Variety (November 1922)

[T^* BURLESQUE Friday, November 24, 1922 .-r^.^>. SEVERAL UNIT PRODUCERS HOPING FOR BURLESQUE RETURN Formerly Columbia Men, Now With Shubert Vaude- ville, Want to Go Back—Possibilities Not Re- ported—Leniency by Columbia Anticipated aeac BALTIMORE BUSINESS ThrM Qr«d«« of BurUsqu* Th«r«, Head«d by Columbia Some of the Shubert vaudeville unit producers, formerly with their shows on the Columbia Amusement Co.'s wheel, would like to return there, and again tour the leading burlesque circuit. Among these are said to be Arthur Pearson, Jack Singer, Barney Gerard, Max Spiegel and Jack Reid, while Ed Gallagher Beatty and George Gallagher are other bui-lcs- , quers who left with I. H. Herk, to. go into a strange field and business with the opening of this season. Herk Is the operator of the Shu- bert unit circuit unit as head of tho Atniiated Theatres Corporation It Is not believed Herk ilesire? to apply for a return, nor that the Columbia people r>ould cpnsidor his application if he made ono. Jlcrk formerly conducted the American burlesque circuit, at first in associa- tion with tho Columbia and later against it. The American fadel out toward the end of last season, fol- lowing many internal upheavela in most of which the Columbia or its staffs were involved. The attitude of the Columbia executives toward their wandering boys has not been reported. It Is known that more than one of the unit managers from burlesque have requested permission to return to the Columbia circuit. An intima- tion last week by a Columbia exec- utive seemed to indicate the Colum- bia would accept a desirable attrac- tion Cor the wheel without reference to previous connection, but referring to the Shubert chain, the same speaker appeared to make one ex- ception. The exception is believed to be <3eorge Gallagher. The Columbia has been active £incs the opening of the season In weeding out attractions and the- atres that did not meet with the ap- pi*oval of its censors, and the Columbia wheel Is said to be easily susceptible of increases.at present without embarrassment to the cus- tomary operation. Executives of the Columbia have stoutly denied since the start of tho current .season the unit shows have affedted their business to any degree. Anticipated leniency toward the burlesque men with tho .Shubert time apparently confirms those statements. The burlesque managers and pro- ducers know little about vaudeville, technically. Its intricate inside • angles or the individual value either In salary or entertainment strength of the acts. This has been dem- onstrated at the Columbia, Now York, when that house was pl.jying extra attractions. One producer, called iipon for an added feature, engaged a standard vaudeville act and paid It twice its re»fular salary. When the unit system of enter- t^nment was lirst decided upun, there was an epidemic of "ambition" among burlesque producers, par- ticularly those who had a genuine or fancied groiich agjJnst the con- trolling faction of bur!os«|UC. It was furiher stimulated by Herk. The Shubert circuit looked like a $2 field and as affording xinliniited opportunities to exploit their prowess as producers. Many made tho move, leaving their familiar field to experiment in a line en- tirely foreign to their methods. Inflated values on material, the afterpieces thit would have looked fine In bur'es lue, yet shov/cd up ordinarily on the unit circuit and the combination of circumstances that accompany a new circuit, plus poor bnsin».'S8 and short bank-rolls. soon convinced the burlos?\ue pro- \ ducer that burloKquo was burlo.