Variety (Jan 1934)

88 VARIETY VAUDEVILLE Tuesday, January 2, 1934 Mike Shea Never Sold Out By Joe Bigelow About two years ago "Varibty se- lected the .names of several veteran fehowiiR 'i i ai^ ttbje ets for a^^ ^rle s of interview was among inter- ' VShea promptly called his subject on. the telephone in an bf-^ fort to mtilve an appointment. The Uer then discovered that tip- off; My...Shea in advance about wa.s the "same as tel&- rapiiing a moose you're en -roiite. So the reporter chased Mike Shea for two weelcs. ..Between trains may be Wsted on the'hooks of a clr^ I there is Uttle concerning theatricals cult booking ofllco, but Mike comes in that town that Mike hasn t had to NctV Torlc regularly to per.qbn- a hand Iri, H6 operated the Music oversee the ponclilng in of Hall for 13 years and the only thing act that plays his theatres, that could stop him did stop him— ih'e . ' It h ttrned^-th C ' two - E i-da3V:| ally every 50c top showhouse of specialty acts The I<cith and other booking, of fices which, carried^ the ^^^^ Mike built him atres on their books would latner j have had Mike She* Stay In Buf self another one—^the Gardein. And life kept on building theatres through the yeiaris. He built the Buftalo, Great Lakes, Hippodrome, Shea's, Seneca, Century, Commun- ity, North Park, iBailcy, Kensing- ton, Bellevue and Riviera theatres in Buffalo, which gives a fair idea falo. Thcy didh't, like the way. Mike set his owh' ' rles. ; If the iiooking office ,had set a salisiry of. $500 on a particular act and Mike thou ht the . act .was worjth $100 :riore, he'd book the act fCi* $600. The booking .office would squawk, because the hiffher salai^ set by of how synonomous. Mike Shea and Mike would be a 'had' precedent,, show business are to Buffalo. He but when Mike Shea had his own also built a pair of theatres .In leaving for and coming from Buf- Lpinibn of an act's value no book- North Tonawanda, N. Y., a nearhy falo; betwoer the various booking ofpce squawk ever changed it; town, And one in. Toronto. And ran offices and. :'over Tlm<^s Square, Mike had another method of pay- ' MiT Shea was,, finally cornered ing ah act what he thought it was From l&OO to 1920, without miss- the ItKO 'sixth floor/ He cou1<5»^'H ^orth if believing the booking of- Ing ah up or down b.eat, Mike Shea duck any longer, so he refused to ^^^^^ insufflcient. At the end made regular weekly trips to New ^l^f^i J^-^i^iJ^"!!*!^^^^---!'^!"!' l'Qt."?in enga^^intiit;; and if havlne 1 fork and back. Bcfor 1900 —^ made good in his theatre, thany acts would find, an extra $60.or $100 in . their pay ehvelope.: The standard acts of v^Udeyiliie rerriember Mike for that - because he still does it. Played 'Em All In his BuffalQ theatres frbm 1883 to 1933 Mike Shea has pilayed 'em Vincent R. McFaul The Shea and after 1920 his BuitalorNew York jaunts averaged two a' month. In hiis 50 years, it is estimated, Mike has spent enough iri. carfare be- tween the .two cities to have bought himself; his own railroad^. • ?'6r the past several yeats Mike Shea has divided his residence, as By Vincent B. Mol^aul (G«neral Manager of the She* Companies) After 30 years as an employe, as- sociate and partiier pf Mike Shea* t can only aay that the many nice things constantly being said about hirnsfrlf, .but preferred to talk p bout Show biiglncss in jgeneral. Well, face- to face, Mr. Shea becomes just •Mike,' and li^teniiig to Mike Shea: talk: about shoW business'has never been deemed Waste of time by anybody. Mike talited for about. 30 mliiutes. It Wasn't exactly an. interview of the type the reporter had set out to lalL Iri 1ES3 he played the Ward and i :'-ir^:,^"T-" pVotiirft besides lal'e get. but he . had said plenty and Vok^s. the Kelly and Manns and Jhd^^^^^^ J No on0 will find a fairer and more the reporter bellevedhe hadasweir the James Thorntons His "33 ^^^^^^^^ While there yarn. So the. rtporter grabbed his headliners.- are the Eddie Cantors, I ^^^^^ necesaiiatea uy | _ . , .—^^.^ hat and started to acrani. the Paul Whltemans and the Amos ♦Just a minute, young'nian,' said 'n' Andys. His experiences .. with Mike, 'i dld.nlt mind talking to you talent of .all grades; shapes and because I happened to; be waiting sizes have been responsible for for somebody any Way. But there's.-| Mike Shea's implicit faith in tal- — i .«-_ in<>o all true; one thing: I want you to understand. What Tve beeii telling you here Is not for .publication!' Mike Shea is 15, with W^ite hair and a carriage as erect as a West Point 'cadet. He is. one of those guys that neither looks or acts his ent as the i)rime factor in theatre operation. Mike says that h* hasn't 1 any ideas aboUt favorite actors ern theatre operation, forced him have heen many disagreements and to spend more time in New Tork.