The New York Clipper (March 1919)

March 12, 1919 THE NEW YORK CLIPPER CHICAGO OPERA COMPANY LOSES $100,000 ON SEASON Handicapped on Arrival Here by $15,000 Expense for Trip from Chicago. Lou Made Good by Mrs. McCormick. Played to Capacity and $250,000 c ■.-.■•> After, playing five weeks at the Lexing- ton Theatre, daring which capocity busi- ness was the role rather than the excep- tion, the Chicago Opera Company left last week for Philadelphia, where It ma; recoup part of the (100,000 which it lost on its New York engagement. This loss is due to the enormous ex- penses with which the grand opera organi- sation is hardened. To begin with, a com- pany of 360 people, divided as follows, 60 principals, 90 orchestra musicians, 160 chorus and 60 staff, had to be brought to New York from Chicago, many of them even before the first performance Jan. 27. .This item "alone entailed an expenditure of -" over 915,000. Then, although the com- pany only produced twenty-seven differ- ent operas, it came here prepared to pro- duce thirty^nve, bringing thirty-five car- loads of scenery to New York. ' Cartage and other items In connection with the scenery necessitated a further outlay of $5,000, bringing- the total for the trip of the organization from Chicago up to $20,- 000. r;.'; The expenses of the company were $70,- 000 a week, a total of $880,000 during its stay at the Lexington, which'it leased for its season here from George Grundy. To offset the expenses, the company played to a total of 1260,000, which was practically capacity for the five weeks. ° ■ This- enormous total would probably not . have been realized were it not for the help of the larger theatre ticket brokers who, besides taking blocks of seats for each per- formance, also* helped by turning over their lists of subscribers to the Chicago com- pany management, with the result that the subscriptions alone totaled $125,000. After receiving the brokers' subscription lists, the Chicago management wrote to each person on the list asking them if they wished to subscribe through the broker or direct through the opera organization. And no matter through whom the brokers' cus- tomers subscribed, the brokers were given 10 per cent commission on the transaction. ' The customer bought his subscription ticket at box office prices plus tin- war tax and the broker who had submitted his name was credited with 10 per cent commission. This practice was inaugurated many years ago by the late John Dunlap, the hatter, who was interested in opera and theatre ticket agencies when these busi- nesses were in their infancy here. The Metropolitan Opera Company, until sev- eral years ago,' maintained the practice of allowing subscribers 10 per cent discount. But now it only allows this discount, which amounts to a commission, to the five larger ticket agencies with which it deals. These are McUride's, Tyson & Company, Tyson & Brother, Rullman's, and Bascom & Com- The Chicago Opera Company played seven performances a week at the Lexing- pany. ton, which has a seating capacity of 2,3O0, at prices which ranged from $1 to $6, ex- cepting the Saturday night popular-priced performances, the schedule for which ranged from 70 cents to 93. And, even if every performance were actually sold i out, the house could not possibly play to more than $70,000 a week. But, when it is consid- ered that large blocks of seats were dis- tributed daily to the papers, musical maga- zines and foreign language papers, it is quite conceivable how the amount required to pay the expenses of each performance fell short by several thousands of dollars. Then, too, the illness of Rosa Raiaa throughout the engagement here of- the company, she being one of the large money getters, necessitated the elimination of sev- eral operas from the repertory and that re- sulted in a.substantial monetary loss. . Galli-Curci sang eight, times in the five weeks during which the Chicago company was here, each of her performances being a complete sell out, and brought in about $75,000 through her appearances. And though Mary Garden has a.large follow- ing and added a great deal of artistic lustre to the Chicago Opera Company, her pres- ence in the- organization failed to bring- anywhere near the amount the Galli-Curci appearances realized. In figuring the expenses of the Chicago Opera Company, its permanent offices and ' staff here, headed by John Brown, former - business manager of the Metropolitan Opera Company, must bo taken into ac- count. The offices of the organization, which are in the Empire Theatre Building iit Broadway and 40th street, are main- tained throughout the year, and are abso- lutely necessary If tile five-week season the company bus here each year is to be made even.comparatively successful. Although the opera company is subsidized In Chicago by a number of wealthy guar- antors, the same as the Metropolitan com- pany is here, Mrs. Harold McCormick, daughter of John 