Variety (February 1922)

# ♦ # r ■ • • » t • 4 ' r r » , k > « • . t * » » # » « • , »n ■• < ^l C Xi9 Friday, February 9» li VAUDEVILLE 7 1 '.Ti; BIGGEST SEASUn FOR "FAIRS" FORESEEN FROM BOOKINGS ^ Jissociaiions Holding Meetings Earlier Than Usual— I Vaudeville Office Turned Down—What the Big Outdoor Interests Are Planning as Drawing Cards ^:*i.-.' r.' r e I 9 e it 9 4. Prediction in booking: circles Is <for the biggest fi^ir season in years, f^lr assoclutiona are lioldlns meet- t j^g earlier than usual and book- ings for the out-of-door shows are proceedincT away ahead of time. Ac- tivity in that field of amusement baa been noted throughout the fall with new agencies competing for (Continued on page 9) PANTAGES' BILLS OFF AT LYRIC, CINCINNATII NEIGHBORHOOD HOUSE BOOKINGS MAKE SMALL TIME ACTS IDLE House Lost Money in Attempt- ing to Buck Opposition Big Timers Replacing Next-to-Closing Small Time Turns—One of War*s Results—Many Acts Re- fuse to Play These Hsrphazard Bookings l.i^ r\ CHICAGO JAZZ RESORTS DENOUNCED BY COURT Conviction of Shimmy Dancer Prelude to Clean-up Campaign and 1. the ChiCc'igo '•^rhe muscle dancer > fhimmjiie must go.' is the decision ^ of Judge Arnold Heap, who fined ^Juka Kector, a dancer at the Kn- I tertainers Club, a South S>ide resort. I $200 for giving 'improper perform- I ances" at that place. I this case has been on ti-ial for ' several weeks and the decision was awaited by reformers and social workers of the city as to whether or not music itself can be Immoral and as a precedent in the prosecu- tion of similar cases. ' "You can do anything while Ils- *4enlng to jazz music,' the judge "'said. "The jazz is no dance music. There Is no grace or beauty in jazz. j^You do not find the activity, the (^physical and mental exhilaration of the dance as manifested bv our fathers and mothers, where real music was produced by which to d&Dce. 'This case smacks of the barbar- ism of the Jungle. The Very music waa obscene. The evil genius of thlf place has artfully combined the grossness of primitive sensual- allty with the glided rennoinent of modern licentiousness. " Th e fl Dor was always crowded —with from 200 to 400 couples dancing on a floor 400 feet square. This left a miximum of one person . to a square foot of dance floor. They could not do anjUhing that even pretended to be daiclng. Tho mu- sic played jkvas not dance music. The jazz orchestra blared and clanged its tones, bu\ that Isa t intended to be dance music'.' Maurice Slater, attorney for Tzzy Shor, wHo operated the Entertain- ers and who represenled Julia Rector, made a motion for a new trial which Judge Heap decided. The cases against 40 others arrested at the same time as the Rector Woman were nolle prossed by As- •Istant State Attorney Frank Souh- radi. Samuel Thrasher, head of the Committee of Fifteen which brought about the prosecution of the car.c, said: 'It is a blow to ihe vicious cabart^ business all over Chicago. We will ,use the docislon to seek the revoca- tion of licenses of similar places. I hope it will prove effective in stimulating the police in curtailing obscene dancing e!.-=!e\vhere." Cincinnati. Feb. 1. McMuhan and Jackson, managers of the Lyric, announce Pantages vaudeville will discontinue at that theatre after this Saturd;ty. It will not be reinstated, The house ha? lost n^pney, ac- cording to lis tnanagemenr, sinco taking on the Pan bills last Septem- ber. It had to compete for quality of show and admission scale with Keith's Palace. , , The Lyric will take on pictures only. Very small town vaudeville and pictures openea Sunday at the Em- press, formerly playing burlesque. SHUBERTS' NEW UNITS START PLAYING FEB. 13 Six or Seven New Extrava- ganza Acts—Bedini's New Unit Called "Spangles" MISSOURI "BLUES" Reformers Ask for Puritanical Sun- day in Constitution Kansas City, Feb. 1. The Mi.-^souri Legislature will be asked at its next session to pass a law forbidding all kinds of Sunday amusements and recreation, provid- ing the request of the O.