New York Clipper (Jun 1923)

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June 6, 1923 THE NEW YORK CUPPER 5 "SHOE-STRING" PRODUCERS HIT BY PUY BR OKERS' NEW CONTRACT Adoption of Standard Contract Calling for Seventy-five Consecu- tive Perfonnances—Gives Picture Rights Gamblers a Staggering Blow—Contract Now in Effect Iiidcpcndcnt producers operating with '"short bankrolls" were dealt a severe blow last week by the adoption of a new form contract by play brokers' and authors' rep- resentatives which demands that a play must be given seventy-five consecutive performances yearly or else the producer relinquishes all interest in the piece. "The brokers were compelled to adopt this means of procedure in order to dis- courage "shoe string" producers, who have, entered show business with great profu- sion, taking the gamble on a "short bank- roll" and hoping to recoup on the money realized through the sale of the motion pic- ture rights. Under the new form contract the "short bankroll" manager will hesitate before at- tempting to swing a production on a shoe- string. For unless he gives seventy-five consecutive performances of the play he is contracturally ushered out of his share of the film rights, which is usually half of the purchase price. This sort of manager or promoter gen- erally gets enough money together to pay the author's advance royalty on the script. He sets the production date to from three to six months ahead, which gives him ample time to peddle the script among prospective angels or otiiers who would gamble on show business. He usually ap- proaches them to purchase a half interest in the piece for from $5,000 to $10,000, and when they are beginning to walk out on his regular sales talk, he uses the film angle as his ace in the hole and usually swings the deal. With the money forthcoming he has been able to outfit his show and possibly guar- antee two weeks' rental for a metropolitan theatre, which is possible with short cast plays in which the action takes place in a single set. Under the former contract this two weeks' showing would give him the privilege of disposing of the film rights and getting half of the purchase price, even if the show did not run any further. The sum usually realized from the sale of the screen rights generally ranges from $15,0[0O upward, according to the length of run of the piece. .'MI this proved a great selling argument and in many instances proved bullet proof assurance to the in- vestor that he could not lose in such a proposition. When the production got into actual operation the producer placed himself on the payroll for a fat salary and even though the piece were but a_ lukewarm success could count upon pocketing at least from $3,000 to $7,500 for his bit from the motion picture sales price. But now that the new clause calling for seventy-five consecutive performances "in a first class theatre, in a first class city and with a first class cast" has altered mat- ters to such an extent it threatens to ob- literate the "short capital" man from the business. Seventy-five performances is entirely too expensive to attract this type of manager to a mediocre play, which he otherwise could feign enthusiasm and pocket a profit no matter how bad a "flivver" it was. At any rate he had noth- ing to lose and lots to gain. - The abuse of this type of manager be- came so prevalent in the business that the brokers decided to tighten the reins and deal only with reputable managers of sound financial responsibility. Many of than have pointed out that more time was wasted upon this type of manager than dealing with the better class of producers. According to them, if they had a play in which they could interest the larger pro- ducer, it was either accepted or declined immediately, where the "short roll" guy would stall them from week to week while rustling the necessary "sugar" with which to finance the production. The play brokers arc in business to sell plays and consequently must be patient with a prospective buyer. But from all accounts the "gyp" manager finally taxed their patience and wasted too much of their time. Finally they all got together upon a plan that would legally permit them to discriminate against this type of man- ager and eventually found it by placing the teeth of the above mentioned clause in their standard author's contracts, which will evidently prove too sharp for the fly by night manager. EIGHT BROADWAY SHOWS CLOSE Eight productions bade farewell to Broadway theatres last Saturday night. They were: "Blossom Time" at the 44th St. theatre; "The Moscow Art Players" at the Jolson theatre; "Sally, Irene and Mar/' at the Century theatre; "For Value Re- ceived" at the Apollo theatre; "The Oing- ing Vine" at the Knickerbocker theatre; "The Mountebank" at the Lyceum theatre; "The Gingham Girl at the Central theatre and "The Old Soak" at the Plymouth theatre. It is expected that all of these attractions will go on tour early in Sep- tember. This Saturday night Al Jolson will leave the Wintergarden with his "Bombo" com- pany; "Whispering Wires" will vacate the Broadhurst; Jane Cowl wilt conclude her engagement in "Romeo and Juliet" at the Henry Miller theatre and probably "The Wasp' will conclude its engagement at the Selwyn theatre. NEW A. E. A. RULE FOR STOCK A new clause has been inserted into the Equity contract which covers Stock, Rep and Tent shows, providing for' the advance payment of return fare in cash to all per- sons signing contracts. Equity maintains that unless managers live tip to this new arrangement they will not feel that he has lived up to contractural obligations. They further maintain that it is' no con- cern to the manager as to what the actor does with the fare he is entitled to under the contract or where he goes. "JACK AND JILL" TO REMAIN With the members of the cast of "Jack and Jill" having elected to take an average reduction of twenty-five per cent in salary, the attraction, which was to have closed at the Globe Theatre last Saturday night, will remain there until June 16th. when it will .make way for GeorM White's ''Scan- dals." It is likely thatTTTMurray"Ander- son may find another theatre to prolong the run of the play after it leaves the Globe. The chorus girls of the company all had their salaries reduced $3 with the princi- pals including Lew Fields taking the larger cut; • . At the time the request was made for the reduction and the chorus girls were ap- proached first. Lew Fields stepped from the ranks' of the company and said: "It is al- ways the poor chorus girl that is asked first to take a cut from her small salary. Now as a principal I wish to say that it is our business to first accept the concessions asked by the manager and if possible to sec that the girls will not be subjected to ha\-ing their wages reduced, as they need every cent they get." All of the members of .the company with the exception of two willingly accepted a liberal cut in salary so as to keep the attrac- tion going, and late last week these two principals, notified, the management that they would also accept a cut in their salary. It is expected that with a new salary scale in vogue the attraction will he able to cover salaries and as well be able to return about S7.000 which was loaned the show by the Globe Theatre. ROYCE GETS "LOLA IN LOVE" , Edward Royce has taken-orer. the pro-' ducing .rights to "Lola in Love" and will rcstage it and give .it a summer -showing at a Bco'^dway theatre. " ' ■ "Lola" was originally produced as a "straight" comedy by F. C. Coppicus sev- eral months ai^o. It was tried out on tour and brought in for revision. In making over the script it was finally decided to convert the piece into a musical show. The cast was augmented by a chorus and songs and dances were interpolated. Before the revised edition was ready for showing, Cop- picus withdrew as its producer and it passed on to A. P. Waxmann. Waxmann, in an effort to interest capital in the production, had been given the sanc- tion of the Actors' Equity to give an invita- tion performance of the play, which had practically an entire new cast headed by 'Pay Marbe and Hal Ford. Equity grant- ed this permission on the agreement that if capital should be interested through this performance, all participants were to be retained in the production. The showing was held and financial back- ing was forthcoming, but Waxmann wanted to replace Ford and Marbe. This Equity Avould not permit in face of the agreement he had made with them and the production has been deadlocked ever since. Now that it has passed on to Royce, the Equity ban will be lifted. In addition to reassembling "Lola" for Broadway, Royce is also planning to send "Cinders" on tour next season. BIG WEEK IN WASHINGTON Washington, Ju«' 4.—The Shriners National Convention, now in session here and which continues until June 10, has blown a harvest for the thrcatres and other places of amusement. The conven- tion is responsible for a 400.000 visiting population and theatres are making every effort to keep them amused. A stock presentation of "Captain Ap- plejack" is being given by the Marshall Flayers at the ShuDert-Belasco, while the President Players at the President's The- atre are offering a revival of "Abie's Irish Rose." Both shows are getting a ^at play of the business. Loew's Columbia is also cleaning up with the film, "The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse." Rhoda Rayol's Circus opened here on Decoration Day and has been packing them in. The circus came expressly for the Shriners convention and will remain here until it is over._ Aside from the cir- cus feature the outlit is carrying a wild west show and Indian exposition. WHITE'S "SCANDALS" OPENS George White's "Scandals" company left New York last Saturday on a special train with five baggage cars of scenery and 125 people. On Sunday two more baggage cars were sent to Atlantic City, where the show opened last Monday night. Efforts were made to hang all of the scenery prior to curtain time Monday, but'this was im- possible, so the show was given minus sev- eral