-(]Ue and vaudeville units .something else. The men who left burlesque are all capable as burlesque producers. •Some rank with the best in bur- lesque. The blacklist i(l«'a is ail very w«'ll. but Itiisiii. ])usiness to the Columbia circuit .iiul Its pood business for burlesque to regi-^ter the best po.ssible on their roster of producers It l)elieves. A burlesque jiroducor i.Hit t made over night. Consoqu<ntly the return of the deserters and a new burlesquf chapter will be likely sej iously con- sidered. BOHEMIAN NIGHT Burlosque Club Holdt First of •■• ' Scries ■• The Burlesque Club of America held its first of u series of Bo- hemian Nights Sunday at the club- rooms on 44tli street. A vaudeville show holding some 20 acts was given with ;i dance following. The Bohemian Night.s at the Burlesque Club will bo a regular weekly fea- ture on Sunday nights for the rest of the season. The list of entertainers last Sun- day included Clark and McCul- lough All America Trio, Nellie Nel- son, \Vm. S. -Campbell and Harry Hyams in a comedy skit; Al Wat- son, Hose i^dell, songs; Dixie Mason and- Harry Fields, Louise Wright, Nat Mortan. Bert Lahr, : le. Fifi, Dolph Singer and Dan Malcy, Jessie Retce, Sam Wilson. Henny Fisher, Daisy Martin and Leah Ledska. Next Sunday will be "Surprise Night." A i>ortablc stage is being erected for the Bohemian 8how|^. Other special nfghts scheduled dur- ing the winter are "Mexican," "Clown" and "Masquerade" nights. AUGUST D. MATTFELDT DIES Kansas City. Nov. 22. August D. Mattfeldt, 42 years old. one of the owners of the Universal Theatres Concession Co.. of Chi- cago, and widely known in the- atrical circles dfed at ^thc St. Jo- seph hospital here Nov. 16. He was on a tour of inspection of his the- atrical concessions and was taken ill while at tho Hotel Muehlebach. His conditions was not considered serious but wher taken to the hos- pital an operation was ordered for the stomach. The operation was declared successful, but the patient failed to recuperate. He had been identified with the Columbia and other burlesque amu.sements for many years and was also a former employe of the Butler interests In St. I^ui.s. At the tiinc of his d^ath he was ii)terested in a number of candy concessions in Columbia cir- cuit theatres. The body was taken to Chicago for burial. $30,000 NOTE CASE APPEALED The suit of the Columbia Amuse- ment Co. against the American Bur- lesque Association. Inc.. to recover on $30,000 notes, has been stayed pending the'A. B. A.'s appeaj from an order granting the Columbia a new trial. The Columbia lost out before a jm-y. but was recently given permis.sion for a new trial. The defendant has decided to appeal from this decision and has been granted a staying order against Columbia. The plaintiff is Kuing on two notes for $20,000. and $10,000 involving the Mount Morris theatre. New Yotk. and, the Capitol, Washington. D. C. The notes were given by the A. B. A. for stock in both theatres with the understanding they were not payal)le until profits to the full amount of the principals have been realizpd. Baltimore, Md., Nov. 22. Burlesque business continues to be top notch In Baltimore, especially with the- Palace, which is playing Columbia burlesque, and getting $7,000 and $8.00d a week right along with the utmost regularity.! Busi- ness has picked up 50 per ^nt. at this hous^ in comparison to last year, though the racing season has made matlrtees everywhere a little off. William Proctor is managing the house. The Gayety, playing stock bur- lesque, has been breaking on the credit side, due to the one fight- night weekly which pack < the houj^e. Matinees have been off, but $3,0^)0 or $4,000 will make a nice break for it. Jimmy James is in charge. At the Folly, playing Mutual burlesque, busincs.s is rei>orted good, with the fig'.it nights sellouts. The turkey shows, whiih the MiUual people have been .sending out, are spotted right in the Folly. nx AND INJURED Joseph Neimeyer one of the bat- tery of exceptional "hoofers" in "Little Nellie Kelly" at the Liberty Is unable to show his stuff. About the middle of the Boston run Neimeyer injured one of his legs, the sciatic nerve being affected. He is virtually walking through the show but even the iimite<^ action causes pain. Eddie Parks ^Gracc and Eddie Parks) is recuperating at his home in New York, from «i operation for appendicitis. His physician says that with care he may esume by Dec. 4. Sophia Wilson will leave "The Kandy Kids" this week to undergo an operation. Saxon and GriflRn were In a t^x\ collision Sunday in New York and