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

14 The Billboard JANUARY 16, 1909. Events Amusement of the Week General Amusement Happenings in the Big Cities North, East, South and West---Record of Happenings the Shows Playing Metropolitan Time--Hammerstein’s Chagrin Causes Him to Withdraw the Manhattan PHILADELPHIA, PA. Oscar Hammerstein, owner of the Philadelphia Opera House, became displeased, and declared unless he was immediately granted required financial assistance, he would give up his season of grand opera in this city, and rent his theatre for dramatic or vaudeville performances. The trouble arose over the fact that he wanted a mortgage of $400,000 on the hew structure, which he values at $1,500,000. Most of our trust companies refused the mortgage, claiming that theatres were poor security for invested money. Mr. Hammerstein ued a statement that our financiers were devoli of local pride, and they responded by Stating that business and local pride did not mix. Inasmuch as the officers of our trust companies are held directly responsible for the money they invest, they were perfectly justified in refusing the mortgage. It looked for a time as if the new house would be closed and the season of opera ended, but a number of our wealthy people got together and formed a pool and took up the mortgage. In his Statement, Mr. Hammerstein gave proof of the liberal patronage bestowed on the house by the Philadelphia people, and showed that all of the performances have been popular. The expenses of the new house with four operas a week are over $20,000, and the receipts each week have been over $25,000. This is the second time that Mr. Hammerstein has threatened to keep Philadelphia from enjoying his produc. tions of grand opera,-and, as in both cases he got immediate financial assistance, it shows that our people are determined that bis magnificent enterprise shall not be allowed to fail, The New Year opened very bright for the theatrical managers of Philadelphia. Business was very big all week at every house. The matinees were especially good, inasmuch as all of our schools were closed, and children jammed the theatres. Our four burlesque houses all gave midnight matinees on New Year's Eve, and they were crowded to the doors. On New Year's Eve and New Year's night many of our high-priced theatres advanced their prices, and even then succeeded in selling out. This week shows no falling off in the receipts of any of our houses, and it looks as if the latter half of the season in this city would be much wore prosperous than the early part. Reports from one-night stands in the vicinity indicate that inasmuch as attractions are hard to get, business is much better than it has been for the past year. Overbooking is a thing of the past, and many cities that formerly played four or six attractions a week to bad business, now play one or two attractions and get crowded houses. Some of the wise man@gers are profiting by their experiences of the past year, and declares that they will only book a limited number of attractions, even when prosperity returns. Adelphi Theatre.—The fire at the Herald Square Theatre, New York, proved a blessing in disguise for us. as we are now enjoying the Joseph M. Gaites’ production of The Three Twins. Presented with the original New York cast, it caught on in great shape at its opening here, January 4, and the house has been crowded every night since. The two weeks allotted to it will prove far too short a time to accommodate the many who will want to see it, and efforts are now being made to prolong the engagement. Lyric Theatre.—Jnlia Marlowe opened at this house January 4, with The Goddess of Reason, the new poetical drama by Mary Johnston. The play was impressive and strong, made a hit and business has been very goed since the opening. Same attraction week of Jan. 11. Broad Street Theatre.—The Thief continues to attract large crowds, and this will be one ef the most successful engagements of the season. Although the engagement has been prolonged two weeks longer than originally intended, there is still a large advance sale, and capacity houses will rule until Jan. 16, when this strong attraction leaves us. Week of Jan. 18, John Drew in Jack Straw. Forrest Theatre.—The Cohan and _ Harris swift show, The American Idea, opened here eon January 4 to a big house, and business kceps up. It will remain here week of January 11, and, January 18, we will get The Merry Widow for a six weeks’ run. zarrick Theatre.—Lillian Russell in Wildfre has proven that she has lost none of her drawing qualities, as she is doing an excellent business at this house. Week of January 11, The Lion and the Mouse. Chestnut Street Opera House.—Montgomery and Stone in The Red Mill are just as big favorites here as they ever were, and they are drawing crowds to this theatre. They remain week of January 11, and will be succeeded. Januery 18, by Charles Frohman’s production ef Kitty Grey. Walnut Street Theatre.