The Billboard 1909-01-16: Vol 21 Iss 3 (1909-01-16)

re JANUARY 16, 1909. The Billboard A SCHOOL For Representatives Will be Established in New York by Martin Beck of the Orpheum Circuit. HEN the exeeutive officers of the Orpheum W ‘ vit and the vast vaudeville interests <ented by Martin Beck move to more spaci juarters In the new Astor Building, New York is spring. Mr. Beck intends introducing ae new departments and various added facil tle conduet of his enormous business no innovation is quite as interesting School of Representatives, . method the able general manager . to folly equip young managers, press repesentatives and house attaches for their du es in the direction of local theatres. No American enterprise is more systematic ally nducted perhaps that The National Cash Register Compeny, and it is the success of their school for training and preparing representatives that gave Mr. Beck the inspiration ( h plan Through this preparatory course hopes to courtesy, punctuality. thoroughness, uniformity of me nls With bis vast increasing circuit and the call from minor posts to more responsible jositions for his elder employes, frequent vaeancies occur throughout the country, and it is to provide competent, trained men for all such openings that this school is intended. Mr. Beck always believed in the promotion of system to encourage his employes and some f his most active local managers today have been drafted from positions as treasurers, press representatives and traveling inspectors, but it is almost impossible to provide able men for every vacancy without some organized plan ef observation and preparation such as be pro* ‘Two departments will be introduced; one for business methods and the other for press work. (n the former, the clerical functions, system f reports, statements, treatment of artists and general discipline will be thoroughly covered, while applicants for the latter branch will be given a liberal schooling in the class of literature required in Orpheum houses. Prizes will be offered for the best designed advertisements and awards made for the most attractive hanger displays Those showing the greatest amount f aptitude and ability will be the first to se“ure appointments, but none will be given permanent plates until they have been thoroughly nstilled with the Beck business policy. ‘ . proposed cultivate discipline and a TO STAR WARNER. Arrangements were concluded between Messrs. Liebler and Company and Mr. H. B. Warner, at present »ppearing with Wilton Lackaye tn The Battle, at the Savoy Theatre. by which the theatrical firm will star Mr. Warner in a new play that will be written by Booth Tarkington * and Harry Leon Wilson, the authors of The Man from Home. Mr. Waroer first came to the United States under contract with Liebler and Company in | 1905, to act Im the capacity of leading man with Miss Eleanor Robson, with whom he has played until the opening of this season. He Is a son of Charles Warner, and made his first “appearance upon the stage in London in a play, t's Never Too Late to Mend. Since that first Xperience he has played a number of parts, | principal among which was Athos to his fath : ers D’Artagnan, and in later years, before he an to this country, played jeune premier parts at most of the London theatres. The new play in which Mr. Warner will appear is now being prepared by Messrs. Tarkington and Wilson, and will be entitled All the King’s Men. ALL THE STARS SING FOR ITALIANS. \!\ the principal members of the Metropol(fan Opera Company appeared at the special coo> ‘het was given last Sunday evening. at bi Tetropolitan Opera House, New York City, for the benefit of the earthquake sufferers in Sout nh Italy and Sictly. program included Les Preludes, by ' from Les Contes d'Hoffmann, by bh; the quartet from Act III. of La Puecini; the duo from Act. I. of J by Wagner; the Miserere from | ve by Verdi; the duo from Don GIl’ Mozart; the overture, Lenora, No. ven: the Trauermarch from Got *. by Wagner; the duo, Le CruFaure; the quartet from Rigoletto, quintette from Die Meistersinger, z the trio from Faust, by Gounod; » tet from Lucia dil Lammermoor, by ind the overture, Semiramid, by PA"K OPERA HOUSE, ERIE, PA., ; FIRE. ; ness of Abraham Louch, fireman of pera’ House, Erie, Pa., probably ‘rlous loss of life in the large audl " completely filled the house during . mae of In The Nick Of Time, by ; ivan Amusement Company, Jan of the occasion called to the r(he stage: ‘Keep the show going, fake The show was kept ‘oing. was emptied without serious injury a or of the building was saved MAJESTIC, WATERLOO, CHANGES HANDS. 