Variety (Dec 1928)

30 VARIETY VAUDEVILLE Wednesday, December 5, 1928 oc Lucky Brooklyn! at HOWARD This Week (Dec. 3) at the Metropolitan Fortunate Newark! to HOWL at 3 I I ill: !>[.• NextWeek(Dec.lO) at the State But America Our America Has Only 4WeeksM^^ to Laugh at i;; 11 Versatile Pit Orchestra Starting Off for Keith's ; • IMiil Fiibcllo b.M'onii's pii (.n-lx's- |.ti-a maostro at K(viil;« iliy.orsuli,'. N'(>\v Yt)rk. (ip^'iiin? Dof. lit. j Kalv-ilo iniUicis a nt-w policy for ' Ki'iiliV. tlmt of ttio vcrsatilo enter-, j t;i'iiuiiiJr i)it I'liii'l. Ir is . tlio same ! p.>lioy l''al)iMlu innoyati'cl in the oast i fof. I.oi-w'>< Willi whicli organization li(v \vav luitil .annexed l<y Koith's. Ohfirlcy Stein f?>icf; from the Hiv- |,orsitle into another Keith stanrt. I'probably the new. l'MushiiV!;'.- Keith's, Toledo, Cut A.'2y-pfn.-enl cut lyis lieeii iny- I posed oh all .salaries at. Keith's (yaiiciriTniV, Toledo.; hy the Keith |.hooking department. The new- Publix. hqu.tie, due to I opening- shortly, is expected to i)ro- vide ,. considerahie : opposition for I vaudo in Toledo. Keith's is reported looking for' I another theatre there to replace the present Ke-ith stand, far below mod- ern, theatre standards, purrent: pol- icy is vaudfilm-, split-week, with five acts booked from New York. ■ [t. O. B. A. Lops Branch In a new effort to put tlie organi-. I zation on a better footing the T, b. B. A., which books colored theatres, has close*, down its Chi- cago office for economy. Here- after all bookings will be ' made direct from Chattanooga, although S/ H. Dudley will continue to cip- I erate hia Washington ofllce as a branch. Milton Starr has been superceded by G.-. Turpln ais president. Sam 1E. Reevin, Chattanooga, is still general manager. HADDOCK'S ACTS Charles B. Mad.dock, Keith pro ducer, saya he is not altogether off flash acts of the sort with which he has been associated in vaude and is I concentrating on producing unit shows for Keith's. Maddock Is I watching the talker situation and intends to produce another regula- tion vaude act next March, but is going slow on production of flash turns, for the present. . Keith Agents For arii.sts' information, the fol- lowing agents are enfranchi.sed by Ki'ith's and entitled to book act.s with the. circuit. Other, franchisi' holders of the pa.st not included in the list are .no Ipng-^r a.ssnriated. with Keith'!?: . Jack Bell M. S. Bentham. Chas, liierbaiier I',i.'n Burke. Pat Casey .jack Curtis • Paul Durand ^ Frank. Evans .. T. Fitzpatrick . 11, Fitzgerald . ; Marty Forkins Lew Colder .. Max: Hayes AVilUam Jlennessey ... .Hodgdon Agehey Norman Jeffries ^ Anton Johnson Keller & Godfrey Jack Lewis A. Lewis Milt Lewis N., E. Manwaring Bart McHugh 'Morris & Feil Chas. Tylorrison Fred Mack James Pliinkett Harry Romm Maurice Rose . Dave Sabloskjr Nat Sobel Harry Weber Nat Wilshin , Each agency employs one or more associate or assiatant agents. . They are permitted to^book through their respective agencies' franchises. The 19 producers' franchises is- aued by the circuit are. held by The Blancharda, Henry Bellit^ C. & G. Bostock, Phil Bush, Ben Bbyar, George Choos, Alex Gerber, Meyer Golden, Sam Shannon, C. B.vMad- dock, Phil Morris, Roger Murrell, Paul Poole, H. S^uber, The Stewr arts, Hermine Shone, Harry Rogers, M. Thor and Sol Turek. Large Number of Idle Acts May Be Increased by Added Policy Shift to All-Sound F, F. . Proctor,; after having de- didi'd upon . ani