The Billboard 1903-11-28: Vol 15 Iss 48 (1903-11-28)

» THE BILLBOARD SUBSTANTIAL BUSINESS BASIS Established for the Bell Sanitarium for Consumptive Actors. Since its incorporation under the laws of Colorado, a few weeks ago, the proposed Bell Sanitarium for Consumptive Actors and Actresses, to be located somewhere in Colorado, as decided by a committee of competent physicilans, has been placed on a substantial business basis and ig now in proper shape to go ahead with the work along improved lines. The first tangible result of this new arrangement was made manifest last week in Denver, when Lodge No. 17, B. P. O. E., unanimously adopted the following resolutions after a cureful investigation of the present status of the case: Whereas, Denver Lodge No. 17, B. P. 0. E., is taking a deep interest in the affairs and success of ‘‘The Bell Sanitarium for Consumptive Actors and Actresses,’ And, as Mr. Robert Bell, its founder, is desirous of having members of this order represent this worthy institution throughout the country and thereby bring to it the moral support it deserves, Therefore, be it resolved that each Lodge of Elks be requested to elect or appoint one of its members to represent The Bell Sanitarium in its city, who will take charge of its interests therein, and that a copy of these resolutions be sent to every Lodge of Elks, with the request that they take immediate action. With the Elks as a body behind the project there seems no doubt of its ultimate success, for as workers when once interested the members of the antlered tribe have no equals. Naturally, Mr. Bell and the members of the Executive Committee feel highly elated over this turn in the affairs of the proposed home. ey now fec. certain that the Sanitarium will be a substantial reality within a_ short time. A number of daily newspapers in the larger cities are manifesting an interest in the matter, and it is quite likely that public subscription lists will be opened by several of them. NEW LIFE Granted Theatre Suvposed to Have Lost Popularity. Both in point of numbers and financially all records at the Gilliss Theatre, Kansas City Mo., under the present management were smashed during the recent engagement of Har-y Clay Blaney’s Across the Pacific. With tne exception of one matinee, standing room was sold at every performance, and the gross busines for the week, at 10, 20, 30 and 50 cents. amounted to $5,559.50. This house had been regarded for years ag a ‘‘dead one,’’ until three years ago, when E. 8S. Brigham, the present manager, assumed control. By persistent and intelligent advertising methods, backed up by meritorious attractions, Mr. Brigham has _ secured a clientele which makes this house at present one of the most profitable theatrical properties to the management in Missouri. _ DE WOLF HOPPER, The huge comic opera singer who can truthfully say, ‘‘I enjoy life hugely.’’ Mr. Hopper’s father had thought DeWolf cut out for the bar, and his mother was persuaded, after seeing him in his first night with Edward Harrigan in The Blackbird. that he had better go back to the law. Mr. Hopper had made a hit that night with the gallery. He has a big voice, and In making his point he shouted for all he was worth, and the applause he drew from thre upper regions filled him with delight. It was evident that it was all off with Blackstone. His decision proved to be correct, and the stage is Mr. Hopper’s proper sphere. He ap peared in Hazel Kirke as Pittacus Green in 1884 in the Madison Square Theatre company under Daniel Frohman, and Owen Hathaway in May Blossom. Annie Louise Cary was the first to suggest that he had a voice, which weseconded by Miss Georgie Cayvan. To Luigi Meola he lays the credit for his musical training and to Mr. Mackay for the technique and mechanism of acting. Save for the lessons in learning the steps of the waltz in his youth. Mr. Hopper has acquired directly his skill as a dancer. Mr. Ho opper was born in New York City March 30, 1858. The name De Wolf given him in baptism was his mother’s maiden name, and she was of the family of De Wolf, whose daughters and nieces have become Tiffanya. Perrys, Lawrences and Aspinwalls. The ola homestead at Bristol, R. I., is one of the quaintest among the ancient mansions of tbe country. with a wide hall through the center of the house. Mr. Hopper’s father was a lawyer, from whom the stage evidently was not an inheritance. Mr. Pickwick has been the successful vehicle for Mr. Hopper for the past two seasons with the reputation of a Broadway run for three months. PLAYS AND SKETCHES COPYRIGHTED. AUNT DINAH’S QUILTING PARTY; origlnal entertainment in one act and one scene. ut “ama by Dick & Fitzgerald, New York, IN THE SERVICE OF THE EMPEROR; a