<^ arguments, I do not think that Mr. So he bought a home in Sheepshead Shea ever knowingly treated a Per- Bay, where he now resides aboUt son Unfairly, I have seen Mr. Shea 'spend thousands of dollars of his own money to increase the salary, of pierformcrs to a figure that he thought they were worth, rather than pay .only the contract price. Then he Would charge against his halt 6f the time. Mrs. Shea There is a Mrs. Shea, who has been the one and Only Mrs. Shea for a long, long time. Tliere is also and such things. H^'ll book aU ac- a daughter with two children of her company only the figure called for tors Who entertain his audiences and draW .business to liis theatres. age. He's as active today as he Was jje doesn't mind paying them if 25 years ago ahd; works as hard and as long SLs anybody on his payroll. Two.^thirds of his life have been spent ih the show business. He has 1 been a showman in all that term. they'll entertain and draw. He likes to pay and play names—real names —because real names draw bu.si- ness. But wiiile he won't mention .bWn, a boy. and a girl, Iii New Tbrk Mike Shea's office Is wherever he happens to be book- ing or buying pictures or vaude- ville or making deals for his the- in the contract He followed this identical prb- cedurei in the early years of -the pic- ture business, when it was possible to deal directly with the jproducer, atres. in Buffalo his office adjoins the man who had the actuall cash the top balcony In the Buffalo the- in the picture. If Mr. 5hea felt that any favs, it's ieasy to see that Mike a.tre, tht-ee flights up. and no ele- he had bought a picture for less implies,, for every minute of those.Kj^ a, soft spot for Marie Dressier yj^tor. One story is that it's on Ljoney than it was worth, based oh 60 years; He is .'the last of the vaudeville Mohicans, the lone sur-. vivor of that colorful band' of mfen who started from scratch In the 1880'3 and .nUrsed vaudeville frOm a museuni to the most popular form of amusenient of its time. He has lived thrbugh- vaudeville's re- cent loss of the prestige which he and others fought so hard and long, to build up. But he didn't and doesn^t cry about it. He remained a showman and progressed with show business. He knows all the drome many years agp. Mike wa^jln old-fashionied ways, and days, but I New York on a bpokmg trip. The he's not an old-fashioned show- man. His methods are miodern arid 60 are his theatres- and shows. Talent First . There are two • things in. show business in which Mike Shea has immovable faith. One Is. -talent. The other is independent and indi-. vidualistic showmanship. He be- lieves in talent first, because with- as an artist and a name, stage or ^^e, third floor because Mike likes business at the box office, he would screen, his theatres. to see the bankers walk the stairs, add $500 to $1,000 to the price con- Pictures didn't demonstrate the That stair -walklns is the only tracted for In order that the pro- merits of Marie- Dressier Mike squawk that Mike Shea's employees ducer would have a fair return. Shea because Miss Dressier, as a have against Mike Shea, Among the puring tlie past three years, when vaudevilUan, had played for Mike employees is Vince McFall, whcL^Qgj. theatre operators have cur- many times before he had ever seen J has been general manager of Mike's tailed the budget on attractions, our a. picture. But Miss Dressier ha^ ienterprlses for^ 31 years, which Ljooifg show that we have expended a lot to .do with demonstratiiig the. sounds like a record engagement L^Qj-e money for both stage and properties of pictures as an enter- | for any g.i!ni' in one ppot for show gcj-gen than at any time .in ouir his-^ business. tory.. This exj>enditure under ab- But it's Mike Shea'Ss thepry, and normal business conditions has been accepted as gospel by his staff, that Insisted upon by Mr. Shea, if the customers will pay for the Looks at Everythi tainmeht to Mike. It happened at Shea's Hippo- *In the AUey' By Harold B. Franklin Th6 first order ever given me by Mlk|6 Shea, waa 'Throw it In th^ allei*. That was wtxeh I. became assooiated With the Shea Interests In Buffalo, It was his abrupt ex- clamation when. I told him a cer« aln-pi6ture-waaHaot--geod-«m)uj be shown^and throw it Ih the alley we did; And jherein lies the key- note of Mlkb Shea's phenomenal success as a showma,n. On another occasion Mi:: .^hea walked into Shea's Hippodrome. He saw-la scehe where a .baby was thrown out a window. Mike Imme- diately inquired whether there Was any other film in the theatre. Yes, there was...a comedy with a slap- stick comic M^hb twirie.d a cane and an bid lady who had Just taken a fling In the picture game.