Show World (August 1909)

August 14, 1909. THE SHOW WORLD 11 THEATRICAL MECHANICS (SELECT NEW„OFFICIAL LEWIS WALLER COMING TO ACT IN AMERICA. Famous English Actor to be Brought to this Country by Harrison Grey Fiske. BROOKLYN, Aug. 12.—Plans adopted by the owners of Dreamland, will, before next season opens, add to the already attractive and popular Coney Island park a most elaborate and novel amusement pier. Dream¬ land already has a pier reaching out 1 500 feet in the sea and this will be the foundation of the new structure. Senator William H. Reynolds, presi¬ dent of the Dreamland Company, the directors and S. W. Gumpertz, gen¬ eral manager of the park, have accept¬ ed preliminary drawings made by Kirby, Petit and Green, who origin¬ ally designed Dreamland. Arrange¬ ments have been consummated to lease the amusement end of the pier to Lee Shubert, of S. S. and Lee Shu- bert, Inc., who will furnish the pro¬ ductions for the new enterprise. John Ringling, of the Ringling Brothers, circus proprietors, will be associated with the Dreamland management i“ which were collected by Mr. Gump¬ ertz during his last visit to Europe will be inaugurated in the construc¬ tion of the pier. .Reviews to be Offered. It is planned to reconstruct the base i of the pier and to add steel sup¬ ports to all of the piling, which is now extremely heavy. The pier is : one of the best landings on Coney : Island, and, next season, the Dream¬ land management will have landings I for its own lines of boats running from Manhattan, as well as from points on the Hudson and from Jersey I and Staten Island. ! The large ballroom and the_ ad¬ joining space, occupied by Considine Bros.’ restaurant, covers a large por¬ tion of the pier. This will be recon¬ structed entirely and made into a large convention hall, so constructed that half of it will be in semi-circular form, and make a permanent theater. The present plan is for a large and completely equipped stage to be placed at the ocean end of the hall. The auditorium will be fitted with i comfortable chairs and tiers of boxes, :in which refreshments will be served. The present plan is not to have vaude- iville or the usual summer park enter¬ tainment, but to give at Dreamland ;during the season a musical extrava¬ ganza review of the plays of the met- iropolitan season that has just closed. The book is to be furnished by well- known librettists and composers. Prominent artists will be engaged for the cast. The production will be staged by R. H. Burnside, the general stage director of the New York Hip¬ podrome. The scenerv and effects will be by Arthur Voegtlin, of the ibig Sixth avenue playhouse. Shuberts Get the Star. SCRANTON, Pa„ Aug. 12.—T1 iShuberts will not erect a pla- house in this city at present. It ' learned that a lease had been securi on the Star theater on Linden stret between Wyoming and Penn avenu and that the big theatrical magnati will put on their shows there at pre It is understood that the Shuber will make substantial improvemen throughout. The interior will be tho °, U l hly remodeled, so that it wi rank with the most beautiful in tl /nd will meet all requir Sphere ^ companies the Y W1 Royal Stock Company Moves. f GLOVERSVILLE, N. Y„ July li The Royal Stock Company closed season at the Darling July 1? " fef" 3 , 5 due to the poor patron; left c ° I ?P an y- The comp; Julv f 19 G,e Tt. Fa n T- here h wiU 01 vd k 19- • The . darling will reoi ROW 071 ” 8 pictures -— H - A. LOC Charles PJStevenson^of Trenton is Made Deputy Grand Presi¬ dent of Order. TRENTON, N. J., Aug. 12.— Charles P. Stevenson, for many years stage manager at Taylor Opera House, and for the past few years holding a like position at the State Street theater, has been appointed a deputy grand president of the T. M. A.’s, with jurisdiction extending over New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia and West Virgin¬ ia. Mr. Stevenson was notified of his appointment today by Grand Presi¬ dent William Butler of New York. Mr. Stevenson has been a member of the Grand Lodge of Theatrical Me¬ chanics for twenty years. When Trenton held a charter in the order he belonged here, but after the local Charter was surrendered he