Variety (March 1925)

•.iqU«l«l«^IW.w«' Wednesday, March 4. 1925 VAUDEVILLE VARIETY HEADLINING ACTS OUT FOR FUTURE - ON EASTERN VAUDEVILLE BILLING f "^lay or Pay Contracts Must Be Lived Up To, Says Keith-AIbee OfBcial—"Getting Sick" for Bad Spots or Bad Business Will Cause Act to "Keep Sick"—If Not Liking K-A Rules for Acts, Can Play Any Place They Please—Starts Next Season Beginning with next season the Kelth-Albee Circuit will not head- line any act regardless of Its im- portance and will insist upon all acts living up to contract, accept- ing any position on the bill assigned by the manager. Dumb acts of merit will be played in the bod> of the bill wherever possible and top line billing will be a thing of the past. The Keith-Albee decision follows an inveatlgation by tbe circuit dur- ing which time it has been dis- covered the shows were sufTeriDg and many acts laying off because headline acta insisted upon certain spots or wouldn't split top line billing with other acts available for bookings. The same investigator is au- thority for the statement that from now on acts in thj habit of "getting sick" prior to a booking which they don't fancy will be allowed to re- main "Bick" indefinitely. Many acts have spots which they avoid like 1- pestilence sometimes, due to luke- warm success or other causes, but will accept the town or towns on a route and thea try to avoid It by feigning Illness, according to th« oiTlcial. The names of acts addicted to these habits have been compiled and all house managers notified. Next season the first case of this kind will be summarily dealt with and the act Ftricken from the books. Hoadliners who shy at playing houses where business is off will b« treated similarly, :t is said. The acts of this tjrpe are actuated by a desire to avoid a date where a check-up on their drawing power would result or a comparison be drawn. Managers and Billing Time table billing will be op- tional with the managers and all billing subject to local conditions. The bookers will concentrate upoa the show aa a whole and not at- tempt to build around any particu- lar headliner aa In the past. The acts objecting to this regard- less of their importance may walk out and play anywhere they pleaae but, according to this Keith-Albee oflicial, they will no longer weaken their bills trying to lay out shows which will be subject to the per- sonal whims or artistic tempera- ments of artists. •The bill as a whole" will be the future slogan of the bookers and spot pickerb will be given scant attention. Many of the standard acts laying off from week to week, acta peculiarly fitted for certain spots on bills, couhi not be used last season because the shifts necessary would conflict with the headliner's position on the bill. This will be eliminated from now on, the Keith man said. COLLINS WITH PAN Brother of Floyd Gets $600, Split- ting With Announcer I Chicago, March 3. Homer Collins, brother of Floyd Collins, who last week appeared at the Olympic (burlesque) as an added attraction, has been booked into the Pan house, Minneapolis, Cor one week with an option. ,Tbe turn offere<l by Collins con- sts of some talk pertaining to the work In trying to siive his brother. This is delivered without the aid of slides or film. He conveys to the audience that hia rersonal appear- ance Is merely due to the fact that he is trying to scrape up enough money so as to remove his brother from his present resting place to a more^uitable bur!al ground. CoTIlnp is reported getting $500 for his Pantages engagement, with the announcer said to be receiving half. BARUSCH WITH A. & H. San Francisco, March S. Ackerman 9t Harris have placed Walter Barusch in charge of pub- licity and exploitation for their cir- cuit of vaudeville houses and the theatres they operate under the name of the Pacific States The- atres, Inc. Barusch will be located in San Francisco handling the renamed Hippodrome, now the Union Square, and the Strand-Hippodrome (for- merly the home of Win King on Market street). The new FrankMn in Oakland, and the Palace in San L«andro will also be handled by Barusch. ORANGE AND BIG ACTS Newark, N. J., March 3. A story here is that the Palace, Orange, is playing the acts from Proctor's Palace, Newark, but not billine thoin. The Orange Palace plays pictures and Keith's vaude- ville. The manager of the OranRC house did not deny the report, but Louis GoJdin?, manager of l-'roctor's, stated the Hiiluce is using Keith's small time an<l occasionally plays an n'-i from the Newitik big time hotipe. Mr. f:o!ri:i:fT assert'* it would be Impo: f'll.'f \ov the sm:ill time house to afford the larger .Tct«, but that they mi"ht !)uy one of the le.-iser nets vv iir.«:';it not. HOUSES CLOSING ChiriiKo. M;irth 3. The Oiiheiini, Mudi.son, Wis., will d:s( onliiitio vaudevl'le for the <un-eni .■.ca-.