Variety (June 1910)

10 VARIETY MANAGERS REGARD 10c. "HIP" PROPOSITION WITH ANXIETY Low Price Charged Makes Profitable Business Extra Hazardous Unless Capacity Is Tremendous. The summer "Hippodromes" are being much discussed nowadays. All theatrical men are watching the outcome of the first real "Hip" season. The summer park people are particularly interested, while "small time" vaudeville managers, agents and others along the same lines are think- ing of the venture. A well informed vaudeville man, for- merly one of the best summer park man- agers in the country, claims that no "Hip" playing in a baseball park of less than 15,000 capacity has much of a chance at winning any money during the season at a straight ten-cent admission with a show costing $1,000 or over. He makes his claim upon the point that two nights weekly must be depended upon for the "pay streak." These are Friday and Saturday evenings. Rain on one or the other of the nights ruins the prospect of any clean up, leaving the management in a financial hole, with a larger loss if the park has been rented for any considerable Tuesday and Thursday nights are "off ones" anyway he says. Monday and Wednesday may bring some money, but the last two evenings before Sunday are ones to be depended upon. With an average during the season of three and, one-half or less good days, with no in- formation beforehand when the rain may spoil a night, the "Hippodrome" with a small capacity doesn't stand a real chance for profit. The exception may be in A city where the "Hip" show can be given seven days weekly. This can occur in the west and southwest. In some of the "Hip" towns where vau- deville will be played this summer, the capacities are as follows, commencing with the "Hips" booked through the United Booking Offices i Pittsburg takes the lead of all with. 82,000 in one of the finest ball grounds in the United States; Philadelphia has over 20,000, Chicago over 20,000, Bos- ton, 12fiO0 r Cincinnati, 15,000, Indian- apolis, 12,000. (Boston may not be opened through Its limited capacity.) Detroit with over 20,000 capacity and a seven days' play has not been settled upon as far as can be learned. The American League Park, New York, with over 20,000, has not been taken, and the National League (Polo Grounds), New York, has no "Hip" manager. Neither has the National, Brooklyn, a park of big cajacity, with over 60,000 people living within walking distance alone. Washington Park holds 12,000. On the smaller leagues, Buffalo has 10,- 000; Newark (much talked about as "good"), 2,600, with the other cities run ning between three and eight thousand each. A couple of town playing United "Hip" acts at the full salary are Uniontown and New Castle, Pa. These are understood to be among the twelve weeks offered by the United as the "Hip" season. If the "no stake" rule goes into effect among the "Hippodromes," it is said the United Hip Department will have a good deal of trouble in fixing up its route sheets. A number of important aerial acts have been contracted for the summer at periods running from ten to fourteen weeks and in a majority of cases the con- tracts are for consecutive time. These aerial acts require heavy and com- plicated rigging which will make the tear- ing up of the ground necessary unless they carry their stage rigging which may be placed on a platform. Should the baseball club managers decide that the tearing up is against the interests of the game, the situation will be complicated, by the with* drawal of the aerial turns which will have to be re-distributed on the United park and fair time. It is given as a possible reason why there is no "Hip" in Greater New York that a license for the operation of one cannot be secured. BOSTON OPENING ANNOUNCED. Boston, June 1. The opening performance of the # Ameri- can Hippodrome Company, which has leased the American League baseball grounds on Huntington avenue for "Hip," will be given Saturday evening, June 11. Performances will be given nightly during the summer season. On Sunday nights there will be band concerts, with moving pictures. Manager A. L. Levering of the Boston Theatre is President of the American Hip- podrome Company. R. W. MacFarland of the Henry W. Savage forces is managing director. Vaudeville acts for the "Hip" will be booked through the United. Prices will range from 25 to JO cents. Meanwhile there is much speculation as to when the National League Grounds will have its Hippodrome. The seating capac- ity at the National grounds is much smaller than at the American League. When John P. Harris of Pittsburg bought stock in the Boston Nationals it waB pre- sumed that summer "Hip" would come in there, too. T. A. Morris, the "Hip" promoter, who is putting in a summer vaudeville bill at the Columbia Music Hall, was in Boston last week. :He left here to ^o to Washington and thence to Albany for "Hip" openings. But no definite word lias been given out yet of the opposition to the American enterprise. NEW HAVEN OUTDOOR SHOW. The "Hippodrome" at New JTaven, under the management of the corporation headed by William Fox. commences business next Monday with a bill booked through the Joe Wood agency. All the Fox's "Hips" will start at the same time. The baseball park at New Haven has a capacity of 11.000. Admission will be 15 to 25 cents. The first show, costing in salary for the week, $1,700, contains Luken's Lions, Six Cornelias, Marvelous D'Espa Troupe. Ashburn's Dogs and Ponies, Kip and Kippy. Columbia Musical Four, Virginia Roydon and her "8 Dancing Comets," Schack and Lynch, Herman and Rice. ADDING OTHER "HIPS," A chain of baseball park "Hips" has been gathered in by a man