Variety (May 1922)

^TW' day. May 5. 1»8« VAUDEVILLE ICKER'S, CHICAGa CLOSED; WORK STARTS ON SUCCESSOR >pose to Open New House in Four Months by Freak Engineering Feat—Place Made Average of $3,000 Week Profit for Years Chicago, May 3. McVickor's theatre, built in 1856 ^d rebuilt after the Chicago fire In 1871, is no more. Last Sunday night after the last vaudeville act lind walked off its stage, and the stra had played "Auld Lins " as the st^el curtain was ,^ aoun, a crcv/ of wreckers tool; gjgpcoBJff" of the house and. starleJ t* rate the premises. A new $1.500,- 119 theativ v.ill rise in its place. R is to be re"dy to house vaud?vi!le ^^er the direction of .lone.^, Lintc'.c .^^ Schaeffe:-. I "After a vJiried career, wi'h some v|t th? grrator.t American stars t^adin^ its boirds. McVickers was Ukea over by J.. L.. & S. eight years ago and a continuous vaude- ville policy v.as inaugurated. Celng te the heart of the t hopping and fasihc3" di.strift. the house proved td be a success, showing in the first three years of its vaudeville poll, y in average profit of 12,000 a week and during the past five yeirr. an average of $3,000 a week profit. For ita size this house was on^'.of tt>e biggest money makers in the wrnntry. operating 52 weeks a year. At the time J.. L. & S. took over ttif hou.«?e ll\ey had ambitions of !wne day building a bigger on^. ftner amusement auditorium on the Kite. With this idea in mind the partners agreed to take the entire profits made by this house and place them in a sinking fund to be tts«d for the purpose of the erec- tten of a new theatre. Last Sep- .twhber it was decided that \his t^son would be the right time for twning this money into building nttterial. and it was voted that the hetne close about May 1 and reopen In'September. Arrangements were made with ^he contractors whereby they could •tart work on the project last Jan- uary, when the house was still operating, digging the foundation and laying the caisson work for the WW structure. Permission was se- tured from the city oflFlcials to close tip an alley adjoining the theatre to allow the excavators to work. The engineers placed the house on a temporary foundation and cxca- nted under it. The earth dug up and all the material placed under the structure was never seen by persons passing the house on Mad- ison street; it was all removed and brought In by the underground railway which takes merchandise to and from the business district Jo railroad terminals. Through these ffleans the entire foundation of the ■•w house has already been laid, *h<l the time hag come for the erec- tion of the theatre proper, which will be three stories high. The workmen who started in Sunday night are to work In three «hifts of eight hours each in wreck- ing the building, and the construc- tion gang.s will work on a similar •chedule. The cost of the house has been ondei-written by the three partners pf the firm from' the profits of the house, with the exception of about W00,000 in stock, which will be apportioned to employees of the Ann for their investment. This will be the quickest work of «• erection of a theatre in the history of the country, as only four ttonths are to pass from the time that the old house closed Its doors i'^Wil the new 3.000-seat house will ®P«n its door.<?. The contractors are jinder a penalty bond to complete the new house within the pre- scribed time. nanE JACOBS INJURED A. laundry truck last Friday night ■•nt Jenie Jacobs to her home. 201 west 64th street. In an ambulance. ''Pon Miss Jacobs' refusal to go to •hospital. The truck ran over Miss Jacobs* knees. In throwing her to Jhe ground she sustained a serious wuise on the eye when striking the curb. Kx.imination disclosed there *J^«re no breaks nor fractures, but "^agentoss may have to remain in "^^^/^ll of this week or longer. Mi8s Jarnba had been to the Ham- 4?!l ''^^''*^''<^ -It Broadway and *Sth .street. Leaving, she stopped ^ speak to some friendfl. When tru V ^ <"<^r the subway station, the nick bote down upon her without ^^rning. PROPOSED MEASURE Would Prohibit SaU of Tickelc When No Seats Are Available Indianapolis. May 3. An ordinance which would pro- hibit !s;ile (f a ticket in any thea'.re or other amusement hall when a i;eat is n( t immediately available for the pntron was'introduced in the City Council by Councilman Hey- don W. F.vicrianan. He also intro- duced a mcrirvup :o require theatres and hotels v.'hich oi)erate dance flnt.rs in conjuneticn with their reg- ular bucines.'j t3 pay an annual liecn.ve fee of $250. Penalty of from $25 to $100 an? is attached to both t>iH H- ■. SHUBERT VAUDEVILLE DINNER BRINGS MEMBERS TOGETHER Meeting Held Tuesday—Circuit to Open Sept. 17 — No Official List of Franchise Holders or Theatres Given Out Mr. Duchp.nap. made no .secret of the fact ho aim*? th:- .second or- dinance at the I.yric tlieatre, which operates a dance fioor in its bas-e- ment, permitting patrons to dance while v.ait ng for a vaudeville bill to start. The theatre now pays only the regular theatre l:i.