The New York Clipper (March 1919)

Copyrighted, 1919, and published weekly by the Clipper Corporation, 1604 Broadway, New York. Entered at the Poet-office at New York, Jane 24, 1879, u ■ail matter under Act of March *, !«•. Founded by FRANK QUEEN, 1SU NEW YORK, MARCH 5, 1919 VOLUME-LXVn-No. 4 Price, Tea Cents. (103 a Year SHUBERT LEASES ARE BEING IlHffiWED CASINO EXPIRES NEXT YEAR The Shubert s are getting ready to ro- th e leases on many of.their houses throughout the country. Within the next few years, it was learned last week, leases held by them on some of the moat suc- cessful theatres in the country will ex- pire, and, unless they can negotiate new .ones, they will have to build theatres in the territory covered by their leaseholds to .maintain:*the extensive circuit they have organized. And among the. houses affected.is the Casino Theatre, at Broadway and Thirty- iiinth street, i This house has been held by the Shuberts. under lease from the John M. Bixby Estate for'* number of years, the. last renewal being for a term of five years from April, 1916, at $40,000 a year. This house may be said to have been the nucleus of their theatrical hold- ings. ., Under the last renewal the lease ,' expires a year from next April. . . "The lease for the Shubert Theatre in Boston expires next January. This was negotiated by. the Shuberts in Janu- ary, 1010, the house at that time being taken for a term of ten yean at a rental of $36,000 a year. And, until a few years ago, this house was their most ■important holding in New England.' The Shubert Theatre in Kansas City, built for them in 1006 by Leo N. Leslie ••at a coat of 9150,000, and the most ex- pensive theatre ever built in that city up ' to that time, was acquired by the Shu- S berts through lease for a term of twenty years at the comparatively low rental of $20,000 a year. Although the lease on ' this house does not expire until Septem- ber 1, 19-26, the Shuberts will probably : include it. in their renewal activities at this time, because if they wait until the lease expires the rent may be boosted on them, - -..--..■---:. Probably the most valuable leasehold ' the Shuberts own is the one on the Win- ter Garden premises. The property is rowned by.the estate of the late Alfred G. Yanderbilt, who went down on the Lusitania, and previous to its acquisition by the Shuberts more than twelve years -. ago for a .term of ninety-nine years, it ■ waa. used as a horse exchange.. The Shu- berts are said to be paying in the neigh- borhood of $25,000 a year for the prem- ises. There are five stores in the build-, ing besides the cabaret quarters upstairs, all of - which the Shuberts rent but. and '■ from which they derive a rental of over $100,000 a year. Their-leasehold on the - property is valued at $500,000, .' WEDDING BELLS FOR "JOSIE" Josephine C. Lesch or "Josie," at she la known to those -who have occasion to tele- phone to the Theatrical Division of Training Camp Activities, in the New York Theatre Banding,' will' -forsake her switchboard ' shortly before Jane 7tb, on which, date she I becomes the wife of Edward Hart, stock manager for Sanger and Jordan, and well • known in the theatrical lusinessj' ' MUSICAUZE MAY IRWIN PLAY The Berwyn Producing' Corporation, which is producing the new May Irwin play, "Raising the Aunty," is getting ready to produce another play, it waa learned hut week. The new piece will be a mnaicalized version of one of Miss Irwin's old plays. j, The Berwyn corporation waa organised last January with a capital of $10,000. The officers are A. L. Barman, president, and Kurt SSsfeldt, treasurer and general manager. . Berman is an attorney and former producer of burlesque shows. Esi- feldtis May Irwin's husband. " R aisin g the Aunty," scheduled to open in Poughkeepsie March 17, is costing the Berwyn corporation approximately $20,- 000. The show's payroll will total close to $6,500 weekly. May Irwin, the star, is receiving $1,000 a week. It waa also learned last week that Clifton Crawford waa asked to join the cast of the show, being offered $800 a week to do so, but he asked $1400 and the negotiations fall through. ■ - . TUCKER CONTRACT RENEWED Sophie Tucker last week renewed her contract to remain at Relsenweber's for an- other ten weeks with her Five Kings of Syncopation.. She has also added another member to her band, a trombone player who win be billed as a "Joker." Under her contract with Relsenweber's Miss Tucker receives fifty per cent of the couyert charges and ten per-cent of the gross receipts. Her tand is'paid by the management, the amount not being de- ducted from Miss Tucker's -eceipts. This arrangement has netted Mjss Tucker from. $1,500 to $2,200 weekly since she opened at the restaurant At the expiration of her renewed con- tract, Miss Tucker will begin rehearsals of the revised comedy with music, written for her by Jack Lait, in which she was scheduled to open last January. SHOWS LEAVING BOSTON Boston, Mass., Feb. 27.—Five shows playing here are 'slated to close shortly. "Hello Alexander." at the Majestic, with Mclntyre and Heath, is in its last two weeks, and is due to close on March 15. "Little Simplicity," at the Wilbur, will also complete its run there on March 15, while "The Better *01e" is due to depart from the Hollis on the same date. "Lom- bardi Limited" and "Polly. With a Past" are also scheduled to close on March 15. STAGE HANDS CLEAR $10,000 The dance of Theatrical Protective Union, No. 1, turned out to - be a big success on Saturday, the receipts totaling in the neighborhood of $10,000. The affair was held in York-ville Casino on Eighty- Sixth Street, "where three halls and as many bands.were employed. The receipts will go to swell the Burial Fund.of the Union. A number of entertainers 'from Ziegfeld's Roof'and some of Keith's stars entertained. ARMY THEATRES ARE TO BE PERMANENT WAR DEFT. TO OPERATE THEM The United States Government has de- cided to make theatrical entertainments a permanent feature of army