-^ark pres- bytery of the Cumborlaiid Presby- terian Church is granted. A state convention for the pur- pose of taking action toward a new constitution for the state 'will be held shortly and a memorial to the convention has been received by Secretary of State Charles U. Becker. It asks the convention to request tho Legislature to pass laws prohibit!nft Sunday baseball, picture shows, automobile driving and other forms of amusement. This is* the fiial reque.xt. that has been made to the constitutional con- vention to take action on blue laws, but more are expected. A man In one act and a woman In anotiuT penetrated, with the in- cisive keeness of a stileiio. the icy reserve wont to hover about Monday iiisht audiences at the Orpheuni Tlieatre and scored individual Iri- lunplis seldom accorded on the opening of the week's bill at tho Main St. Theatre last night. EDDIE VOGT :\co of the act, "The Love Shop." \v;ts th(^ man. He is a comedian endowed by nature with the figure of a Pittsburgh stogie, who compels laughter. His methods are clean and the lines given him scintillating with humor. "The Love Shop" has The present system of playing big time acts in small time or threc-a- day neighborhood houses, ^aa pre- viously reported In Variety,* has re- sulted In the laying off of hundreda of small time acts. Tho act formerly strong enough to hold a next to closing position on a small time vaudevllU bill la not (Continued on page 9) The new units 6n the Shubert vaudiv'He circuit will be completed Feb. lo, on which date they will start l'> j)lay. The present policy of buiUlli.cf a vaudeville >Bhow of spe- cial i\ people and doubling them into a big girl act extravaganza will be retained and augrmented by .-iix new acis of this kind, now in rehear, al. Joati IkdinI will produce one whi( li will be on the order of Bc- dini's * Chuckles." It will feature Bert H lulon, who will also present his • sij^Rle" specialty on the same bill. Bedinl will appear fh the turn, REFORMER HYPOCRISY CRIME BY NEW BILL it on any simlliar act seen here yet. i^rhioh is to be called "Spangles." piincipally in the light of the fact that it has a real comedian, Eddie Vos;t. "Very good. Eddie.'—MF.M- PIUS COMMEUCIAL-APPEAU "A MUSICAL COMEDY COMEDIAN'* Direction MR. GEORGE CHOOS SHUBERTS' NEWARK "CUT" The Rialto, Newark, N. J., playing Shubert vaudeville, may become the firbt "cut" salary week on the Shu- bert circuit unlesa business imme- diately responds to the reduced ad- mi.^sion scale ^promulgated last week by the Shuberts.. The Rlalto has been affected by the opening of the Loew State, a pop yaudeville house. Yvette. Seven Blue Devils, BodinI and Cuclfoo, Bert HanloB and "Spnnsles" will open at New;^rk, X. J. Mo.st of the new units will be compo.'<ed of holdovers. As many new "names" as possible will be se- ^cured, but tWfe present policy of book I nor nets for short routes hasn't been conducive of a scramble of feature acts to enlist under the Shu- bert banner. At the Shubert headquarters It was admitted that the 20-out-of-24 week (on tracts are not being offered exc»^pt in rare instances* VAN AND SCHENCK SIGN Chicago, Feb. 1. Van and Sehenck, with* "Zieg- fold.s* Follies," at the Colonial the- atre, have signed a contract of 20 weeks with the Keith interests at $L*,oi)0 a week. They will begin their vaudeville engagement immediately after the close of the "Follies" on April 15. DICKERING FOR REVUE New Orleans, Feb. 1. Jo.ieph K. Gorham's "Cave Follies of id: J," the cabaret entertainment current at the Grunewald, may be the C)ii»hcum*s hcadliner for the last week in February or the first in March. (Jorham and resident man- ager IM izza are angling at present with the booking office to arrange brinrrinr: the revue across the street for .seven days at the close of Its restaurant run. ». \ for 9 MELODY SONGS (Continued from page 1> "special arrangements" and otlier petty graft for the purpose of inducing this c»r that orche^itra leader to "pliiK' certain of his songs. The evil soon arose wlnre tach orchestra kad<>r or s<o:nc iTiinor irii.'inber of a f-t.indard or- f'l^esiia rommercialized thin "di\'«" i^- by urfc'inM' tlie pi:!