Variety (August 1925)

r Wednesday, Aii^pm. M, H29 VAUDEVILLE VARIETT M ^ 50 WEEKS - OF K..A. POPS MtM Wootis' Eztentive Family Circuit Time Tb« ' Keith-Alb«« pop pricotf ^tMAfvtDm depmrtmcat has more itaM •> its books ttaaa vror bofore. ft OMi ra<at« am atft for ovor 50 MOtlri. oxcliwlv* of th« Itookers of pop and ■man-tlmo houaoa leckted on the alzth (Mc timo) floor. All of the ftfth floor pop vaudo- ^rflle territory is located east ef ]^ci|pnati. The pop-priced department U snder the rtiflnagement of Mae ;Wooda' Miss Woods has been tai diars* about a year, snooeedlng Dan Hennessy and John Burke, retired. fndepefidt Reorganizfltion And Bookii^ Switches Am predicted 4Mveral weeks afro. the next few weeks will practically see a reorgranizatlon of b^oktni?; in the independent, wHh wbolestJe tMuoe swttehins. and soaw ef the lesser known bookers takingr houses previously monopolised by the bis three of the Independent field. Many switches have been made. With the new bookers notified to be- fln booVins tne bin* from Labor 13ay on. with details beins held in Kbeyance untn then at the request of the managers, who fear an- nouncement at this time would be aetrtmental in that the lostnc: out bookers mifffat counter with inferior «%HttM througl) knowing that they were about to lose tlie houses and would not flgure the final weeks . w ui thy of the usual consideration. <^ne Independent booker will add lit least 12 new houses formerly bandied by three other agencies. Vh* booker claims ^ have sold Ms ■ew oUents the idea of plun^lns on Its vaudeville In the eomlng season throufTh talking turkey and telling them that a good show costs mon^j and that his odioe does not han< the caliber of acts that had been •ent oat. at the ridtculoasly low flg- ■res by the other bookers. The booker in question has made several attempts to get the better class independent bookers to oper- tite with a uniform salary scale for acts, but without suooess, through many too anxious to crab business to educate tlteir clients that If they want a good show they will have to pay ths prloe. American Agents And London V ■-• ,r Liondon. July M. WhMt Is the matter wtU American variety agents Im London T That there are nov- eltles over here ripe for Im- portation, ail Mew York per- fonaers agrea. Tet no agent can be induced .to book them— Or even to see them. Three years ago one of the best of the lesser known Lion- dea comedians wa& brought to the notice of Variety's London repreeentaUve who. after see- ing and approving of the act. recommended it to the agents. For three yeare that act has been awaiting an offer from America. For three years uo attempt whatever to book It has been mad*. Mow at last a sudden opportunity has oc- curred and the agents will eoon be regretting they did not "discover" the man. During a conversation with two or three American per- formers la Variety's London office there was named half-a- dozen Bnglish acts certain Of succees in New Tork though they had never appeared there. The visitors agreed. What makes .the slackness of ' the agents stm stranger to under- stand. Is that one of these acts Is presented by a com- edian born In Chicago, the son of a well-known American per- former. The agents know these XsAts. They also know he has never given his slaew in America. And yet, though glad to meet him and drink with him.'nothing will induce them to see his show. F. B. 0. SHORT FILMS FOR VAUDEVHif Sim's K. C^ Meeting with Managers of Four States Kansas Cit9, Aug. 4. A ainnber of managers of houses la Missouri. Kansas. Oklahoma and Texas met here with representatives «f the Ous Sun elrcuit for the pur- pose of planning booking arrange- snents for their houses. The meert- 'lag was held at the Hotel Muehle- liach. and the representatives if the eun circuit, headed by BiUy X>la- iBond. were well pleased with the representation. A local booking ofBoa has been opened, and the otrcait expects to Iwre Its acts and attractions In a Kansas City house in the near future. Although the name of the theatre was not announced. It is reported the 8nn acts will go Into the Olobc If anywhere. This house formerly pUyed W. V. A. acts, but U now Csatniing musical tabs and pictures. Vau^viUa c%cuits are bidding for ehvrt comedy subjects in fllm. The F. B. O. has been particularly strong in placing its short features in the vaudevUls hoose of late with Leew iiouses In tlie metropoU- dietrict. f^ theatres in Roches- ter, Kew York. West Philadelphia aitd Providentfe, and |||e Commer- ford Circuit In Pennsylvania tak- ing thefar product 100 per cent. The short sublects Include "The Adventures of Mazie" in 12 two-reel episode; a series of IS two-reel comedies starring Larry Kent; IS two-reel Standard Fat Men com- edies; a ssrlsB of Ik two-reel Blue Ribbon Comedies and 26 single-reel cartoon comedies trdta BAay. BVf& Stremel Lull The Stremel Tersus Stremel