-on March 14. The house will re.-jX"" .March l!2nd, with the I^oroDiy Iji \erno stock company, u Hol>ert Sherman organisation. The stock roinpany will remain In- donnllclv. HOUSES OPENING The Oneida, Rome, N. Y.. will play vaudeville on the last half be- ginning next week with bills con- sisting of four acts booked out of the Jack Linder Agency, New York. . The State, Utlca, N. Y.. which operated aa a full week stand for two weeks again becomes a split week house next week playing five acts on each end booked by the Jack Linder Agency, New York. The new Central Cedarhurst, L. I., which will play pop vaudeville and plctui-es, opens next Monday. 3 OF YOUNGER AGEKTS EXCEPTED IN ORDER Allen, Morrison and Farnum Hustling and Alert—Wilton Also Noted ''Digger-up" The recent announcement of a house cleaning of Kelth-Albee agents who were neglecting their agencies and acts i.. quotlfied by one Keith official and was aimed at several of the older agents with outside Interest.s. Among the younger agents mcm- tioned as exceptions to the sweep- ing Indictment are Charles Allen (M. 9. Bentham office), Charley Morrison and Ralph Farnum. All three have brought in many new faces to the bookers and are con- sidered hustling, alert showmen. Alf T. Wilton is another agent continually digging up new ma- terial. It was Wilton, who firtst recognized the possibilities of the San Antonio Siamese Twins for vaudeville. This week he is offer- ing the Hippodrome bookers Paavo NurmI, the marvelous Finnish run- ner, who has been shattering world's records and breaking box office grosses since he came to tliit! country. ORFHEUU BOOKINGS The Orpheum Circuit continues to sign names and standard acts. The latest batch starting imme- diately or in the next f6w weeks over the circuit is headed by Koryl Norman ("Creole Fashion Plate"), who has been routed for a long term. Boreo opened at St. Liouis Mon- day of this veek, Keene and Whit- ney opened last week, Glersdorf Sisters, Florence Reed in "Ashes," Ned Weybum's "Demi Tasse Re- vue," Mclntyre and Heath, Lee Kids, and Dick Keene and Virginia Barret have been routed. BISMISSEO ON MINOR CHARGE In Special Sessions Monday morn- ing. Samuel Lyons was discharged on tbe complaint of having permit- ted Louis Sims, a colored minor, under IC, to appear in public exhibi- tion as a dancer. Lyons was ar- rested and released in %iW bail. Kendler & Ooldstein for tbe de- fandant proved he was not in any wise interested In the show, being there in place of his brother, Ar- thur S. Lyons, the revue producer. KAT... THEODORE O'HANLON and ZAMBUNI Piccadilly Hotel, London, England Topping their American success here and rightly billed as "The Great- est of International Dancers, IJniverKally Acclaimed," these marvelous terpsichorean artists are captivating the elite of London, creating n furore, the toast of the nobility. Direction WILLIAM MORRIS Husband on High Nora Bayes Takes Fifth Seas Ob her fifth voyage a>.TOSs the Atlantic. Nora Bayes embarked for the fifth time on the sea of matri- mony. The songstress sailed away on the Leviathan Saturday. At 3 p. m. Captain Herbert S. Hartley, mas- ter of the big boat, radioed to the headquarters of the United States Lines that he had just married Miss Bayes to Benjamin L. Friedland in his office with the ship's position given as 80 miles eii.st of Ambrose Light. Witnesses were Mrs. Alfred E. Smith, wife of New York's gov- ernor; Miss Kmlly Smith, daughter of the governor; Mrs. John H. Mc- Cooey, wife of the Brooklyn Demo- cratic leader, and two of the ship's officers. Miss Bayes had requested Captain Hartley to perform the ceremony because he is a friend of eighteen years' standing. Tlie bridegroom, according to Wells Hawkes, publicity representa- tive for Miss Bayes, has known the actress for several years and be- came very attentive to her last year. He is S8 years old, lives in New York, president of the Affiliated Garages with offices at 22» West 49th street, and interested in sev- eral other corporations. The newlyweds will go to Paris, Monte Carlo and Rome. While overseas Miss Bayes will gather material for a new musical comedy which she has announced she will produce soon after she returns on the Leviathan on April S. The fair Nora's other husbands were: C. A. Cressing, Chicago business man: Jack Xorworth, ac- tor; Harry Clarke, once her danc- ing partner, and Arthur A. Gordon, also an actor. It Is understood that Miss Bayes' three adopted children bade her au revoir at the steamer, but returned to their home on West End avenue. being the first time tbe star has palled without then|. WILTON'S "NAMES" Several "names" offered to Kelth- Albee bookers this past week by Alf T. Wilton included Bill Tilden, tennis champion, Tessa Kosta and Marjorle Breen in a singing duo, and Marion Randall, dancer. PA. HOUSE CHANGEF HANDS