Los Angeles herald., 1906-06-19
THEATERS FIGHT
ABOUT A DANCE
PRETTY DOLLS CAUSE MERRY
BATTLE
Rival Amusement Houses Claim At
traction and One Manager De-
cIareo He viii Immediately
Start Litigation

"Gee, Mike, feel 1t in mein bones;
dere is goin' to he anudder fight"
For the past two weeks the German
comedians at the Mason opera house
and the Hotchkiss theater have been
using that line during the performances
of "Fiddle Dee-Dee" and 81. o. IT," and
now there seems great possibility that
there will be another fight, and Kolb
down at the Hotchkiss theater is
stropping his foot every day and prac-
ticing long distance kicks at the rub
ber stomach of his fat little friend,
while Rice is going through a similar
performance at the Mason.
And today the fight will begin and
the superior court will probably be
called in to help out.
The trouble started with the first
performance of the Beauty Shop" at
the Hotchl<iss theater Sunday after
noon. 1t was in the second act and
the beauty shop was shown in all it's
glory when an actress asked to have
her face fixed She was led to cab
met and locked up. A moment later
little Ben Dillon, who plays the role
of Prof. Hercules, opened the cabinet
door and out stepped a doll. beautiful
to behold. The fair creature, which
was really little Charlotte Vidot,
marched about the stage and moved
arms and legs like an automaton in
response to the pressing of numerous
supposed springs.
Audience Likes Scene
Then out came the chorus from the
wings and the girls were all dressed
In pinafores abbreviated at neck and
hem and they pretended that they were
dolls and acted in automatic fashion
and the audience had mysteries. 1t
was very pretty and the singing was
good.
But, hist! A chorus woman from
the Mason was occupying a box at the
HotchkisS and she knew that the Rice
and Cady outfit was going to use that
doll dance in the production of "Pousse
Cafe" at the Mason next week.
Harry James heard of it also and he
decided that he did not care to pay
$3.50 a week royalty for the particular
doll dance and have another company
use it one week before he had 1t.
So, as, a result, there is going to be
a fight and an injunction may be pc
titioned for in the superior court today
to restrain the Kolb and Dill aggrega-
tion from having anything further to
do with the doll dance or in penalty
thereof lose some of their "pro rata"
"rhat doll dance is copyrighted by
the Weber & Field company" said
Manager James of the Mason COM
pany, last night
I'VE were about to start rehearsal
for "Pousse Cafe" to be used next week
when we learned that the Hotchkiss
people were using the doll dance.
Will Take Case to Court
"There is hardly a change in the
whole dance from the manuscript Of
Weber & Fields and we have received
notice from Weber e. Fields to fight
the case at their expense.
"If we should lose, then we will not
have to pay further royalty, and so
we win either way. I will probably
begin injunction proceedings at once.
"When the Kolb and Dill company
showed here last year they never car
rled that dance with them and it cam
not be found in the manuscript Of the
show, so we are going to have that
dance or know why
"Oh my, oh my!" sighed little Ben
Dillon of the Hotchkiss theater when
he heard of the threatening storm.
"I did it all myself. We had that
dance with us on the road in I. o. u
and we used it IN the Beauty Shop
this year. We made that dance our
selves and the lines in 1t are so diff
ferent from the original lines of the
doll dance as staged by Weber e.
Fields that Weber could not recognize
them.
Blonde Learning Song
"Kolb spent nearly all last week fix
ing up the words for that doll song
and they were set to entirely new
music, so we have a doll dance of our
own and we will stay with it,"
IF Harry James is paying royalty
for the dance and we get it for Moth
ing, good for Harry" said another Of
the mana cement.
But the superior judges may prob
ably settle the difference in the dances
and in the meantime thick attorneys
with many law books will spend much
time at the two theaters.
If the doll at the Hotchkiss theater
should raise dainty limb a fraction
of an inch higher than that prescribed
by the Weber & Fields rules then that
much is in favor of the Hotchkiss, for
the law considers tho fine points.
But If the doll at the Mason should
accidentally sneeze during that doll
dance then the Weber & Fields rules
will be considered impeachable and
the whole copyright law will have to
be gone over.
In the meantime, however, a dainty
little blonde doll at the Mason Is learn
Ing that much disputed dance In a way
that will be a marvel to behold. and
there may be enough of the dance to
do for both theaters.