Variety (September 1925)

r Wednesday, September S, IMS VAUDEVILLE VARIErr NEW STYLE OF UNIT PROGRAM I FOR FAMILY VAUDEVILLE Chicago K.-A. Office Opened No. 1 Road Show Bill at Kankakee—Prediction of Something New and Likeable for Small Time Chicago, Sept. 1. A trip Fridajr night was mad*; to rlew the opening of th« first of the fhows which will go over the family time of the Chicago Kelth-Albee of- And after seeing the show and I, ' flee, SIGNATURES TABOO ON IND. CONTRACTS > talking with nutperous managers | ,. from vaudeville houses in neighbor- ! Ing towns who also traveled to Kan- ' knkee it looks certain that Coney : Holmes has uncorked something big that Is going to have nn im- -■■ portant influence in reviving the email time vaudeville theatre in the medium slsed town -T For the last few years the mount- . Ing cost of talent has made it im- possible for the family time man- ager to get a break. Shows were running from $2,000 to $2,200 and this figure made the manager will- ing to experiment with musical tabs or just stick to straight pictures. Now Holmes gives the small town showman a new wrinkle, a show that is vaudeville In form but pro- duced as a unit with a specially written after-piece plus a chorus of six girl steppers, all going to t.-ake up faster and funnier vaude- illU free from • sameness, with a feminine touch hitherto lacking ard all this at an approximate cost of from $1,500 to $1,600. It is not saving too much that the new sys- tem may revolutionize family time vaudeville. Different Billing Plnce last May Holmes has been working out the details of the plan. He has lined up about 15 weeks extending from Kpnkakee to Ea.st __ Ltvc-pool. O. The shows w^ll each be given distlng-iishlng billing, one being "Cirrus Week"; another "Syncopation Wfek." etc. The No. 1 show (produced by Jack Pine) WH be known as "Charleston Ra- dium Uevue." It consists of Otto New Ruling Effective This Week—Boolcers Tired of Dropouts and Collusion Agentj signatures are no longer acceptable on contracts issued by independent bookers according to a ruling uniformly agreed upon this week. Hereafter all play or pay contracts must be signed by per- formers or else verified by mail when contracts cannot reach them In time. The bookers claim they were driven into this new arrangement through the number of drop outs and, in some instances, collusion upon the part of the agents and performers with the acts repudiat- ing the agent's authority to sign for them. The new ruling gives the bookers a bona fide case to bring the male- factors up on charges with the V. M. P. A. should they attempt to run out on their obligations when physically able to play the date. NO TROUBLE OVER ROAD SCALE & LOWER BERTH I. A. Official So States—Road Call on Davenport, la. COASTSTRUGGLE BY PAN, ASSN. & WEST COAST Colored Vaudeville House Is Orpheum, Newark, N. J. Newark. N. J.. Sept. 1. The Orpheum opened Saturday. It is said to be.the only colored the- atre in New Jersey. The policy will be three shows a day. each lasting three hours. Ordi- narily split week TaudevUle with the headliner holding over with a feature picture and small subjects will be used, but Sept. 14 "The Smarter Set" and "ShCiffle Along, Eliza," will come in, each with a feature. One or two of the acts VIRGINIA MAXINE LOOMIS TWINS Hollywood's gift to the amuse- ment world. All season at the Palais Royal and Atlantic City's sensation. Not only can these tal- ented kiddies sing and dance but their ability ranges from comedy to drama; they'll sway your emotions from laughter to tears. Happy with our success and our friend, the divine dancer, Thelma Bdwaris, at the fhnbassy, Atlantic City. Our lole representative:- SAM COLLINS 219 West 4«th Strsst Nsw York KEITH-ALBEE FOREIGN OFHCE An executive of the stagehands' union says no trouble has been en- countered by any of the traveling burlesque companies regarding the new road scale and the lower berth provision in the contracts. The Alliance Sept. 1 Issued an offi- cial road call on Davenport, la., where stagehands local No. 85 has gone on strike in sympjithy with the musicians, who are out at the Co- lumbia, the Orpheum vaudeville the- atre there. In D.avenport trouble started when the Orpheum management refused to install a seven-piece orchestra and offered to play a six-piece bantl only. With a non-union orchestra In, the stagehands became embroiled. Site in London or Paris— Deemed Necessary ASS'N'S COAST TIME Switching of Route South—New States Invaded Lioa Angeles, Sept. 1. W. V. M. A. Association road shows will invade Texas, Arizona and New Mexico OcL 1. Contracts were signed whereby the Texas Grand in El Paso, Lyric, Douglas; Opera house. Tuscon; Columbia, Phoenix, and Pastime In Albuquer- que will play from one to three days of the road shows. It is also expected that a house in Kl Centro and one in San Diego, both California, will be added to the route. The switching of the road shows to the southern route will be made from Trinidad, Colo., direct to Albuquerque and from there to Bl Paso. It will eliminate the shows [ make and Mildred, comedy juggling and : usually will l>e white. magic act carrying what looks like a baggage carload of props; Gard- ner and Revere, man and woman with sure-flre hoke; the six chor- isters, in third