^.. "Throw it In th^ . alley'-.:, .and on went the hew picture. In fbiir hours you couldn't get near thb theatre.. Ih this Way was presented the world premiere of "TilUe's Punc- tured-Romance,' with Charlie Chap- lin and Marie Dressier. It can be gathered that Mike Shea is a man ,of a few words. Simple, plaln» effective, direct. He sees straight^ to the bottom of things^ He hates veneer and .sham> He. does his .own thinking. His knowl- edge Is., the last Word to all those Who enjoy his Intimate friendship., lie forgets nothing. From, the Ranks In his theatre, Mr. Shea has hien after his own heart,, and about all of them have come up from the ranks. Mike Shea throws respohsi- bllity on nien and they carr;* it, And by carrying It they become strong. He, himself, has all the time there Is. His, hobby is the- atres, and he even has time .to read Varibtt. ...the ads and all. His success has come since hiS hair began to turn gray.. He is temjierate In all things except the operation of his business. He be- gan small and has grown at an even pace. Mike Shea Is a real friend to the people of the theatre. Up to this very day he will book a deserving player just to help him along. From the early days doWn to the present he has kept his eye on talent. Thi one; thing- he woh't delegate tb any- ohe else. To -. see and hear Mike Shea is truly ■ a- tonic. When he talks to you his countenance beams -with enthusiasm, - kindness, friendship and good cheer, and you catch a little of his bubbling wit, his eh- thusiasm and his magnetism. He Is. simple, frank and direct. He never boasts of, what he has done, or of what he is going to do. His good fortune has not bred vanity. picture at the Hipp with the vaude-I privilege of walking the three Today in his BOth year in show ville that Week was so bad it was ' ^•-'^"^ — i • keeping, them away frpm the the- atre. Mike returned to Buffalo In the middle of the week with a print.| .of 'Tlllie's Punctured Komarice,', a comedy with Marie Dressier, Mabel Normand and bthers. ■The next day, while riding tb work on. the street car, th.e house out "pevrprmers at his disposal the I manager of the Hipp met a friend flights, the climb shouldn t be Bo L^gj^^gg j^jg ,4^1^ y^^r of life, tough for those who get paid for It. Uj^. gj^^^ is as active as at any time For any success he has attained, his career and is as careful, par for the good will he has earned, Mike Shea Insists that he has not been chiefly responsible. It is the talent, the shows arid the pictures, arid those responsible for them, that made him a showman, says Mike Shea. sliowman can't exist, Independence is the essence of Mike's own kind* of show business; it becomes rnore of a romance than a bu.slness as viewed, through the . pa^es of Mike Shea's personal his- tory .' In forbidden interview of two. years or so ago Mike, Shea said sphiething. that reflects his whole Who prpceeded tb rave abbut the current picture. The manager thcught the giiy was crazy, but 1 when arriving at the theatre he saw a line stretching dcwn the blpck, ; Mike, without, notifying anyone, had stopped tiie bad pic- ture befor its conclusion at the evening show and replaced it with !'i?illie.' By the next afternoon "wordr Zukor Reminisces By Adolph Zukor ."Will It entertain 'em"? This, it seems to me, epitomizes the philosophy pf 'Mike' Shea. And: his Success, as well as the success tlcular and as hard to satisfy With the shows presented in his theatres las ever. There never is a picture or an act in any Shea theatre that I Mr. Shea does not see; It is still .his, belief that wholesome entertain- I ment Is the fpuhdatipn pn which to build theatre patronage. While [freak attractions may do an excep- tional business over a short period, Mr. Shea has always preferred to pass up these quick profits if the I attraction has been of a" objection- I a^e nature;" • brie of the best, proofs. of the es- teem in Which Mr. Shea is held is to walk up and down Brbadway with SrATE4ME POLICY FOR STATE, DETROIT . Chicago, Dec. 31. State, Detroit, goes Into vaude on Jan. 12. Will use line bf girls and seven acts in a policy Identical with present State-Lake linc-up. Even using State-Lake's press book for same type of publicity on open- ing. Booked out of Bill Diamond of- fice here. '?9, he-.alone refused to relinquish cbntrpl'.and'- insisted bh maintain- ing his itideipendence., "I didn't; sell out because I didn't care so much for the money/ Mike answered.. Mike Shea .becarne: a. showman in 1883. He was 25 years old and had been. a sailor on the Great Lakes; an iron foundry