The New York Clipper (March 1919)

March 19, 1919 THE NEW YORK CLIPPER "Old Moe" la Latest One to Yield to American Producers and Other* with Dramas. Competition Among Managers Gtowr More Keen . -u-. . London,. Knr, March 17.—London, at the. present time, is tattering worse than ever from a shortage of legitimate thea- tres, a condition which a few years ago seemed impossible. While the primary cause is directly due to conditions brought about by the war, a major contributing cause is the influx to London of American producers with Amer- ican plays. -The present rush of American producers began about 1914, with Gilbert Miller, who brought with him a New York suc- cess. Shortly after his London advent he secured the Duke of York's Theatre on a long lease and later secured the St. Tames, both of which are stHI under his manage- ment. Besides these two houses, Miller from time to time has taken theatres on short leases for the presentation of plays which he was unable to present at the theatres he controls. American managers have followed the policy of bringing over plays which have proved popular in New York, and in the majority of cases these have duplicated in London the success they attained on Broadway. "Romance," with. Doris Reane, ran more than two years in this city. "The Lilac Domino" has been here for many weeks and is going as strong today as when it first opened. The fact that an American play will run for a. year or more at a house, ties np that house and takes a theatre from the list of houses which the E!n g liah producer heretofore bad at his command. A. H. Woods is the most recent New York man- ager to arrive and be has a long list of attractions to be presented. When London producers began to realise that there were not enough houses for their productions they began to look around for theatre sites, bnt these being as scarce as the proverbial "hen's teeth," they turned to the variety theatres as a last resort. Groasmith and Laurillard have Just taken the Middlesex Theatre, long one of London's variety strongholds. The house goes to them for a period of. five years, at a rental of $35,000 per year, with the privilege of two years' extension at $40,000 per annum. By the terms of their lease they are also given an option on the purchase of the freehold of the house for 9400,000, this option to extend for two yean from the date of the signing of the lease. The passing of "Old Mo," as the Middle- sex has always affectionately been called, takes from -the- variety field one of Lon- don's most famous music halls, and one which has made more "stars" than any two balls on the British Isles. While it is true that the aimon pure variety atmosphere passed away with the termination of J. L. Graydon's manage- ment of it in January, 1910, the house prior to that time was looked upon as the music hall history maker of England, and on its stage all the bright lights of variety appeared. To be On the bill at "Old Mo" wag the ambition of every rising artist, for an appearance there meant recognition by all of the other leading halls in the kingdom. When the house re-opens it will bear the name of The Winter Garden and will be as new from pit to dome as artisans can make it Hundreds of workmen— carpenters, painters, decorators and up- holsterers—are at work, and when the Winter Garden opens not a semblance of "Old Mo" will remain. It is the intention of the new managers to make it a "club theatre," with a bar for the men, a tea room for the ladies, and a "soft drink" room for both sexes. It Is hoped to have the house ready for open- ing by the middle of April, and for this event GrossmitU and Lanrillard have chosen the New York Musical success "The Girl Behind the Gun." The taking over by dramatic' interests of the Middlesex calls to mind that the London Pavilion and the Oxford were originally built for variety, and for years were among the famous London music halls. From such they were changed to homes for revues and now are ranked with the regular theatres. ( Even "Old Drory" in its palmy days waa a stronghold for variety, but ceased to be such when it was turned into a home for melodrama For some time it-has been used for pictures and other forms of enter- tainment- and just now it is very much in the public eye because Sir Alfred Butt, Oswold Stoll, and other wealthy managers want to purchase it to add it once more to the list of regular production houses. WATERTOWN CARNIVAL OPENS STATELAKE CANT HOLD AGENTS Watektown. N. Y„ March 17.