spot; Ross and Ed- wards, two boys with .special num- bers full of snap; and lastly the after-piece. While the openIn^T night revealed some weak spots the show as a whole was a wow. Mr. Johnson from Lafayette, and Mr. Goldberg, from LaPorte, both vaudeville man- agers, expressed tU* opjnlon the new system would be certain to click, that it gives a manager a selling point, something to adver- tise and that small town audiences are surfeited with ordinary vaude- ville. .Tean Russell, manager of the Li^/ha. Kankakee, found plenty of comment In the fact that he had the biggest Friday night's gross In eight years. The six chorus girls are lookers and acquitted themselves well bar- ring the vocal efforts which was somewhat weak, probably due to opening night excitement. The novelty punch la provided by a ra- dium bit using the new Invention of Lew Beck, electrician at the Rainbo Gardens, Chicago, with hands, legs and face showing a deep purple and the costumes and hats standing out. The afterpiece was so old It was new to the present generation. It was the old gag about the million- aire girl having to marry a man within 24 hours with the man rrom- ising to die after the wedding. The ancient bit of breaking an egg In each hat was u.sed and the way the audience reared if might never have been done before. Kankakee Is 70 miles south of Chicago, a notoriously poor show town. The Luna In an old house but has been well kept up. There are six musicians In the pit. A manager In such a town would nat- urally he keen -m for the Coney Holmes scheme. Tt will be nectar nnd ambrosia to many another small town manager, this reviewer pre- dicts. Hal. The prices are, evenings, Satur- day and Sunday mats., 50 cents or- chestra and 3S cents balcony, with matinees 20-30. Warner and Com- monwealth pictures will be shown, some of them second run. For the opening bill "Tainted Money," a first run, will be shown. The first bin consists of the Luccl Four (white), Bailey and Teare, Ward Duo, Grace Rector and Fran- cis Smith, Butterbeans and Susie. \The Orpheum is controlled by the U. S. Exposition Company, which consists of EdwArd and Leon Sls- gelson and David Seaman, all white. The manager is Leigh Whlp- per. The entire staff, musicians and all, win be colored. The management exi>ects to draw from not only the 46,000 in Newark and the 100.000 colored folks In Ea- scx County, but from the colored population of ths state as far south as New Brunswick. The billing ex- tends that far and seats for the opening week have been sold to colored patrons In Xrenton. Colored and mixed shows on the Columbia burlesque circuit show at Miner's here. The Kelth-AIbs* Circuit may es- tablish its own International office in either London or Paris for the purpose of gettinc accurate and continuous informailon on foreign acts for importation. According to report. Harry Mon- dprf, K.-A. International represen- tative, would be In charge of the of- fice with a permanent staff. Mondorf makes aa annual pil- grimage and fiddls Darling takes several weesk to Inspect foreign flelds, but It Is considered Impossi- ble for two men to thoroughly cover the entire territory. The present systsm depends largely upon the efforts of inter- national agents In ths capltols of Europe. The agents meet the rep- resentative of ths K.-A, Circuit, and naturally remain silent about acts not represented by them. All Eu- ropean acts must b« "seen" by either Mondorf or Darling. The MarlnelU office has failed to renew its International represen- tation In London, Berlin and other European cities, and as a result has dropped out as a factor In Interna- tional bookings. This would ordinarily make the field an open one for the blg-tlme agents, but the sanction of Mondorf or Darling, necessary before a booking can bs consirmmatcd, the K.-A. agents figure a scouting trip would be a waste of effort. going north from Trinidad to points In Utah. It will also cut out the present jump from Ogden to Pomona, which is now the practice. The reaso)! for this switching Is that Paramount has purchased the Alhambra In Ogden, which leaves only the Pantages house there play- ing vaudeville. It is figured that by the addition of El Centro and San Diego to the circuit the big jump will be killed by switching the shows from San Diego to Pomona and 3an Bernardino. According to reports another rea- son is the dropping off of the FInklestein & Rubin house from the W. V. M. A, books. The Sanger Amusement Co. owns 50 per ctnt in the El Paso houses, operated by the Dent Enterprises. The Phoenix and Douglas houses are owned by Rickard & Nace. Kl Paso and Phoenix are to play three days each, with the other three towns one day, but haying an option to increase it to the second day. Another addition for the W. V. M. A. is the White, Frfesno. Calif. Road shows will open for a split week with Stockton (Assn.), Sept. 7. The Chicago office Is now switch- ing around a ruad show coming from that point to take up the southern time in October. Starting Sept. 7 — West Coast Houses on Split Week Basis Los Angeles, Sept. 1. Vaudeville stuff will be in- augurated Sept. 7 In Pasadena and Long Beach, when West Coast theatres will begin a split week policy of Orpheum and W. V. M. A. acts in the Raymond, Pasadena and the West Coast, I^ong