named Leamy, and placed with the Joe Wood offices for bookings. Wood will place the bills for these "Hips" along with those of the Will- iam Fox Circuit. The first of Fox's com- mences June 13 at New Haven, Hartford and Bridgeport. There are about six in New England, which Fox will operate under a corporate name. On June 0 the M. St. "Hip" in Washington will start with Wood's acts. The Leamy parks will be those baseball enclosures in Utica, Syracuse, Wilkes* Barre, Reading, Allentown, Trenton, with Jersey City and Newark likely also. On top of the additional "Hip" time re- ceived by the Wood agency, and the regu- lar "small time" bookings (including about 30 houses on the Ohio Circuit, sent over last week to Wood by Fred Nixon- Nirdlinger of Philadelphia, to be placed from the New York agency), Wood has secured all the fairs of the Boonville Fair Association, New York State. These were gathered in by John Fitz- gerald, Wood's "field man," who returned from a three months' road trip last week, with many houses as well in his grips. The Association fairs are held at Ful- ton, Sandy Creek, Boonville, Lowville, Gouverneur, Cape Vincent, Watertown, Potsdam, Canton, Malone and Ogdensburg. JUST MISSED DEATH. Springfield. June 1. A new ballooning peril was disclosed here last Saturday, when the balloon Springfield caught in a guy wire strung over the tracks of the N. Y., N. H. & H. railroad, was held suspended while an ex- press train passed, clearing the basket by three feet. In the basket were James J. Benton and Ix)uis Dederick of Boston, Professor David Todd, Robert Wells and Nelson Waite of Amherst. The aeronauts were well smoked. When the express passed Pilot Benton pulled the rip-cord quickly and a safe descent was made. POSTPONED ON ACCOUNT OF RAIN. The circuit of baseball hippodromes in Massachusetts, including Brockton, Worce- ster and New Bedford among others, did not open Monday. Rain fell over the ter- ritory and the acts booked for the chain through the United were notified that the opening would be put off for a few days. THE HAMLINS. Richard and Louise Hamlin are occupy- ing the ovals on the front page. They are a young couple, appearing at the*Colo- nial this week, having played-at the Al- hambra a week or so ago. Dressed neatly, each of excellent ap- pearance and billed as "The Medley Man and the Maid in Brown," The Hamlins make up one of vaudeville's classiest sing- ing and danefng'turns. They are under the direction of Jo Paige Smith. The Kroonland of the Red Star Line, carrying the Jackson Troupe, broke a pro- peller out of Antwerp and had to put into Southampton for repairs. The act will l>e delayed In joining "The Summer Widowers" which opened at the Broad- way Thursday. THAT "OPENING TOO EARLY." Philadelphia, June 1. Since the withdrawal of James S. Mc- Cartney from the position of president of the "Big Hip," there have been all sorts of reports concerning the big show at the National League ball grounds. McCart- ney is manager of the Hotel Majestic Dissatisfaction over his connection with the outdoor amusement caused his choos- ing in favor of the hotel. There will be a meeting held shortly, when the company will be reorganised. Morris Scheck, sec- retary of the Philadelphia Ball Club, is acting in place of McCartney. John Anderson Is still manager of the "Hip," but France Reed, who was eques- trian director, severed his connection Sat- urday. The business has been only fair, despite unusually attractive bills, but this is probably due to a run of bad weather. Three. shows were lost last week, and Monday and Tuesday nights of this week have been cold, keeping the attendance down. The programs, which were too costly, have been cut down, though they are still strong cards for the money. Some diffi- culty has been suffered through the prop- erty hands being unfamiliar with circus apparatus and the poor handling of equip- ment, dragging the show very much at times. The management is still very optimis- tic over the investment, and expects re- sults to come with good weather. The organization of a reported "$1,000,000 syn- dicate" in New York caused some comment, but it is not given much consideration, being accepted as a good piece of press work on the part of promoters. There has been some talk of the local "hip" be- ing taken over by the syndicate, and one of those interested here said: "We think we have a good investment, but if the syndicate makes us a good offer we might accept it." Horace S. Fogel, president of the ball club, went to Atlantic City this week, where he is interested in the hippodrome to-be built there. MORRIS' "HIPS" OPEN JUNE so. The summer Hippodromes under the di- rection of T. A. Morris will open June 20, excepting at Baltimore, which starts June 13. Mr. Morris will make his admission scale 10-15-25. MORTON GETS $&ooo. James J. Morton, "the boy comic," who is doing his Marathon at the Victoria and Palace, Philadelphia this week, will sail June 22 for London, there to go through the necessary forms of collecting $5,000, the amount of a life insurance policy Morton took out on King Edward's life when he was in Britain before. The policy had run fifteen months and the American artist had paid premiums on it ammintir" f '• *s thsn $150. Mar* A. Luescuer thinks his chief, Mar- tin Beck, while a'uoad, may arrange to bring "The Pmsl« n Play" from Oberam mergau 10 the v ilty of East Aurora. N. Y., vfherr ,i r 1 , :,'nlflcent forest near El bert Hiibl.•<•■.]•-■ !i -i town would prove an ideal sr. >' r < ; tl ' arly presentation a« an annn J 1 M^: ion over here, says Mr. Lueschei -M.o is quite certain he can in terest Fi > Albert uh , u the project.