—The third week of the engagement of Chauncey Olcott in Ragged Robin shows no abatement in public interest, and this will be the biggest engagement he has ever played in this city. The two holiday weeks were the biggest, financially, he has ever enjoyed in Philadelphia, and this week will wind np a remarkably prosperous engagement. Week of January 11, May Robson in The Rejuvenation of Aunt Mary. Grand Opera House.—Cole and Johnson are playing a return engagement this week with The Red Moon as an offering, and are drawing immense business. Their offering January 4 was a splendid testimonial to their abilities as entertainers, as the house was packed. Week of January 11, Checkers. (Continued on page 38.) BROOKLYN, N. Y. Brooklyn is considered by most of the theatrical managers as a good show town, and all of the theatres here are doing well, and it is rumored here that several new theatres will be built in the near future. At the present time Brooklyn has a few less than thirty theatres. George M. Cohan and Sam H,. Harris’ Minstrels, with George Evans and the following well-known artists, are at the Montauk Theatre here this week: Julian Eltinge, John King, Alf. Gibson. Matt Keefe, Harry Morse, Eddie Leonard, Ernest Tenny, Frank Morrell, Earl Benham, Rice and Prevost, Waterbury Brothers and Tenney. Leo C. Teller’s Broadway Theatre received its share of the crowds here this week, the attraction being Lew Fields in The Girl Behind the Counter. Mr. Fields is a brother-inlaw of Mr. Teller, and is a great favorite in Brooklyn, Brooklyn has many enterprising and up-to date theatre managers, and here is to George W. Sammis, the manager of the Grand Opera House, who knows the business from A_ to Z. Mr. Sammis publishes the following notice in his house program, taken from the program of Burton’s Theatre, May 25, 1849. “SPECIAL NOTICE. “The regular frequenters of Burton’s Theatre have desired the manager to state, that the fidgety individuals who occasionally disturl the audience by rising some time before the conclusion of the entertainments, pushing their way to the door. standing up to put on overcoats or shawl ladies, are most earnestly requested to respect the feelings of those who wish to see the whole of the play in quiet. Every person has a right to go in or ont of the theatre when he pleases, but the delay of one minute or so during an evening’s entertainment, can not be of serious importance, when it is known that the patrons of the house consider the disturbance «n annovance: and the manager very respectfully hints that it is most distressing te the ladies and gentlemen on the = stage.—Teken from Programme of Burton's Theatre, May 25, 1849. “Note—This might apply to present day patrons.’’ Every detail of the producing of The Red Meon, Cole and Johnson’s new musical comedy, is persenally su-ervised by the stars. Rob Cole writes the book and stages the play, and Rosamond Johnson composes and orchestrates the music. Sam Bernard has been engaged by Percy Willlums to appear for a brief season in vaudeville. He will use the old-time act, refurbished and brev¢eht un to date, in whieh he achieved his first success as a German dialect comedian. Mr. Pernard’s spnesrance in vandeville will begin late in February. at the conclusion of his present starring tour. The Liberty Moving Pictnres, which are given by Manager W. C. Fridley at the Majestic Theatre, Sundays, are drawing well. Committees are hard at work preparing for the annual benefit of Brooklyn Lodge No. 39, Theatrical Mechanical Association, which will he held eat the Grand Onera Honse on Sundar evening, February 14. It is promised that the affair will be one of the best benefit performances ever given in Brooklyn, as scores of vandeville artists, many of them members of the order, have volunteered their services, and the committee is now selecting the hill from among the volnnteers, The proceeds will be turned into the fund maintained by the lodge for paving sick and death benefits. This is the principal object of the order, and hundreds of traveling theatrical men who meet iliness or death on the road are cared for and have their expenses paid by the ee lodges that are to be found in all parts of the country. The committee of arrangements for next month’s effair has the following officers and sub-committees: Chairman. Charles MceFadden: Secretary, John M. Finnerty: Treasvrer, James H. Smith; Talent—Charles Collins, Chas. A. Pearsall, Jas. Williams. Lonis Horn. Tohn Hall. Edward Gardiner, Tames Collins. B. Mevers, Tohn M Finnerte Trenenortation— Charles O'Hara. Charles Collins, William Shnurgert: Programme—Jobn M. Finnerty. Cherles O'Hara; Advertising—William Shurgert, Leon Purns, Jeck Prown, © Whitie Fred TLoabman, John MeCormack: Theatre —Charles O'Hara. Cherles Collins: Music. Gus Watters, Oscar ~ eal Decorations—John Bartlett, TH. L. Ennis. Brooklyn will get The Devil at last. Colonel Savage will send the play to the Grand Onera House next week with that superb actor, Fdawin Stevens. ss the polished satanic mafesty. Oliver Herford'’s adaptation is the one from which the ‘“devilgrams’’ have been so widely anoted. and Mr. Savage, after sending his scenic artist and chief electrician to Vi (Continued on page 38.) PITTSBURG, PA. New Year’s week has caused much rejoicing among managers of the respective playhouses* It is a great pleasure to hear the remark: “We are again playing to capacity business.’’ While every house played to remarkable business last week, the best record, when compared with any week in its history, was that of the Grand. The bills this week are far above the average. The Witching Hour is at the Nixon and Mlle. Mischief shows at the Duquesne. The other offerings all merit approval and are meeting with good business. They are: School Days, at the Alvin; an excellent vandeville bill, at the Grand; It's Never Too Late To Mend, at the Bijou: The Wall Street Detective, at Blaney’s; Al. Reeves’ Show, at the Gayety; The Cherry Blossoms, at the Academy, and good vaudeville bills at the Liberty, Hippodrome, Family and Hiland. e feature of New Year’s week was the benefit bill given at the Gayety, In the interest of Pittsburg Lodge No. 37. This was the inaugural attempt and proved all that they had hoped for. The T. M. A. are very grateful to their many friends, and especially to Stella Tracey and Barney Bernard, of The Soul Kiss Company; Mike Donlin and Mabel Hite, from the Grand: The Rossow Midgets, from the Grand; Nichols Sisters, from the Grand; The Three Dumonds, from Clark’s Runaway Girls; The Bowery Four, from Clark’s Runaways; Taylor Holmes, of David Warfield Company; Dave Marion and Fred Ireland, assisted by the chorus from the Dreamland Burlesquers. The Hiland, which has been playing stock and vaudeville combined, has discontinued the stock end of the program and is running vaudeville exclusively. It is again under new management, being controlled by Mr. Polack, of the Polack Booking Agency of this city. and with others interested who are old hands at preducing. it Is hoped that the Hiland will prove the big success it should be. Mr. Polack has exceptional facilities for securing the best talent and starts off with the well wishes of many friends. Mr. Zukor, owner and proprietor of the Hippodrome, spent a few days in the city during the week. Miss Amelia Gardner, of The Witching Hour Company, is being royally entertained by her numerous Pittsburg friends. Miss Julia Hay, of the same company, is the danghter of Mr. Edward Hay, one of our prominent politicians. Beulah Poynter is rehearsing a new play at the Alvin, this week, being another dramatization from one of the Duchess novels. LOUIS L. KAUFMAN. BOSTON, MASS. Three new attractions are among the shows to open engagements for the current week. Business was only fair during the holidays, but Monday night shewed a great improvement and about all the theatres did a big business, playing some excellent attractions. The shows that are new to Boston are Jack Straw, with John Drew, at the Hollis; Mabel Taliaferro in Polly of the Circus, at the Colonial, and Girls. at the Majestic. At the other playhouses are Frank Daniels, in Hook of Holland, at the Park for two more weeks; Follies of 1908, at the Tremont; The Circus Girl, at the Castle Square; Lew Dockstader, at the Globe, for three weeks: The Rocky Mountain Express, at the Grand Opera House; In The Name of the Czar, at the Bowdoin Square: Bernardi, the Itulian actor, heads the bill at Keith’s, ee Vesta Victoria is the feature act at the Orpheum. At the burlesque houses are The Champagne Girls, at the Columbia: The Riue Ribbon Girls. at the Gaiety; The Rollickers, at the Howard, and Fred Irwin's big show is the attraction at the Palace. All the picture houses have done a nice business during the holidays, and all but three have added vaudeville to the regular bill of motion pictures. Colonial.—Mabel Taliaferro, in Polly of the Cirens, Is the attraction for the current week, and is drawing well. Majestic.—Clyde Fitch’s new comedy, Girls, holds the boards for two weeks. In the original east are Charles Cherry, Florence Reed, Ruth Mayeliff. Amy Richard, Gertrude Foster, Phyllis Young. Herbert Standing, John Cumberland and others, Castle Square.—The Circus Girl has had a very suecessful engagement at this house and is making a big hit. Tiollis Street.—John Drew opened ai two weeks’ engagement Monday night in Jack Straw. Park.—Fronk Daniels enters upen the supple mentary period of his Boston engagement, playing to big business. Under the original limit of the engagement it was scheduled that the last performance here would be given last Saturday, but it was arranged to cancel all the other bookings of a tour of the leading cities of New Fngland, and play an extra fortnight in this city. Boston.—Continuoys performance, of a kind never before attempted, is now being given by Mr. Keith at this playhouse. Grand Opera House.—The Rocky Mountain Express. which was one of last season’s melodramatic successes, is playing a week's engagement here, to fine business. Tremont.