trans¬ ferred his membership to the Phila¬ delphia lodge, where he now belongs. It is one of the highest honors in the power of the Grand Lodge to confer that has been given to Mr. Stevenson. LIVE CHICAGO NOTES Billy Ward and Alice Webster are playing the leading parts with “A Pair of Country Kids.” This attraction is at present playing through Michigan, and the report is that business is ex¬ cellent. E. D. Fiske, who for years has con¬ trolled a number of high class travel¬ ing stock companies in the east, has arrived in Chicago and will make his headquarters in the Grand Opera House building. He will immediately organize a company, to be headed by Leander Blandon, which will play the large cities of the middle west, pro¬ ducing nothing but the better class of metropolitan attractions. Ed. Martin, advance representative for “Fifty Miles from Boston,” was entertained in this city last week by William Franklyn Riley. Mary Thompson, a well known and prominent society lady of Toronto, Canada, has been engaged to go with “Human Hearts.” William Owen and his associate players produced “As You Like It” under the auspices of the State Nor¬ mal School at Whitewater, Wis., last week. As this was the first produc¬ tion of its kind that was ever pre¬ sented on the school campus, the au¬ dience was large. Manager Sprague, of the opera house at Elkhorn, Wis., was in Chi¬ cago this week on business. Barny Hahn, manager of the opera house at Sturgeon Bay, Wis., while in Chicago this week, booked some good attractions for his theater. Gladius Montague is resting in the city, and will be a member of the McLain stock company at South Bend, Ind. Ralph Aubert has closed a contract to go on the road with “Miss Hersy from Jersey.” Adeline Laehy left Chicago this week to join the . “Two Merry Tramps” company. Faith Avery will be seen in the cast of “Lena Rivers.” Laurel Bennett is rehearsing with “Just a Woman’s Way.” William Pottle, advance agent for “Parsifal,” is in the city arranging for the road tour of this attraction. Walt Leslie goes ahead of “The Burgomaster.” Louis H. Bowers is business man¬ ager for William Owen, and will travel with the attraction. Eddie Cook is in the city ahead of “The Circus Man.” In a few weeks he will be seen with “Ben Hur.” F. J. Shumate will be one of the entertainers with “The Hired Girl.” J. J. Lane is one of the latest to join “Miss Idlewild.” H. P. Pearsons and wife will leave the city to join the Orr stock com¬ pany. Ed. Moran will make Moline, Ill., his headquarters this season, having signed to appear there with the Mo¬ line stock company. Douglas Graves is appearing in vaudeville with Emily Green. Fred Tillich, who left the stage a year ago to enter into some com¬ mercial business, has returned to the footlights, and is in Chicago. Ada Dalton arrived in Chicago this week from her home in Kansas. “Montana Limited” opens the sea¬ son this month, and will start re¬ hearsing next Monday. J. T. Henderson, manager of the Joliet theater at Joliet, was in Chi¬ cago this week. Helen Gillingwater has signed to go with the Grace Hayward stock com¬ pany. Grace Hale will leave Chicago this week to join the new stock company at the Indiana theater at South Bend. E. J. Coonan is in the city, and will go on the road with “Texas Pals.” Adelbert Elliott is busy rehearsing with “The Widow Perkins.” Arleigh Williams is one of the latest headliners in vaudeville. Frank De Camp, who was stage di¬ rector of the Gaiety stock company at Galesburg until May 1, and who has been in Detroit staging some produc¬ tions for Vaughn Glaser, has returned to Chicago. Bertha Julian and Harry Jackson have been transferred from “Shad¬ owed By Three” to “Dare Devil Dan.” J. A. Lacy has engaged May Keogh to go with one of his attractions. C. H. Weik is one of Fred Conrad’s new lieutenants, and will be located in the Co-operative Booking Associa¬ tion offices. Conroy Bailey will be one of the members of the Moline stock com¬ pany. Ida Moore has been engaged to appear with “Miss Hersy from Jer¬ sey.” Pearl Scott is in Chicago, and will rehearse with “Tempest and Sun¬ shine.” Lorraine Sammons will reappear this season with Emily Greene in