1OWA, J. G. Capron has purchased the lease of the Majestic Vaudeville Theatre, from De Grosz and Heiber, December 28. Waterloo, lowa the interior, and has all ushers and house at taches neatly uniformed He has placed the house In the Sullivan-Considine Circuit, playing the best acts, and is doing a big business. NEW MUSICAL COMEDY OPENS. The R. and H. Amusement Company’s Girls on a Vacation, opened at the Nixon Theatre Tarentum, Pa., January 2. played by Frank Arthur. are George Edwards, Joe Dunn, H. O. Carter Frank Knight, Fay Foster, Cara McClure, Viola The Flying St. Clair, and a chorus of fifteen Mars are a special feature with the shows. DORIS GOODWIN ENGAGED. Miss Doris Goodwin has wood in Mary’s Lamb. the florid solo, Love is Elusive. ON THE PARIS STAGE. taking: possession He is making many new improvements, adding new dressing rooms, redecorating The leading role is Others in the cast been engaged by Richard Carle to play the part of Phyllis At Miss Goodwin has had | A. considerable experience in musical comedy. She | 1 has a soprano voice of great power and range, and she already has made a great success with THE POLITICIANS’ PREMIERE : AUGURS WELL FOR SUCCESS Musical Comedy Makes Bow to San Franciscans Promises to Rival the Success of Playing the Ponies and Weiner Schnitzel by the Same Authors---Play is Different in Design---Kolb and Dill the Stars. PRINCESS THEATRE, San_ Francisco—The Politicians, a Musical Comedy—Book by Aaron Hoffman. Music by J. A. Raynes. THE CAST: ee -seeees CG. Willlam Kolb Bs WS occas néictsneianrneianion Max Dill The Politicians. Byrne Coyne. oie hemwnans Percy V. Bronson BLANCHE TOUTAINE MME, MARTHA REGNIER e is appearing in Cherubim; Mile. ) a. “Teak ~ ~ Maisan Ordre (His House in Order). and Mme. Regnier is the Nina of La BEN HUR AT SEATTLE EXPOS!TION. MLLE. ROBINNE Robinne is of the Comedie Francaise; | Judge Greene. . _—e ..... Sidney de Gray | The Democrats. | Stockson Bonds. Republican candidate for Mayor of Ricbville......... Chas. Swickard Hiram Short..... Albert E. Duncan It is rumored that negotiations have been e| Seth Long.......-cetuckawdaes Haris MeGutre tered into by John Cort, pe 3 ~~ oe Village Boys. langer, for the presentation o en Hur ip Stl \ Gs a candidate for divore tle. for two months, during the big Seattle Exseenaen ; ned . ean eo F Mivose Adele Rafter position. Lotta Ronds, daughter of Bonds.......... Ima Peach.......... ...Myrtle Boyne Mrs. Nellie Zech, of the acro!atic team of Zech and Zech, en route with the Zech Co., while doing her a = > y. Va., last week, met with wha Clarksburg, W a as € and ber husband were doing what is known 4s the double breakaway trap, and in some way had become loosened, causing the trapeze to sag unbeknown In her descent she just missed the edge of the stage by about an eighth of an | for inch, but causing her face to drag the entire depth of the stage. Had there been another| an opportunity to get inch of rope, Mrs. Zech would have been in Rurgess Stock came near to being a fatal accident. the guy ropes of the apparatus to either. stantly killed, as her face just grazed the | duces two comical adventurers, The Politicians, a new musical comedy, pro duced for the first time, December 28, at the Princess Theatre, San Francisco, Cal., 1s prob ably as good if not better than Playing the Ponies and Weiner and Schnitzel, both by the same author and each of which enjoyed runs of six weeks. The Politicians is somewhat different from its predecessors and is refreshingly humorous In its treatment of the graft question. Kolb and Dill, as the chief funmakers and whom this was specially written. were kept In the foreground and neither overlooked every laugh that was The story of the play intro who, having coming to them. plano. Mrs. Zech showed remarkable courage | been locked up by the authorities in a conntry in’ finishing her act with a badly bruised face. town, are found to be useful to two viliage Democrats, in supplying «a man to stand as candidate for the mayoralty. Dill is chosen as the candidate. By the machinations of Kolb, formally a Tammany follower, he ts elected, Kolb having bribed the fire and police depart ments, imported voters, going so far as to ring in a bogus fire alarm, giving him opportunity to stuff