both were shaken up. Two players at the Riverside. New York, were taken down with ptomaine poisoning last week. May Wirth had a slight attack and was advised by her physician not to ap- pear. She insisted on working, the doctor injecting strychnine. Lillian Shaw was aKso yi with the corn- plaint, and was out of the bill one day. Charles Cartmell )(Cartnapll and Harris) was operated upon for ap- pendicitis at Sterns Hospital. New^ York, by Dr. Philip Grausman. Mr. Cartmell is nicely recovering. BURLESQUE REVIEWS ■/ ;'*' MARRIAGES Chester W'illard Jarvis, who has produced girl acts for several years past whlsh have spent most of their time on the Pantages" Circuit, in i Memphis, Nov. 12. to Audrey Ade- laide Holmes, a member of his com- pany. The bride is 18 years the junior of the groom. Ted Murray of the "Golden Gate Four," the quartette featured in the Will King Show in San Francisco, and Itita Boyet. a chorister, in the same company, were married on the Coast and-both gave their notice. Dan Smith has replaced Murray in the quartette. On the stagp of Pantages, Mem- phis, November 13, William Jarvis to Sudrey Holmes, both with the J.irvis Revue, appearing at the house. Wallace Ford, Juvenile in "Abie's Irish Rose," at the Reptjblic, New York. wllWbc married in Cleveland, November 27, to Martha Haworth. also in the show as a bridesmaid. The bride is the daughter of Wil- liam Haworth, said to be a play- wright. TRYING OUT PORT HURON The Columbia wheel shows are experimenting with Port Huron. Mich., as a Sunday one-nighter. following the week at the Gayety. i Detroit. The "Broadway Brevities" was the first show to try out the Port Huron Sunday date last Sunday, and sold out. '• . _ • Columbia's Park, Indianapolis The Park. Indianapolis, becomes a spoke in (he Columbia wheel route as a week .stand Nov. 27. The first Columbia attraction will be the "Greenwich Village Revue." The Indianapolis week will replace the Penn circuit of one-nighter.s, dropped out of the route last we<'U. The Columbia shows will piny Indianapolis on a tjO-40 percentage basis. The Park played Columbia attractions several years ago. Last season and for a couple previously it played the American shows. This seiHon it started with the .*=?hubert unit shows, but discontinued after seven weeks. EQUITY PLAY LOSES (Continued /rom page 1) Of that there was about $2,000 In subscriptions. Including tho nor- mally strong premiere takings, tho takings for the initial week were but $2,700. Hovsc rental and oper- ating expenses approximated $2,500 weekly, that being aside from com* pany salaries, cost of production, royalties and advert losing for the play itself. Its business was reported the worst of all the houses on 48th street. Saturday night when there were no subscriptions in, not over 100 persons are saicl to have attend- ed on the lower floor. This week the A. E. A. commit- tee having ehHrge of the business end of "Hospitality" placed a num- ber of seats with the cut rates asking that an effort be m.ade to push sales for their attraction. Practically one-half of the lower floor as well as the balcony loca- tions were dumped into the half- price agency. MONTE CARLO GIRLS (MUTUAL BURLESQUE) Rudolph Rox3 Tommy Burna Parsy BoUWer Willi* Mack Ohariifl wise a<K>rKe E. Puget Pork (^hapii....k '. Jim Stewart Ham Itone Kid Houston MIb8 ("<ara Voyant Orace Oooilnlo Mlaa Hirh Htepper Vkilft Buckley Mls8 Cute Trlx '. Besale Brown Here's the cat's whiskers- in the way of a reil !d-time western wheel frolic—rougi and tough, crude in spot's and as blue as a professional reformer's outlook on life—but It's a burlesque show and ii's funny. ^\ Tom Sullivan sponsors the "Mohte Carlos," as he has for many a yeir. His current entry at tlae 01>mpic this week ably upholds the tradi- tions of the ancient and honorable title. It'.s standardized as regards con- struction, just the same as all the Mutu.'il wheel shows are. but there's only one money cnanglng bit—and that one is away from the cut and dried routine. The regulation standbys are all handled in a way that takes the curse