life from now on, and, in accordance with this decision, every permanent cantonment will continue to operate its-own Liberty Theatre, under the auspices of the War Department, The number of Liberty Theatres that ere to become permanent fixtures, natur- ally, depends on the number of cantonments the War Department wfQ finally decide to operate. - It is likely, however, that the Liberty Theatre Circuit will consist of at least fifteen bouses. ; -. • - At present, the following camps and cantonments have Liberty Theatres: Devens, Upton, Mills, Merritt, Dix, Meade, Hum- phries, Lee, Eustis, Stewart, Jackson, Gordon, Hancock, Wadsworth, Travis, Mc- CleDan, Bowie, Fort Sill, Funaton; Dodge, Grant, Custer,. Taylor and Sherman. - Several of these wQl close intns course of the next three or four months. Among those that are elated for an early closing are McCleUan, Wadsworth and Hancock. Just exactly-what cantonmenta wfll be retained after demobilisation is folly accom- plished baa not been determined aa yet. It will be the regular cantonmenta, however, that wlU remain open when the fifteen per- manent ones are finally chosen. All of the National Guard Camps' will be abolished in itaneV ,-.■ ' -'The'theatrical division of the Commis- sion on Training Camp Activities is grado- - aUy being merged with the War Depart- ment and will shortly become.a military ' branch of that department, instead of a civilian one aa it baa been heretofore. J. Howard Reber will remain at the head of the theatrical division, aa will Harry Stubbs, the roaring man; and-most of the other civilian employes of the division. The headquarters wfll remain aa at present in the New York Theatre build- ing. The civilian managers of the various Liberty Theatres will be drooped by de- grees and replaced by army officers. SAILS TO PRODUCE "MAYTTME- Jake Shubert sailed for London last Sat- urday on the Olympic. His chief mission while abroad will be the 4 superintending of the London production of "Maytime." whica will go into rehearsal Immediately following hi* arrival. The premier will take place in about five weeks from now. KALtCH TO PLAY SUBWAY ROUTS When "The Riddle: Woman" doses at the Fulton, March 15. it wfll lay- off for a week before beginning its three-weeks^ tonr of the subway circuit. The play win re- open March 24th at the Majestic Theatre. Brooklyn. On March Slat it comes to tne Shnbert-Riviera for a week, and on April 7th it opens at Loew*a Seventh Avenae Theatre for a week. After' that the play agstn lay* off for a week before opening in Chicago. "Please- Get Married" is scheduled to replace The Riddle: Woman" at the Ful- TREASURERS SET BENEFIT DATE The Treasurers' Club of America, win hold its thirtieth annual benefit perform- ance at the Hudson Theatre, Sunday evening, May 4. Mrs. Henry B. Harris, owner of the Hudson, who taken a deep interest in the club's affairs, has provided the theatre rent free and, in addition, will pay the wages of the stage hands necessary for the vaudeville hill that as to be arranged. Last December, whew Charles Coogan, a member of the Treas- urers' Club, and who waa treasurer of the Hudson, died, Mrs. Harris, on the day of bis funeral, bad the doors of the theatre closed from 9 ut the morning to 6 at night aa a tribute to him. i The Treasurers' Club, which has a mem- bership of: 160, .and which has .no club rooms of its own, holding its Pitetlngt fpur times each year at the Metropolitan Opera House or the Booth Theatre, ex- perts to raise $0,000 from the perform- aaee in May. This money will be added - to the dub'a emergency fund, which now totals about $20,000.. , i : The membership of the club is com- . posed of the treasurers of the leading the- atres throughout the city, among whoa are men who have risen to managerial positions. The dues are 910 a year, and, when a member diss, bis benefielerier re- ceive $250. The interest on the principal of the fund to .divided each year among the widows of the members who have died during the current year. The addi- tional . amount received by each widow must not exceed $260. Harry B. Nelmea is chairman of the ' arrangements and program. committees. The following are the officers of the club: James H. J. Scullion, president; Jed F. Shaw, vice-president; Sol. De Vries, treas- urer; Ernest Albers, recording secretary! Louis A. Morgenstern, financial secretary, and A. L. Jacobs, counsel. The governors are Max Birsch, Alfred T. Darling, Earle Lewis, Bernard Klawana, Ralph w. Long, Charles J. Lyoa The auditors are Macs Hilliard, H. B. Ketones and John N. Ostrander. - TOLLY WRITING NEW-PIECE -Los AHGELXS. Feb. 28.—Richard Walton Tuny Is on his ranch near here busy writ- ing a new play wRb which he win go East In mid-Summer and produce next-Fall. It is said to be a big spectacular piece. "A BIT OF PARIS" CLOSES "A Bit.of Paris," the romantic play with music, in which Julia Byron and Gold win Patten were featured, closed last Saturday night in Williamiport, Pa., and has been ' brought back to New York for revision and recasting by Edward sL Rice, Ha producer. The play written by Julia Turck Baker, and which opened in Oswego February 21, wai really owned by Julia Byron, who produced it as a vehicle In which to fea- ture herself. A paucity of music and girls waa responsible for-the bad reception the piece received during ita abort life. In the neighborhood of $10,000 waa spent in the play's production and -ita weekly payroll amounted to $2,000. REPUDIATED THE CONTRACT When. David BeJaaeoV production "The) Boomerang" played in Gary, Ind., about a month ago, the house manager repudi- ated the booking contract made in Chi- cago, it was learned but week, and re- fused to pay for the additional stags hands r e quir ed to set the piece. This act lad to the sending oat of A questionnaire by the Producing Managers' Association several weeks ago to up on recalcitrant managers and of small houses throughout the < where first-class shows are m the habK of playing one-night stands. '