Variety (December 1925)

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ft Wednesday, December 28, 1985 VAUDEVILLE VARIETY ORPHEUM CIRCUIT BOOKS Aa FOR 3 YEARS-DIDNT ASK KHTH'S 3insle Woman's Rapid Booking—Keith Bookers Delaying Until Meeting—First Time for Or- pheum's Independent Action for the first time without con- ■ulting the affiliated Keith officials the Orpheum Circuit la«t week ilpned up an act for thre« years. The turn waa Jean Joyson, sln- fl« woman, who opened at the Hamilton. New York, Monday. She wa« seen by an Orpheum booker Wednesday and alRned for tlirea years Thuraday, considered a rcrord booking:. The girl ia a newcomer to vaude- ▼ille hailing from Newburg, N. Y. She had previously • played two w«eks In Keith-booked houses with ae consecutive bookings offered as h«r salary had not been set through the regular channels, which means the act after a break-in period is ■ubmitted to the bookers at a meet- tng. The precedent established due to the slowness of this method has been for the Orpheum bookers to flrst ascertain the intentions of the Bastem bookers before lifting an act out of the Eastern houses. 20 CLOSED FOR WEEK At least 20 independent small timers cloarKl this week due to the pre-holiday slump in busi- no«8. Most of the closed houses are in the Metropolitan suburban sections. ORPHEOM CIRCUIT SUED FOR $100,000; BREACH The Union Rules Cabaret Owners Allene Con- tracted Ad Withheld from Palace, Chicago, Program Mrs. Kohrs Vic Not Holdinsr Up—2d Choice Chicago. Deo. 22. It la reported Mrs. Caroline Ij. Kohi is thinking of unloading: the Vic theater after two seasons of trylnfc to op^irate it as a vaudeville hoiine. When the Vic had only the Lin- coln to compete witfi, all was ■erene, but aince t>ecomlng hemmed tn by the Diverspy on one. aide and the nivlera on the other the Vic has be«n treated <ike a step-chl!d by the booking office. It is understood that desnlte Mrs. Kohl Is one of the Oapheum vice presidents and the third or fourth larpest Individual ■tockholder, the Orpheum crowd is anxious for her to relinquish her private enterprises. They have made a rule that no act may play the Vic until •■ it ht^a first been submitted to Sam Kahl and the Orpheum Jr. bookers. In other words, the Vic gets what is left over. On top of this the Ldncoln. Diver- ■ey and Riviera have first choice on all the best acts f&r nothing. It is understood that Mrs. Kohl has lost heavily on the Vic and is growing reluctant to throw more money after l>ad. Bee Jackson Jud^ng and Dancing at Keith's Palace Cleveland, Dec. 22. A local talent Charleston Con- test is being staged at the Palace this week by John Royal with Bee Jackson, Charleston dancer, acting as the sole Judge of the winner. A local band has been booked and accompanies for the volunteer dancers. Mlsa Jackson is also do- ing her specialty on the program in addition to picking the winners. If the stunt catches on it will be tried out in other Keith houses in the £:ast. Chicago, Dec. 22. Charging that the advertisement menti'inlnB Van and Schcnck who were thou ai)i>i:urinK at the llunilez- vous cabaret, was withheld from the Palace theatre prusram, throu;;h Vun and Schouck being a vaudevilK- headline ant. Liderman & Uothchild h.ive cummenced a damage action for JIOO.OOO ajralnst the Paluce Pub- li.shin;? Company, Orpheum Circuit and Mort Singer. The Rendezvous says it holds a contract for two years for the back page of the Palace program; that through tlie withdrawal of their ad- vertisement, the cabaret lost busi- ness and money during the term of Van and Sehenck's engagement. Billy Sunday's Schedule WllUamsport, Pa_, Dec. it. Jan. 3 and at Dinghamton, N. Y., will be the start of the Evanglellst Billy Sunday's 1926 campaign. Other campaigns so far laid out for the new year are at Cape Gardeau. Mo.; Monrovia, Calif., and Ashland, Ore. Sunday usually has a program of five campaigns a year. He sp^nt six weeks in Williamsporl and preached four sermons the final day. It waa announced (and not this paper's estimate), that Sunday got $18,500 the last week of the local stay, representing his ofCerli«. Funny Mix-Up The City. Irvington, N. J., open.