Variety (September 1912)

10 VARIETY CHICAGO SEASON'S OPENING FINDS E MPTY SE ATS GALORE Hot Weather Keeps People Away From Theatres. Business Picks Up Monday Night. Some New and Some Old Shows on View Chicago, Sept. 4. Sunday, Sept. 1, next to the hottest day of the season in Chicago, wit- nessed four openings in the "Loop" district. Not one had a full house. At the La Salle Opera House "The Girl at the Gate" had its premiere and for the first time in the history of the theatre it was not sold out on the opening night. "Oliver Twist" at the Illinois, with all the "publicity the fight over Wilton Lackaye, had a small audience; "The Bir I of Paradise" at the Garrick and -The Whirl of Society" at the Lyric played to half houses. "The Garden of Allah," opening Sat- urday night at the Auditorium, had a full house that evening, but the prices are popular and the piece has been boomed for months. "Tantalizing Tommy" at the Chicago Opera House, which had its premiere Friday night, opened to big business, but there is no telling just how much "paper" was used. It was still hot on Monday, and the Labor Day matinees all suffered. •The Littlest Rebel" at McVicker's, where the top price is $1, was the only one to sell out. Others had small and 1'«iless audiences. All but two of the openings were shows that had been seen in New York. The two originals were "The Girl at the Gate," at the La Salle, and "Tantalizing Tommy," at the Chicago. "The Garden of Allah" went big, as a matter of course. "Oliver Twist" re- ceived some attention, and "The Whirl of Society," the cooked-over Winter Garden revue, created a mild ripple on the local theatrical sea. 'The Bird of Paradise," another last-season show from New York, was presented first at a full-dress rehearsal at the Lyric to an invited audience, which received it with the usual cold, clammy approval of such a gathering. It went better when it reached the Garrick. Monday night, after a good rain, business went up with a pop all over town, and the season seemed fai;iy on its way. LACKAYE PLAYS FAGIN. Chicago, Sept. 4. Tt happened, as stated In Variety last week. Wilton Lackaye played Fatjin in "Oliver Twist" at the Illinois theatre Sunday night, at the opening of that piece. It was known all along that Lackaye wanted to play the role, and it was pretty well understood, ex- cepting among the press agents fight- ing for publicity, that he would leave "Fin-; Feathers" at the Cort and play the part he wanted. The courts decided that Liebler He Co. had the best right to Lackaye's services. It appears H. H. Frazee had only a verbal contract with Lackaye, wb'lc Liebler* is ?a'u\ ;o have had a written cont-.c'.. S> ii.re, however, was Frazee that he would win in the injunction he started to prevent Lack- aye leaving, he had provided no one to take his place, and James Kearney, the stage manager, had to step in and read the lines Sunday, Monday and Tuesday. Arthur Byron, a sterling player, is now getting up in the lines, and will take the role of John Brand. In the meantime the papers have been full of press matter about the case. Lack- aye has been billed with both shows, not only in the newspaper advertise- ments, but on the billboards as well. ALICB LLOYD AND SISTER. Providence, Sept. 4. The tour of "Little Miss Fix-It" opened Monday in this city for the week. The show will continue on the road until about Dec. 1, when a new production will be prepared for Alice Lloyd by her managers, Werba &l Luescher. In the company playing "Little Miss Fix-It" is Grace Hyams, a .sister of Miss Lloyd. They both arrivied in New York last Saturday on the Cedric. Alice McNaughton, also with the show, accompanied them. STAIR A HAVLIN STAR. Stair & Havlin are having a new play written for Beulah Poynter. It will get a late start over their circuit. SOUIi-THINO FLAY. Eugene Presbery's new play, "The Other Man," now in rehearsal, is ex- pected to be given an out of town premiere by Cohan & Harris around Sept. 20. As far as known now the piece is ex- pected to be brought into New York after a road seasoning, and displayed at the Amsterdam. With George Nash, who will be featured, will be Harrison Hunter, Charles Stevenson, Clifford Bruce and Thais MaGrane. The play is said to deal with the soul thing. BERT CLARK LEAVES ••FOLLIES.