1>. Rockefeller, Is the principal sponsor of the New York engage- ment, having guaranteed Director Cam- pannini against loss to an unlimited amount. Mrs. McCormick takes the same interest in the Chicago Opera Company as Otto Kahn takea in the Metropolitan com- pany here. . The Chicago Opera Company, which be- came a permanent opera company In 1912, ' before opening its ten-week season at the Auditorium each November, plays four weeks on' the road through the larger Western cities. Then it comes to New York for five weeks in March, after which it plays for three weeks In each of the following cities, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and Detroit, playing a week in each city. This gives the Chicago organization a total season of twenty-two weeks and enables the company to guarantee long seasons to the artists. BAGGOT BACK IN SPOKEN DRAMA ' CoLUMijuB, O., March .7.—Kins; Baggot, the motion picture star, made his return to the stage of the spoken drams last night when he appeared at the Hartman The- atre here as the star in "The Violation," a three-act play by H. 3. Sheldon, which was presented by Harry Hunter. It is about eight years since Baggot' b last appearance in the spoken drama and a cer- tain lack of poise is noticeable. Neverthe- less, he gave an impressive performance, acting with considerable force and lending the character the necessary dignity. The play, while it may not be classed with Sheldon's best works, is still in the direct and forceful style of this writer and commands attention. That it will excite discussion, because of the manner in which the author Ignores social conventions, is not doubted. But even those whom It »*»«*>« must admit the skill with which It has been written. The piece tells the story ot a Governor who is torn by a conflict between love and duty. In the first act he is shown as a manly fellow, mhunated to a woman he married to save from shame. By the mar- riage he was forced to break with the. woman he loved. That the Governor's wife, does not care for her husband la shown early in the play, when an illicit love ia. disclosed between her and the Governor's secretary. In this act it is also shown that the Governor is perplexed as to what to do in the case of a man condemned to die. Duty. tells him to let the. law take its course. R-t the man is the brother of the woman he gave up and he finally signs the paper . which commutes thu sentence. He hands the document to the girl, declares bis love for her snd saks her to go with him to his hunting lodge on promise of six dsys of platonic relationship^.. , Act two shows them at the lodge, happy. and innocent. But they are waked from . their dreams by the appearance of the Governor's wife, accompanied by the girl's relatives. In act three the girl's brother la about to kill the Governor. But he learns that bis sister has not been wronged. Baggot was well supported by a company which Included Margot Williams, Roy Cochrane, Eugene Desmond, Frances Vic- tory, Jack Lester and Edith Cochrane. MADDOCK BACK PROM LONDON - Charlie Maddocir. arrived home from London, on Sunday afternoon, after a five . weeks' sojourn abroad in the. interests of his various theatrical ventures. He re- ceived offers of time for every one of his vaudeville productions while in London, and, if .he decides to aeeept the proposi- tions tendered, will send' over duplicate companies. Maddock says that all of the London playhouses are 'doing a turns, way business, and the American shows, such as "Uncle Sam," "Nottimg_But the Truth," "Going Up" and "Her Soldier Boy" are doing an especially big business. Charlie Withers has landed solidly with the English the- atre-going public in "For Pity's Sake," snd Don Barclay, according to Maddock, an- other American who' went" over recently, is rapidly becoming a favorite in London, -by his performance in "Zig Zag," a cur- rent revue. -.- -:.,>,■.'■.-" •■••■-'' . CASEY WINS RE-TRIAL Pat Casey, as the. controlling interest in the Dan Casey Company, owners of the Empire Theatre, st Railway, N. J., last week won a retrial of a case that will save him paying a judgment of 94(000, awarded by the lower court to F. Dudley Stewart, manager of an act known as Rudolph snd May. Some time ago Stewart went to the theatre one morning about 10 o'clock to watch the Rudolph and May act rehearse and, after sitting in one of the orchestra seats for tome time, got up and started to go through a door which, he baliaved, led back stage. Instead, the door led to the basement of the theatre, and he fell down s flight of steps, snd broke his leg, for which a jury awarded him 94,000 dam- ages. Casey appealed the case, however. Snd the Appelate Division has decided that the esse should be re-tried. WALNUT HAS GOOD BOOKING P TTTT.*p irr.PTTTA, March 11.