Dutch Treat —

The Fanciful Footwork of Miss Loni, Part II

“Dear Miss Loni, I am afraid I have some bad news,” wrote international theatrical agent Albert Tavel.

“Mr. Bardy has just informed me that he does not think he will be able to open the Nouvelle Eve by the middle of February. He tells me that he was under the obligation by the Préfecture de Police, to do some work in the cabaret of the Nouvelle Eve, and that it was the reason why he had to close momentarily; that the new regulations are very strict, and that he cannot yet say when he will be able to open. In any case, and once he has been able to come to an agreement with the Préfecture, he will need at least three months to form a new troupe, and set the review. He is therefore forced to ask you to postpone your contract to a date which will be given to you as soon as ever possible.”

Albert Tavel, along with his partner in the agency, Felix Marounai, began pursuing signing Miss Loni to an engagement at the well-known Paris nightspot in the fall of 1952. Because of her stateside exclusivity with the Charles Hogan Agency and personal representative Marcus Glaser, who kept her working steadily for three consecutive seasons after leaving the Ringling show, two prospective bookings at La Nouvelle Eve had to be put on hold. It was the third attempt to secure a contract that finally proved successful – and then it fell through completely, just prior to Loni and Freddie’s European homecoming, by no fault of the agent or the showplace itself. Such postponements or even outright cancellations were rare, particularly with well-established enterprises, but they did occasionally happen. In the mid-1950s, however, there was still a lucrative abundance of work to be had by variety artists around the globe, and the better the negotiator, the busier the performer remained.