Variety (March 1923)

•^L, M V 'VV . Thursday, March 1, 192S Q V A U U t V 1 L L T^-'^ LOEfS, CLEVELAND, REHIRNS; AGAIN LOEW-WEEK STAND Shubert Vaudeville Giving Up House- $5,000 Weekly—$4,000 Weekly. Cleveland, Closes "^ -Grotf Fell to Rent—Miles, Cleveland. Feb. 28. The State, originally Locw's local vaudeville house for which $200,000 annual rent wa.s asked, will revert to the Loew circuit again, taking the Loew bills beginning March 5. The State will be evacuated b\ the Shubert vaudeville circuit >sh()st attractions It has been playing th;*= season. The unit and straight vau- deville gross has dropped below 15.000 weekly since tho opening of B. F. Keith's Palace next door to the State with a seating capacit.v of 3.200. The Shuberts* subsidiary organ- ization. Affiliated Theatres Corpora- tion, which started the seafon as ih. operator of the Shubert vaudcvlllr unit circuit, took the State f:on^ Loew's upon a guarantee of $4,000 weekly, although Loew's is said to have made their own holding." secondary to local banking interest.*^ concerned in the theatre. The unlti= plajcl the State with the under- standing that from their share of an equal division of the receipts. $1,000 waK to be deducted, besides the "extras," toward the payment of tb( $4,000 guarantee. The hou.«e averaged about $l.").00l weekly when It first opened with a total money capacity of $35,000 at the scale charged. Of late with the falling grcsaes it mostly has beeti 'playing Shubert straight vaude- ville bills. Through the deduction of the ex- tras and 1.000 no unit has been re- ported netting any profit of amount at the State. One instance was of a show that played to $13,000 on the week and left Cleveland with a $2G profit, made minus through the unit having spent $39 In telephones to New York for money. C. II. Miles was reported as negotiating for the State early this week. Miles will close his own the- atre here next month, playing I'an- tages bills, following the arrange- ment to transfer hit' 99-year ground lease on the site to the Cleveland Trust Co . The Loew shows wilA travel Intact from Loew's Tfiyton Into Cleveland, the house nmaining a.«? before the Shubdrt vaudeville policy, a full week on the Loew Circuit. Six vaudeville acts will be the policy with feature pictures. The return of the house to Loew was said to be due to the unwilling- ness of the local bankers to gamble further with the Shubert attrac- tions. The Affiliated guarantee of the lea.se was not looked upon with security and it was deemed im- probable the State cotild Increase Its gross by playing bi against Keith's Palace. PALACE ALL SUMMER :;■ ^. ■ ■'. ■ Orph«um Circuit's Big Timer in Chi. Running Right Through ACKERMAN & HARRIS ENTERING W. V. M. A. y. •'■ . Chicago, Feb. 21. The Orpheum Circuits only big time vaudeville theatre here. Pal- ace, will play the summer without changing policy. In previous years It has been cus- tomary-for the Palace to revert to musical comedy in the hot months. Then there was another Orpheum'.s big timer, Majestic, now playing pop vaudeville. It leaves the big local field solely to the Palace. DEMAND NOW FOR TABS BY OUTSIDE MANAGERS One-Hour Musical Show Less Cosily Than Five Acts — Often Played with Film time bills SHADOW-McNEIL SUIT Answering the breach of contract and $8,800 damage suit begun by Bert Shadow and Lillian McNeil, Lew Fields alleges the team vio- lated Its contract by not adhering to the script and material supplied them In the "Rl.tz Girls" Shubert unit show. Shadow and McNeil worked eight weeks in the unit and are suing for 22 weeks' balance on a 30-week play-or-pay contract at $400 a week. I'njust dismissal is alleged. It differs somewhat from the usual al- legations <»f unit acts that have brought suit for breach of contract. Althouirh the '•Ritz (lirKs" have since closed, it continued for a few weeks following Shadow and Mc- Neill's di.-missal. Alfred r.eekman. of llou.'Je. Cross- man <Sr Vorhau.«. is acting for FicMs, and Kppstein & Axman for tlio piM- forniers. BOB NELSON BUYS RELEASE l!r.b Nelson lufs i>urf hi.'