romantic play in four acts. Conee™ witb William Jason Ferguson, Bayonne, N. J. AUNT HANNA FROM VERMONT. Copyright by Lizzie A. Hall, Jersey City, N. J. CHURCH OR STAGE. Copyright by’ Cc. U. B. Potter and Arthur Eldridge, Maidenhead, Eng land. HIS TRUE WIFE; a melodrama in four acts. roqetent by Matthew Flanagan, New York, ‘A PAIR OF PINKS; a comedy sketch. Copryright by Blanche Kenwood. Chicago, Il. PRISONER OF ANDERSONVILLE: a military drama in four acts. Oe hineaed by Dick Fitzgerald, New York, A REGULA? FLIRT; a up. to-date society comedy in three acts. Copyright by Eleanor M. Crane, United States. A SPOILED DARLING: a comedy in — acts. Caren by Walter H. Baker & Boston, Mas WEALTH “AND POVERTY; a melodrama in iow acts. Copyright by Bernhardt Laufer, uffalo, N. ¥. WOMAN AGAINST WOMAN; a play in five & Wolford, New Darcy acts. Copyright by A JACK FOR EVERY JILL; a comedy in one act. cme zit by Dick & Fitzgerald, New York, COME SDIES IN MINIATURE. ty Margaret Cameron. Frontispiece by Harrison Fisher. 12mo. Pp. 376. New York: McClure, Phillips & Co. $1.20. A ROSE 0° PLYMOUTH. A romantic comedy in four acts. By Beulah Marie Dix and Evelyn Greenleaf Sutherland. Svo. Boston: Herbert R. Turner & Co. $1.50. THE PASSING SHOW. Five modern plays in verse. By Harriet Monroe. 12mo. Boston’ Houghton, Mifflin & Co. $1.10 net. DRAMATIC, Dolly Varden has closed in London. , The Soldier of Honor will take the road Dec. 0. Beatrice Leslie is making a flying trip home in Chicago. A new comedy of Western life is called Minnie from Minneapolis, To Countess Elsie son in Chicago, Nov. Miss Percy Haswell is preparing herself for the role of Lady Macbeth. DeTourney was born a 20. Othello Linscott closed with the New York Comedy Company last week. Saratoga, which closed in Baltimore, is to be put on with another cast shortly. The Winning Hand Company closed, Nov. 14, at the Folly Theatre, Brooklyn, N. s Henry V. Esmond, the English author, is said to be writing a five-act tragedy. Ed Barron, advance agent for The Orphan's Prayer Company, reports business good. In the 10 years of Eight Bells, the Byrne Brothers have never missed a performance. Jason Carr, elocutionist, of Bradford, Pa., has joined His Majesty and the Maid Company. Dave H. Woods is organizing a Himmelein Imperial Stock Company at Sandusky, Ohio. Boyd J. Gilmour and Catherine La Tour closed with the Irene Jeavones Stock Company Nov. 14. Katherine Willard is playing to splendid busia in the West in The Power Behind the irene. Charles Frohman will present Merely Mary Ann, with Eleancr Robson, in London next September. it is announced that Miss Julia Marlowe vill continue her season in the present play, Fools of Nature. Mr. E. C. Brigham, the owner of The Gillis» Theatre, Kansas City, Mo., has returned from Hot Springs, Ark. Miss Laura Nelson Hall, Empire Theatre, Columbus, sick list for two weeks. It is rumored that the manager of The Wiz ard of Wall Street Company left his company at Oklahoma City, If you desire to secure the re maining issues of ‘“‘The Billboard’ of 1903, free of charge, see our advertising pages. The Metropolitan Stock Company of Duluth, Minn., will disband Nov, 28. Most of the members will leave the city. Mary Mannering will close her season in The Stubbornness of Geraldine Dec. 1, after which she will appear in Judith. Henry Opel, the little whirlwing baton juggler with the New York Comedy Company, is making a hit in his new act. Sir Arthur Conan Voyle, the author, has received the Conservative nomination for Parliament in the Border Burghs. W. H. Starkey, known to the profession as W. H. Stoker in juvenile leads, will hereafter use his own name with Harris, Parkinson Co. Albert Dorris resigned from the Empire Stock Company at Toledo, ©., to assume one of the leading roles in When Johnny Comes Marching Hiome. With a large advance sale of seats and one of the largest houses of the season, Arizona failed to put in their appearance in Austin. Texas. Jacob Adler fg to make a ee tour playing Shylock in English and in Uriel Acosta in German. His company will be an Englishspeaking one. A chapter of the Actors’ Church Alliance was recently formed at Columbus, 0. Rev. Charles D. Williams, of Trinity Cathedral, was chosen president. A special train carried a couple of members of the Pumpkin Husker Company from Decatur. Ill., to Springfield, on Nov. 17, who happened to miss the train. Both Miss Percy Haswell and George Fawcett will contribute to a symposium on Shakespeare which will appear in the January issue of Pearson’s Magazine. Blanche Hall has signed a five years contract by which Edward C. White is to exploit her 4s a star. She will begin her tour in The Lily and the Prince, Dec, 1. After a very successful