marl- tel imbroglio has reached a tem- ■>orary lull. Mrs. Blanche Stremel Was Intent on having her vaudeville busband. Henry B. Stremel, pun- ished for contemixt of court in fail- ing to pay up accrued alimony, but Che latter decided to settle and not risk a Jail sentence. Miss Dallas Walker, la whose act, ttM Dallas Walker Trio, Stremel is smployed, has also agreed to waive counter-suing Mrs. Stremel for slander. Miss Walker was impli- cated In the Stremel divorce, the allegation being he shared the Walker apartment for a week with Mlae Walker and her daughter. MIee Walker teetlAed Stremel's t«om was in an oCt-wlag of the MMutment. KLEIN Bim FIAT •Arthur Klein has purchasfd "Qen- tlemen of the Jury,*' a three-act comedy by Benjamin Kay. for fall production. The piece was tried out in stock at Hartflsrd and has been variously reported-- as pur- chased by Al Woods and Jones & Green. NEW RUUNG SnFLES AGENTS Improved Acts Must Re- turn to Sourcs Tha niMng of the big time, that acts tearing one agent and subse- quently getting a rates la salary must return to the ortglnal agent, which went Into effect last season, te kUltng initiative and throtUing the tatdlvduality of ths representa- tives. This te the opinion of the majority of the agents. The rule was promulgated to do away with the indiscriminate chang- ing of agents by vaudeville acts bat it has worked out to the disadvan- tage of thoee agents who recognized the possibilities of an act, made c h a ng es which enhancwl its value, secured bookings and ware success- ful in raising the acts salary. It tends to Btandardite agents and, makes them Indifferent as regards working out their own ideas ef showmanship and presentations and confines them to the actual booking of an act Instead of acting as booker and producer, a function many agents are proficient at. It also works to the disadvantage of the artist, the agents say, in that one agent may be unsuccessful in booking a turn and not irtiowman enough to recognize its deficiencies where another may make sugges- tions that increase Its value and book it only to le compelled to re- turn the act tt> the incompetent handler. This isn't conducive to efforts on the second agents part toward rais- ing an act's salary or helping It with constructive suggestions, according to the agents. LOSS OF F. & R. BOOKINGS BLOW TO ASS¥S. COAST CIRCUIT Chicago, Aug. 4. WlOt ttis announcement that the Flnkelstein A Ruben houses had been turned over to the Qns Sun-Billy Diamond offices, also came the announcement from the W. V. M. Aasoclatlon it will no tongsr book the F. * R. Circuit. This affects the W. V. M. A. coast tlstM. and necessitates acts Jumping direct from Chicago to Salt Lake City or further. Kven with the assistance and gaining of the Paoiflc Coast houses, the W. V. M. 4; '>*■ BOt bettered its coast circuit since the opening, and te still gfviag 10 weeks to be played in 14. It Is reported th%t the heads of the Orpheum Circuit are dissatis- fied with the coast family time and reorganization is rumored. Sinos ttas Association's road men garnered in the present time they hays been let out with no one working to secure new houses. NEW WAGE SCHEDULE Razzed Tenor The Frances Pritcbard Trio walked out of the show the first luUf at the Star, New York, when "roughnecks" In the balcony began to rass the tenor with the act. The razKing was uajuatlfled, as the act seemingly had too much class for that house, which te spotted on the east side of lower Harlem. The trio is headed by Miss £>ritch- ard and includes two others, men. GUS ADAMS AGENT Ous Adams (Adams ft Bond) was granted a booking franchise by the Loew Circuit last week and will retire from the stage. He will open offices in the Lesir Annex Building. mi Dawson win withdraw from- the Sam Fallow Agency to beoome associated with Adams. Ray Hutfhes Joins "Vanitiss'' Ray Hughes, formefly of the vaude team Hughes and Pam, en- tered "Vanities" last Friday, re- placing Jack Norton, the latter withdrawing through dissatisfaction over his roles. FRANCES (Frankie) RICE COMEDIENNE and MIMIC ,' Thoroughly Reliable Always Wash. Houss Employees end Mprs. Cant Ayss W sw Seals Ows Washington. Aug. 4. With Sept 1 s«t as the date for the new wa^e schedule to go Into effect here, the stagehands, mu- sicians and managers have not reached an agreement. The stage- hands are asking 10 to .J 6 percent Increases While the musicians are asking approximately SO per cent. The operators are working under a two-year agreement which does not expire until 1926. From the musicians' angle thte propoaed scaie would give tt>e vaudWiUe leaders a .Jump from |7( to $115, and In the burlesque houses from |S6 to |86. A corre- sponding increase is asked for In legit and picture tboatrea For the neighborhood houses, with a seat- ing capacity of 1,000 or more, the musicians state 10 men must be used. In the smaller