*' "The Follies," now in rehearsal, will need another comedian to fill in the place made vacant by Bert Clark, the Englishman, "walking out" last Fri- day. Clark will reopen Monday in vau- deville with his partner, Miss Hamil- ton (Clark and Hamilton) at Hender- son's, Coney Island. No reason is assigned for the de- parture from "The Follies," although it is said the barrenness of the manu- script submitted to Mr. Clark, as his "part," had something to do with it. Atlantic City, Sept. 4. Ziegfeld's "Follies" has been dated to open at the Apollo Sept. 16. GOODWIN BACK ON BROADWAY. Los Angeles, Sept. 4. The identity of the new Belasco lead- ing man has been revealed. Orrirr Johnson is his name and he hails from far off Broadway, where he was cor- raled recently by Manager Oliver Mo- rosco. He will begin a starring season at the Belasco Sept. 16. The Nat Goodwin engagement at this house is reported to be off and if the Ocean Park comedian decides to give Angelenos a peek at his por- trayal of "Oliver Twist," it will prob- ably be a few weeks hence at the Bur- bank. It is announced from the Morosco- Blackwood offices that Manager Mo- rosco has about decided to present Goodwin in Hartley Manners' "Gaunt- let's Pride" at one of the Shubert theatres in New York City in January. STARS FOR PICTURES. Daniel Frohman, general manager of the Famous Players Film Co., an- nounces that among the stars to be seen before the camera and under con- tract to his company, are Sothern and Marlowe, James K Hackett, Weber & Fields, Viola Allen, Henry E. Dixey. Each will appear in scenes of plays they have been identified with. BOSTON OPERA OO. v S AID. Boston, Sept. 4. William Hubbard, for many years a prominent musical critic in the Middle West, has been engaged by ihe Boston Opera Co. to lend his personal assist- ance and advice to Henry Russell, gen- eral director. Mr. Hubbard who was in Los Angeles, will report in Boston Sept. 5. PAVLOWA NEXT YEAR. Anna Pavlowa, whose dancing capti- vated London and is now dancing in Russia, will shortly fill a brief season in Berlin which will be followed by a short tour of the Continent and then a long season in the British provinces. Pavlowa comes to America in the fall of next year for a dancing season, last- ing from October until April, sur- rounded by a'big company and will ap- pear in a new form of terpsichorean en- tertainment. She will be under the di- rection of Max Rabinoff. ANDREW MACK'S SPECIAL. San Francisco, Sept. 4. Andrew Mack is to play a special engagement at Ye Liberty, Oakland. He will in turn be followed by Land- ers Stevens for a starring season. KLEIN MOVES OFFICE. Charles Klein, of the Authors' Pro- ducing Co., has moved his office para- phernalia from the Commercial Trust building and is now domiciled in the Hudson Theatre building. Lee Kugel, who is finishing out his contract as press representative for the Henry B. Harris estate, is hand- ling the publicity for the Authors' Pro- ducing Company's new show "The Ne'er Po Well," at the Lyric, ATWELL STAGING ••THE WHIP." The Drury Lane melodrama, "The Whip," will be staged by Ben H. At- well. An arrangement to that effect was reached Tuesday between Mr. Atwell and the producers of the piece for the Manhattan Opera House, New York, Messrs. Shubert, William A. Brady and Comstock & Gest. Mr. Atwell has located his head- quarters in the Comstock & Gest offi- ces in the Shubert Building. He will immediately set to work upon the heavy play, to be presented during November. Although the English pro- duction has been imported for the American run, the cost of staging the piece will be at least $50,000, inclusive of the heavy transportation charges for the scenery. "The Whip" is to be circuscd. Pa- per for a radius of between 500 and 1,000 miles from New York City will be put up. The "'Op O' My Thumb" panto- mime, also an English production, will likely be delayed for a New York showing until Christmas time, 1913. STEERING ENGLISH TROUPE. "A Scrape O' Th' Pen" company landed in Canada yesterday, reaching there from England. William R. Sill, representing Joseph Weber, was on hand to greet the troupe. Mr. Sill steered the foreigners to Sherbrook, where they open Sept. 16, then play a few Canadian one-nighters and reach Weber's Music Hall, New York, Sept. 26. Mr. Sill isn't certain whether he will go the full route with the bunch or not. "COVERED UP" PAPER. Sunday morning there was revealed on the boards at the corner of Broad- way and 42d street, six 3-sheets adver- tising "Ready Money," covering some of the Shubert paper adjoining the spot. Nobody knows how it hap- pened, the billposting people claiming the paper must have been stolen from their establishment. The locations belong to the Shubert attractions. There is no clue to the identity of the culprits. "Ready Money" is playing at a Shu- bert theatre, the Elliott. ^ TOAZEE NOT BACKING IT. Chicago, Sept. 4. The report that H. H. Frazee will produce the musical piece written by Jos. Howard and to be called "Frivo- lous (Jenildine" is denied by Mr Frazee. Since Howard found Frazee would not finance the piece, it is said How- ard is trying to arrange to become his own producer, not expecting to put it on the show until about Dec. 1. WARD AND VOKES MAY GO OUT. From the way the atmosphere is clearing now it looks as though Ward and Vokes will start out on a tour sometime in October in a revival of "A Run on the Bank." Last season the comedians played the Stair & Havlin time in "The Troublemakers'."