** Friday wilh its bills booked through Walter Pllmmer instead of Jack Linder as previously announced. Plimmer gets the house through linder having to pasfe it up on ac- count of booking the Star In the same town, which is a twe-day stand, whereas the Citjr will play a split week policy. When Linder okayed the house he thought it was in Irvington. N. Y. When posters later advertised "Lln- der's Vaudeville." the Star manage- ment wanted to know why he was booking the opposition house. To make it more complicated, the new house is being directed by Rob- ert Sterling, formerly a field man for Linder, who will have Ben Har- rison associated. In cmo of the le>;it I'.ioa.iwiiy ■t'.ea'.reti a stage hand has lnvii vviJi the same firm fcr 1-J .years. Me was lately ln.strii.lt d to ri'.iuoe hia men by two. Ke- li;;,iiifj the show could not be liaiiiJlcd if two men wen- re- movtHl, the following innrnlng 1;" ri-;-eive(l a two weeks notice of dismissal. I'risenting the farts to his tinion (.\o. 1). the theatre was irii.riTied that th<TC ci/ii)>l be no rtMiijitlon of the crow and the no, ice to the SiaRfc hand Vkould have to be wlthdrawn--th,it ho wa.s there for the remainder of thi.s .sea.son. Ai the olllce of No. 1, no In- fdimatlon would be given out Ijc.voiid the statement that '■everything has been adjusted .satisfactorily—lliero will be no re<luctIon of the crew.' PANTAGES N. Y. HOUSES AND CTMERS Expansion Plans Take in East and Sobth—N. Y. Headquarters Farber Sisters Again Following their marriages and years away from the stage, Irene and Constance Farber have author- ised Alf T. Wilton to negotiate for their return together to vaudeville. Before marrying each of the Far- mer girls appeared with a show. CHAS. ALTHOFF AS LEGIT Chas. Althoft will open In a stoejt try-out of Henry Burton's "Do Unto Others" in Indianapolis next Au- Cust. Althorr has Just completed a tour •f the I'antages Circuit and opens •n a return engagement . Burton is aa Indinnapnlis newspaper man. 11 FULL WEEKS (Continued from page 6) the "cut" schedule and putting the houses over the top. The "cuts," born of expediency, like the poor, will always be around In the opinion of vaudeville men. Artists have grown so used to them they no longer believe they can register any unified disapproval and have no organization capable of ex- pressing their reaction*. Many vaudeville experts argue that the practice, which seemingly and on the surface has made big money for Its sponsors, haa also huilt up Its own opposition and helps to promote own big time pic- ture* through discouraging thou- •anda of acts and causing them to •eek other circuits and fields. The Current stampede to the picture houses Is pointed to as proof of this assertJon, with cabaret engagements also accepted In lieu of the cutting lay-off syfffem. . J - H 5 « Grace Fisher in London Grace Fisher has been engaged for the London production of "Kid Boots," due soon. She will handle the role originated by Kthelyn Terry. Leslie Hanson, the English come- dian, who will have Eddie Cantor's role and who came over to see Can- tor's performance returned from Chicago last week and sailed for England. Miss F^isher In private life is the wife of Ballard Macdonald. They hq,ve been of late Involved In mar- ital litigation, with Macdonald or- dered by the court to pay alimony. C. K. Y. as "Single" Clara Kimball Young la shelving her act, "The Adorable Wife," and will become a new single under di- rection of Harry Weber. Although not generally known, the screen star pos.