houses. Where a pianist or organist now holds forth, the salary there must be equal to that erf a leader. Meetings are In progress, b«t neither side will divulge how ne- gotiations are working oat. 4 Dramatic Tal>-Unit8 • For K-A Rotating Time Chicago, Aug. 4. Coney Hohnes has booked four dramatic unit* to play the former Ous Sun housea now being booked out Of the Chicago Keith office. The units wtn rotate over four of the St—ris and -ohanse tbslr booka^very fourth week before repeating. They are the Andy Wright Ptey- ers, opening with "Why Men Leave Home," "My Lady Friends" and two other legit successes. One unit will b« a.modified edition of the Dor- othy Gale Players, a stock company from the Temple, Hammond, Ind. Tatis iMI also be plsy^ and a tabloid cumit bulU up. Musical comedy producers in the east are being approached by Holmes for re- rivate of former fliash act* la tab form to play tba newly acquired territory. * « Neighborhood Houses Cut Prices and Shorten Bills Business has taken anothei^elllng dvop in the small time houses with the result that both circuit and in- dependently booked houses are re- eortlng to a price slashing campaign In hopes of resnsleating late summer business. The revised scales show reductions of from. 10 to 20 per cent in admission fees with some of the houses also reducing their bills, fig- uring the abbreviation will be over- looked because of the bargain prices. Vaudeville business in the neigh- borhoods of New Tork and suburbs have been hit harder than usual this summer with few showing a profit and the majority lucky to break even despite drastic economy in all departments. CUTS WEEKEND SCALE Los Angeles, Aug. 4. The $2.20 top scale on Saturday and Sunday nights at the Orpheum since the war has been cut to |1.65. It is said that the Saturday and Sunday business was not up to the mark, and with the picture housi^s Rotting heavy play on thoso nights It was figured that a rnvlHiun of the .loale miKht induce patrons fiom them to the vaudeville house. "The rcHult on tlie llrst two d:tyrf of this change was that the chttre hou»e was practically sold out. SUN-KEENEY ALLIANCE BRINGS OUT DENIALS Prmcipah Say It's On, but Agency Connections Indicate ft Has Not Yet Happened The Ous 8un-Frank Keeney alli- ance for an independent vaudeville exchange, wMoh was to have begun functioning last week, did no4 mato- riaUsa General opinion has It that Keeney has reconsidered on tlje ar- rangement despite denials an this score by Keeney and reiwesentatlves of the New York office of the Sun Circuit. / Fany Markus. who was to havs relinquished bookings of Kseney's. Brooklyn, the only house of the Keeney trio now open, is still book- ing the house and claims to have re- ceived no instructions to dlscontinus from Keeney. He Is reported as car- rying advance bookings for ths Brooklyn house dated three weeks ahead, at least on some acts. Tba Chamberlain houses, 'which had also been announced as swing- ing over to the new SKin-Kecney agency, will go over to tbe Amalga- mated Instead, with the latter tak* Ing them over on September 7. The latter deal was closed last week after a conference between Mike Comerford and Boyd Chamberlain, ^e latter representing t^te Cham- berlain Circuit. An Inside on the deal has it that Cliamberlaln swung oyer to tSie Cemerford crowd for protsctlng en l>ictttrs bookings erhich he oouU not have gotten with the Sun-Keeney outfit. Vhe Chamt>erlaln group pentains honees in Mahonoy City. I»a.; Shamokln, Pa.; Mt. Carmel, Pa.; TonaQua. Pa., ai^ Lionsford, Pa. All five will play five acts on a ispUt week b^sls and the acquisition of the new houses will bring the Amalgamated up to 17 houses, giving eight and a half weelcs' wock to . performers booked. The drop out of the Chamberlain houses from the proposed Sun- Keeney agency is rumored to have changed the complexion of the pro- posed Independent agency, with strong rumors that Keeney will cither remain with the Markus agency or, If he does make any change, will also swing over to th« Comerford group. Talk of a Kceney- Comerford amalgamation was rife last summer, but petered out before - anything actually happened. Despite denials that the Snn- Keeney arrangement has collapsed, it has been an open secret for the past week that Keeney has steered clear of tlie New York Sun office and that at several times both J. W. Todd and assistants have tried un- successfully to locate Keeney after being questioned about the pre- dicted bluw-up of the new enter- prt%e. Ben Welch with Loew Ben Welch opens for Loew's at the Stite, New York, next week at J'JOO. Vincent liopoz's Dt-butantps. nn U-piere E'rl lisnd, makes its Loew debut at 11,350 weekly. .-— ^ Cooley and Hovward Team Cliarles Cooley, formerly of tha llayri.und Trio, and Gene Howard. furinfrly rif Howard & £arle, have formed a vaude imrt'aership and wiU bpea shortly with a new act. r^' .%^