^ed his r*-- lease on a contract v.ith Davidow & iK'MMire. the independent agents. Ne!s(Mi was a mf mbei « f the Shu- bert vaudeville unit. ' Kchoes of Broadway," i^roduced by the FtvitW-r F.state. His contr;i< t w th Divid.iw St LeMairc had or.'' :•• " t.' tim. U is under.'^tood it guaranteed him 3o weeks' baoKing yearly Jit a lalary of $6r.O a week. Nelson was ff»rmerly of the Nelsrn and Cronin act. later doing n'sinule lurp in tl;e Keith houses. He left vatnlevillc to enter a musical rem- edy. .,r • A domar.d for musical tabs lias been in evidence in the independent vaudeville office during the past few weeks from out of town man- agers. The tab shows arc wanttd in many instances by managers of small-houses which have been play- ing pop vaudeville. The managers are desirduj; of se- curing tab companies to gi\e one- hour performances wit4» a picture used for the balance of the show. This policy is said to have proved profitable with several. Many have found it cheaper to use a tab than to play a vaudeville bill of five acts. Several houses which have been In the habit of playing split week vaudeville have taken the tab com- panies for a full week, the majority being equipped to play two different pieces during the week. Several out of town houses wli!oh have been unable to secure travel- In gattractions are giving the tab polii-y a try. Many are tied up v.ith picture contracts and play the tabs in addition. When the tabs are played on a percentage basis, often the case with houses given over to road f^hows, the manager of the tab and the house share the cost of the picture. Pacific Coast Houses Booked From Chicago—Meeting .1 Thursday • V 'j/-y. Chicago, Feb. 28. A meeting is to be held here to- morrow (Thursday). It will be at- tended by Irving Ackerman of Ackerman & Harris, the Paciflc Coast vaudeville managers. Others will be representatives of the Or- pheum eir'^uit and rharlfts K. Bcay. general manager of the Western Vaudeville Managers' Association, the Orpheum local booking branch. It is virtually settled the A. & II. coast houses will be booked through the Chicago association. An asso- ciation booker will take charge of the zoutii'.g book for the coast the- atres. The present A. & H. booking repretentative In San Francisco, Mrs. Klla Weston, will not be dis- turbed. The deal is mutijally advan- tageous. It gives A. & H. an east- ern source and the a.saocIatlon an important coast IT\iIi to lla proposed Far West circuit, Ackerman & Harris have a vaudeville houses in nearly every large coast city ex- cepting Los Angeles. They are re- ported about taking one there. PAN AFTER SUN? Gets Jam«t, Columbus—After Buf< falo and Louisvill* Houses k Chicago, Feb. 28. The Pantages Circuit has entered into a borking agreement for Ave years with Willlajn James, of the James theatre, Columbus. It staifts April 1. It is understood Pantages through local rei>resentatlves is trying to .secure a theatre in Buffalo and I.ouis\i'le to play the Pan vaude- ville. At present it looks as though Pan- tages is seeking to erect an opposi- tion to the Cu« Sun bookings in the territory. . / NO ORPHEUM STAFF CHANGES, SAYS NEW PRESIDENT, HEIMAN Concentrating at Present on Expanding Circuit— | Deals On in Several Cities—Vancouver Turried \ Into Winner • - .i H GYP CLUB AGENT Act Payroll Padded and Agant Pockets Diff«r««ic« Clubs desiring vaudeville talent that .depends upon independent viudeville agents of the "gyp" typ* are being mulcted for "big dough" by the 'gypH,'* At a benefit tcccnt!y several acts were on the bill, en- gaged by an independent. The modus operandi of the gyi>per was to ascertain the artist'.