Variety (May 1925)

VARIETY VAUDEVILLE ^ A^-vm^ : ?- Wednesday, May 6, 1925 15 YEARS AGO (From Variety and "Clipper") The opposition between the Hagenbcck show and the "101 Ranch" and Wild West was getting hotter through mid-western terri- tory. In Columbus It reached its peak when both shows arrived the same day. The circus got worsted in business, the Wild West troupe going to an overflow and the circus not quite gettli g capacity. Charles B. Kohl offered $100 for a substitute word for "vaudeville." His argument was that it no longer ■ignlfled hlgh-claas variety enter- tainment. Jeff DeAngelia was playing In raudeviUe with "Trial by Jury," the solitary one act operetta of the Gil- bert and Sullivan output. Variety in a notice praised Anna Pavlowa for being a good show- man. She was referred to as "that Russian girl," but that was before she got so famous. Mikhail Mord- kin was working with her. at the Palace, London. Freeman Bernstein, financial wiz- ard and think-fast guy, was run- ning an uptown cabaret in Fort George. His brother had been run- ning a place across the street for some time. "Sure," said Freeman, "we speak. What made you think we didn't. It's brotherly opposition." Talk was current concerning the conversion of the 4,00<f-«eat Man- hattan opera house Into a Hammer- stein vaudeville proposition. This talk came Immediately following the retirement of Oscar Hammerstein as a grand opera Impresario. Mme. Bernhardt was preparing to plunge into vaudeville, the debut to be made in England. Wilh another tremendous headliner in the shoK. the Coliseum's show was figured to cost over $10,000. double its usual outlay. The elephants of the Rlngllng cir- cu»W«nt on a stampede in DanvlJle. mi ENOAGElOlirFS Alice Fischer, Grant Stewart, Bea- trice Swanson, "The Bride Retires." Julia Sanderson, Donald Brian and Frank Crumlt to co-star in Boston company of "No, N^ Nanette." l>ooley and Morton, "Scandals." Cflirystal Heme, "A Bit of Love" (special matinees). Gladys Wilson, Arthur Byron, James Rennle, "Spring Fever." Josephine Victor, Henry Stephen- son. George Kerr. "The Pelican." Joseph E. Greene replaces Tom H. Walsh (deceased) in "Hell's Bells." Marguerite Sylva, "Cousin Sonla." KUzabeth Hines, Louis Calhem, Ann Andrews, Clare Weldon. Con- sUnce Howard, Elolse Stream. Wal- lace Clark, George Graham, Walter Palmar, George Cushman. George Cukor's stock. Lyceum, Rochester. Bobby Polsom. vaudeville, for Earl Carroll's "Who Cares?" Doris Downs,-Lola Taylor. Bea- trice Durant. "The Love Song." iiZfi** ^*""« Cooper replaces Adrlenno Morrl«»n, "Love for Love." Marguerite Rlsser, Alexander J. Herbert. Robert Cummings, Edgar %h^*'°*'* Owen, John Burklll, Br^iiS'lirby'** *°' **"-«^* "^»'« Franclne Larrlmore to replace MMT Duncan. "Queen Mab." Tis2Jfi!*i 5^^"~^''"' ^'Ph Forbes, Frederick Pen^ Robert Randel, Auiiol Lee, Ernest Stallard. for summer stock at the Belasco. Wash- ington. Gladys Wilson. "Spring Fever." viTlenne Osborne to replace Le- nore Ulrlc In "The Harem." Gail Kane for Spring Festival at Portland, Me.; Shakespearean re- vivals. Allen Moore, Valerie Valalre. Henry Wlttemore, Howard Free- man. Florence Huntington, Lester Bryant's Chicago summer stock. Mary Carroll. Max Hoffman Jr. CJharles Lawrence, Thomas Jack- lon, Harold Vizard, William Bal- four, Averlil Harris, Pat Leonard •When You Smile," with Oscar Sagel directing. Hal Skelly, Will Morrlssey, Mldgle Miller. "Chatterbox," revue. Ian Maclaren, Phyllla Joyce, ^liltford Kane, Dorothy Sands, tfarc Loebell, Charles Webster. Ann )chmldt, "The Critic." William Pollard, general under- tudy, "Is Zat Sor* Adelphl, Chl- Bobby Vail and wife,- for musicai tock, RlvoU, Denver. A cast change will be m.ido in The Green Hat" this w«ek in Chl- ago, Tonle Bruce replacing. Baj-- •ra Allen. RIGHT OFF THE DESK . By