—A big indoor festival and Mardi Gras opened here this evening for the benefit of the returning local veterans. The event, pro- moted and contracted by Sydney Wire, in- cludes Ike Rose's Lilliputians, Capt. Jack Codden's Mexican border show, "Dare Devil" Raymond's athletic and wrestling stadium, featuring Cora Lynch the Irish champion, and "iron Neck" Mott, light heavyweight champion. "Dare Devil" Schreyer and Helen Osborn are the fea- ture free attractions and Schreyer is man- aging the side shows and-concessions. The attractions were brought here by the World's Congress of Dare Devils, and the festival is one of a chain of similar events which-have bees arranged and pro- moted by Wire, who has closed contracts with military unite in various parts of New York, Pennsylvania and Vermont for peace celebrations, victory jubilees and welcome home carnivals. Chicago, March 18.—Martin Beck called a meeting here of all 10 per cent, agents affiliated with his circuit today and in- formed them that he was unable to pro- vide quarters for them in the new Statelake Building, and suggested that they select another building for their offices. The request fell like an exploding bomb among the middlemen. A comm it- teen was immediately formed among them, consisting of Barry Bpingold, Irv- ing Simons and Dave Beehler. Efforts to secure quarters in the Consumers' Build- ing failed, as the Majestic Building re- fuses to house any more theatrical concerns, and is heavily advertising this fact in the daily papers. The Loopend Building, directly across from: the Statelake Building, is now under consideration. AD agents must locate their present quarters by May 1. WOODS SELLS FILM RIGHTS A. H. Woods received $14,000 last week for the picture rights to his play "A Scrap of Paper" from the Mayflower Pho- toplay Corporation. The play was written by Owen Davis and Arthur Somers Roche, and was pro- duced last season at the Criterion Theatre, with Robert HiDiard featured in the cast. RED BANK HOUSE CHANGES Red Bark, N. J., March 15.—The Em- pire Theatre, of this city, has made a change in policy and will start, on Mon- day, March 17th, a continuous showing from 7 to' 11 P. M. of Paramount, Art- craft and Goldwyn feature pictures only. Daring the last half of the week it will have' four high class vaudeville acts In addition. notice of an action^-fe$ $100,000 against Joe Pani, owner of the Woodmansten Inn, for alienation of affections. Max Halperin, who with A. S. Rosen- thal is representing Gresham, says that Panl has been served with papers in the suit, but Pani denies having been served. He also i-n1-tl the' ~"~ Pani' instituted rait~fd'r''dlvuYw r 1Hl ,l i)Ul a "in the Nassau County Supreme Court In answer ta.tbi4^knial, Attorney Hal- perin says " tBa»^'*f»»3Srf«7Jenation suit which* is to be broufht It* is claimed that Pani and Miss Lorraine began the cause of the action in 1917. In the divorce sum- mons and complaint, of which he received a copy, one specific night and one specific scene is dwelt upon. Halperin says that the complaint states that the scene was enacted at an uptown hotel in the early hours of February 11. last. Detectives operating for Mrs. Pani trailed Miss Lorraine for three days and reported that she frequented Woodmansten Inn often and for extended periods of time. Following the performance of the Zieg- feld Midnight Frolic, in which Miss Lor- raine was a principal, on the night of Feb- ruary 10, it is alleged in the complaint that she took a party to her hotel apart- ment The party, in addition to; Pani and Miss Lorraine, consisted of the 'wife of a prominent and wealthy man, another girl friend and another man. The names of these parties no doubt will figure prom- inently in the court action that is to follow. The man is a millionaire and prominent socially. The five arrived at the hotel at 3.-OS o'clock in the morning. The detectives remained on watch until 9:40 o'clock a. m., when Mrs. Pani arrived with witnesses. An entrance is alleged to have been forced to the Lorraine apartment on the eighth floor. ' Halperin says that the scene disclosed, and to be described later, was thoroughly educational, as it were, and Mrs.- Pani then had filed a supplementary complaint to her suit and the present summonses and complaints are based on this particular scene. Herman L. Both, attorney for Mrs. Panl. stated later that the scene as al- leged by attorneys for Gresham was em- bodied in bis action on behalf of Mrs. Pani. He also confirmed the divorce ac- tion brought by him for Mrs. Pani last July, and admitted the supplemental com- plaint. Y NEEDS FDCJNG Y„ March 17.—May "The- "OUR PLEASANT SINS" OPENS Bai/toiohe, Md.. March 17.