off their an- tiquity. There's the cross purposes con- versation, for Instance, about a woman, a horse and a motor boat— used for ages in Cv>mic songs, paro- dies and farcical sketches, but Tommy Burns. Willie Mack, George Puget and Violet Duckley made 'em roar with it by snapping into it and out of It and slamming the laughs over for rapid-fire bull's-eyes. The matrimonial agency, some excellent team work in a double flirtation bit, tho telephone that squirts water and flour in tho faces of two comics and finally yields a glass of brew to tho third one who tackles it, have also been done a few times In burlesque—but un- likely with any better comedy re- turns than they get with 'em in the /'Monte Carlos." Nobody Is featured, Sullivan prob- ably figuring Ihe title as sulHcIent draw. Tommy Burns, the principal j comic, wears a putty-nosed make- j up and interpolates the stage "Dutch"-dialect that goes wit* it whenever he takes a notion to. He ean tumble nimbly and understands the technique of registering comedy according to Mutual wheel stand- ards. George Puget besides beipg an i authoritative straight qualifies as a jgood light comedian. Willie Mack fOoes a singing specialty that. clicks in one of the scenes In "one" and competently contributes to the com- edy in .several bits. I Grace Goodale hits a high average ion appearance as the prima, carry- I ing her costumes like a Ziegfeld ' entry. Her singing voice will prob- ably never cause the prize ".arblers of the Metropolitan opera house to grow green with envy, but she gets away with her numbers well enough notwithstanding the vocil handicap. Violet Buckley, the ingenue, is also far from a riot when It comes to humming, but she's there forty ways on delivery and forty more on form. Miss Buckley also figures in the bits intelligently, redding lines in a way that gets 'om over the plate. A little brunot soubret who may have been Be4.<-j Brown displayed the best voice amo.ig the three-women principals, and slapped over a Jazz number or two with a snap that lifted the show. .Jim Stewart and Sid Easton. \\ colored tean). are a tower ' of streijpth to the show, both in th.T burles(iuc.s and in an olio specialty that brought forth some excellent dancing, a lot of genuinely funny cross fire and a musical bit for a finish that had one manipulating a one-string fiddle like .a concert artist an<l the other .a melodeon. One 0^ the best colored turns th.at j l)UrleH(iue has had for many a 1 sea.son, I A hard-working .shimmying chorus I makes a lirst-rate background for ' the entertainment. Princess Doveer, i held over as a hou«G extra attrac- tion from last week, wriggled her way into favor with tho coo?h movement of the previous wecic .still there, but greatly modified. Ca- pacity Tuesday night. Bell. Park's Extra Attraqftlonc The Park music hall, is'ew York, playing Minsky Bros.' slock bur- lesque, win change the show weekly from now on. This week Frank Fay and Jack Johnson, the colored ex- heavyweight champ, are at the Park as added attractions. Tom Howard remain*^ as principoj comic, but according to report the Minskys are in favor of the weekly change and the added attraction features, figuring it will sustain the patronage the house has attracted. The burlesque has been changed onc'e since the house opened this season. Alex Sullivan, the sport writer, and Howard are the authors of the next book to be presented. /P V- BURLESQUE ROUTES WILL BB FOUND ON PAOB Thirlu-four in Thin J.fftur ■^ MOLLIE WILLIAMS SHOW Tom. .V Harry Wilaon Icicle B«rt "Ct»«" Howard Harry Klcbard Lloyd ShtTiff Brown .