Beach. The opi>usltion will be the State, Long Beach, which until recently played W. V. M. A. acta and Is now play- ing the I'antages road shows, and Bard's, Pivsadena, recently opened with Pantages road shows. West Coast has started a heavy billing and newspaper campaign announcing ^prices in these houses for five acts and a feature will be 40c. in the afternoon and 50c. at night. That is the schedule which is now being charged at both of their opposition houses. The State, Long Beach, which took over the road shows of Pan- tages from Hoyts, is playing to the business all the time, though It has not the capacity of the West Coast house. It Is said the business here is far better than that of its op- position house, though the latter has the advantage of a more central location. In Pasadena the Raymond has the advantage of location, with the Bard house being reported to oper- ate at present at a loss. It Is said the West Coast will a determined drive to choke JEBSEY SUHDAY VAUDE The Majestic, Jersey City, which plays Mutual burlesque ^ows. will play 10 acts of vaudeville on Sun- days beginning next week. The Rialto, Hoboken, N. J., will play eight acts of vaudeville on Sundays. The house has a stock policy. The first Sunday vaude bill goes In Sept. IS. Jack LInder books both houses. CLEVELAND'S BIO TIME The Pala(;e, Cleveland, will re- turn to its big time policy next week. Annette Kellerman will head the reverting bill. The house has been playing a summer policy of continuous vaude and pictures at top prices. Bill McCaffrey will continue to book the house. NEW RADIUM TREATMENT Electrician Lew Beck's Process Lasts Entirs Ssason Chicago. SepL 1. A process for ths treatment with radium of theatrical costumes has been discovered and perfected by Lew Beck, olectrlclan at the Kaliibo Gardens. It wlU probably revolu- tionize ths uss of this substance by putting ths oost down where numerous vaudevilllAns will employ the novelty. The radium comes In liquids, pastes and powders with the phosphorous effect secured from the spotlight with a special lens. Seven principal colors can l>e ap- ^llcd to one costume with the oost of treating an entire set of wardrobe including the lens amounting to about J150. One treatment by the Berk method will last an entire season. AGENTS' TRYOUTS Roehm and Richards, vaude and cabaret agents, have a new form of trying out applicants for stage jobs and classifying them according to their merit. Sometime ago it was decided they would not recommend an act with- out having first hand knowledge (if Its capabilities. Consequently tliey decided to view every turn that applied to them for registra- tion. The Iry-outs are held twice a week at a near-by rehearsal hall. The plan has been In operation three weeks and an average of 20 artists shows up each time. Both Iloehm and Richards attend and pass judgment Turns of established reputation, or those seen before by the agents, are exempt from this test but all others must undergo It. off Its opposition In nearly all of the little towns so far as vaudeville Is concerned, by using a blend of Orpheum and W. V. M. A. acts on the split week. ORPHEUM'S NEW THEATRES Leasing Only Houses Built by Out- siders Chicago, Sept. 1. The plans of the Orpheum circuit for the addition of new theatres are progressing. It will adhere to the announced plan of taking leases on houses built by outside capital. Such houses are in contemplitlon in Den- ver, Seattle and Omaha, with Den- ver and Omaha likely to reach ths construction stige this season. In Chicago the Orpheum will con- tinue to take over outlying neigh- borhood houses. It may add the Senate on tlfe west side, giving the Kedzie theatre, which was the W. V. M. A. franchise, some sort of pro- tection against loss. And ultimately the Tlvoli on the south side, when Balaban and Katz build another hou.ie In that section. The Riviera on the north side opens Sept. 6 with Orpheum vaude- ville, while the new house in the loop is well advanced. In Cedar Rapids, it is reported, the Orpheum has been asked to take over the Majestic. FOUNTAIN'S VENTURE Los Angeles, .Sept. 1. I^ester Fountain hiis tendered hU I'oslgnatlon, as manager of the RItz at Long Beach which pl.-iys Inde- pendent vaudeville and pictures. Fountain Is to embark into a mercantile venture. As yet no su'-- ccsKor has boon named. N. O. Managerial Changes New Orleans, Sept. 1. Earl Steward has resigned as manager of the Orpheum to enter the real estate business in Miami with his father-in-law. J. A. Ber- tram, in cht rge of the P.alace, has succeeded to the Steward post. Vic- tor Meyer, long treasurer nf the Orpheum, ascends to the manage- ment of the Palace. Steward, when in the steel busi- ness, cleaned up a fortune He Is Independent!, wealthy an<l took the New Orleans post when offered It by Marcus Helman to keep hl» m'nd occupied, as he always has hold an lnclln.itlon for the show business. COLUMBIA, ST. LOUIS, PASSING St, Loni.-^, .S.,pt. 1. The last of a number of ilowntown theatres that la years pant wcro re- garded as St. Louis' best aliowhou.ses will pass with the razing of the f'o- lumbla. Sixth and St. Charltfs strcetH. The Strand (m. p.) theatre, ad- jacent to the Columbia, will also be torn down to allow for the" erection of a four-story chain store, store.