^esses a trained voice. ZOUF WELSH ASD NED NORTON M recent vaudeville two-act are Harry . "Zoup" Welsh, shortly re- turned from England, and Ned (Clothes) Norton. ' ♦ Mr. Welsh is the comedian and Mr. Norton the straight man of the combination. ILL AND nrjUBED W. M. Taylor, elderly screen and stage actor Is in the General Hos- pital, Los Angeles, In a serious con- dition, suffering from hernia. Tay- lor was taken to the hospital after collapsing on the sidewalk. Mrs. Isham Jones la 111 In Chicago with a bad cold contracted on the return voyage from London. Mrs- Irene Castle Mel-Aughlin un- derwent a minor operation last week In St. Luke's Honpital. Chicago. Grace Merritt is at her home, 206 West 67th street. New York, re- covering from a severe operation performed at the Lenox IIIU Hospi- tal. Ernie Erdman, In charge of the band and orchestra department for Leo Fe.st. Chicago otfiee. has been confined In a hospital for several wft'ka with nervous hreakdowm. Doubling on "LifU" A vaudeville producer la con- templating a tab act, "The Freshman," which will have a college football motif and will carry a futuristic football film scene with "Red Change" as the hero in a 1935 scrimmage. The use of the "Freshman" title for a vaudeville tab in view of the Harold Lloyd film, and the play on the Grange name (used as "Change") may Invite attention. Boston 4 Wins Contest Flop as Business Getter TIio Knickerbocker Club yiiartet of P.oston won the Keith Natlon.al Quartet Contest at the llipixilrome, Ni'W York, Satur>:Iay iiiKbl. defeat- ing the Great I^akes Criterion Quar- tet of Cleveland in a close finish after a final week of eliminations. The contest had been going on since October in a few cltios. with the local winners meeting at the Hippodrome last week. The winners will be routed in the houses where the uone finals wer« held, and in addition receive a cash prize of $200 from the Mass.-ichu- setta zone. > The finals resulted In the Adel- l>hians, Brooklyn, deronting the Kigoletto Four, Bronx; T eo Quartet, Manhattan, defeated Adelphians; Leo defeated Genesee-Rochester; Pennsylvania—Philadelphia defeat- ed Leo Quartet. The winning four include Norman Arnold, Roy Harlow, Walter Kidder and A. Cameron Steels, with Robert Nichols at the piano. The victory I was helped by the showmanship of Bart Gnady, manager of Keith's, lioston, who helped the four select their routine of songs and in the presentation. The contest Is credited with prov- ing a very mild busineHs-gttlter in some sections. At the Hippodrome it failed to Increase the gro.ss. Tlie New York I'antages Circuit ofllce. niovi d to the Bethlehem building, will become the main of- fice of the rinult under the new expansion plans of Alexander I'aat- anes. The cireult will announce the name of the New York City house whi"h will play Piintages vaudeville within a few dnys. A deal Is hI.so beincr clo.sed for u Cliioago house, another In New Orleans. Pan vaude- ville will play Warner Bros.', Cleveland, and lias invaded Texas, playing Dallas and Fort Worth wl h hou.ses announced for San Antonle and Houston. Denver has returned to the Pant- ages Circuit ami, beginning Jan. S, will take the road shows for a full week going west and coming east, closing up an open week and adding a week to the tour. The publicity and billing will be handled from the New York ofllce In future instead of from Chlcai^o. Ed Milne and E. C. Bostick will be In charge of the New York officoi with Bob Burns and ^Iss Cohen aa assistants. Bostick ,is the former Pantages Northwestern represauta* live. Art La Verne Arrested After Hailed as Hero San Francisco, Dec. 22. Arthur LaVerne, an Itinerant professional dancer who waa re- ported fatally shot when he at- tempted to Intercept a bandit In Facr.amento last week, and who was publicly regaled as a hero for his action, was placed under ar- rest in a hospital In that city, when It was apparent that he would re- cover. Los Angeles police charge that LaVerne waa Implicated In a robbery there a month ago. LaVerne was playlns la the Senator, Sacramento Los Angeles. Dec. 22. Charged with placing a sleeping potion In the drink of a prominent physician In Los Angeles and then robbing him of jewelry in a down- town hotel, Arthur Ambrose, pro- fessionally known as Arthur La- Verne, Charleston dancer, waa ar- rested pn a request of the Loa Angeles police. LaVerne was also known here aa Arthur LaPorte. After he had given the potion to the physician he escaped from the