Variety (December 1918)

. v. Vol. LID, No. 3 PubUibed Weekly »t 1B86 nroadw. Time* Hqu.re, New Tort. N. Y., by Variety. Ino. Annual Subscrlp- Uon, fS. fllnglo ooptm, IB ocnta. NEW YORK CITY, DECEMBER 13,1918 Entered as second class matter Dacemfew 22, 1905, at the Post Office at New York, N. Y., under the Act of March 9, 1179. SHOWS AT THE BOX OFFICE IN NEW YORK AND CHICAGO ii Unprecedented Theatrical Business for This Season of Yean Large Majority of $2 Productions Securing Profitable Patronage. Two Old "War Plays" Among Hit Leaders. With the New York theatres round- ing out the *first half, of the season, the indications are that it is to be a record yea\ after all; despite the slump through the epidemic. During the last of November and so far this month the theatres have been getting a particularly heavy play. There doesn't even seem to be a let- ups for the coming week, which has always heretofore been one of the worst of the year. The advance'sales point to a record pre-Xmas week and even the demand in advance at the cut rate bazaar that is presided over by Joseph Leblang shows the houses are going to get solid business dur- ing the next seven days. Peace seems to have been what the public was waiting for to start return- ing to their theatre-going. November started with a terrible slump in busi- ness, more or less a continuance ofjhe scare, but with the signing of the arm- istice the ball smarted rolling and it has continued. November virtually held four holidays for the theatres. Election Day brought a" fairly big re- turn, then the first of the Peace an- nouncements was another harvest and when the armistice was officially de- clared signed Nov. 11, the public was set for a jambouree. The fourth' holi- day was Thanksgiving and all of the houses did capacity on that day, which with holiday prices swelled the gross for the month to heretofore untold proportion. But with all of this good business the theatres may not recover what they lost during the epidemic. Prior to the scare the Liberty Loan Drive put a crimp in the business and the "flu" was just about the finishing touch. The general belief is that'business will continue at an unprecedented high-water mark after the first of the year, for the managers point out that .the. returning.troops coming into New York will attract a number Of their relatives to the big town. This, to- gether with the series of parades that are being planned, will help the thea- ■ tres. The New York hotels are now crowded. The extra holiday scale of prices are already in effect for New Year's Eve, when at least two of the houses- Globe and Winter Garden—will charge $5 top, with the balconies going at $3 and $2. The Selwyn and the Hudson with "The Crowded Hour" and "Friendly Enemies," respectively will scale at $4 top, the balance' of the houses being content with a $3 scale. Of the attractions now in New York, the majority are doing very substantial business, with but two or three excep- tions and these are to move out within the next week or so. The hotel agencies and the "specs" despite the agitation that has directed the attention of the District Attorney's office and the Board,, of Alderman in their direction are continuing along their, chosen path and business in the last few weeks has been particularly good with them. They, however, are about in the same box as the managers in regard to epidemic losses, only the agencies are harder hit then the man- r agers, for to them it was cash out of the* pocket on every show for which they had "outright buys" during the epidemic, While to the manager it was only prospective profits which did not materialize. Right now there are 16 "buys" run- ning for attractions on Broadway. They are "Little Simplicity" (Astor); "By Pigeon Post" (Cohan); "Three Faces East" (Cohan and Harris); "A Place In The Sun*' (Comedy); ."The Better 'Ole" (Cort); "Three Wise Fools" (Criterion) ; "Friendly Enemies" (Hudson); "Lightnin" (GaietyS; "The Canary" (Globe); "Glorianna (Lib- erty) ; "The Unknown Purple" (Lyric); "Tea For Three" (Elliott); "The Girl Behind the Gun" (Amsterdam); "Oh, My Dear" (Princess); "The Crowded Hour" (Selwyn); "Betty at Bay" (39th St.). Of these there are three 'flivs," the Comedy, Cohan and 39th St., on which th agencies are com- pelled to -Mump/' -to ; , the -.cut ^ate nightly. In the Leblang cut rate mart Tues- day there were seats to be obtained for 24 attractions now playing. Those for which seats could be obtained at DILLINGHAM MUM. Chicago, Dec. 11. . Charles Dillingham, passing through here to French Lick, waved off in- quiries regarding rumors of'a dissolu- tion of Klaw & Erlanger, which linked Dillingham's name as the active head of the proposed new syndicate lineup. But from other sources it was learned that, while there is no certainty on the surface of the rumored buying out of the Klaw holdings, there is a distinct move on to gradually organize enter- prises in which Erlanger, Ziegfeld and Dillingham will be in control, inde- pendent of Klaw. This trio recently took the Colonial, Boston, and it is no secret that it has hooks out for the Colonial, Chicago. With the. death of Sam Nixon it is proposed to swing the ( Philadelphia properties through J.' Fred. Zimmerman, Jr.