The San Francisco Dramatic Review (1908)

\ THE SAN FRANCISCO DRAMATIC REVIEW April 4, ig^gfl' Actors' Fund Day The Actors' I'und Day perform- ances set for the afternoon of Fri- day, April i/th, promise to yield a handsome sum for that worthy char- ity and the public will surely p;^ct their money's worth at the theatres. It will be recalled that in accordance with the plans formulated by A. L. Erlanfjer at the meetintj of the Ac- tors' Fund last year, it was decided to set apart one day in several of the larsje cities where the entertain- ments should be given. It was originally intended to utilize only one theatre in each city, but the proposition has assumed much larger proportions and it is now settled that every first-class theatre, regardless of its affiliations in a busi- ness way, in the cities of New York, Chicago. Philadelphia and Boston, should give a matinee of its current attraction on the afternoon of AvrW 17th. A meeting of the Actors' Day Fund committee was held recently in the offices of l\Tr. Frlanger in the New Amsterdam Theatre in New York. In attendance were IMessrs. Erlanger. Marc Klaw. Joseph Brooks. Harrison Grey Fiske and Daniel Frohman. the president of the Actors' Fund of America. Ways and means of promoting the project were discussed and business mana- gers selected to proceed to the var- ious cities. In each city many peo- ple prominent in the business and social world have agreed to act as patrons and patronesses. W. A. Brady on Nursing a Play Along "T am asked quite often," said Wm. .•\. Bradv, "whv it is that managers of the present day decide the fate of a new production so onicklv when the plav does not srain instant recosniition. and reminder is given that in former vears a withdrawal rarclv occurred until the production had been given everv possible chance to win out. In mnnv of these arguments the case of 'The Things That Count' is quoted as proof positive that other plavs abandoned in haste have amplv repaid their promoters if jroverncd with greater patience. Perhaps tliis is quite true, and then again pcrlians it is not. There is no business in the world that changes so ranidly as the btisiness of producing nlavs. What was possible, or even likelv, so short a time as five vears ago is altogether out of the question now. In the first place, the cost of carrying a plav while the public is making un its mind when the response is not almost in- stantaneous is vastlv increased. The rentals of theatres are hiehcr. The salaries of desirable actors have gone up. Advertising of all kinds costs more than it did. Then, both direct- ly and indirortlv. competition has had its eflfect. There are so many plavs to choose from that onlv sensational successes catch the public eve right off the reel. This condition leads up to another, namely, that nowadays a plav to srain success nni.st be a £rrcat deal better nlav than was required former- ly. Hieh living makes people fastidi- ous. Abundance of stage production makes it harder to appeal to the pub- lic appetite. In order to get an im- mediate success nowadays you must fairly "Startle vour audience, as in the case of Too ]\lany Cooks. It was a complete surprise and set everybody to talking, so that there was a big de- mand for it over night. But in the instances of nine out of ten plays which do not capture the fancy of the public within the first few days the manager had better pocket his loss and try again. Naturally a manager who watches his productions with minute care can tell in the course of a week or so after they are launched whether the ]nil)lic is going to responcV or not —and this without much regard for what is actually happening in the box office. For cxam])le. tlicre is the case of Tlie Tilings That Count. The play began c|uite slowly and did not show any immediate tendency to increase very greatly in the matter of receipts. lUit in tlie lol)by between acts and after the performance the people who had seen the play, almost without excep- tion, were talking about it in terms of the greatest enthusiasm. This was my cue, for it showed me in the first place that I had not been mistaken in my own estimate of the play's value and it gave me the further and sure information that those who witnessed the performances would talk about it to all their friends and acquaintances. Of course everybody knows that the most valuable advertising in the world is the kind that goes from mouth to mouth, and its very evident appear- ance in connection with The Things That Count convinced me that all I had to do was to sit tight and await results. These began to appear in about four weeks' time, and tlie audi- ence gradually increased in number until the theatre was full. Thus a plav whicli might have been tossed into the discard within a week or two of its jimduction is to remain in New York until the beginning of summer and pcrliaps longer, for when a man- ager really establishes a success ("par- ticularly with a thoroughly clean drama)' that has built itself up in this way it is a reasonable certainty that lie has something which will stick. But, as already intimated, it would not do by any means to tie up too manv plays to which the public seems indifferent at the outset. It has turned out that The Things That Count was worth while, but it does not often happen that way in the present day. Perhaps hanging on would not have appealed to me as a sensible tiling to do in this instance, but for some of my earlier experiences, notably with Way Down Fast, which the public would not have at all when it was first shown, but which throueh careful nursing, based on firm belief, became one of the great- est theatric.i.l properties ever known, and in its twenty years of life has cleared profits tliat would be almost mibclievable Still, when all is said and done, the manaeer who sends to the storehouse anv plav which has no well developed appeal at the beginning, and devotes to starting an absolutely new deal the money he woidd have soent in carrying his production over the bridge between failure and suc- cess, will be far better off in the long run than the one who is stubborn in the face of sluggish recognition." Peg 0' My Heart Soon Due I'Vesh from Eastern triunii^hs, where it plaved the large cities to absolutely the capacity of the theatres. Oliver Morosco's production of Peg o' My Heart, the comedy of youth, laughter and love, will plav an engagement at the Cort Theatre beginning .