\, h? said. The council took one fctep to the benefit of local theatrical intercats however. It failed lo pas.s the day- light Baving:*, ordinance ovci' Mayor S'hanks veto. •'DKM.IND THE ORICilNAI." BETTY— —PHILIP MARTIN and MOORE "When we are fnm*o anxious to learn what ia right rather than prove the other man is wrong, we shall have learned the first elemen- tal principle of reasoninc:. Any manager who books MARTIN and MOORE has the right idea." TALK No. :0 TOMMY'S DINNER Popular Author Draws Big Crowd at Friars* Dinner CUKTIS ASSISTANT TO JFISHER Fred Curtis joined the boolung staff of the Xew York office of the Pantagen circuit Monday as assi.^tt- ant to Ed. C. Fisher. Dick Ui'illy. also assisting Fisher in the New York office remains in the same <'apaclty. Curtis was in charge of bookings for the Miles circuit from the New York end for several months until recently. Previously Curtis booked the Keeney houses. TEAM RETIRES TO MANAGE Frank Cotter and Signa Andree (Mrs. Frank Cotter), organized as a vaudeville team about five years ago, have announced their retire- ment from active stage duty, effec- tive this week. It is understood they have pur- chased a considerable interest in the Jefferson, Iloboken. N. J. Cot- ter will take over the managerial end of the house next week, with his wife acting as cashier. ART HICKMAN BOOKED San Francisco, May 3. Art Hickman and his Jazz artists are going into vaudeville via the Orpheum Circuit, having been en- gaged by Martin Reck. Beck heard Hickman and his or- chestra while they were playing in the Ambassador Hotel in Los An- geles, and i.s said to have made them an offef. The Friars toasted, roasted and fed Tommy Gray as their guest of honor last Sunday evening in the big hall of the Monastery. One of the largest crowds of the season at Uie Friary turrted out for the ban- quet, distinguished by the mass of witty speakers on the dias. An en- tertainment was interspersed during the evening, the crowd remaining until a late hour for an affair of the kind. Mr. Gray's career since he swore off on milk wa.s wholly uncovered He answered in kind, conceding everything bad that had been said about him and glossing over the rest. Willie Collier war? toast-master. Other speakers were Senator Ford, Julius Tannen. Raymond Hitchcock, Daniel Frohman. Anthony Paul, Kelly. John Pollock and Bugs Baer. Freddy Goldsmith, the attorney, was called by Mr. Collier to speak for the Elk.s. Mr. Goldsmith, former Exalted Ruler of No. 1. New York, headed a delegation of Elks (Mr. Goldsmith is also a Friar). The lawyer lightly "indicted" Messr.s. Gray and Collier for affording a pleasant evening, but said the Elks were charitable and on behalf of No. 1, he purchased a box ^or the Friftrs Frolic for >500. Previously a box for that same Frolic had been raffled off among the diners, bring- ing 11,000 at $5 a ticket. 'LA 7A LUCILLE" CONDENSED "La La Lucille" Is being con- densed for vaudeville. Edgar J. McGregor Is staging the miniature version of the musical comedy. Bud Murray, at present touring with "The Last Waltz," will open ia New Y'ork next month as an in- dependent agent. I FEIST WOULD RESTRAIN DISCS OF NEW SONG Mechanicals Release Inter- fered with Publishers' Campaign ** DOLLING UP From the St. Paul News: *Taxie. known as 'the dog who reasons, visi.ed the stvl.. sl,..w at the Auditorium yesfnlay and made fnends will th' nwMlels. Olive W.ngler. a model, dropped h-r purse ioj^^'*^ ^ Taxie'H manners were as re,,oried. whereui.on the dog lUcked ui. the **"' The Pioneer-Press r.f the snme date gave Taxie lh'> headline notice of the bill which wa.s drseribed a.s '.s(, ^ood as to give the reviewer a Hiuh of regret thrit it was the last of the sea.son." Taxie an.l i:d. Allen are trailing eastward, stopping over at Keith h lor.tb Stnet. Cleveland, we^k of May 8th, and .say. ' Iflame it on K K. Nadel.* The first case of its kind In the annals of the popular rong industry v.Ms filed in the local district Fed- eral Court last week by Leo Felet, Inc. music publiphorfi, against the G:»neral Phonograph Corp.. manu- factiuers of the Okeh disc records, asking for an injunction to restrain tii(> further distribution of "Geor- gia," a Feist publication, on the OI:(h discs. Although the record is ai:e;;rd to be selling in large quan- t;t:e.«. according to the complaint, the publisher will not permit the pracHc(i of releasing a 6ong on the "mechanicals" In a date prior to that whicli the publisher sets. Feist sent letters to all the roll and rec- ord firms not to market "Georgia" before May 1, this particular gtlev- ancc being it was on sale over a week before that, quoting an adver- tl.s(ment in New York "Globe" dated April 21. The purpose of the* publishers' fhTerrcHl relca«p date is twofold. One is to prevent the smaller firm getting the jump on the bigger com- panies by issuing the songs first, and, .secondly and more Important, to secure a greater vfdume of sales because ot the greater amount of I)rellminary pr(;motioji work accom- pli; bed. The publishers gauge their campaigns so that the sheet music and mechanical sales are at their peak at a certain period, when both ilde together. ^ Similar differences between the mecnanical companies and the pub- lishers have arisen during the past fortnight because of this disregard of the deferred release date, but did not reach the courts, although threatening to do so. the record l)eople in all eases settling and ])romiKing to undo as mtich of the damage as possible. The music publLshers are a bit aroused be- eause of such misbehavior, some of them threatening to compel the mechanical companies to live up to the federal statute and remit roy- alty statements promptly tbe 20th of each month. As a special con- (•cs.