*, "SHIMMY'S" DEATH BLOW. The "shimmy" dance, a western prod- uct for nimble feet, has been given a solar plexus by the New York police. All dancing places in New York includ- ing restaurants have been informed that if the shoulder and body move- ments are permitted during dancing, their dancing license may be revoked. The "shimmy" is credited to the Bar- bary Coast of Frisco. It stopped at Chicago on its way east. Vaudeville has had the dance, in the raw and modified, although the rawest "shimmy" New York has thus far seen in public is that performed in "Some Time," a $2 attraction. The theatrical managers to date have received no warning regarding the dance. WEBER & FIELDS' CONTRACT. Weber and Fields have practically concluded arrangements with Sir Al- fred Butt to go to London and produce there at the Gaiety, commencing next May, revivals of their former music hall successes. They are to take with them only the books of these pieces, and new music will be written for the English en- gagement, for which they are to re- ceive, according to report, a joint sal- ary of $3,000 a week and a percentage of the profits. (Continued on page 20.) "UNCLE TOM" LEADS. Chicago, Dec. 11. There is cheer for the producer who is breaking his brain in search of "novelties," in the following item drbppWcasMtfy by-Jim-Wirtgfield.whdF books the middle west one-nighters: "The most consistent money getter in this territory this season has been Kibble's 'Uncle Tom's Cabin.'" % General Fun Capitulates. CHAS. ALTHOFF. "FLORODORA" REVIVAL & "Fiorodora" is to be revived by the Shuberts who have, the plane fairly well outlined. The piece was originally produced by Thos. W. Rylcy and John C. Fisher. George Lederer was the stager. It ■ was the raging sensation of Broadway a generation ago. ,. "Florodora's most interesting fea- ture was the famed double sextet and its feminine members became belles, The girls were many times changed for it seemed that merely being of the sextet was a guarantee some million- aire would propose marriage. It is said that during the seasons the show ran, the sextets were completely changed at least three times a year. Several of the sextet reached stardom, among them Edna Goodrich and Rcinc Davies. Frances Belmont married an English peer, while Daisy Green, Ger- trude Douglas and Marjorie Relyea didn't fare badly either. •'■''.■ : ;.\\' The Shuberts will gather a group of beauties for the revival with . Billy Allen and Helen Maxwell listed NEW YEAR'S EVE SCALE. With Broadway business going at a clip unprecedented for a period of less than two weeks before Christmas, managers are getting set for a box office "clean-up' r New Year's Eve. TJie scaje in effect for that night should, with the addition of the healthy tak- ings of the past weeks, wipe out all claims of prior loss' through the epi- demic and other drawbacks, as far as New York is concerned.. Several of the musical shows will charge $5 for the majority of the or- chestra seats, with the Princess hold- ing that figure for the entire house. The Central, which will, then house Hammerstein's "Somebody's Sweet- heart,"-has scaled the lower floor at $5,'with the balcony at $3 and $2.50, with nothing under in the house, The Winter Garden will charge $4 for the first floor, with the balcony going at $3 and $2.50. The Plymouth, with "Re- demption," also has no gallery, but the entire balcony has been set at $2.50. In some of the smaller houses offering straight comedies or dramas, the scales will be $3, $2 and $1, about usual for New Year's Eve. Starting Dec. 28 the Saturday night pricjes at the Cort, with "The Better 'Ole," will be $3 and $2.50 for orchestra and balcony floors. The continued strength of Broadway business lies in the statement there ■a.re ■'■■■»-'= millionstranger.s'■.-.i«l.-.New-.-.York,» The figure may b*e exaggerated, but there is little doubt there are more visiters to New York now than at any time since the war. The large hotels are turning away nightly as high as 300 guests. | ■ '■':■ I ■ii