Variety (August 1913)

VARIETY 11 SELF ASSURANCE PASSES FOR ART, ASS ERTS L EE SHUBERT "Acting Is More Nerve Than Skill/ 9 Declares Producer in Dismissing Grievances of Actors 9 Equity Association. Let Shubcrt has just presented the managers' case in the eternal dispute over the justice of certain contract customs involving managers and play- ers, in a signed article printed as a "Sunday special" in New York. He takes up the allegations of the actors as to the injustices to which they are subjected, and in vigorous lan- guage attempts to dispose of them one by one. Some of his very positive state- ments are: "I 'fcave come to believe that acting is not skill, but mainly 'nerve.' In most cases What passes for art is unadulter- ated self-assurance. "Productions are kept open these two v;eeks (Christmas and Easter) for the accommodation of the actors and espe- cially to help the chorus people. "It is the manager who takes all the monetary risk and the actor takes no ch&nce at all. "Any contract between manager and attot binds the manager more than it dees the actor, because the manager is responsible and the actor is not. "When actors are in the chorus they dc their work and do not grumble. The moment they arc noticed everything becomes a hardship and the manager is treated to substitutes and excuses every day of the week but one—salary day. The actor is a person so natur- ally conceited as to become uncon- sciously ungrateful. He can only see SELF." These statements take particular in- terest from the fact that they are the first utterance in the public prints of Lee Shubert's opinions over his signa- ture. The publication was brought about by the agitation of a set of grievances by the Actors' Equity Asso- ciation, an organization of legitimate actors recently formed for the avowed purpose of bringing about reforms in the traditional actor-manager relation. One of these grievances was that most of the women of the profession are forced to supply their own gowns. "Most of the women of the theatrical profession who supply their own gowns receive enormous salaries," replies Mr. Shubert. "The only thing that the act- ress brings to the play, apart from her gowns, is her personality. On the other hand the manager furnishes her with a part to play, generally written by a noted author. He has her taught to play that part by an expert stage man- ager. He puts her before the public with the assistance of expert press agents and advertises her in the papers at great expense. All she does in re- turn is to devote about twenty-four hours per week to work in the theatre. There are a great many stars earning amounts as high as $2,500 a week. The common calibre and feminine stars earn from $500 to $1,000 a week and mere leading women ve getting from $100 to $300 per week. These same people could not earn $10 per week at any other trade, working eight hours per day." As to the question of salary during rehearsal, the manager has this to say. "There is no reason on earth why actors should be paid during rehearsals. The scale of wages after a production opens is adjusted so as to cover every- thing to which the actor is legitimately entitled. Doctors, lawyers and other professional men devote years of labor for which they receive no compensa- tion, but during which they spend money for instruction to prepare them- selves for their life work. The actor does nothing of the sort. "It is a difficult thing," declares Mr. Shubert in conclusion, "to explain briefly how much the actor owes to the manager. It is the manager who rec- ommends the actor's talent, who finds for him a theatre, production, stage manager and associates. And in spite of all these things the actor still con- siders himself privileged to disregard all contracts and 'hold up' the manager whenever he believes his services to have obtained a particular temporary value." "SILVER WEDDING** CLOSING. Two weeks have been enough for H. H. Frazee's show, 'The Silver Wed- ding" at the Longacre. The piece closes there Saturday night and will go to the storehouse. About next Thursday "Adele," the new musical piece, will be given its New York chance at Mr. Frazee's the- atre. ACTOR BADLY BEATEN. Chicago, Aug. 20. John O'Donnell, an actor living at the Hotel Grant was found badly beat- en at the foot of East Ohio street last Saturday morning. An automobilist saw O'Donnell ly- ing on the grass in a senseless condi- tion and took him to the Chicago Ave- nue police station where his injuries were attended. The assailants are said to have been Italians, and the police are making a search for them. $18 FOR BILLPOSTERS. From this week on the union bill- poster of New York is to receive $18 a week. Heretofore he has been re- ceiving $15. PLAY PROM THE WEST. San Francisco, Aug. 20. "The Girl of the Hills" is the title of a play framing up for a proposed early launching out of Portland, under the management of Christ & Bartholomew. The story is of Western farm life. JOB HOWARD'S PRINCIPALS. Chicago, Aug. 20. The Joe Howard show, "A Broadway Honeymoon" will not open in Chicago until Sept. 30. The principals are Em- ma Cams, Francis Kennedy, Cecil Fish, Mabel McCane, Knox Wilson, Bill Roberson, Tom Morrison, Carl Ran- dall (dancer) Joe Allen, Joe Howard. Jack Mason will come on to