season under canvas Mr. Walter J. McDonald opened his house tour of Ten Nights in a Bar Room at Oklahoma City, O. T., Nov. 12. Mrs. Wm. Kibble join d Stetson’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin at Waterloo, Ia., Nov. 13, she having recovered from her Injuries received in a railroad wreck some time ago. The Osborne Dramatic company are booked for 48 weeks solid throug! the South. Mack & Dickinson are putting on their country skit, I Couldn’t Get Here Any Sooner. The Marked for Life Con pany is reported to have disbanded at Brazil, nd., and it is said that the company will reorzanize at Bloomington, Ind., and go on the road again. At the convention of the American Federation of Labor, held at Boston, Mass., Noy. 16, a resolution was adopted indorsing the Actors’ National Protective Union of America. W. B. Yeats, one of the chief forces of the Irish Literary League, has written a morality play, which, under the title of The Hour Glass, is to be produced in London this season. At the Federal Prison, Atlanta, Ga., on Nov. 14, the Peck and His Mother-in-law Company performed (a charitable act), and their visit will doubtlessly be a long remembered one. During a specialty between the performance of the Hilda Tucker Stock Company recently at Janesville, Ohio, two of the company engaged in a drunkard’s struggle scene fell from the stage. Henry E. Dixey has been forced to abandon his tour in Facing the Music, he having been stricken with appendicitis at his last stand— leading lady at the O., bas been on the Wilmington, Del. His New York. Winsome Winnie ran afoul of about 800 wild students in New Haven recently and the curtain had to be lowered before the show Was half over, but five students were arrested for disorderly conduct. John A. Himmelein, late owner of the King of the Desert Company, is said to be arranging to put another show on the road, The company will rehearse at Findlay, O., and take the road perhaps thig month. George Riddle spoke on The Decadence of English Speech at Carnegie Lyceum, New York, Nov. 18, before the Academy of Dramatic Arts, There must have been a fine show of distin guished citizens down in the mourners benches. Miss Gertrude Barrett, a charming Cincinnat! girl who at a moment's notice took an important role in The Man Who Dared Company which held the boards at Heuck’s Theatre, Cinerage 0., last week, will sail for England Jec. 12. Miss Grace Holt and Mrs. L. L. the Governor's Son Company, witnesses at St. Joe, Mo., 15, to testify regard ing a shooting scrape that took place at a hotel where the ladies were dining with some friends. Florence Roberts, upon the conclusion of ber present tour under Frederic Belasco’s direction, will play her regular annual engagement at the San Francisco Alcazar, and then go to the South of France for two months of needed rest and recreation. During a performance of Uncle Tom's Cabin at Logansport, Ind., a negro, who had been applauding at proper intervals, sprang upon Simon Legree as he was wrapping his rawhide around Uncle Tom, and it was only with much difficulty that he was overpowered. Will A. MeConnel) who hag just concluded a Western tour in advance of Miller and Anglin, has become a member of the staff of the New York Morning Telegraph. His views otf theatrical affairs the always tinged with a pecunarly cynical and original humor. The Ladies’ Branch of the Actors’ National Protective Union, New York, give a basket party at 8 Union Square the first Saturday evening in December. Prizes will be awarded for best dancer, singer and the handsomest man and the homeliest in attendance. Alice Nortlock, better known us Baby Alice has signed with the Rip Van Winkle Compun) Sue is exceptionally clever in her triple whiri toe dance and buck and wing dancing. A ‘hough only 7 years old she made the trip from Wilmington, Del., to Montreal alone. At a recent meeting held in New York, as surances were offered that funds would soou ve available for an endowed theatre, which has been the dream of many admirers of the stage who have long hoped to place the art of the yrotession above the box-office standard. Miss Elizabeth's Prisoner was given its in itial production at the Academy of Music, Balti more, Md., last week. The play was writte. by R. N, "Stevens and E. Lyall Swete and i iffords Mr. Wm. Faversham a good vehicle. The play is reported as having made a hii. Grace George is a clever pen-and-ink artist nd a writer of some distinction. Miss George designed a poster of herself, which is now a; witu, On billboards in the cities included in her tour. This poster shows the actress sui rounded by popies, and has excited favorable comment. Batton & Storms’ Summer Idles is packinz them in nightly