The New York Clipper (March 1919)

March 12, 1919. THE NEW YORK CLIPPER INCOME TAX, DUE THIS WEEK, WILL HIT THEATRE FOLK HARD Cohan, Erlanger and Others Expected to Pay Amount Running Into Tens of Thousands. Six Per Cent. Impost Trebles Amount Paid Last Year The fact that everyone in the country who earns more than $1,000 per year must file an income tax by next Saturday was causing many theatrical people frith large incomes considerable worry the first of the week, and. if. you see. anyone connected with the theatre wearing a frown this week yon may rightly assign it to the fact that they have computed the amount which they will have to pay. Six per cent, with an additional one per cent on all over $4,000 for pergonal incomes, runs up into a much larger sum than many persons expected. George M. Cohan, it 'was stated early this week, will have to pay in the neigh- borhood of $75,000, and A. L. Erlanger a similar amount. David Warfield and Francis Wilson, both reputed to be very, rich, would have to put their names to checks close to $60,000, it was said,. S. Z. Poli, who has been credited with clean- ing up over $400,000 with his chain of theatres since the last tax was paid, will have to approach the Revenue Collector with a $30,000 check in hand. E. D. Stair, of Detroit, said to be one of the richest theatrical men in the country, will have to part within the neighborhood of $55,- 000 it was said. Gus Hill, while he has little to say, has a big bankroll "salted" away, will have to come across to the government agents handsomely this year, it was reported, his companies having done exceptionally well on the road this season. ■ Somebody re- cently tried to compute the money that he made during this and last season and would be well satisfied with a quarter Of it. Other producers who will be hard hit by the six per cent impost are A. H. Woods, Arthur Hammerstein, Corns tock, Elliott and Gest, John L. Golden, J. J. and Lee Shubert, Wihthrop Ames, Sam H. Harris, Brady, Belasco and others. Among the performers, legitimate, vaud- eville and film,, who will nave to be re- vived when they see the amount they will have to pay are Mrs. Fiske, De Wolfe Hopper, William Collier, Ethel Barrymore, Jane Cowl, Fatty Arbuckle, Douglas Fair- banks, Mary Pickford, Leo Ditrichstein, Sam Bernard, Fred Stone, Charley Chap- lin, Al Jolson, Kan Halperin, and others. Playwrights who will be affected to a large extent are Sam Shipman, Max Mar- cus, Mark Swan, Aaron Hoffman, Rachael Crothers, Roi Cooper McGrue and others. "FROCKS AND FRILLS" OPENS New York has seen' many remarkable sights, some curious,' some quaint. New York has also seen plays of divers and various kinds, from very good to very bad. But upper New York has never seen anything to compare with "Frocks and Frills." It is programmed as a "satirical farce in two rooms," and is also styled a musi- cal show. But it more closely resembles the old-style boat show seen before the War of the Rebellion, and for a short time after it,- but happily only a memory now. The company of "Frocks and Frills" is composed of danceless dances and voiceless singers, while the piece itself is made up of joke! ess jokes and tuneless tunes. The book is raw and the author and com* posers of the work were so firmly im- pressed of the merit of it that their names were omitted from the program. The Standard has a certain clientele which is loyal and go es each week to see the attractions. When the house an* nounced a departure from its policy the regular patrons, unafraid, and believing in the judgment of the management, went on Monday night. It is probable that it will' require explanations aa to how the "mistake" happened or the regulars may attend some other house next Monday. Those present were amazed and did not recover from their amazement tm they reached the street and then, as they rubbed their eyes, they asked each other if it was a dream or something that had really happened. MARJOJUE RAMBEAU MARRIES Marjorie Rambeau and Hugh DUlman McGaughy, her leading man in "The For- tune Teller," went down to the-Municipal Building last week and were quietly mar- ried. Deputy City Clerk Michael J. Cruise performed the ceremony. Miss Rambeau was formerly married to Willard -Mack, or, as he is known off stage, Charles W. McLaughlin. They