NELLIE REVELL Now that the N. V. A. benefits have swelled the sick fund of that organization by over a half million dollars In a single day, the world is beginning to sit up and take notice of a profession that, once looked upon as happy-go-lucky and financially Incompetent, is now demon- strating an ability to take care of its own, transcending the efforts of any other. To those who know the inside working of the amusement field, such a reversal is no surprise, for in no other Industry do the magnates, the men at the top. whose days are so busy that they lunch most of the time at their desk, give of themselves so freely In the service of their lesser and more unfortunate fellows? I know of none. In no other walk in life are there such institutions as the N. V. A. fund and the Actors' Fund. Just the other day at an afternoon-long meeting, such men as Sam Scribner. E. F. Albee, Marc Klaw. Daniel Frohman and many others discussed and advised on momentous Questions concerning the fund. Each has enough of this world's substance to prevent them from ever worrying about where they could get help in case of illness. And each was there because of a real and deep regard for the welfare of the rank and file of the profession. It was brought out that the N. V. A. fund disbursed over $300,000 last year and that the Actors' Fund distributes in the neighborhood of $200,- 000 every year to the sick and penniless of the profession. What a i>rivi- lege it is to belong to a calling that takes such wonderful care of its distressed. Francisco recAlls what in the old variety days were considered "wot on the stage. Veteran theatregoers will remember such bits as liCaggiel Maggi Did ye water the goldfishr* "I did not They haven't yet drunk water I give them last night" "Maggie, put the lemons on the ice I If ye don't they'll sour." "Maggie, put the horse In the kitchen and go to bed!" They were the first successful female impersonators, and some «( their act may still be caught occasionally In current impersonatiot sketches. Their costumes made them Irish chambermaids, with huge red wigs and arms akimbo, and their act was rarely changed. Tet though ^e audiences at the old Olympic in Chicago knew every line that wa'coming, any time the Russell Brothers played the house it was a red-letter week on Clark and Randolph streets. The death of the second of the famous old Russell Brothers at San It Is with deep regret that I must chronicle that our own red-headed Irene Franklin—whose hair In tltian and not Iml-titlan—Is stUl conflned In the New York Neurological Hospital at 149 East 67th street. She has been there six months, and the doctors told her she could leave on Easter. But it was like some of those promises the doctors used to make mew However, we all get out at some time or oth^r and everyone is hoping that Irene's turn won't be lonff in coming. We have missed you, Red Head. „, • - lA Just about the same time this issue hits the newsstands Ruth Byers will be saying "I do" and all the rest of the things brides say. She is marrying Thomas Daugherty Heed, of Chicago, and is going out to the breezy burg to Mve, which Is the only thing about the whole proceeding that I don't like. Ruth was head of the Phoenix News Bureau here, was in charge of the publicity for the Women's National Republican Campaign last fall, and is a member in good standing and good every other way of the New York Newspaper Women's Clab. And, more than that, she is a person who knows how to be a friend. All ef it (Contlnu'^d on page 10) i ■ _„. _ ■ .,.,*5Vrys=':;. DOUGLAS FAIRBANKS ;, DON Q_, Son of Zorro Release Date - August 50^ IINITED ARTISTS CORPORATIOlJ Mary Pick ford '' ^Charles Chaplin Douglas Jairbanks ^D.W. Griffith Hiram Abrums. President. Joseph M Schenck. Chairman. Beard of Directors k » t '/ ; » 1