vaudeville. R. S. Bentley has returned to Chi¬ cago, and will start rehearsing with “Miss Hersy from Jersey.” Ed. Settle, who for two seasons was with “Over Niagara Falls,” has en¬ tered vaudeville and will appear at the new Wilson theater this week with a one-act playlet, “A Financial Mis¬ take,” from the pen of Francesca Red¬ ding. Fred Mace, the popular comedian and late star in “The Umpire,” left Chicago Monday for New York. A. H. Carneigie, for twenty years manager of the opera house at Port¬ age, Wis., has again leased this house, and will play traveling organizations. Last season the owners of the theater had the management of same, and after playing vaudeville and moving pictures, they decided that the place would make more money at the old policy. C. R. Williams is in advance of Wil¬ liam Owen and his associated play¬ ers, who are appearing in “As You Like It.” NEW YORK, Aug. 12.—Harrison Grey Fiske returned from Europe on the Campania in time to meet Mrs. Fiske, who had just closed her season in Minneapolis and arrived with her company in New York. Mr. Fiske spent several weeks in London. Mr. Fiske has signed contracts for the appearance in America of the ac¬ tor that in many respects he considers the best on the English stage—Lewis Waller. Waller is under contract that has two years to run at the Lvric theater, London, where he is the star, but he obtained a six months’ furlough and will come to America a year from next September with the company that has been associated with him for several seasons with his own plays and productions. He will appear a month in New York City and will de¬ vote twelve weeks to a few of the other large cities of America. The play that will be the feature of Waller’s tour has not yet been derided upon, but several are under considera¬ tion. One of these is Deveraux’s “Sir Walter Raleigh,” which is to be pro¬ duced by Waller this autumn in Eng¬ land. The actor is at present playing m Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s “The Fire of Fate.” Mr. Fiske discussed with Sir Her¬ bert Beerbohm Tree the idea of Mrs. Fiske’s appearance in London, with the result that tentative arrangements were made by which she will play a joint starring engagement at His Majesty’s theater with Sir Herbert and his English company productions. Mr. Fiske brought back several plays, among others “Pinkie and the Fairies,” which was the great Christ¬ mas success of last ^season at His Majesty’s theater. He has other plays by Miss Constance Fletcher, George Pastnor, and F. Anstey. PAIN COMPANY HAS NUMEROUS CONTRACTS. The Pain Pyrotechnic company has a number of large contracts for fire¬ works displays to be given at the va¬ rious ^' rs throughout the country, the following places have been con¬ tracted for: Columbus, Ohio, State Fair, Aug. 30-Sept. 4; Indiana State Fair at Indianapolis, Sept. 6-11; Iowa State Fair at Des Moines, Aug. 30- Sept. 4; Nebraska State Fair at Lin¬ coln, Sept. 6-11; Colorado State Fair at Denver, Sept. 13-18; Idaho State Fair, Salt Lake, Oc. 3-9; State Fair at Dallas, Texas, Oct. 20-29; Interna¬ tional Fair at San Antonio, Texas, Nov. 8-13; Minnesota State Fair at Minneapolis, Oct. 4-9; Kentucky State Fair, Louisville, Sept. 12-18. They have also contracts to furnish fire¬ work displays for the Grand Army Reunion at Salt Lake, Aug. 14-19; the Davenport Water Carnival at Daven¬ port, Iowa, Aug. 14-19; the Great Par- tolia Carnival to be held at San Fran¬ cisco Oct. 19-26, and the big Elk’s Circus to be given at Joliet, Ill., Aug. 18 and 19. New Play for Gaites. MARION, Ohio, Aug. 12.—Frank E. Dumm, a Columbus newspaper man and a former city editor of the Star, has written a play entitled “A Dry Town,” in which conditions throughout the central states are re¬ flected. The play portrays people and scenes where the temperance wave has been spreading for the past few years. The production will be staged by another former Marion man. Joseph W. Gaites, of New York, this fall. S. Miller Kent is to have the lead¬ ing part. Theater Changes Hands. BLOOMFIELD, Neb., Aug. 12.— George Fletcher, county treasurer of Antelope county, has purchased the Pospeshil opera house. The consid¬ eration was $23,000|