^ salary for the occasion, then beat hiin down to a much lower flgun* on the plea it was his first benefit book- ing and a charity, and finally in- form the act that he (the agent) was going to. "put you down for so much," naming a sum In excess of the act's salary, which it was un- derstood was to go the agent. One take was |L'5 on a $100 act, and |10 on another, which was about the average. GAITES* UNIT NOT BOOKED Josei'h Gaites denies his Shubert unit show has been booked by the Pantages circuit. The producer seated he offered the attraction to the I'an booking office, but that the deal apparently fell through. Caites' proposal was that the cir- cuit pay him |aOO weekly for the use of the revue book and the pro- duction. When the unit closed It was reported part salaries had been paid with I. O. U.'s. The company clof^cd in the middle west and the money due the players was paid by c;a ilea when they reached New Yolk. LEO ^{TZGERAID SUSPENDED Leo Fitzgerald was suspeiuled from booking privilege In the Keith office this week for an In- fraction of the booking rules. Fitz- gerald is a member of the Marinelll ?taff, booking under the Marlnelli franchise. The suspension Is said to be temporary pending an InvestJgttion of^the circumstances now being Tonductod by W. Dayton Wegefarth, Keith broking manager. Tiif cTi»se HOUSES CLOHNG IJ. F. Alboe, Providence, will ifs vaudeville season week M;irch 2(>, with stock following. Tiie Temple, Roch -ater, N. T., will end Its vaudeville season April 30. I'ictures or stock will play over the summer. The Colonial, Erie, Pa.,—full week Keith booked—closes" March 17. The Congress, Saratoga, N. Y., di-scontinued vaudeville Feb. 12, due to light attendance. ^ The house pltyed Keith pop vaudeville the firht half. LOEfS METROPOUTAN MGRS. NOW REPORTING ON PROGRAMS First Time Since Circuit Organized— Formerly Only Out-of-Tov/n Loew Managers Reviewed Split Week Bills—Order Issued Two Weeks Ago The r-s'iNMit managers of the I.oew circuit theatres in the Create;- Xew York territory are now send- ing in weekly rcport.s of the f-plit week v.iiKb'viUt program^ pljyiii^ their houses. It l.<t ih^ n r !- [ t li i iu till ' liM ' ai iiwn manafters have been calU-d llIW»n to perform that duty sincf th» Loew circuit org.inlz*^d. l'revioii«!y to tl".e i.s.su.'ince of the di«U;- for managers to repoit two weeks ago only Ijoew-book'-d hou.^e.-< av. a> from lh;.> metropoll.s returned ihew reviews of tlu- playing programs lo tlie home offlie. The sy.stem in vogue in vaude\il!e cjperafion since there were vaude- ville Circuits has been for the house manager to Inform the book- ing <»ffk^ what his opinion of the bill and ltd Individual acts on It was. He Uoually forwards the re- port based on the flr.st or second p^i rortnance of the engagement. Tl'.e r 'Ports are supposed to be for ib.e Itiforrnation of the booking of- fice stalT and of Ihc other managers • , DIVIDED ON ACT Testimony Taksn in GaKaghor and 8h«an Action The trial oi the Shubert Tiie'- atrical Co. «ult aqrainst Gallagher and Shean for alleged breach of contract was starttd before JuMtict Delehanty in the New York Su- preme Court Monday and will probably continue for the major portion of this week. The Shulierls' Contention that .he team ia "unique and extraordTnary" was supported by a numV»er of show people, who testllied In the'.r behalf. Among them were Arthur Il.'immerstein, Morris Gest and \Villiam A. Drady. in addition to Lee Shubert. The alleged contract was for a period cf three years, from Septem- ber, 1921. at |7jO a week for the first two years, and $1,000 for the laet year, with 3.* weeks minimum yearly guaranteed. Gallagher and Shean, now in the "rollies," where they receive |l.r»00 a week, jvere alleged by Ciiarles II. Tutilo. of counsel for tiii.' Sluiljerts, to have got $1,000 from the JCeith circuit when lea\jjig the Shubert^. Th* motion for a preliminary Injunction was decided in the act's favor Bome time ago. Arthur Hammersteln's tcftimony Tuesday wa^ iljat the t.?am*s per- sonality made them "one of the greatest drawing car»(.s on the stage today." The following «tatement interprets the producer's attitude on personalit.N : "Cavalieri came to America the most . beautiful of women with a gorgeous figure, but she had no personality and was singing for $300 a night when Mary Garden got $J,500. Mary Garden has about the wor.st voice now on the stage, but she had persijnalit-y and she has been one of the greatest hlt« In opera since my father signed her up many years ago." Of the witnesses for the defenise, Will ttogers, who does a travesty with Andrew Tombes of Gallagher and Shean in the •Tollies" was first directed by the court to park his gum. Obeying, he said. "It's all in the song. The song Isn't so much either. Tell you the truth, Volstead and Bryan would make juht as much of a hit »<Inging that sung ab Gullugher and Shean.'