and is booked solid until Apri! 25. They carry 12 people on stage and 10 n vand, and have their own Pullman ear, “Swan zea,”’ which gets its name from the beautifu ballad Dear Old Swanzea, which Marie Burroughs sings to applause. Mr. Frederick Lewis will soon begin a star ring tour in The Raven, which 1s a dramatiza tion dealing with the life of Edgar Allen Pve. Mr. Lewis was formerly a leading member witi the George Fawcett Stock Company. He >i spending much time among relatives of th« poet for details of his life. J. M. Ward's big scenic melodrama, To Dik at Dawn, featuring Miss Elsie Crescy, openers on the Stair & Havlin Circuit. The compen) carries 4 60-foot car of scenery and a race horse is used in the production. D. V. Streipy is in advance and Harry Palmer acting manager, Virginia Harned recently gave her check for >100 to be used for the preliminary expenses of the proposed Actors’ Sanitarium in Colorado She promised Mr. Bell, it is said, to furnish one room of the main building and would endeavor to secure a like promise from every star in the profession, Miss Victory Bateman, who was leading lad) at Koerner’s Garden, St. Louis, Mo., last summer, has been engaged by Manager Wm. Gare to piay the leading role ‘in The Desperate Lord tarrington. which was given its initial produc tion at pee place New Year's week. Mis Florence Leslie, another St. Louis girl, ihe ingenue role. Mr. E. Caven, representative of Clay Clement in The New Dominion, says the report that his star lost $25,000 ‘in an oi] well is false in letter ag well as fact, but that Mr. Clement has an investment of over $75,000 in a cattle ranch in Texas near Paris, and if there are any who don’t belive it, write t Mr. Jim Williams, Paris, Tex. Harry Earl, the well-known newspaper corre. spondent and manager, is this season en tour as business manager of the James H. Wallick Amusement re Queen of the Highway Company. Mr. Ear] has been general business manager of the Pain’s Fireworks Shows for many seasons past, and is well-known In theatrical and newspaper circles. The Was She to Blame Company were in a railroad wreck between Versailles and Tipton. Mo., Nov. 14. The car carrying the company turned over on its side, but fortunately no one was killed. Agnes Marion Stulz was injured about the back and side, Beatrice Gordon, right hand sprained; George Alvin had a leg cut in two places. The wreck was due to a defective switch. Clay Clement, who is best known on account of his clever work in The New Dominion, states he will shelve that play next season and will appear in a new piece written by Mr. Clement and Charles Eugene Banks, the title of the piece being Idols. Mr. Clement will appear in a character part in the new play, that of a half-caste Creek Indian, who receives a colleg!iate education and later wedg the pale face heroine of the play. The Ladies’ Aid Society of St. Mary’s Protestant Episcopal Church, Baltimore, Md., gave an oyster — Nov. 12. Mr. George Fawcett. Miss Percy Haswell and a number of members of the Fawcett Stock Company were present. During the evening Mr. Fawcett, Miss Haswell and the company visited the rectory and inspected the large collection of oil paintings. bronzes, statuary, carved furniture, Turkish rugs, hangings and tapestries collected by the pastor during bis ten years of life in Italy. company returned to Myrick, of were held as played A young process server in the office of Howe & Hummel jumped out of a proscenium box Nov. 16, at the Belasco Theatre, New York. end laid pagers of injunction in Mrs. Lesiic Carter's hands against her production of Zaza. issued by Justice Fitzgerald of the Supreny Court. Henry Gressitt claims the rights fo; its production cast of the Mississippi River Wesc of the Mississippi, Fred Belasco, brother of David, has the rights, It is reported that Henry Irving has a play by an English dramatist, now dead, which pi.) has for its central theme the Irish Land hil) Sir Henry has had the play several years, out could not produce it during the life of Quees Victoria. According to the report, when le does produce it it will be with Kyrle Bellew «x co-star, there being two strong male roles 1 the play. The leading female part, which js also a strong one, will probably be taken by Ellen Terry. : The roster of the Babette company, Fritzi Scheff stars, reads: Cowles, Richie Ling, E. J. Connelly, Ida Hawley, Louls Harrison, Josephine Bartlett, Errol! Dunbar, Madison Smith, William Sissons, Al. fred 8S. Ely, Frank Boyle, Harry Suyler, James Beale, Rosa Earle, Edna Luby, Adele Nott, T. Chaillee, Charles Emerson, Beth Willoughby, May Seeley, Mildred Forrest, George Williamson, Arthur Blanchard, Henry Wilkinson, Georgia Campbell, Rita Dean, Helen