all-sound, picture policy for his 125th Street, New. York, and ivlt, Vernon theatres, may pursue the chianged* policy from vaudfllrris to ali-st>und in Proctor's Dth Avenue, New York, and Proc- tor's, Yonkers. Meanwhile Is reported that R. C. A. Photpphone, afflliatSfd. with Keith's through Radio-Keith-Or- pheu-m, will have wired 40 Keith: houses by Jan. 15. What altera- tions, if any, that will cause in the Keith vaudfllm bills is not men- tioned. Proctor's converted houses have had their- vaude bills booked through Keith's. The, other sevei-al Proctor housesNcontinue -with vaud- tilm shows. In Yonkers, Proctor's has had the opposition of the Strand ' (George Walsh), indie picture house, play- ing to a steady and profitable busi- ness of recent months with a talk- ing and . sound picture prograrh. Besides in Yonkers and nearby is Loew's new theatre, although Loew's is undergoing -a struggle; to break there, '■ Proctor's, Mt. Vernon, is. also in the midst of 6ppo.sltion,>but is the oldest vaude house .in that subur- ban city. The- 5th Ave. of late has been badly suffering from poor bookinfes It has been a .natural vaudeville house for years, in a vaudeville neigh'JOL-hood, About three years, ago it was. given a.dded Impetus when Proctor changed his vaudfllm shbw at the 23d Street to straight pictures. The Bth Ave., however. hiis been~ unable : to hold its b isi- ness Vith the vaiidfilm policy of late. ■ The Proctor all-sound policy, at the, 125th Street has no.f a.s yet l e- , ceived a full opportunity, owlnq; io technical conditions prevailing at present. All Proctor theatres play a spilt week bill. Four houses with a con- verted policy would mean the ca.st.-' Irig out of- about 10 acts weekiy on. that circuit. With Locw and Fox in and around New York changing to all- sound bills or shifting into them now and then, along with the pos- sibility of some Keith theatres be- ing obliged to go all-sound in the Keith adjustment of policies, the extraordinary number of Idle acts just now will be largely added to It is claimed that there are more good vaudeville acts laying off at the present than ever before. It is also claimed there are more in- ferior and unknown turns on the Keith circuit , currently; than that chain has jever prevlpusly held at one time.' The Gus Sun Booking Exchange €o. Repent Theatre Bids. SPMNCFIEXD, OHIO FurniftliliiK over one handred theatres with vnudevUle through.onr combined ofllcea; and over eighty with musical shows. Con always use first clos-s standard acts. OFFICII New York, Chlcneo, Cleveland, Detroit, — BulTnlo, rittsburgh. Kansas Citjr, . St. lionls 2 Band Acts With Names CORBETT-BAERY OFF Proposed reunion of Jini Corbett and Bobby Barry is cold. Barry has been spotted to head a production act, "The Night Watchman," touted by R-K-O, and opening at the 5th Ave., New York, the last half. Corbett is undecided whether his vaude return will- b6 as a single or double. BORN TO BE LAUGHED AT and. LONDON Will be Blesaed With His Excrutiatingly Comic Entertainment Two productionai band acts with names have been booked by Keith's. The turn headed by Al Herman includes 20 people; Roy Welsh band, Nancy Decicer, Tommy Wonder, Smith, and Crldley, Genevieve Mc- Cormlck and a chorus. Charlie Mor- rison is the agent. Second band act Involves 13 peo- ple, with Ned Norworth as Its name. Band is under the direction of Al Belasco, picture 'house m. c MARGARET LAWRENCE'S ACT Margaret Lawrence, suspended for nine months by Equity for walking out on Edgar Selwyn's "Possession," Is entering vaude under direction of Albert Lewis, Inc. Star is set for several weeks of R-K-O time. in a reduced version of "Secrets." 