Moving Picture World (Jul - Aug 1918)

July 20. 19.18 THE MOVING PICTURE WORLD 367 The Foyer, Leading from Inner Lobby to Auditorium. rich colors artistically blended. Mr. Karzas had the foyer specially designed for the purpose of occupying patrons pleasantly while they await their turn to enter the auditorium. Off the foyer is a comfortable lounging room for women patrons, tastefully and cozily appointed. The Woodlawn Orchestra. The Woodlawn theater orchestra has fifteen selected artists, several of whom have had experience with the Chicago Grand Opera orchestra in times past. They are under the direction of A. Leon Bloom, a musician widely known for his abiilty as an orchestra leader. But let a Chicago musical critic — Herman Devries — give his opinion of this orchestra, "which appeared recently in the Chicago American. Mr. Devries stepped into the Woodlawn shortly after its opening, attracted by the long line of automobiles drawn up in front. The following article was written after having seen the Woodlawn program and heard the Woodlawn music: "The encouraging sign of the musical times and the development of public taste in Chicago is the marked and evident improvement of the orchestral personnel and program now being furnished in up-to-date cinema palaces. "Time was when the musical lure was a blonde lady of uncertain age, who played 'rag' in the dark and chewed gum in the intermissions; but today, forsooth, we engage members of the grand opera orchestra and regale the screen lovers with everything from Schubert, Tschaikowsky and Massenet to Carrie Jacobs-Bond. "If you don't believe this drop in, as I did last night, at the Woodlawn theater, in Sixty-third street. "I have been a South Sider since April 1, and my evening walk yesterday was curtailed by curiosity to see what sort of attraction could cause a line of automobiles as long as the auditorium defile, to form as far as the eye could see. "As it happens the event was the opening of a brand new theater called the Woodlawn, and the crowd, 2,000 strong, was thrice replaced before the evening was over. "The musical program is in the hands of Leon Bloom, a very well-known Chicago pianist and musician of parts, whose co-workers are mostly taken from the Chicago Grand Opera Association orchestra. "The men played so well that more than once my attention wandered from the film, which was very good and quite -exciting to a music critic, for whom a diamond robbery is a gala event. "The Woodlawn's organ was installed by the W. W. Kimball Company at a cost of $25,000, which gives some idea of the general quality of the fitting and equipment of the great theater." The writer was exceedingly anxious to get a biographical sketch of the founder of this fine temple of moving pictures, but found that Mr. Karzas was averse to bring himself into prominence, being of retiring disposition and willing to let the Woodlawn itself speak for him and his efforts. Andrew Karzas, Founder of the Woodlawn. Mr. Karzas is a man of artistic temperament and of fine education. It is scarcely needless to state this, as the very The Inner Lobby of the Woodlawn Theater. atmosphere of the Woodlawn reveals both the attainments and character of the founder. He started in moving picture exhibition about ten years ago. This start was made in the De Luxe, 814 East Sixty-third street, a small house, seating' three hundred people. He was so satisfied with the success of this venture that in the course of time he became owner of the Drexel, 858 East Sixty-third street, with a capacity of 600 seats. The Drexel was not running on a paying basis at the time, but under his careful management in securing the right kind of pictures for his patrons Mr. Karzas soon made it a success. Then he dreamed of greater things and out of the children of his fancy came the Woodlawn. It can well be understood that Mr. Karzas superintended every detail of the construction of his new and great venture, and after six months of the closest attention and application the Woodlawn was ready to admit the public on April 26. The crowds had to be held in check on the opening night by four police officers. The floral display on that occasion was one of the finest ever seen at the dedication of a Chicago theater. Over fifty set pieces, all of them beautiful and most of them costly, were on view in the inner lobby and the foyer. The magnificent success made by the Woodlawn, in a business sense, is sufficient compensation to Mr. Karzas for his many months of untiring effort and ceaseless labors. He continues to devote his finest thought and closest attention to the management of the theater, and his great success shows that he is meeting the enthusiastic approval of his patrons. Air. Karzas is a strong believer in publicity and especially in local publicity in the neighborhood of his theater. He has appointed E. J. Ryan, the founder of the Photoplay Magazine, to take charge of this department, and a booklet of twenty-six pages is published weekly and 4,000 of them distributed within the theater district during the summer months. About 7,000 will be distributed weekly during the fall. Mr. Ryan makes his booklet pay for itself by means of the advertising which local business men place in its pages. These booklets contain the programs run at the Woodlawn and the musical numbers played by the orchestra. They also contain stories of the plays shown and other interesting matter. Mr. Karzas has already been referred to in this article as a man of artistic temperament and good taste. This is shown in the nice policy which governs his screen. He permits no advertising slides whatever to be shown on it, believing that the screen should be devoted exclusively to the presentation of pictures. JAMES K. HACKETT RETURNS TO SCREEN. James K. Hackett, whose brilliant stage career was interrupted by a serious illness, has decided again to take up work in pictures. "The Ashes of Love," an all-star feature, now in course of production by the Graphic Film Corporation under the direction of Ivan Abramson, is the vehicle he has chosen for his return to public life.