—"Our Pleasant Sins," by Thomas Broadhurst a drama in three acts, with Henrietta Cros- man in the leading role, opened here to- night. The action of the play takes place in the living room of the Powell's apartment upper west side, New York. Jim Powell, a_ young lawyer, after five years of devo- tion to his wife, has become infatuated with another woman and vainly believes he will be able to carry on an intrigue with her without arousing his wife's suspicion. His sister finds him out and tries to warn him, but in spite of all she can say, he in- sists upon following what he considers the only honorable course, apparently forget- ting entirely that his wife has the first claim for consideration. It is the old, old story, that is happening every day. A foolish man, a more foolish woman, and a trusting wife cruelly de- ceived, and the usual false friend of the husband, with all the sorrow and vain re- gret that are bound to follow. The play presents a problem that many women are called upon to solve, whether or not a woman can forgive her husband under snch circumstances. It gives both sides of the question, and it is safe to say that a good many people in the audience were heartily in favor of forgiveness) for Jim. The cast is splendid, with Henrietta Oossman in the role of Jim's slater, Madge Sloan, who returns from abroad at the psychologies! moment Pauline Lord, as Nell Powell, Jim's wife, plays her role exceptionally welt Water's Frae," was given its premiere at the CoUingwood Theatre here tonight, and was received with a diversity of opinion. But after "The Water's Fme" is ironed out a trifle and some of the combers are capped with new top pieces and more pep .is substituted for the salt, the play will doubtless pass the scrutiny of a New York audience. It is a good vaudeville production, with tingling musical numbers, from the pen of Ted Snyder, and is rendered in two acts, The even dozen vocal selections were all good, but special mention should be made of "In the Land of Go-to-Bed Early," by George Bancroft and Ernest and Valen- tine Stanton, and "Ida," one of the two vocal numbers in which Miss Irwin ap- pears with Ed. Warren and Dave Temple- ton. r "Jazzing the Alphabet" was the other - musical number in which Miss Irwin fig- ured, and her efforts were exceptionally well received. But after alt the production is not one of the Irwin productions that the Ir- win theatrical fans have been used to. We missed Miss Irwin's solo numbers and her famous negro wabble. There is plenty of room in the show for one or two addi- tional Irwin solos with the usual Irwin accompaniments. Miss Irwin was ably supported by a very clever company of good dancers and pretty good singers. Warren and Templetop, two of the best dancers who have ever appeared in this city, certainly put plenty of ginger into the second act with their dances with Miss Irwin, and the burlesque of several dance numbers by the star made a de- cided hit Miss Irwin was compelled to answer a hall-dozen curtain calls at the end of the first act following her intoxication scene, a very clever bit of acting that was not overdone, and which put the house into roars of laughter. "39 EAST' LOOKS GOOD Washington, D. O., March 17.—'"89 East," Rachel Crothcr's newest comedy was acclaimed as a success by Washington critics who saw its presentation at the Shnbert Garrick on Sunday night. Aside from the girl-alone-in-New-York story, Miss Crothers has given the stage a study of types that is not short of brilliant "39 East" starts with a rush, almost goes aground on the reefs of sentimental- ity, but recovers to disclose a final-act boarding house scene that Broadway should take to its heart. The whole is the foundation for two acta of vivid satire. But in the authentic drawing of types is the rial brilliance of the per- formance. Constance Binney gave a sincere and convincing impersonation of the role of Penelope Penn, who has come to New York to earn money for the family back - in the hinterland, and who is subjected to the usual wiles of a boarding house "Pri- on" and a theatrical manager. In the end. Penelope's ingenuous innocence wins, even over the cynical skepticism of her boarding bouse keeper, and she ends np •by marrying her would-be seducer. Na- poleon Gibbs. Miss Crothers was credited with a double success, both as playwright and director. George Livingstone Piatt, the ecenic artist, came in for a share of praise for his interior scenes. The entire cast was characterised as well-balanced and competent Henry Hull, as the would-be seducer and, later, the lover of Penelope, adds the correct note of youthful selfishness in the earlier scenes, s u cc ee ded by the impetuosity of the lover afterward. Alison Skipworth scored as the boarding house keeper, and others of distinctly favorable mention others worthy of distinctly favorable men- tion were Jessie Graham, Gertrude Clem- ens, Louie Alberni, Jena KJgkpatriek, Victor Southerland, Blanche Frederici, Al- bert Carroll, Leeia Moore, Edith Graham and Mildred Arden. ^^ ^^ uraaam