scenes. However, on Tuesday the scenery was all hung and used for the eve- ning performance. The company had their dress rehearsal at the Apollo Theatre, be- f'nning midnight on Sunday, after the ddie Cantor show had left, and it lasted until two o'clock that afternoon. Another rehearsal took place at seven o'clock Mon- day morning aiid ran tmtil three that after- noon. With changes and cuts that were made after the opening peKormances, the company will be compelled to spend the entire week rehearsing for frwn six to eight hours a day before the night show. ONE "BLOSSOM TIME" OUT The "Blossom Time" company guying at the 44th Street theatre closed its engage- ment there last Saturday night and left its sister attraction at the Shubert theatre to continue its run alone at the theatre across the street The placing of the two "Blossom Time" companies for a two-week period at thea- tres opposite each other served as a med- ium to get the Shubert an avalanche of publicity on the attraction which is to be sent to England next season. ' The show at the Shubert theatre will probably continue until the end of June. JOLSON AND .ZIEGFELD MAY SIGN Indications that Al Jolson upon the com- pletron of his contract with the Shuberts, ' may a|igil himself ^with the Zicgfeld inter- ests' is-supported by a conference that Jol- son had with Florcnz Ziegfeld at the lat- tvr's office last Monday. Jolson will con- clude his contract under the Shubert man- agcmcnt next season and, according to re- ports, he has been negotiating with Ziegfeld for the past six months regarding coming under the latter's wing when he is freed from the Shubert contract. Jolson spent most of the noon hour Mon- day conferring with Ziegfeld in the latter's private office in the New Amsterdam Thea- tre Building. When he departed from the oRice his face bore an expressive grin of contentment, but he was disinclined to dis- cuss the purpose of his visit. Neither would Zicgfeld comment on it. According to reports, the only type Of contract that Jolson would accept from Ziegfeld or any other manager would be one where he is guaranteed a stipulated minimum wage, based on a percentage of the gross receipts of the attraction in which he appears and an interest in the profits of the show. It is said that Ziegfeld would not be in a position to make any such offers for his "Follies," as A. L. Erlanger and Marc Klaw are partners in this venture, and would not consent to any such arrangement Therofbre, it is likely that Ziegfeld will submit a proposition to Jobon to head his own show, independent of ""The Follies;" and probably give him a fifty per cent in- terest in the project - Though Jolson's contract with the Shu- berts has almost another year to run, it is said that he is endeavoring to obtain of- fers from other sources with which he will be able to impress the Shuberts as to the great demand for his services outside of their fold. From indications, though, it is more than likely that within a short time Jolson will sign an agreement whereby he will come under the Ziegfeld management for the 1924 season. _ Reports have been current for the past six months that when Jolson's contract with the Shubert enterprises expires that he would enter the concert field. However, close friends and advisors have told him that he would be much better off heading a show than trying a new field of endeavor, the results of which wtMild be uncertain. This week Jolson will hold a conference with D. W. Griffith regarding appearing in motion pictures under the latter's man- agement. Jolson is entirely satisfied with the financial arrangements of the contract that Grifiitb has offered him, bat desires to have the question of the type of stories to be used settled before he signs any con- tract It is said he also -wants the right to decide whether or not the first iMeture should be released after it has been com- pleted. His claim being that this is a new field of work for biro and that he does ocit want to injure his prestige by the appear- ance of a-picture with him as the central character, unless he deems it suitable to re- lease. ACTOR GETS QUICK DISCHARGE Boston, June 4.—Ernest Scanlon of the act of Scanlon, Denno Brothers & Scan- Ion was arrested here on Tuesday of last week after having been pursued by his •wife, Florence Press from Los Angeles to Massachusetts on a claim involving ten thousand ($10,000) dollars. Mr. Scanlon's attorney, Edward M.- Dangal,, immediately secured <a special hearing before Judge John G. Brackett who heard the evidence in the case and immediately discharged Mr. Scanlon from custody. A bill of complaint :n the case is pend- ing and this is returnable in court on July 2nd, 1923. "SHUFFLE ALONG" COMING BACK The original company of "Shuffle Along." the colored show which has been on tour for the past season and which is play-ing Tellers-Shubert theatre in Brooklyn this week, is scheduled to come into New York a^in for a summer run. The com- pany Will open in a Broadway house dur- ing the latter part of this month.