hotel by removing the hinges from a rear exit. Shaker Shakes Hubby Thclma Carlton, shimmy shaker, finally shook' off her marital ties to Francis J. Burns, also a performer, when a final decree was granted her In Chicago. Miss Carlton alleged non-support Houses Opening The City, Hoboken, N. J., will play four acts of vaudeville on Saturdays and Sundays beginning this week. The shows will be booked by Jack Linder. MIXINO 'EM UP A new vaudeville act Is In rehear- sal In New York which will com- prise a Japanese Jlu Jllsu expert and Charlestoner, an IrLsh-Italian girl (Frances Gray) and a German boy, dancer and prodigy pianist. The trio will feature international songs and dances, each topping a specialty with a "Charleston." Opera at Palace, Cleveland Chicago Opera will play the Pal- ace, Cleveland, the week of Feb. t. The opera passed up the People's Auditorium with a seating capacity of 10,000, due to Its size, according to rei>ort. The usual Keith vnudevlU'* bill will be passed up for the week. Wrecked Office for $300 Galveston. Tex.. Dec. 22. Yeggmen wro<-k»Hl the olHce of the Martini theatre Sumlay night, obtaining $300. Theatre play.s In- terstate Circuit vaudeville two days weekly; pictures and rotd shows remainder of week. Sheridan Sq. Playing Pop, with Film-Splitting Pittsburgh, Dec. 22. The Sheridan Square theatrt^ probably the most popular in tha East Liberty district, has changed policy- In addition to vaudevll'.e It Is now showing a feature picture. The new jiolicy has five acts, fea- ture picture and entire bill changed twlec weekly. In the past the Sheridan SquJire played only short movio subjects with Its stage pro- gram. A new plr>e org.an is soon to be Installed. It will furnish mu.sic for both screen and stage attraction* along with the house orchestra. J. O. Hooley Is manager. Colored Dancers Picked Up, Told to Hop East San Francisco, Doc. 22. Trice and Butler, colored dancer* who wlldeatted to the coast, were up In pollen court aa plckpodtet suspects. They obtained their re- lease by performing a dance routine before the court, who ordered them to hop right back east, when they told him they had danced their way here from New York. Olga Cook Married Olga Cook, prima donna with The Student Prince" nt the Great Northern. Chicago, Dec. 15 to O, Keith Line, owner of s-vera. riding acn'lerT!ies In Cblcajro. Mr«. Line will retire from the ^tage. TWO REPORTERS SEPARATE San Francisco, Dec. 22. Theresa h'itzgeralJT local reporter, was given a divorce from Eddia IMtzgerald, agent at Pantages, also on a local dally. The union resulted In great mental suffering on the part of Mrs. Fitzgerald, the evldenca shows, so the courts untied the knot to relieve her mind. No alltnony Yiiia asked or awarded. Flash Act Producers Fred Martin and Paul Pofde have effected a producing partnership and will sponsor several new fiash acts. The first will be a six-people tab, featuring Hughle and Charlotte Wllnon, , , 5 ,,,. V, k«^ •«»'«»t-i i • MARRIAGES Davlrl Murray to Hilda Lee, danc- ■ Ing team, In San Francisco, Dec. 1.1. Mr. Murray Is staj^o director at the Grenada, during the absence of Jack Porlington In the east. Rube Wolf, orchestra leader at Western Revue on Interstate the Boulevard, I^os Angeles, to I Mossman-Turner Revue opens a Sunny Perry, dancer, at Beverly | tour of the Interstate Cireult at Hills, Cal., Dec 15. Peggy White, appearing in pres- entations at the U. F. A. theatre, Berlin, Germany. to Alexander Omansky (ballet master) Dec. 1 In nr-rlln. Gladys HIght (dancing t<;acher) to WItiton Kelley (radio expert) In Chlc.igo. Dec. 20. Dorothy DeVore. film actress, to A. W. Mather, exceulive of the (Con- solidated Theatres, of Honolulu. In San FrancUor^ Deo. W. .„-.,. of the Interst.ite New Orleans, /an. 10. The act Is being brought East by the M. S. Bentham ofib-e. It has appeared In Cecil De Mllle pictures and In thn West co.tnt mo- tion picture houses. IN AND OUT RoHdlle Clalro lias bft the cast of ttie "Creenwleh Kollle.'j," Chliago. Her work Is divided between th« Du»ll Sli-tera. • ' "-»•''