* Answering to the question whether he (Rogers) regards him- self as an .actor, he replied, "No. I sing rotten and Tombes Is woiwe, but we can beat Gallagher and Shean at that. It'.s hard to tell just where the hit I.s. It's ju.-'t like a game. Success comes in some- where." George W. I.ederer testifled the defendants were oidin:uy vaude- viiiians and ^aiu that the net they Ufif'd governed thoir ftu-jcess. "Out- side of that I would pay them no n)ore than I pay my chaufTeur, $40 a week." William Klein is attorney of rec- ord for 'he SliuWerts and Tobias A. Keppler for Gallagher and Sh^an. No changes are contemplated Just now in the personnel of the Orphe- um Circuit staffs, Reoor*llny to M* new president, Marcus Heiman. Mr. Heiman Informed a Variety roi>resentative that concentration is now being focused upon the ex- pansion of the Orpheum. New or acquired Orpheum' theatres. h« said, will be secured In St. Paul. Omaha and Oakland, while the new big time Orpheum theatre for Chi- cago was settled upon some time ago. Asked where he intended making his headquarters. New York or Chicago, Mr. Heiman replied in t>oth cities, probably dividing ^ia time between the two. The new Orphcum's president U a young man, not over 40 If thaL He is a native of Syracuae, N. T., as arc Sam ^ahl and Asher Levy, two other important Orpheum ex- ecutives whose headquarters are in the Chicago offices of the circuit. Mr. Heiman is roild mannered but talks decision and without hesi- tancy. His private office in thf Orpheum'8 quarters In the Palace theatre building. New York, is the siime room occupied by his presi- dential predecessor, Martin Beck. In answer to a question whether the Orpheum intended to re-enter Salt Lake City where its local house recently closed for vaudeville, M^-. Heiman replied the Salt Lake Orpheum had been leased to local interests and that the Orpheum did not intend to build there, although retaining the name of Orpheum under agreement for that city. "We may return to Salt Lake In the future." he fald. "It will be a good town for us under certain condi- tions." The somewhat odd policy of tl»« Orpheum, Vancouver, where legit shows are played for two days weekly and vaudeville the reniain- der of the week had satisfactorily worked out, Mr. Heiman answered to a query r bout the town. "It*« funny, too," he said. "We were doubtful about .that propo«ition, splitting the week in the way we did but Vancouver l\ad been a loser with vaudeville only and we were forced to an extremity. The new shift appears to be liked and so far Vancouver has been a winner with it." Mr. Heiman mentioned there are several deals pending he thought would be for Orpheum's betterment but he preferred not to mention them before their consummation. It wai» reported this week and confirmed by the Orpheum's book- ing departtnt'nt that Fannie Brice is to start an Orpheum circuit tour March 19, opening at Kansas City. It is said Miss Brice is receiving $2,500 to $3,000 wepltly on the tim*. Her engagement is hailed as an augury the Orpheum Is gofhg after a name-headod bill. It has certain points like Chicago, San Francisco and Los Angeles which call for a drawing card with other important cities of the circuit to be giver* to the big name acta engaged. The Duncan Sisters are also said to have been booked for Orpheum time. They will Jump direct to Frisco, opening there about March 25. The sisters want to first play the coast through the illness of their father who lives out there. 4 % Musical Stock at Ps^n, Memphis :Mf nii>l»i.s, Feb. L'S. It Is rejtorf»d I'antnges c<»ntem- plutes a niu^ic^l ^t•)ck policy, com- mend i;" .April 1. It Is now i»laying taudevill<». 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