7TH ST. FOR BURLESaUE ? Chicago, Dec. 4 Negotiations aie reported on be tween Irons & , CUimage, slock bur.-, losciuos nianrigerrt, and Keith's .to take over Keith't? 7th Street, Min- neapolis, - ■ The 7lh Street played viiudfilm until pushed out b.v'opposition. DIrertlon MEYER B. NORTH JOS. FLAUM Reports on Rockwell-Seeley Baltimore, Dec. 4. It is said here that Doc Rock\yell has renewed his contract with the Shuberts. This meariis he is out of vaude for two more years, and ends rumors that-he will go Orpheum, which circuit appnrt'ntly had some sort of a tacit claim on his services. It is also reported, bi»t not con- fliimed, that Blossom Seeley is re- newing and will continue with the "Greenwich Village Follies." JUDGMENTS Art Pubs., Inc. and Paramount Pubs., Inci; H. N. Schmidt et al: $8,388. Gene Buck; H, Milgrim & Bros. Inc.; $1,232. Irving Theatres, Inc.; A. Fisher: $990. Jans Prods., Inc., and Horman F. Jans; Export & Import Film Co.; $6,099. A. Lyie Leverioh and August A. Leverich; Jarcho Bros., Inc.; $10,397. Same; Greer Elec. Construct. Co.; $17,243. Dixie Leonard; R. J. Bulkley at al., ex'rs.; costs; $14. Cecil Lean; State Tax Comm'n,; $349. Alimoniacs, Inc.; R. Holsteln; $4,- 301. Am. Music Drama, Inc.; M.. Zla- ten; $2,324. . ' Alan Croisland; A. Sulka & Co.; $1,185. Erwin S." Kleeblatt; Mfrs. Trust Co.; $20,851. COMERFORD HOUSE OPENINGS In the opening of the-ne\y Capitol Rome, N. Y., by M. E. Comerford in association with M. J. Kallet, the house will offer sound pictures with vaude to be played later out. of the Amalgamated agency. House seats 2,500, and opens Dec. S. All prospective Comerford thea- tres win be wired, including the new Riviera, seating 1,600, Scran- ton, Pa., which opens with pictures Dec. 6. Lake at Rochester Baltimore, Dec. 4. Ethan Allen Lake, manager of the loGal-^Idippo.dromc,^,_cambo.^^^ho.use, has rtslgned to accept a manager- ial position with R-K-O. He fpens the new theatre in Rochester, N.. Y., on Christmas Eve. Nat Keene has temporarily taken over management of the house. Orlando With Gus Edwards C.uldo Orlando has joined the Cius Edwards ofllce staff to handle the motion picture departmont. Detroit House, in N. Y. Grand Riviera, Detroit, split week presentation house, will switch from the Chicago Keith ofTlce to KeLth'a^JUa. ms^i„yj?t*.^Dai^^^^^ change, Dec. 9, Rlv will be on Wayne Christie's book in New York, Joins Husband for Return Florence Mills, burlesque, who ro tired some time ago, Is returninr,' to the stage In Abe Reynolds' act In private life Miss Mills is Mrs Reynolds. She replaces Evelyn Clark, General Executive Offices LOEW BUILDING AN N E X 160 WEST 46^ST* BrcVANT- 9850^NEW YORK CITY J. H. LUBIN marvinhTschencr BOOKINO. MANAGER . CHICAGO OFFICE 600 WOODS THEATRE B'LD'G JOHNNY JONES IN CHARGE "a VAliuEVliXE AGICWCI WHICH rRODlLCES MORE THAN ^IT ritOMISBS A ^'^V""'- ^CONSISTENT, EFIICIENT SERVICE SINCE WIS Astor Theatre Bldg., N. W. Cor. 45th St. and Broadway Lackawanna 7876 New York City ACME BOOKING OFFICES, INC. Booking All Theatres Controlled by. * STANLEY COMPANY OF AMERICA A roato of IS wtoeka within 200 miles of New Tork Artists invited to book direct 1560 Broadway New York City DORA WINNIE in Their "CRISP REVUE" K.-A.-O. Circuit rersooAl Rep,: I-TtANK EVANS