^pril 26. Peg o' ^ly Heart has proven con- clusively that tlicatregoers of all sec- tions of the country can still laugh as heartily and sincerely at humor, which is not coarse; that a simple story directly and sincerely told, is more potent than any fantastic plot con- ceivable; for this romantic comedy has been jjlaying to tremendous busi- ness in New York for over a year, with Laurette Taylor in the principal role. The company that is to appear in San Francisco is headed by Peggy O'Neil, the little Irish-.\merican girl that was selected by Mr. Morosco from more than four hundred appli- cants who desired to play the part of '"Peg." The supporting cast includes Martin Sabine, Laurcne Santley, Jos. Yanner, Jane Meredith, Roland Hogue, Frazer Coulter, Olin Field, A. T. Hendon and others. Plays for the Mack=Rambeau Season The management of the Alcazar Theatre has .secured a splendid list of dramatic successes for the coming season of Willard Mack and Marjorie Ranibeau at the pretty little theatre in O'Farrell Street, where these two sterling artists will be supported by the Alcazar players. They will open on Easter Monday night, and the list of plays promised during their season includes the latest David I'elasco suc- cess. The Man Inside; Bayard Vel- lier's newest play, The Fight, which is said to be even a greater success than his other play. Within the Law; Helen AN'are's great success. The De- serter; Kindling, by our own Charles Kenyon; two plays by the well known California author, TIerbert Bashford, entitled The Women He IMarried, and The Voice Within; a brilliant new plav by Theodore Bonnet, the editor 0/ To7i'n Talk, and two plays by Mack, himself. So Afuch For So Much, and I\fen of Steel. It is also hinted that Slack's celebrated little one-act thrill- er. Kick In, in which he and Miss Ranibeau were recently seen at the ()r])heum, will be included in the repertoire. Clever Press Stunt They pulled a press stunt in New York last week that put all otliers to sliame. .\t the Maxine Elliott Thea- tre there is a play called Help Want- ed, and it is one of the big successes of the town. In order to .stimulate interest, if such a thing might be pos- sible, about 10,000 cards were dis- tributed. They bore the simple leg- end : Hklp Wantkr Now M..\xii\i-:' Elliott's Theatre The next day the entire I. W. W. army and the other 210.000 idle were applicants. The streets were jammed. Even the reserves were unable to clear them away. In the height of the ex- citement a stentorian-toned announcer, with a mammoth megaphone, elevated himself to a nearby roof and shout- ed : "No more tickets for tonight. Seats selling six weeks in advance." C. H.VPPEN CH.\MnERS, the author of The Idler, to be presented at the -Mcazar Theatre next week as the clos- ing vehicle of the Kelcey-Shannon .season, is at present in San Francisco on a visit. During his stay here he will be a guest of the Alcazar man- agement at one of the performances of his celebrated play. Chicago Company is Fine for Rebating CHICAGO, March 26.—The En] Iiire Circuit Co., a theatrical orgitd zation, was fined $3500 yesterday M Federal Judge Carjjenter after plcart ing guilty to a charge of having vi(l lated the interstate commerce laws n| garding rebates. The fine was pail by James E. Fennessy of Cincinnati ])resident of the company. This Wj! one of a .series of rebate cases pros*" cutcd by the Government in which ' was charged, according to DistrictAl torney Wilkerson that theatrical corrt panics in effect received rebates frotj railroads through advertising in fe^ atrical programs paid for at exorbitwi rates. Mr. \N'ilkerson .said that $§l^ 000 had been collected in fines, which railroads had paid $40,000. Spotlights Klaw and Erlanger have entereii into an arrangement with Henr Miller for a term of five years, b- which they will jointly make a nutrr ber of productions under the per sonal supervision of Mr. Miller. Th organization will be known as th: Henry Miller Company and the attraction to be exploited is Chatterton in Daddy Long Legs, Jean Webster, which is at presen in its Chicago .season at Power' Theatre. Mr. Miller hereafter will have his offices in the New Amsteri dam Theatre Building, New York where he will direct the stage aff; " of this organization, and on th occasions when he goes on his ow starring tours., as heretofore, he wil continue to be under the manage, ment of Klaw and Erlanger. Richard Bennett announces tha he will continue in Damaged Good' until late in the summer, having been booked for a trip to the Pacifii Coast and back in the spring, amj then, after a brief vacation, wil form an association with Edit! A\^ynne Matthison, the English ac tress, for the purpose of establish i ing a traveling repertory compan) to produce modern classical play; dealing with the problems and inter est of today. Their first offering will be The Idol Breaker, by Chas Rann Kennedy, author of The Ser vant in the House. Bennett alsf will produce Maternity, by Eugene Brieux, author of Damap^ed Goods "Every female impersonator," Olivf Briscoe remarks, " is his own punish- ment." The I^fan Inside, the latest of the David Bclasco successes, was written from personal observation, by Rolant B. Mollineaux, who it will be recalled was the leading figure in a sensation-1^^ al poisoning case in New York a few/? years ago. IMollineaux was wrong-j fully accused of a crime he never . committed, and was just cxoneratec j of the same in one of the most sen- ! sational cases on record. It was dur- . ing his confinement in the Tombs that Mollineaux wrote his play, which ha< since proved one of the big drama"- triumphs of the present theatrical s son. This plav will be seen at t .Mcazar Theatre during the seas of Willard Mack and Marjorie Ram beau, who w\\\ be seen in the leadir^ roles. Mr. Mack and Miss Ranibeav open their engagement at the Alcazai on Easter Monday night, April I3tb