<<ion to the roll and record people, in order to eliminate extraneous bookkeeping, the publishers through their protective association in the past have been courteous to the mechanical firms In that respect. The first meeting ami dinner of the ofllcers, directors and franchise holders of the Affiliated Theatres Corporation, the organization which will operate the unit revuQn on the Shubert vaudeville circuit next sea- son, was held at the Hotel Astor Tuesday night. The m.eeting took the form of an open discussion of plana and policies to be foHowed regarding the operation of the units and franchises were ofllcially awi:rded to holders. The Shubert vaudeville circuit will officially open Sept. 17, al- though a couple of houses here, and there may play a week or two of preliminary time. The Shubert cir- cuit will play at |I top. I. H. Herk. the president of the Affiliated, who presided at the moeti'^g called for suggestions from those present, and a general ex- change of views was secured. Mr. Herk would not give out an oJfi<;ial list of the unit operators or houses, seating that could not bo done at present as a matter of policy. Among those no heretofore men- tioned a^ franchise holders award- ed a fran hisc is Jack Re Id, who operated a show on the American wheel for several seasons past. The unofficial list of franchise holders who will have shows on the Shubert circuit Includes J. J. Shu- bert, Lee Shubert, L. Lawrence Weber, I. H. Herk (2). Max Marcin (In association with Henry Dixon), Max Spiegel. Barney Gerard (2), W. B. Fried lander (2), Davldow Sk Lemaire. Ed. L. Bloom. Jenle Jacobs (In association with Jack Morris, the latter connected with the Shubert ofr e), Arthur Pearson, Jack. Singer, (;eorge Gallagher, E. T. Beatty (2), Jos. M. Oaites, Ar- thur Klein, Eddie Dowling. Max Plohn and A. Mlttenthal, heretofore reported as having franchises, arc not Included in the list. Among those present were Joe iLeblang. elected a director of the Affiliated; Forrest P. Tralles. rep- resentative of the Butler Estate of St. I^uis, also a director of the Affiliated; Lee Shubert and some 30 others. The unit shows will not have to spend extra money for .•dvertl.'ilng unlcsi they desire to, but may spend a limit of |2C0 each week, the latter being optionil as regards ex- tra advertising. An unofficial list of the houses to he played Includes theatrcM fii Jamaica, Long Island, Brooklyn (Cfes»cent). Philadelphia. Baltimore. Washington, Pittsburgh, Cincin- nati, Cleveland, Chicago (two). Al- bany. Buffalo, Detroit, St. Louis. Newark, Boston. Montreal. Toronto. Kansas City. Dayton, Buffalo, Syia- euse and Toledo. DINTY MOORE'S STUNT Makes Own Disc Recordings to At- tract Phonograph People I>inty Moore's orchestra, playing ut the Chateau I^aurier, has evolved a novel means to impress the vari- ous phonograph companies with Its ability to make acceptable commer- cial recordings. At his own expense Moore has made a series of test records of popular tunes, which he is submitting to the various com- panies for their review and opinion with a view toward recording dates. There are so many orchestras ycfkiuK interviews willi the record- in:,' managers of the various phono- graph laboratories that it is be- coming rather difficult for new- <otners to break In unless estab- lished and connected with some popular restaurant or dance place. Ofttlmes after a test record is madr- JL develops there is no "kick" to the recording because of avcTage In- strununtallzatlon and ore hestra ar- r.itii;»'ment. Moore s aim is for nov- ^'\^y in exploitation to attract atten- tion RAIDING PUTNAM BLDG. Tif*>.sday a patrol wagon backed up to the Putnam building and th*- police cleaned out an office on the fourth floor, used, they claimed, by handbook men who were conducting a lively betting trade and were all primed for the opening of the racing M'ason. Four young men were col- b'cted by the officers who not only took all paraphernalia but ripped out the telephone. Balding the Putnam has berom^ a habit. Within the lu.st three rnontliH. an alleged coiintprfeif lug (\vu and bootleggers were picked ui». Bobby Mack with Emmetts Min- strels celebrated his 50th, year on the :.tasc thSy week. TWO HOUSES TOO MUCH \'an and S«'h<f'nck finished a week of doubling the Palace and Royal. New York, under severe strain, due to the throat ailment of Joe Sch»-ru k ot the team. The singers notified the Krith c»ffic*' Tuesday that It would be im- possible for tlwm to pliy the two hou'^es for the balance of the week, hut that they would liiiiiih tlu' wt'vk at the Palace. I'pon being informed of a large advance sale ai the; H(»yal and the difficulty of sefuring a s ibstitute headliiier, t!u\v gamely consented lo sllc!c it out.