stage the numbers; George Fox will drill the players. Rehearsals start Sept. 14. Mr. Mason has a free hand in the number of choristers he may hire. Mr. Howard now has possession of the Whitney, where pictures are playing and will remain until Howard decides to take the house over for his musical comedy. The Howard show was reported for the Studebaker, but that is uncertain. It is now said "The Winning of Bar- bara Worth," by Harold Bell Wright, may be seen at the Lakeside theatre Sept. 22. PRINCESS REP SHOW. Next spring F. Ray Comstock con- templates sending out the Princess Theatre Players in a repertoire of the sketches seen at the theatre of that name in New York. About 10 weeks will be taken on the road, on the as- sumption that two seasons of rare and racy sketches at the Princess will have widely advertised the name on the road. The Princess reopens its season Sept. 15, with a program of playlets to be se- lected from numerous manuscripts on hand. Some of the sketches on the bill when the house closed will be contin- ued in the repertory. MABLE LE MONNIE ILL. Mable Le Monnie, formerly produc- ing directress of William B. Sherman's musical comedy enterprises prior to the latter's change of policy in his Can- adian theatres, is seriously ill at her sister's home, 151 Taylor street, West New Brighton, Staten Island, N. Y. Miss Le Monnie was enroute east and at Chicago became ill and fell on the train, the accident rendering her un- conscious for eight days. While she was in this condition some one robbed her of her money and jewels. Hope is entertained for her recovery. ROSS DRESSLER CALLS. Windsor, Vt., Aug. 20. Marie Dressier was the guest of r Mrs. Woodrow Wilson at the summer Capitol last week and the President's family have accepted a return engage- ment to dine at the Dressier villa this week. Miss Dressier has a big society fol- lowing here. Leo Maase, the foreign agent, did not arrive in New York last week, as re- ported he would. ••XSO" A TITLE. "X36" is the, peculiar title of a new play dealing with modern society life in New York City which Albert O. Warburg and Jasper Ewing Brady have jointly written for production by a New York manager during the ensuing season. The Warhurg-Brady piece, "The Trap," is to be brought out around Thanksgiving Day by A. H. Woods. Warburg sails to-morrow for a Lon- don trip and on his return rehearsals of his new play will stnrt. NIXON-ZIMMERMAN SPLIT. Philadelphia, Aug. 20. A petition was filed Monday for the dissolution of the partnership between Samuel F. Nixon and J. Fred Zimmer- man, who for the past 34 years have been associated with legitimate theatri- cals and members of the "Syndicate" headed by Klaw & Erlanger. It is ex- pected a return will be made within a few days. The separation was fore- casted in Variktv several months ago and at that time a denial was made by Mr. Zimmerman, who declared that it was only a 25-year agreement between the partners that was to be dissolved. Following the dissolution, Nixon as- sumes the position of dominating fac- tor in legitimate theatricals in this city, with the Broad, Forrest and Gar- rick under his direction and control. It is understood a corporation will be formed to conduct the Garrick with Mr. Nixon president, and that Mr. Zimmer- man will hold some stock in the com- pany. Frank Zimmerman, son of J. Fred, resigned as manager of the Gar- rick last week to associate himself with his father in the direction of the lat- ter's vaudeville interests in this city. Last week the bookings of the Zim- merman vaudeville houses, the Key- stone, Liberty, Fairmount, and the new Orpheum belonging to M. W. Taylor, were placed with the United Booking Offices. The Chestnut Street opera house, playing legitimate "syndicate" attractions for many years has passed into the control of Marcus Loew along with the People's and both houses will play pop vaudeville the coming season. It is accepted by theatrical men here that the recent agreement reached by Klaw & Erlanger and the Shuberts over booking interests and the split in the vaudeville associations of J. Fred Nirdlinger, Nixon's son, and Marcus Loew figures prominently in the disso- lution of the Nixon and Zimmerman interests, but Mr. Nixon placed a flat denial on these conjectures. The Broad, Forrest, and Garrick and the two Shubert houses, Lyric and Adel- phia, will play legitimate attractions next season. The old Walnut, which has been remodelled and renovated throughout will be the single popular price house in the city, opening Aug. 30 with "The Firefly" with Edith Thay- er in the Trentini role. Both principals in the Nixon and Zimmerman split will have an active in- terest in the three-cornered vaudeville war here next season. NEW OLD PRODUCTION. Sothern and Marlowe are making an entirely new and elaborate production of "Much Ado About Nothing" in or- der not to suffer by comparison with the Charles Frohman production of the same Shakespearean piece with which John Drew is to open his season at the Empire. EXCLUSIVE TICKET OFFICES. The Hudson and Cortlandt Street Terminals, also 50 Nassau street, are exclusive ticket agencies for the Shu- bcrt theatres. During last season, when these well paraded places also handled only the Shubert coupons, the gross sales were $90,000.