Planche, Allene edmond, Gertrud® Adams. Emily Montague and Florence BelleVille. Mildred Holland will make her first appearance as Catherine the Great of Russia in The Triumph of An Empress at Bridgeport, Conn. on Christmas Day. Mr, White has engagea James Wilson to portray the role of Peter II! of Russia; John T. Sullivan to create the part of Prince Potemkin, Catherine's great Prime Minister; Hugo Toland to be the Archbishop of Novgorod; George Paxton to be Count Orlof: Lorothy Rossmore to be the Princess Vorontzof, and Violet Rand to be Countess Dashkoff, Other important engagements are pending. The com pany will number over 100 people, and the pre duction will be one of impressive magnitude. in which Fritzi Scheff, Eugene PLAYHOUSES. A new playhouse will be erected at Camden Ohio. Pendleton, Ind., for next season. The new Newcomb Theatre, La., opened Nov, 21. A new $30,000 opera house is to be built at Hartley, Ia., shortly. The new opera house at Jacksonville, Fla is being built rapidly. A new drop curtain is being painted for the jrend Theatre, Evansville, Ind. Mr. W. R. Dockstader opened his new Garich Theatre at Wilmington, Del., Nov. Lb The new opera house at Oklahoma City, 0. T will open Nov. 30 with The Chaperons. The Hopkins Theatre, Louisville, Ky., suffered a loss of $20,000 by fire Nov. 20. Mr. W. E. Thurston, manager of Red Ouvk, ia., opera house, is in Chicago on business. The Auditorium Theatre at Norfolk, Va., h«s been closed, their license having been revoked. Business men of Marshall, Ind., may build a new theatre at that place in the near futur.. The new opera house at Triplett, Mo., has been completed. It has a seating capacity «of 300. Cox Bros., Chicago, furnished the scenery for the New Majestic Theatre, Grand Rapids, Mich. The repairs and improvements are now fin ished in the Grand Opera House, Asheville, is to have a new opera hous: New Orleans, The opening of the new Nixon Theatre at Pittsburg, Pa., has been postponed until the holidays, The new opera house at Salisbury, Mo., is nearing completion and will open som~* time in December. The new theatre at San Francisco, Cal., will open Dec, 6, with the Pollard Opera QGompany is the attraction. Sedalia (Mo.) citizens, alded by one er two outside capitalists, are organizing a Company to build a theatre. Winchester, 111, is about to build a $20,000 opera house, 61x80. F, H. Flynn has a five year lease on same. The Commercial Club of Ft. Wayne, Ind., have under advisement the building of a new theatre at that place. Several leading citizens of the Zoo at Jack son, Mich., are planning to erect a $15,000 theatre at ‘that place. S. Moore has turned the management of the opera house at Lamar, Mo., over to his partner, Mr. MeGilvray. If you desire to secure the remaining issues of “The Billboard’’ of 1903 free of charge, see cur advertising pages, Owing to a change in its management all bookings were canceled :<* the Grand Opera House, Ottumwa, Ia., 9 A small fire occurred at the Van Cleve Thestre, Hartford, Conn., recently. The fire originated from a picture machine. Mr. J. M. Barton, manager of the Au'litorlum, Norfolk, Va., was in Philadelphia last week attending the funeral of his son. Ex-Mayor H. Weigenheim, of East St. Louis, Ill., has decided to build a theatre at the corwr of Collinsville and St, Louls avenues. Fred H. Marcelle, formerly with the National Theatre of Rochester, N. Y., has signed as manager of the Wagner Opera Houses at Brad ford, Pa. A shooting affray occurred at the Wallace (Idaho) Opera House Nov. 9. The trouble arose over o person Insisting on smoking 4 cigar in the gallery. house at Dixon, Ill, opened Vhen Johnny Comes Marehing seats 1,000. Mrs. E. The new opera Nov. 16, with Home. The house Truman is manager. The handsome new Majestic, Grand Rapids, Mich., opened Nov. 23 with His Last Dollar kd and Iwin Stair are owners and managers. The house seats 1,800, The strike in Chicago hag deprived 300,000 people of transportation facilities, and as © result the business of the theatres hag fallen below that of previous weeks. Messrs. Pedley and Burch, when approached by a Billboard representative, denied the current report that they had leased the houses at Padueah, Ky., and East St. Louls, MM. A life-size bust of Miss Amelia Bingham hag been presented to Manager Charles Rex, of the Academy of Music, iichmond, Va. It has been placed in the lobby of the Academy. Miss Helen Hagan, who has been associated with Will H. Davis’ theatrical interests for twelve years, has been appointed secretary of the new Iroquois Theatre, Chicago, Ill., which opened Nov. . New bookings will be made at the Metropolltan Theatre, Duluth, Minn. The stock company has decided to disband Noy, 28, and high