were di- vorced September 24,-1917, after five years of married life. WILL RESUME CAMP CIRCUIT Spalding and Berkowitz Orpheum Fol- lies Company, which recently returned here to reorganize after a nine-month tour Of Western camps, playing musical shows and farces with music, will resume play- ing March 17 at Camp Zachary Taylor, Ky.' The company will open in a new musicalization of "Our Wives," and is booked for a twelve weeks' tour. The following are the principals in the company: Cynthia Kellog, Walter C. Wil- son, George J. Williams, Geraldine Wood, Mildred Warren. Jess Willingham, Guy Douglass, Ethel Lytle and Max Wiseman. Gus Hemple has been engaged as musical director. CARUSO AND WIFE REMARRY Enrico Caruso and- Dorothy Park Ben- jamin, to whom he was married last year, went through the marriage ceremony for a second time last week. This ceremony was held in St. Patrick's Cathedral, and was performed to meet the requirements of the Catholic faith. At the time the first wedding was held, Aug. 20, 1018, Miss Benjamin was not a Catholic and the ceremony was then held in the Marble College Church. Before the second marriage the bride was formally received into the Catholic Church and they were married by Father Martin. TO SEE COHAN PLAY "A Prince There Was" will be presented for soldiers and sailors free of charge at the Geo. M. Cohan Theatre next Sunday. The performance will be held under the auspices of the Stage Women's War Re- lief Fund. WILL WELCOME THE -."TTH A benefit to raise a fund to extend a fitting welcome and entertainment for the returning soldiers of the 27 th is being managed by Marie Dressier. The show will be held on March 16 at the Hippo- drome. SPIEGEL HAS NEW PIECE "Something Doing" is the title of a new musical play which win soon be produced by Max Spiegel. The book and lyrics are by. Frank Mandel and Harry Carroll ha» written the musie. ELSIE JAMS TO RETURN IN MAY "LONDON, March 8.—Elsie Janis will re- turn to America some time in May for a stay of two .months. Following her stay in the United States, she will go to Paris to make her initial bow In that city. RILL HITS VAUDE HOUSES Albany, N. Y., March 7.—The new theatre bill, recently introduced in the State Legislature, came up in committee this week and in its present form it is likely to bring a storm of protest from New York City vaudeville managers, which it particularly affects. The object of the bill, as introduced by Assemblyman Peter J. Hamill, ■ is to prevent any manager from advertising the appearance of a jrejajjt^d individual unless that individual appears at the performance advertised." 'It makes it a misdemeanor "foe — j «■»—-•— n —JjfaBE., place of amusement, advertising a" eflrBgT specified program to be given duriirg'flne performance, to repeat any one act or num- ber of such program without having given all other acts or numbers on such program during one performance." GRACE GEORGE PLAY OPENS WELL Detboit, Mich., March 10.—Mark W. Reed's three-act comedy, "She Would and She Did," was given its first representa- tion on.any stage at the Shubert-Garrick last night with Grace George as the heroine of the fable. The story dealt with one Frances Nes- mith, a high strung, young woman of society in a progressive American city, who, to ease her injured feelings over failure to make an easy shot, musses up the hallowed eighth green Of the local golf club, for which she is promptly suspended by the commit- tee, without being given a chance to tell her side of the story. She sets out to undo the work of the committee and secure her rein- statement. Being decidedly outspoken, she promptly puts all her opponents and most of her friends at odds and there are all sorts of complications. "She Would and She Did" is satirical comedy of a well worth while type. Mr. Reed gives an -intensely human and alto- gether humorous insight into the working of some feminine minds, that tickles the risibilities without leaving resentment on the part even of those at whom his shafts are directed. The fable is slight in texture, but it has been handled with a skin that keeps interest unbroken. William A. Brady, who was present at the premiere, has dressed the production in excellent taste. Miss George, as the hero- ine who was determined to move heaven and earth to gain her ends, dominated every scene with her accustomed skill. TJo-night*■ performance was a distinct triumph for her. Lending wholly adequate support were Cora Witherspoon, Geo. McQuarre, John Cromwell. Howard Arnold. Russell Davis, Walter Bingham. John Stokes, William Bailey, Ned Burs ton, May Collins, Ruth Benson. Maud Stover,'John Fleming and Ann Warwick. MOROSCO HAS NEW FARCE "What's Your Number." a new farce comedy, will be produced in the near fu- ture by Oliver Morosco. The show will open in Los Angeles and, if successful there, will come to New York or Chicago. NEW CHATTERTON SHOW UKED Baltimore, Md., March 10.