^rt Frank R««tus Happy McNally Betty Brown ,0«)iKia Rmmett The Rguaw Margie Barron niK I'hlof Chler Bllver Ton«u«i Th*' Girl Ell-vCorbett MolMe Mollio WillianM MoUIe Williams has bc'en produc- ing burlesque shows for the Colum- bia Circuit for many seasons and has always been there or "there- abouts "With the big money getters for the circuit. Season ajter season Miss Williams has gone along con- forming to the burlesque standirds. giving them what they liked, but this season Miss Williams • haa drawn a blank. Maybe she has been ^ badly advised or maybe .she has ' lost her perspective, but the present Mollio VV: liamH show is about tl.e - weakest contribution this writer has ever witnessed a^ the Columbia. The show lacks comedy from be- ginning to end. The cas^ with gne exception lacks the ability to put comedy over, so the book isn't wholly to blame, and the dramatic comedy sketch, reminiscent of "The Cat and the Canary," in which Miss Williams appears closing the first half of the burlesque, can be deleted ' now. Losing the script of "The Woman in tho Dark" would strengthen the show. William Lytell is the author of this comedy atte^npt at weirdness and secret panel thrills. The chilly touches pulled laughs and vice is virtue. It was a mess. Miss Williams' specialty later was spotty. The French song got noth- ing and wont. "Hot Tamale Eyes," with Mollie in gorgeous Spanish at- tire leading the chorus, was her best number. A few more like this would save the ship. A comedy scene, "At the Stage Door,' was strained and without an original line or piece of businestf to relieve the dull monotony. "A Gro- cery Store" scene passed the same way with done-over dialog and un- ■ funny business in incapable hands. A specialty by Happy McNally. a blackface comedian of a type and vintage that has almost disappeared from the stage, consisted of a meaningless, rhymeless lyric con- structed around an old moth-bitten Idea that wouldn't get laughs befors a grandfathers' convention. '' Another gem In the way of com'* edy business was a slapstick bit. with the comics belaboring e.ach other while in a stoopii^g posture. This particular piece of business is a wing of the turkey that ficw ages ago. I The redeeming features were the . excellent production as regards scenery and costuming, the best looking and peppiest chorus at the Columbia till season, the specialties of the women principals, all lookers; the comedy possibilities revealed by Bert "Cee" Howard in an eccentric comedy role, and the dancing of Art Frank, who labored in a rube characterization in which he proved ( a corking hoofer. His Frisco Imi- tation. Sheik travestied classical, dance and eccentric solo would have stood up anywhere. The Sheik had a touch of originality that will probably lift this nimble fellow to mu.«<ical comedy some day. Harry Wilson in serni-straight roles and one English characteriza- tion was light and misplaced throughout, Richard Lfoyd. a good- looking straight, probably from other fields, sang well but lacked the experience or the comedy relief to make his scenes stand up. Thei nearest approach to a straight man' was Wilson, who worked opposite Howard and foiled him well In a sidewalk patter contribution, con- sisting of gags that went back to Haines and Vidocq. T: c chorus were a delight every time out. They looked like the background of a |2.rj0 musical show and danced well. In addition their costumes were becoming and nu- merous. Miss Williams should build up on her singing specialty and let it go at that. The stage-door scene with Mollie acting as principal kiddlst Is i another burle.sque anfiquity that doe-^n't belong. The dialog was frayed and unfunny. Johns hang- ing around the stage door has - ceased to be a comedy topic since its general adoption. ^ „ Another comedian is needed*and ^ a real stralghLman. By intelligent j)runing the Mollie Williams show can be converted Into a worthy suc- cess to the many successful produc- ' tjons Miss Williams has sponsored in the past. She owes the effort to her many followers. Con. Another Week for Howe Show * The Sam Howe snow, "Joys of Life," closes at the Ca.sino, Boston, next week, instead .f at the Gayety, Montreal, where it is playing this week. The new "IVockets," restaged and produced by Hurti|^& .Seamon, will break in at Newburgh and Pough- keepsic next week (Nov. 27), fol- lowing which it will take \}p the route of the Sam Howe show. The new Hurtig & Seamon show will not be called "Rockets" for a couple of weeks, but will play under the former H. & «. title of "Girls from nai)pyland." ■>,■