Altoona, Pa., March 3. Independent vaudeville In Al- toona has breathed its last. On Monday the management of the Mishler, for years the city's only leglt house, was taken out of the hands of Ointer brothers, local men, and shouldered by Wilmer and Vin- cent. Ownership of the house, however, remains with the Qinters. J. F. Maloy, who came here re- cently to take charge of the Or- pheum. Keith vaudeville, will be the Mlshler's new house manager. He will also continue as manager of the Orpheum. Tbe Mlshler's new policy will be legit attractions the first two days of the week, burlesque the third and five Keith acts and a feature picture the rest of the week, the acts to be booked in conjunction with the Majestic, the Wilmer and Vincent house at Harrisburg. ORPHEUM AND OMAHA Chicago, March t. With the Ueparture of Mort H. Ringer, vice president Orpheum Circuit, to discuss vaudeville con- ditions with Nebraska financiers in Omaha, drifts talk that a new hMise there is a possibility for the circuit. MRS. KEEFE PAN TREASURER Los Angeles, March t. Adele McNeil Keefe, wife of Wal- ter Keefe, former New York booker of the Pantages, is now employed by her husband's former employer as assistant treasurer of the I*an- tages, San Diego. CAL EMPLOYMENT BILL NOT TAKEN SERIOUSLY in Committee but Given Slight Hope of Going Through— Amends Labor Law San Frnticlsco, March 3. Legislation, which on the surface seems to be aimed at unfair em- ployment throughout Callforni;\ and especially Hollywood, comes up for action in Sacramento during this term. Those In a position to know seem to feel that the introduced Pedrotti bill act Is merely a political move to place all theatrical bookings and picture engjiKt-ments under State supervision and to place in charge of such a commi.ssion a few of the polltician.s who feci that soft jobs may result. The bill. No. C31. Ih now in com- mittee, but given no chance of pass- age. It is true that a serious condition exists in the placing of talent for motion picture productions. There is one bureau in Los Angeles that places the people In about 75 per cent, of picture productions, anri from this bureau the report goes, came last year more than 1,600 com- plaints, some of them petty, others of a more serious nature. According to the proposed meas- ure, as It is written, all verb.il agreements would be discontinued both between the producer and thn agent and the agent and the actor. This, according to those in a posi- tion to know, would be a distinct hardship on both. Again, as the law Is written, nn out o.: town manager could not call up a vaudeville booking manager In either Los Angeles or San Fran- cisco, to fill in an act on a short sliow, neither could he wire hN wants. An evasion could be mrt<\« by a standing order, but even this is doubtful. Wedgewood Nowell, Equity rep- resentative on the Pacific Coast. Is now in Sacramento in the interest of the profession. The Pedrotti act Is variously viewed by other legislators. Standardizing Lobby Displays Floyd Bcott, press agent for the Orpheum Circuit in Chicago, is in New York this week. The purpose of his visit was to confer with the Keith office concerning a standard- ization of lobby displays over both the Keith and Orpheum Circuits. Osvid Sturgis, author of "White Collte," a new phiy being shaped for Broadway, denies that Kvelyn Kills (colored) has been engaged aa a principal. Atsn's. We«t Addition I,OS Angeles. March 3. Western Vaudeville Managers' As.'iociatlon is continuing to add houses to its Coast territories. Those announced for early addi- tions are in Astoria and Longvlew, Ore., Und Raymond, Washington. These houses will all be two-duy stands. ROGERS' TWO TABS Chicago, March 3. Two musical shows, each with chorus and principals numbering 30 persons, will be produced by Harry Rogers which will play Western Vaudeville dates after the regular season closes. Toby Wilson will head on-) show and Billy House the other, with Milt Shuster casting both troui>e«l 8. A. TROUBADOURS AT HIP Chicago, ^arch 3. Fowler and Tumara ant^ their South American Troubndors have, been booked Into the Hippodrome. New York, for two weeks opening March 23. They will ,)re8ent their Argentine dance backed up by the house ballet. State, Utica, Full Week The SUte, Utlca. wbtsh baa been operating on a split wsei'. basis goes into full week policy next week. It la an independent booked bouse play- ing six acta booked out of the Jack Linder Agency. New York. ZEZ CONTRET'S OPENING DATE Zez Confrey will enter big time vaudeville opening March • in a musical turn which cells for three pianos on the stage. Charley Morrison arranged the showing. Ncwhoff and Phelps were re- leased from the bill at the Flatbush. Brooklyn, Feb. 26, to enahle them to Jump to Kansas City to .>pen for the Orpheum Circuit on which they liHvc been routed.