—Follies of 1908 enters upon its second week and has caught the public from the start. The indications are that the engagement will be exceptionally successful. Globe.—Lew Dockstader and his big com pany opened a three weeks’ engagement, Mon day night. Mr. Dockstader is a great local fav orite and deserves his popularity. A monster benefit is being arranged by all the leading managers of Boston, to aid the suffers of the great earthquake in Italy. A meeting of the Theatre Managers’ Association of Boston was held Friday night, and it was de cided to give two monster benefits on the same evening—one at the Colonial and the other at the Tremont, Sunday evening, January 10. A splendid bill bas been arranged for the cur rent week at the Old South Theatre. Besides the up-to-date motion pictures, Manager Burgess has booked the following vaudeville: The Barretts, William Burke, Hartley West, John son and Lewis, Willie Fairman, Freeman and The Emerys. Henry W. Savage’s The Devil, with Edwin Stevens in the title role, will come to the Hollis Street Theatre for twe weeks, beginning Menday, January 18. The Bells of Haslemere will be the attrac tion to follow The Circus Girl at the Castle uare Theatre. Little Nemo will come to the Colonial Thea tre, January 25. The Outlaw’s Christmas will return to the Grand Opera House, January 11 for one week. Among the attractions coming to Keith's, in the near future, are Harry Davenport and Phy!)lis Rankin, in The Naked Truth; Mr. Hymack, Jessie Lasky’s Birdland, Eva Tanguay and McIntyre and Heath. Fanny Ward in The New Lady Bantock. will be the next attraction at the Park Thea One of the latest novelties in vaudeville is a condensation of Eight Bells, in which the Byrne Brothers are booked to appear at Keith's. Old Heidelberg, which received the largest number of votes in the recent contest at the Castle Square Theatre, is booked for production at that house the last of this month. The return of Punch and Judy to the Boston Theatre, serves to reveal the fact that the dialogue of this famous show has net been changed within the memory of the oldest inhabitant. Vaudeville managers have used every argument to secure the services of Lew Dockstader as a headliner during his vacation period, and the most encouraging answer they have ever received from the comedian was: ‘‘Show me when I have a vacation and I will work a few weeks for the fun of it and my.. hotel bill.” EDWARD A. COADY BUFFALO, N. Y. Two new picture houses have been added to Buffalo's circuit of the canvas drama. The Semaphore is on upper Main street, seating about two hundred, with animated pictures, vaudeville and songs. The other is the New Jefferson Street Theatre on the east side. It is a new building, seating 150, with moving pic: tures and songs. Business looks good, for the other picture houses are having a good run, divided between about fifteen honses. The Bijou and Golden Palace are leading with the best in the film line, It loves toe the “white tops’’ when we see Polly of the Circus, and Sal the Cirens Gir! underlined, coming to the Star and Academy, respectively. Frank J. Bowe, a theatrics! man, who was well known in the advertising lise, died January 30, at the General Hospital. in this city, of — pneumonia, after a week's illness. Mr. Bowe was thirty-one years of age, was a resident of the city and was identified with the Star, under John R. Sterling. and the Teek, under the Baldwin management. He was a brother of Chas. Bowe, advertising agent of the Academy, and leaves a wife and one son. His funeral took place Saturday, at St. Joseph's Cathedral. It took us back to old minstrel days to see McIntyre and Heath in their old ‘‘standby,”’ The Georgia Minstrels, at Shea’s this week. To say they scored would be putting it mildly. They had capacity business. The Mirza-Golem Troupe set the pace as Persian acrobats. Their Risley work was wonderful. N. C. Fields, comedy juggling act, possessed merit; Edith Helena was well received as a soprano, and won new laurels; Sam Curtiss and Company, in A Session at School, was full of fun; Julius Lounen has an up-to-date monologue, with good material; the Jewell-Morton Troupe were pie turesque as club swingers, and the moving pic tures pleased. Baker and Lynn, two Buffalo boys, are more than making good with the Star Show Girls, this season. The New Year showed up well for the attrac tions, with Henry Miller and Brewster's Mil lions, at the Star; Andrew Mack. at the Lyrie; Mildred Holland, at the Teck: Barney Gilmore, at the Academy: Harry Lander and Melntyre and Heath, represented vandeville and burlesque had the Star Show Girls and The Golden Crook. All star liners and business was excellent all around. The musical outlook is quite gratifying. A series of four matinee musicals is scheduled at the Teck Theatre. The dates are 22, with Mme. Blanche Marchesi; Feb. 2, Petschnikoft and Mme. Maconda: Feb. 16, Mme. Jimelll and Albert Spaulding: March 2. Mme. Langendorf and Mile. Schnitzen the theatre is well adapted ané