lental, negotiated the dealn be- een the American and Chinete eada. 'The new Strand Roof show, alated is open next Monday (Sept. 5>» will j^y alaTen wtaks there and then in- troduce the shew tlMt will haTe been ■bowing at the Parkway Palace, In Brooklyn, the past ten weeks. T^e latter is scheduled to open one week ^ter. The same producing unit, tea- tstively known as the Arte Amuse- iient Co., also eperstes the Waltoa Beof and AdelphI Itoof shows la fhiladolphia. and these two places are also indnded in the general idieroe of Interchanging shows. *- Henry Fink'a Shelbume Hotel re- iit§ is sUted t* travel around sisal- Hrly, and the Walter Windsor At- hrsrtions has a line-up of ten restan- eits snd cafes in which to phiy their »ws at sis weeks' interrsls in each c«. 'The cabaret men look to the cou- jttt charge as their sslration, al- though all concur that some of the hlfg^r places will have difficu'ties withfMit the "selling" pririlege. ''* Some of the big Broadway places can get sway with what might be termed a "'gyp*' couvert charge rang- ing from a dollar to twice that sum. because of the stel'ar orchestra snd entertainer attractions, but the opti- mistic cabaret men, figuring con- iS^trativcIy on a fifty cents tsMe '^ck," estimste a fair house per- eentas^. The figures sverage about $500 weekly for ^he show and $300 ffor the band. The gate is estimated to be more than enough to corer that expense. PANTAGES OPENS NEW KANSAS HOUSE SUES 8A1IUELS iBttty Oster Wants $25,000, Alleging Breach of Promlie Arthur Bnmucis (professionally known .is Sidney Valentine), who at .eue time was pianist for Anna ^ (^handler in vaudeville, has been sued for breach of promise by Betty Oster, •f Net^ York. Alex. Sidney Roscn- .thal it) representing the plaintifF. who .allecps that she met Samuels while he Was living at the St Andrews Hotel with a woman named Fay Powers as nan ami wife. He told her that he was not married to the Powers wom* •a, and then introduced her to hit ■Mother as the girl that he intended to •trry. Mijis Oster further ntntes thot Sara- WU sclocted the date for the cere- ■•ny, but failed to appcnr. Her at- J^ney is SHking $2ri,0(K) damages for w humiliation. Samuels in addition »• bis vaudeville earnings also owuh w« tcxi onbfl which operate from an •Pper Hroadway stand. Cost $900,000, Seats 2,- 200—Ambler Bros. First Act on Stage Kansas City, Aug. .11. Kansas City's newest theatre, the Pantagcs, had its formal opening Aug* 27 and welcomed over 10,(KM) guests. The first evening performance was by inritations. The performance started promptly and ran smoothly until after the fourth act when Hr. Pantages was introdueed. He responded briefly, thanking theae present for their ap- preciation in the undertakiBf and hoped that the hooae, aiad entertain- ment to be preaented, would continue to live up to their expeetatioas. The Ambler Brothers, cqnillbrista, have the honor oi being the first act to appear on the stage ef the new house. The balance of the bill was composed of Lee Morse, Jarrls and Harrisoa, Viola Oakley, LnyU Gerlof and company, Joe Roberts, and Nat (Chick) Haynes and company. Paul- ine Frederick'a picture ^'SaWage" mf • the featured flbn. The opening was under the per- sonal direction of J. J. Cluxton, gen- eral manager for Alezandr- Pantages, who has been here for a couple of weeks superrising the finishing touches. The new house (m of the Uensis- sance type of architecture and was designed hj B. Ifarcus Priteca, of Sesttle. The entrance is on Twelfth street, Kanaas City's *'White Way" with the foyer and lobby running bsck 130 feet to the body of the theatre. The tower over the en- trance is 180 feet high, of white terra cotta and marble. On the pinnacle is s revolving electric sign spellinc the name of the house, *'Psntagcs. The house has a seating capacity of twenty-two hundred and is the fourth theatre of the same sise that has been completed and turned over to Mr. Pantages in the last year. Continuous performances from ont till eleven, with vsudevile and feature pictures will be the policy, with the prices Rcoled St 40 cents top for week day matinees and 60 cents top for nights and holidays. The cost of the Kansas City house, according to the .. -hitects, was $000,000. OROPPEB PRODUCINO Milton H. Oropper, author of The Charwoman," in which Sarah Paddeu is appearing, bos entered the produc- ing field. The first act that he will offer will be **Mother Heart," in which Jean Moss, of "Potash and Pearliuut- ler" fame, will be featured. His sec- ond offering will be the presentation of Hamilton Christie and two beou- ties in "Superstition.