the ballot-box on election day. Fan tastic as all this seems, it is not beyond the facts of American history. When the new mayor takes office, Kolb and Dill have the time of their lives, and everything is prosperous with them until they fall victims to a_ beautiful young woman seeking grounds for a divorce. A novelty was the shadow-curtain chase, with which the jealous husband's pursuit of Kolb and Dill and several of the others was con tinued at the close of the second act. Miss Adele Rafter, in the leading feminine part, proved a good actress, is good looking. has a very good voice, and her presence adds a great deal to the attractiveness of the produc tion. The chorus was very good, and the en tire play was produced in a mest sumptuous manner. The supporting cast was made up of Kolb and Dill Company members, and the stag ing was ably perfected by Jack Mason. BRITISHERS WHO ARE NOT SLOW How many minutes should it take « woman tu dress ? A woman can change her dress. shoes, hose and ornaments to the colffeure in just two minutes flat, if the shoes are high tops and laced, and in one minute and thirty-five see onds if the footgear is of the lowquarter va riety It is a fact, and it is being done every after noon and evening, not by one woman alone, but by eight, and not one of them demands more time, and they are as prettily and care fully dressed as any young woman you ever met. The eight young ladies referred to are the octette of little English girls who are singing and dancing on the Orpheum Circuit. They are the Eight Palace Girls. They change their costumes in just the time stated and there is no unnecessary hurry or # particle of nervousness. They dance from the stage to their dressing rooms, and in two minutes the little girl soldiers, with their red uniforms, become Irish colleens, in green dresses; in one minute and thirty-five seconds the colleen is a dancing girl, attired in a black velvet costume, with a most fetching bead dress of ostrich plumes. “It is all practice,"’ said one of the little Britishers. “We have everything ready, of course, and we just get into them. We take it coolly and quietly. If we'd get nervous, we'd lose time. And, anyway, women do not need to take much time in dressing.”’ NEW COLUMBUS THEATRE OPENS The New Colonial Theatre, Columbus, Ohio, opened its doors Monday afternoon, January 11, adding another beautiful playhouse to Columbus’ list. A splendid production of the ever acceptable If I Were King served to introduce a splendid stock company. Miss Jane Gray is the leading woman and Walter Green, formerly of the Empire Stock Company, is leading man. The balance of the company includes Blanche Monlton, Minnie Barry, Marion Sheridan, Wib liam Lambert, Frances Grandonm, Fdwin Evans, George Casselberry, S. W. Boyle. Charles Hal ton and Allen Fawcit, who will also aet as stage manager. The theatre is centrally located, beautifully finished, thoroughly equipped and has a seatin capacity of eighteen hundred. Mr. James V Howell, the manager, has surrounded himself with a competent and experienced staff, which includes Russell Sheeders, treasurer: Howard Feigley. assistant treasurer, and Reginald Hid den, orchestra leader. CARTER & CO. NEARING END OF TOUR. Chas. J. Carter, the magician, writes from Caleutta, India, under date of December that he and his company are nearing the com pletion of their long tour. They clese in Cal ecutta the end of January, proceeding to Colembo Ceylon and thence to Cairo and Alexandria Egypt, after which they return to Australia te complete their bookings thers rhe success of Mr. Carter everywhere has been unprecedented they playing to the capacity of the theatre Ip each city visited Mr. Carter states that if the Fates are they shall return to America laden with fers of the kind of money magicians (eo usually catch in the air kine! cof MELBA LEAVES. Madame Melba leave f America on Monday evening 11 She made her last appearance it the Manhattan Opera House New r City The opera chosen for her was Rigs to, In which she was heard in one of her favorite roles, Gilda. The occasion was a brilliant one. At her special request M Constantino was selected as the tenor on that evening, and M. Renaud played the role of Rigoletto for the first time this season, a role in which he was able to display his supreme talent as an actor and vocalist to creat advantage. Others in the cast were Miles. Ponzano, Severina and M. Arimondi ne