«hshei-.- to exploit ji.jQme of llu'ir origiival c«.)mp.i>HioiiH. ijExceptini^ for two or throe notable pjcoeptiuns. the orchoi-tra m«'n j Pi'cvfj tlivmsclves bcttV-r n.u.-i*i..iis | *>-hhn songwriters. i ^lany n publisher al-o v.as wont ' ^0 l.rag when a "nu'lcly' .«-onc: made ' »* bit tliai ir Ik- had called it by any j *^Uivr name it wo jM liavc pr».ed. , Just as popTilar. With :.vric to:i4'^. the \v(ii,is are tlie more impt»naiit fuctor-und the publisher is pa.ving N. Y. Legislator Would Sup- press *Taid Uplifters" Albany. N. Y., Feb. 1. Assemblyman Frederick L. Hack- enburg of the 14th district^ New. York City, who by his program of anti-blue law legislation last year drove the New York Sabbath Com- mittee out of the Capitol at Albany, bag and baggage, Introduced Janu- ary ^ a measure calculated to put a crimp into the a<?llvities of the New York Civic League, the New York Sabbath Committee, the Antl- Saloon League, the Antl-CIgarette Smoking Society and a few kin- dred bodies of professional reform- ers. The measure adds a new section 1798 to ths penal^law. deflplng the crime of hypocrisy. It reads: "Any person who for pay, hire, reward or In anticipation of any pay, reward, gift or other valuable thing or consideration, shall pub- I llcly advocate, advertise and sup- port; or any person who sTs sponsor of such, shall solicit funds, glft.s. contributions or any other valuable thing for the public advertising, support or sponsorship of any leg- Islativo measure calculated to in- fringe upon and restrain the frco exercise of personal liberty shall bo guilty of hypocrisy, punishable as for a misdemeanor; and on convic- tion thereof, sentence shall not bo suspended." Assemblyman llackenburg'.^ slat»>- ment in connection with the bill follows: » "There Is a mania for cn-.tlini,' new unusual, crimes to pl.io'.t..' noisy proponents of hand-made re- form. Our legislatures go on yotr after year enacting statutes flip- pantly and by wholesale, crenlin.? new misdemeanors to satisfy eoni»- group of professional lobbyists ami paid upllftcrs. The result is no- body pays any attention to sycli laws, general di.srespect of all 1.»wk follows; this situation constituif-i one of the great,underlying caus»^rt of the so-called crime wave. •*The professional accelerator* of public opinion turn from prohibi- tion to blue laws, from fal5^e mi>rrtt Issues to anti-tobacco crusader. I? <« the same breed all the time. Twenty years ago they agitiiied against tights In burle.sriuo ^h'Av.-«, now they wa^it to cover tlu* b-t-.s of baro-foot dancers. *'The time is at hand to stop fhi-t legislative epidemic. My bill, tf passed, will rid us of the paid pro- fessional reformers. The intro- duction of it may help to bring us back to some respect for the right.n of individual citizens.'' MISS JUDITH VOSSELLI •"^trii'u.i* ailaysk! attontioa to tlu ni now - Vi. w, . \..,-.-;ii 1, M>r VAMIMNf; this Season, but pKiymg a mo..t attr»utiv» roi.- m i,IjLi.i.. .^\i^i' ^ rnnVH \ViVl'- "iu p;-..lu.-n..n Hms.-I at the Bits Th-atre. New York, lust .Saturday inght and after , • inM. i i^ i:ro..U \ M ti..t. It will •■,.. tor a run to <'tu. i»;.>. wh^r.^ thi.** p..pul>r .voOng actress has a ho.n r'l^'TnV^lV Ai^Vv«^^-^.lh ^ ^'^^ doubth'ss d.vmc. h^T from ' vuup .ole^' in (lio future. . ' S LOEWS, BOSTON, SEATS 4,000 Loew's now State, now building la Boston, will be ready for openint; about March 15. The theatre has a seating capacity of 4,000, nn ofllre building Included. It will play th»» regular Loew vaudeville and pictiii.' policy at pop prices. The builditjn; ijiliO Includes a 900-seat Ihealn-, controlled and owned by tho Loew intere.st.M, btit with no policy decidr-l for it as yet. It will probably play picturv.-!, with a policy similar to tli" C ameu. JiOow's new house, building In San i'rai.ci§co, will be c.iMed Locwh \Varrnld. The seating capacity ii ^.0')(f. It i.s fxpeotod tlio house will B<'t uiidor way abont M\y 1. Tl •• Warfield is i)art of an e.fiht-stgtjr o;Iiv« buiiUinj* I i