Variety (July 1922)

VARIETY'S LONDON OFFICE P A R I F ^ ^ ^^ Martin'* PUce, Trafalgar Square 2096 Regent Friday, July 7, 192j| f LONDON GROWS COOLER WITH BUSINESS BEIM Provincial Takings Alto Improved—Managers Lose ' Ground for Reduced Artists' Salaries—No Relief from Entertainment Tax This Year London, July I. With the weather now cold and rainy theatrical business In London la ex<i>lleiit. It immediately rc- inovf<l the Englifh arlety man- agers' nasttn for a reduction by artists of salaries under play or pay contrails, with tlfat controversy lor the nonce quieted down, al- though the artists through their or- ganization ha«l informed the man- agers the latier's proposals for a reduction were not acceptable. Theatrical business in the prov- Snces has also improved with the chanKcd weather condition. If con- tinuing for any length of time this Will stimulate generally theatre ac- tivity in all English cities. The theatres will have to bear the entertainment tax for quite a "period yet. according to Tariamen- tary member, Mr. Wallace, of the financial committee. While Mr. "Wallace conceded the entertainment tax is crippling the theatrical world, he added there was no likeli- hood of it being rescinded or amend- ed this year, though there may be •ome relief next year, he added. The Melvilles have adjusted their differences and in consequence Sey- mour Hicks will shortly produce at the brothers' house, Lyceum, the Bairnsfather play, 'Old Bill." Charles B. Cochran's lease of the Princes expires in August. The Melvilles have decided to tell the theatre by private contract. Cochran is announcing the last week of vaudeville at the Pavilion. He will pr. 1 jce "Phi Phi" at that house August 16. "Eileen" closed Saturday at the Globe. •The Goddess," Indian play, was transferred Monday from the Am- bassador to the Duke of York's. CO-OPERATIVE PLAYS Calthrop Organizing Company for Aldwych London, June 20. Since the slump became general London managers allow the player to share In the profits and Ic . of the production. The latest man- ager to see this is Donald Calthrop, who henceforth will run the Ald- wych on co-operative lines. A company has been formed with Donald Calthrop and two other West F:nd actors at Its head. Re- vivals of old masterpieces and pro- ductions of new plays will be pro- seeded with. The first production ia scheduled for July 11. Among the co-operative players recruited are Leslie Banks, Frank Cellicr, C. V. France, George Elton, and Charles Quartermalne. Her- bert Jay will Join the company in a business capacity. The Actors' Association's com- monwealth experiment failed ap- parently because no one connected with it seemed to have any useful knowledge of theatres, plays or showmanship. OUTSffiER ON BURLESQUE By BUD JL HTNICKA I have been asked for my views on burlesque. "How does burlesque appear to one looking in from the outside?" is the query. Thia question implies that I am an ''outsider" from the showman's viewpoint, notwithstanding my offi- cial connection with the Columbia Amusement Company. As a matter of fact auch Is the case. While 1 have been interested in a financial way in a number of burlesque shows my activities in the affairs of the Columbia Amusement Company and Its subsidiary enterprises have been largely limited to the business end of these ventures. I take it then that what is wanted of me is my Impression and judgment of the bur- lesque "game" as a cold-blooded commercial proposition. My earlier connection and identi- fication with the Columbia Amuse- "flnlsh the Job.* This new house and the new Columbia shows "caught on" from the very jump off, result- ing In immediate financial success. Perhaps attracted by the way the Cincinnati situation had been han- dled the Columbia Amusement Com- pany people prevailed upon me to help them get a foothold In Louis- ville. The Invasion of that city developed a bitter fight—politics, law and finances again all playing a part. Again the promoters of this new theatre needed "assistance." They were in the fight and could not turn back. After more than a year's litigation in which the criminal as well as the civil law was resorted to, Louisville's Gnyety theatre was opened against all opposition. Again Immediate success was registered for both the shows and the house. With this kind of a start it did corporation's treasurership further suggested my availability for thlt \ position and a place ez-ofncio on Xh% ' Executive Committee of the Boar4 of Directors. This briefly Is the history of my Identification with the Columbia Amusement Company and its bur« lesque wheel, and justifies my beinc regarded, inferentiklly at ^ast, aa "an outsider looking In." I have been In close touch with tha affairs of the Columbia Amusement Company and the methods of Ua people for upwards of ten years. In that time, while never regarded as a "showman" In the professional meaning of the term, 1 have been thrown Into intimate contact with managers, house and show, producers and performers. I Have found them as a class the equal in every way of any group of men in any o^her field of endeavor. Burlesque as developed and pi>e« sented by the Columbia Amusement Company is in my judgment one of the most if not the very most popu- lar form of theatrical entertain- ment While the name burlesque "VILLAGE FOLLIES" THEA. Looking for London House for Com- posite Production in Fall ONE-HALF