worker and a stevedore. He made . his. theatrical debut as the pwner, pperatpr, booker and. elitire staff of Rhea's Music Hall. He was destined to become Show Business itself as far as Buffalo- was concerned. No one nmn has, had greater influence on and career. It Was in answer to the [ of-mouth, gave Mike Shea his first of tije -entire show business, can be him. As he goes along, the impor- question of why, when all the bther | smash picture. | summed up in those four wprds. jtant figures In the industry and the major independents sold out to the circuits ih'the boom period of '25- vaudeville showmen of his time, he I aft^r"^iisfenlng to What .1 believed la paUse to chat [did not cling blindly to vaudeville I-^yas a high poWered sales, talk, It is my sincere wish, and I surely alone for his theatres, but Jbined 1 ^(fhereln I was endea-vbring to con- echo, the thoughts of. everyone in the paride. And he . has neyer vince him of the uniqueness of my bur organization, that we may have dropped frpm the running. The pa- Humanpva Co.> a form of present- Michael Shea to guide us for many rade passed many of the others by, ing silent pictures and employing [years to. cpme but not iVIike Shea. [ actors to Speak the parts from be While always following modern hind the screen, looked at me out of Ujg judgme^^^^ by show trends, for business arid showman- a corner of one of his eyes and said, ship reasons, Mike Shea has never "Will it entertain 'em?'' He agreed gone 100% hard boiled toward | to present it at his Buffalo theatre vaudeville. He's still a softie for the form of. entertainniont whioh he lielped create. He, plays stage shows wherever his audiences wili stand for thehi, and sometimes thTtiTc^firol'WrTa^r^^^ cltv.than Mik Shea, has had on out them, But he'd rather givo,his the- theatre of Buffalo. In. ISiSl there were ho central bpoking offices, on winch an indie theatre operatpr could, depend for his sh().w It was a matter of pick- ing ',iphi ui^ where and when pos- slblo.: The 6perator- was hi.s own booker. Ilaving once acquired that habit, Jliko never lost it> It's a habit wiih hint to this day. ITe .'^lill books liis nun shuw.'^. 111.=! thofitres patrons a good stage show with a bad piolui'e than just the bad pic-, turo; and that accounts Cor his con- tlnnrd participatlpn in ihe, vaude- ville booking field, also the fact that Mike is aihong the most pro- lific big money stage name buyers of today. tarts uildin^ As far ;»s nuffalo and Mike Phoii .'in<1 show Inisiiu'ss iirv (oncorncd That was my first meeting with Mike, From that day to this we have been close personal friends* and 1 ha-ve had for him the highest admiration as a showman and for :h l3-.k in dlinosa=.as^a:=4Eifiiiii.=.™.^,=»= A Showman •Mike' Shea is a '.)or showman. The older men iri the business rec- ognize in him a personality that has been a guiding star in the de- yelppmcnt of the atn\isoment inter- ests of America. Starting out in a humble, way, he has by the sheer weight of his personality built' a' name to be handed down to the- !ili'l(\'ii posterity. Ifis advice has been sdUfilcd and world councils of the nation. The ycung riien of tiie business have come to recognize in Mike a WPrthy guide and cpunsellor. His.is a suc- cess born of the . school of hard knocks. I know how 'Mike* must feel about his Golden Jubilee Anniver- s'aix^bpcaTise' i=know^h^^ hates bstentatloh. His is a spirit which will never down so long as he draws a breath, and ho would hate to think that any notice of his anniversary might create the impression that he is about to re- tire or become less active. Such is not the case. He is as enthusiastic, as magnetic, as optimistic, and as ciioerful and as witty as he was 50 years ago. Anil I hope he will rc main as .such for many year. Half and Half Poljcy Irving Tates and Arthur iFlsher a.re turning, exhib on a partnership basisi taking over the' Rajah the- atre, heading, Ta.., on a lease. House Is owned by the Shrlners. v They take possessipn Thursday (4). Operilng policy will be vaudfllm the last half and straight pictures the first half. House seats 2,200. Yates will run the' house. With Fisher bookihg the yaude. KEN NICHOI'S SCORE Ken, Nichols has -provided Words arid inUslc for the tabloid -version of 'Harry Delmar's Revels' which operied last week iij, Reading. Tab Is now ih Providence withyBoston to f Ollfl W^ ^ . i . ■ Cast. Includes Harry Delmar,. Manny King. Patsy Dell, Paddy Cliff, Billy Moranr -Lucille Betty Groak arid Ted Meza. June, Harries Dance F.ard Doris Rose, 21, dancer, was mar- ried recently in Smyrna, Turkey, to her dancing partner* Said Edi Eiey. Following their European thcy return to America.