*' NEW COMMITTEE FOR KEITH EXCH. BOOKS Samuels and Darling Say Final Word on Routes A booking committee with super- visory and arbitrary iiower was cre- ated thiti week by the Keilh circuit. It will ruiiKist of I'lddit* Darling, Keith booking thief, and T. U. Saiti- tiel.s with supervisory powers who will be aKHiHted by the re.it of the booking men. The new order will leave the book- ing situation un(;hanged, with liCon Morrison, former assist:nt to Sam- uels in- booking the Alhauibra, Co- lonial and Hamilton, now in charge of those hooks. Willism McCalTery will assist Jack Dempsey in the booking of the mid- dle western territory formerl> handled by Arthur Hlondell whilo Pat Woods will retsin his books of the Itiverside. Itoyal, Orpheuni tnd Hush- wick. McCo^ery who has been as- sistant to K. C. Lauder, an execu- tive of the Keith Circuit, will also act an a ''scout** for new material. The new order is expecte<l to con- solidate the bookings, eliminating the necessity for nn act to be "caught" by each Individual booker in order to get consecutive booking. The ap- proval of either Darling or Samuels will Insure a route. In addition tbs "committee" will supervise the lay ing out of the ahown over the entire circuit making such changes as neces- sary or rearranging bills nt their dis- cretion. All of the big time bookings are affected by the new system which In many respects resembles the present system of the Loew Circuit where Jake TiUbin is empowered to "blsnket" an act for the entire "time." VAUDEVILLE SEASON IN N. T. FORECASTS EXCELLENT START Colonial Only Metropolitan Keith House Dark Next Week—Royal Goes Back to Big Time Policy— Other Out of Town Openings SHUBERTS BAN FILMS Springfield, Mass., Aug. 31. The Capitol theatre did not open Sunday, as was first snnounced, Lee Shubert refusing to allow pictures to be shown prior to the start of the Shubert vaudeville sesson. Abraham Ooodside of Portland, Me., leased the theatre to the Shuberts for tsu- deville, but did not think that they would have any objection to the pre- sentation of pictures until September 19, when the two-a-day is expected to get under way. The Shuberts vetoed the plan, however, and the electric sign which had blaxoned "I'he Capitol will open Sunday" was changed to read "The Cspitol will open Koon." It is be- lieved that the New York firm was desirous of identifying the theatre with thoir vaudeville and did not wish Springfield people to get the idea it was to continue os a picture house. Walter M. Merkel remains as man- ager of die theatre for the Shu- berts. ORPHEUM "NAMES^' ARE REPLACED Trying Out Strong Com- edy Acts Top and Bot- tom of Bills Booking men of the Orpheum Cir- cuit are experimenting with a view to eliminating the former **nan\)e" acts considered essential on out-of- town bills. Two strong comedy sets are being given the top and bottom billing and strong spots. One of the duo that will trsTcl the drcuit together are WiUiama and Wolf and MiUer and Mack. If the team v'llls business as strongly as expected the "revne*' and *'name*' acts will be cut down to a minimum and the money saved thare- by inrested in strong comedy and feature turns. YIDDISH HOUSES Naw York and BraoUyn Htvt Vaiida- villa Thtatrat witk Yiddltli Bills Greater New York has two Yiddish vaudeville houses, one in Bfanhattan (The Grand on Grand street, down- town) and the other In Brooklyn (Hopkinson, East New York district). The Grand in addition plays three English acts booked by the Keith family time office, playing split weeks with a more or leas permanent line- up of Yiddish vaudevillians who change their repertoires every so often. liouis Kramer is the manag- ing director and author of the Yid- dish sketches snd is also not unknown to English vsudeville os a skit author. Julius Nsthanson is the chief come- dian at the Grand. The Ilopkinson plays straight Yid- dish vaudeville and English pictures with Ssm Ijesvenworth and Klinetsky and Zwerling as the standard single and double set sttractions. BEACH PLACE PASSES Brighton Btach Music Hall to Be Torn Down. DINE MIKE LEVY Chicago, Aug. 31. A dinner was tendered to Mike Levy, formerly of Kramer and Levy, on the eve of his departure for New York, where he is to enter into busi* ness with Charles J. Frecmnn, under Ihe agency of Freeman &, licvy. Practically ali of the Chicago agentu and bookers were