—At Ford's, this week, Rath Chatterton Is appearing in a new comedy, "The Merry Month of May," by George Scarborough, under the direction of Henry Miller. Aa suggested by the title, it is a merry little comedy, full of love and laughter. The three acta are all staged in the same room of the Baldwin home in Washington, a quaint old room, with antique famish- ings and the portraits of a forme; master and mistress hanging on the wall. The present owner. Senator Baldwin,, of Arizona, is a newcomer, having been in Washington only for two years. But he has social aspirations and a great fond- ness for a second term in the Senate and to be the husband of the fascinating Mrs. Langley. His daughter, Judith. Is quite a belle in Washington society and is in doubt aa to which of her many suitors she most ad- mires. Having made up her mind to marry one and not being able to decide just which it shall be, she promises a defi- nite answer to three—a Congressman, a "dude" In the opinion of her father's ranch foreman, and a sailor boy, on her twenti- eth birthday. Ruth Chatterton, as Judith, is charming with ber adorable little mannerisms and dainty frocks, and she certainly leads ber suitors a merry dance. James Rennle, as Tod Musgrave, the Arizona ranchman, does some fine acting, while Tim Murphy, aa Senator Baldwin, is excellent. Sydney Booth, aa Congressman Hamill, and Charles Trowbridge, as Courtney Blue, the "dude," Lucille Watson, as Mrs. Langley, the attractive young widow; Lawrence Eddinger, as Jefferson, the old colored but- ler acquired with the bouse, and almost as antique, all take their parts splendidly. Flora Sheffield, as Pet, the younger daugh- ter of Senator Baldwin, ia a- dear. The play met with continuous applause and the house was in an uproar moat of the time to-night. An odd note is added by the fact ■ that no time ia supposed to elapse during the intermissions and when the curtain goes up on the second act the players are discovered in exactly the posi- tions in which they were when it went down on the first. HARRISBURG RESTORES CABARETS ■Harbjbburg, Pa., March 8.—Cabarets are rapidly coming into vogue in this city again since the opening of the Penn-Harria, a $1,000,000 hotel a few months ago. At the opening the first cabaret seen here in years was presented. At present, Neva Loiidnjm Is singing, and the Meyer-Davis orchestra plays for dancing. The Hotel Columbia is following and recently engaged an orchestra. Several other of the local houses are intenSing to take the same step. ORGANIZE "UNCLE TOM" SHOW Newton, la., March 6.—Vernon Reaver and Harry £». Kelley have entered the tent show field by putting out a new "Uncle Tom's Cabin" company. The show is now being put into shape at the company's winter quarters and will open in this city on April 28. W. H. Qninette will have charge of the advance, aa general agent, while Frederick P. McCord has been engaged to produce the show. Thirty-five people will com- pose the organization. SPANIARDS TO HAVE HOUSE New Obucans, I-a., March 8.—The 3.000 Spanish speaking people of this city will soon have a Spanish theatre of their own to attend. Cloe Lopes,- a prominent South Amer- ican and Latin exporter is beading the movement. He intends to have comedies and dramas written by the modern Span- ish playwrights nnd staged by amateurs, mainly to give the beginners in the lan- guage a better chance to learn it HndW, Stern and Philips They have a New Singing Act. PLAN FIRST EALL GAME. A game of ban b e t ween actors and song- writers is being a rrange d by Dick Jeas for Sunday. April 13. at the Polo Ground*. He plans to make it one of S serias off firs and will give a concert at the i