PRICE MATS Cochran Trying Plan in Two Lon don Houses London, July 5. A i»lan of one-half price admls- Sli,n for matinees at two London theatrts has been tried by Chas. B. Cochran. The reduced afternoon scale was put In at the Pavilion (vaudeville) and at the Oxford ("Chuckhs"). MARRIES AT 69 TO 29 London. July 6. A London theatre is being sought by M. S. Bentham, the American agent, for the purpose of showing the English a composite production of previous "Greenwich Village Follies." Bentham Is acting in concert with John Murray Anderson, who *wiil produce the show over here. The plan is to have "The Follies" fea- ture Ethel Levey ant^ Nelson Key.s. ♦SHUFFLE ALONG" IN LONDON "Shuffle Along," the colored show,, will open at the Palace, London, Sept. 19. Charles Cochrane will [sponsor the show In London. The cast will Include Sissle and Blake, and Miller and Lyles. M. S. Ben- tham arranged the London engage- ment in association with Albert de Courville. ."Shuffle Along" clo>5Cs at the 63rd St. July 29, opening in Boston for four weeks July 31. London, July 6. The marriage lately of Arthur Hoberts, age 69, to Ada Ellen Wright, 29, revealed the famous comedian has been engaged for life by C. B. Cochran at an annual sal- ary of £1,000. Until recently Roberts appeared ]d "The Fun of the Fayre," then running at the Pavilion. BERNARD WATCHING 'TONS" London, July 5. Sam Bernard Is spending most of his time watching the perform- ances of "Tons of Money." Tie American rights to it were secured by Charley Dillingham. Dillingham has engaged Bernard for that piece when produced for New York. It strikes the Ameri- cans around as curious, ae "Tons' Is a straight farce, while Bernard ! is a typical musical comedy come- dian. NEW PARIS SHOWS Paris, July 5. Rardou's five-act comedy. Famine Hrnoiton," was revived at the The- atre Ambigu July 3. The Cegale will produce the Vienna operetta "La Belle Polo- naise" shortly undor the summer management of Marcel Leonard. ! The piece Is in three acts, with musical srore by Jean Gilbert. BOWLES ILL IN BERLIN Paris, July 5, George BowUs, who went to Bor- I lin on a (lying trip intending to I return immodintrly, has been ue- layed in the German capital, a victim of ptomaine poisoning. Tie is reported recovering, but the date of his reappearance in Paris is not set. George McCarthy remains with him. AMERICAN PERFORMERS Ttsltlng London are cordially invited to make use of our ofTlces for their mail. We uhall be pleased to assl.st and advise you respecting your songs and material, whether published by us^or fvotr FRANCIS, DAY & HUNTER 138-140 Charing Cross Road LONDON, W. C, ENG. RUD K. HYNICKA TREASURER COLUMBIA AMUSEMENT COMPANY REPUBUCAN NATIONAL COMMITTEEMAN FOR OHIO Cable: ARPEGGIO LONDON ment Company was more or less accidental. Perhaps it would be cor- rectly described as being due to a series of accidental happenings in which business, law, and finances played a big part. My first close contact with bur- lesque was a business proposition pure and simple. It grew out of the old Empire Circuit-C<>lumbia Amuse- ment Company fight. The Columbia Amusement Company people were trying to get into Cincinnati and the Enipi''c Circuit people were trying to keep them out. My friendly help was enlisted in behalf of the Colum- bia Amusement Company largely through Mr. Jules Hurtlg, a former Cincinnati.'in. I became interested in the old Cincinnati Vine Street Opera house, afterwards renamed the Standard theatre, in a compli- mentary way, to help out local friends. The struggle to remodel and reopen an old theatre that had been practically abandoned and had for years been occupied as a Salvation Arnriy barmcks called for more cap- ital than was originally figured on when the work was first undertaken. My friends dared not "quit" and could not "go on further." 1 helped not require much coaxing to inter- est the newly-made Cincinnati friends in other Columbia Amuse- ment Company undertakings. Balti- more, Washington, Toronto, Chi- cago and New York (Columbia) quickly followed one after the other, with Cincinnatians interested in all of them, so that soon certain Cin- cinnati people were classed among Columbia Amusement Company "backers." Out of the association described developed an intimacy that, when differences arose be- tween the dominating factors in the Columbia Amusement Company af- fairs, suggested me for a place on the Board of Directors as a neutral outside Influence free from old-time profe.<-sional alliances and align- ments. A subsequent vacancy in the wae handicapped in some localltlef because of a lack of proper under- standing of this particular class of amusement, the Columbia Amuse- ment Company has by persistent and consistent regulation and cen- sorship placed its shows and thea- tres in the front rank of popular attractions both as to performance and prices. The results obtained amply compensate for this trouble, with its attendant trials and sac- rifices. In its short history of less than 20 years the Columbia Amusement Company has assembled a circuit of 38 theatres, modern and up-to- dato in every respect, spread out from Boston to Kansas City, and from Montreal to Louisville. Th» (Continued on page 17) FOSTERS AGENCY, Ltd. OEORGE FOSTER m II mm, m. ^^si-r* WE I LACED BERT LEVY in ENGLAND rOMMlNIC ATE TIIROItill WIIXIAM MOKK1.S AOENC'Y. \SV. 14M IIROADUAY; PCTNAM ni'ILDlNCI HEW ¥ORK CITI