present at the Toast to wish "Mike" well in his new (ield. The Brighton lleach IIote\ which is one of the landmarks of this vicin- ity, is soon to be torn down and a bungalow colony is to be built in its stesd. With the testing down of the old hostelry also comes the demolish- ment of the old Brighton Beach Mu- sic Ilal'. The Music Ilnll has housed every- thing from s prise fight down. The Brooklyn Realty Associates has leased the property. There will be a large private bathing beach adjacent to (be colony. WOAL PAYS. IN SKETCH Syracuse, Aug. 31. Booking has be«n inailr of Harold ^"•O Salter, leading man with the *Wckorbockcr Players durng the sea- ^n just closed, ond Ralph Murphy. •w«p director of the company, in a *I[ "•^<*tch written by th<> latter. ♦K- I ^^^" Syracuse favorites, plus ;i «»fd. Margaret Cusack. are pre- I •rnted as the Keith headliner this I **■• t'oming in 'Lpos Snrn-ndrr.' BACK TO 1914 PRICES _,^ Chirago. Aug. 31. The New Tremont Hotel, on South "*«rborn Street, is the first of the tV t» hotels cotering to the the- «' profession to bring its rstes Jo a pre-war basis. Labor Day the vsudeville houses will start the new season In bsnnei style, sccortling to present pisns s.nd expectations. The local Keith and Moss houses are anticipating capacity business, despite a return of the hot spell. The Co'onial is the only Keith house in Greater New York that will be dark beginning Monday. At the Palace Theatre Building it was said that the opening of the Colonial was delayed by alterations that have not been completed on time. The loca line-up ia about the aame as last sesson, with Loew*s State sn added starter, snd B. S. Moss' two new vsudeville houses, the Franklin, a new 3,000-seater, at rrospect and Westchester avenuea (Bronx), and the Biviera, in the Bedford section of BrooUxn, due for esrly openings. Several switches of policy wil' be notiof>nhV with the BOW seaaon, Moas*, Broadway and Jefferson, going in for continuoua vaudeville and plctsrea. One act will do four diows, which wfl' work out 8 acta to a ahow, three timea dai>. With the pictnms, thla meana continuous perfforaiuico froii 11 a. m. to 11 p. m. Lnsk aeaaon the Jefferson was a Mf time week on the Keith circuit. Keith's Hamatan, at 145th street and Broadway, will revert to its Mgu- lar big time, full-week poUiey after a change to thrice dally apUt-waek over the Bummer. Keith'a Royal, despite ta*k of a change in policy, will atart the sesson with the big time policy of the psst Other openings include: Keith's, Indisnspolls, Sept. 1? Da- vis, Pittsburg, Sept 5: Keith's, tt^rm- cuse, Sept. 6; ITipp, Cleveland, Sept S; Hipp, Youngatown, Sept. 5. WAGE SCALE OOMHITTKE At the monthly meeting of The- atrical Protective Union No. 1, at Bryant Hall Sunday night, a raoo- lution waa adopted placing the mat- ter of arranging new acales with the vaudeville, legitimate and picture houses in the hands of the executive board, with that body having full au- thority to act in the matter. The contract of the local stage hands with the vaudeville and legiti- mate interests expired Sept. 1. HOLD ACT TO BOOKINGS V. M. P. A. Awsrds Lloyd's Commis- sion to Agent Fallow. The complaint of Sam Fallow, tht agent, against the Casting Lloyds for alleged breach of contract, was set- ted this week by the .Toint Complaint Rureau of the V. M. P. A. in favor of Fallow. The agent holds an agreement with the act guaranteeing it 35 weeks ot a stipulated salary during the coming season and placed it with I^oew for a route. Upon informing the act that he had secured the Ijocw bookings, Lloyd notified Fallow that they had already signed Pantages contracts and ooud not accept the time he had booked. Notice of the committee's decision was sent out by Pat Casey with the act to take up the Loew route. FLORA FINCH'S ACT Flora Finch, the pioneer screen roinodienno. who ro-Hf^'rcd w'th .lohM r»iinny in the old Itiograph pictures, will debut in vaudeville this fall. MARCUS LOEW John Bertram Moves to Salt Lake Memphis, Aug. 31. The Orpheum, Salt Lake City, wilJ be managed by John Ilertraro, whose similar post at the local Orpheum hss been taken over by Vannah Taylor. Mr. Taylor was the Orpheum's press man. Marion Harkins Leaving Vandevllla Marion ILirkins (Jim and Marion Harkins) is in Davenport. Ia., taking a course in chiropractic. She will re- lire from the stage. Bessie McCoy Returnlag la Act IlcHsie Mrl'oy returns to vaudeville shortly in a dancing turn with three people. FLEA8ANTVILLE, N. J.