—The Wal- nut Theatre here has booked a lengthy list of popular attractions. The order in which they will be presented. is ss fol- lows: "The Nsughty Wife," "Peg o' My Heart," which opens on St Patrick's Day and stays there for two weeks; "The Voice of McConnel," starring Chauncey Olcott: "It Pays to Advertise," "Daddy Long Legs," "Nothing but the Truth," "The 13th Chair" and other shows. "TOBY'S BOW" GOING STRONG Contrary to what was expected the first night, "Toby's -Bow? is developing into a regular .hit .at the Comedy. Busi- ness has been picking np from week to week until it will soon reach s point where Smith and Golden, who tried the piece out last season, will begin to be sorry that they lost faith in ft. LA MONT WITHDRAWS COMPLAINT The complaint filed with the N. V. A. a few weeks ago by Bert La Mont against Bob Martini, in which La Mont sought to collect $200 which, he .claimed. Martini owed him as the result of Martini having quit one of La Mout'a acts, has been with- drawn. The controversy was settled by the interested parties getting together and talk- ing it over, it ia understood. ORCHESTRA TO ENTER VAUDE The Russian Cathedral Quartette, now appearing with John Barry more in '"Re- demption," will soon appear in vaudeville, together with the Balalaika Orchestra. It will start in vaudeville upon the close of "Redemption" here on April 5. Bonis- 8. Samuels, manager of the quartette, will pre- sent the offering on big time. MUST FIREPROOF SCENERY Vaudeville acts playing Washington, D. C, must have their scenery flrenroofed before they will be allowed to play in that city hereafter, according to an announce- ment sent out by the N. V. A. The no- tice reads as follows": "The fire department at Washington, D. C, has notified the theatres there that they will hereafter refuse to permit any scenery or drdps that have not been fire- proofed to be used in Washington the- atres. Acta should therefore be aura that these regulations are complied with, other, wise they will be cancelled. (Signed) Henry Crestexvikld, ; Secretary N. V. A. BUSHMAN * BAYNE FOR VAUDE Francis X. Bushman and Beverly Bayne, the picture stars, ore reported to have re- ceived a flattering offer to play a few weeks in vaudeville. It ia quite likely that Bushman and Bavne will be seen at the Palace in a sketch in the course of the next four or five weeks, according to a person closely in touch with their business affairs. Following the vaudeville tour, Bushman and Bavne will start rehearsing in a new play that Al. Woods will pre- . sent them in if present negotiations ter- minuate satisfactorily to all parties con- cerned. MON. ADOLPHUS HAS NEW ACT Monsieur Adolpbus is rehearsing s new classic dancing act which Is soon to play the Keith time. He will have as his pianist Charles Conway and Ethel GQzaor* and Marjorie Brown will dance.with btm. He has a special cyclorama setting designed in the Golding studios. Max Gordon ia book- ing the act. MeCORMACK REVIVES MACU3HLA' Barry McCormack, the Irish romantic actor, who has been playing vaudeville for the last eouple of seasons, will go out as a star at the head of his own company in three or four weeks. McCormack will utilize Chauncey Olcott's former starring vehicle "Macuahla" for his return to the legitimate. The piece opens in Providence on April 21. The net proceeds of the tour will be turned over to the Knights of Columbus. BROOKS HAS NEW TAB "Ladies' Dsy" is a new Marty Brooks musical comedy tabloid Just ont of re- - heanuti. It has a cast of eight, two prin- cipals and a chorus of six. The two lead- ing characters are Percy Ghapene and George Taylor. It opened Monday out of town. ' THORNTON IS OUT AGAIN Jim Thornton, looking better than ever after spending a week or so in BeHe-rue, where he' was. treated for nervous trouble, was around the corner of Forty-seventh and Seventh Avenue once more on Mon- day. Jim will resume Ms vaudeville en- gagements shortly. FEDERAL TRADE HEARINC MAR. 24 The next hearing of the investigation that the Federal Trade Commission ]s conducting into the affairs of the V. M. P. A. and the Keith Exchange will be held in the United States District Court in ths Woolworth Building on Monday, March 24. The hearing was first sched- uled to be held on March 18, and later changed to March 25. This date wss again changed on Monday to March 24. RECONFIRM A.E.A. AFFILIATION Ths Actors' Equity Association received a communication from the Actors' Asso- ciation of Great Britain last week eon- firming the affiliation that was effected between the two organizations several months ago before the English association became unionized.. The letter stated that the A. A. of Great Britain held a ing, and it was agreed that ths previous affiliation should stand, as heretofore. . AFTER "UP Of MABEL'S ROOM" A number of producers have been doing their utmost to get any old kind of rights for "Up. in Mabel's Room" for .next sea- son, but it was stated early .this i that ths only .emripsaitos to go out : by Jnjteii Murray season would be one t wo wh ich. Mrs. A. H. 'Woods wvuld