Variety (February 1914)

VARIITY 11 REIS LIST OF ONE-NIGHTERS MAY BE PURC HASED, SAYS REPORT Best Known Legit Small Circuit East of Chicago Rumor- ed Offered Northwest Showman. Mr. Reis Ready to Retire, Worth $1,000,000. It was said this week that a proposal had been put before S. Morton Cohn, of the northwest, now in New York, to purchase the entire M. Reis Circuit of one-nighters in the east. Mr. Cohn was reported considering it, with the un- derstanding that if the sale should be eflFected, John L. Kerr would remain general manager. A desire by Mr. Reis to retire from show business is given as a reason for the proposed change. The Reis Circuit is about the best known of all minor stands playing legit combinations east of Chicago. It covers some of the principal towns in New York, Penn- sylvania and Ohio. The present owner of it is reputed to be worth 11,000,000, made in show business. Mr. Cohn has been very successful in handling picture propositions in his part of the country for several years and amassed a fortune. PERCY HASWELL TAKEN ILL Cleveland, Feb. 25. Percy Haswell, whose name recently has been mentioned as a possible suc- cessor to Julia Marlowe in the leading feminine roles of E. H. Sothern's Shakespearian repertoire, was taken suddenly ill this week, and the Duchess theatre, where she has been playing lead in stock all season, is dark. Miss Haswell was stricken Monday afternoon, and was unable to give the opening performance of "Divorcons." It now is rumored here that she is likely to join Mr. Sothern immediately upon recovery from present illness, which, according to her physician, will linger for a week or two. SANTLEY FOR 'TtANTIPPE." Boston, Feb. 25. .\rrangments have been nearly com- pleted, it is said, for Joseph Santley to appear in Chicago during the sum- mer, taking the former Jack Barry- more role in "Believe Me Xantippe." William A. Brady and John Craig have been the parties negotiating for this Santley engagement. He is now the star of "When Dreams Come True," which is closing an unexpect- edly long run at the new Cort, here, the show opening the house. REWARD FOR PIRATES. Now that word is pouring in from all directions that numerous little stock organizations are openly and flagrantly helping themselves to New York pieces without paying any royalty or obtain- ing permission to use either titles, whole script or part, some of Broad- way's play brokers are determined to stop such practice. Out Pittsburgh way the names of the men and stocks doing the whole- sale plagiarizing are being secured and they will shortly feel the arm of the law. Sanger & Jordan are out with two reward notices. One will pay $50 for information leading to the arrest and conviction of any one producing "Ma- dame Sherry" on tour and the other offers $25 under similar "pirating" con- ditions of any one using Holma Day's "Pala." LAWS FOR BALTIMORE. Baltimore, Feb. 25. Local theatrical managers are just getting through a trying winter to see clouds on the horizon of spring. They are going to have rough sailing if the municipal and state lawmakers have their way. An ordinance has been introduced in- to the City Council of Baltimore rais- ing the tax on theatres from $50 to $500. City Councilman Trautfelter, father of the ordinance, is owner of a picture house erected along most mod- ern and fireproof lines and has placed in his ordinance a clause which will aflfect practically all the large theatres in the way of showing motion pictures. He proposes to make it unlawful for any theatre to show film and traveling drama. He does this by stipulating that if a house is not fireproof in every particular it cannot display pictures. Of course, all the theatres in this city, built many years ago, would come under this prohibitive head, for in some respect or other they could be proven non-fireproof. It is also said that the ordinance, if passed, will drive out of business more than half the motion pic- ture theatres of the city. As there is a tendency at present on the part of the municipal government to levy taxes on everything tangible, it is likely that the ordinance will be passed. The other cloud is in the shape of a bill introduced into the state legisla- ture, now in session, prohibiting the placing of sandbags on curtains or "drops" in any theatre in the state. It is said that the stage hands' union is behind the bill, and while the managers look upon it as a "bell ringer" they are going to take steps to block the measure. If the bill is passed, which would not be an improbability, it would mean that every theatre, instead of em- ploying from five to ten men back stage, would have to put on a crew of from 40 to 50 a performance. To raise the asbestos curtains would require the combined efforts of from 20 to 30 men, and some of the drops would never get up in time for the vaudeville acts. OPENINGS IN CHI. Chicago. Feb. 25. Eight openings for the week that pttracted attention were: Ethel Barry- more in "Tante" at the Blackstone; Edith Wynne Matthison in "The Dead- lock" at Howard's, and Primrose & Dockstader at the .American Music Hall. All three shows opened under propitious circumstances, and were greeted by big bouses. SHOWS IN BOSTON. Boston, Feb. 25. Someone batting around .400 in The Yen Hok League must have made next week's bookings for Boston theatres. The first nighters, and this town has a goodly number, usually have their choice between a couple of good houses, but Monday they will be run- ning around in frantic circles trying to decide where they will land. The Park opens with "Fannic's First Play" for a run which will probably last longer than the four weeks of Robert Hilliard in "The Argyle Case," closing there this week. The Shubert opens with Gaby Deslys in "The Little Parisienne" after a single week of Grace George in "Jim's Mar- riage," and will play daily matinees. The Hollis opens with the return this season of Billie Burke in "The Land of Promise" who played locally earlier in the season in the revival of "The Amazons," which closed here. The Cort opens with Margaret An- glin in Shakespearean repertoire, fol- lowing the close of a good run of Joseph Santley in "When Dreams Come True." The Colonial opens with "Fine Feathers" for a run after the abrupt ending of the engagement of "The Doll Girl." The National will use the Morton Opera Company in "The Tenderfoot" and will probably play capacity nearly all the week, despite a seating capacity of 3,800. The Castle Square stock will also play a positive capacity week with "The Girl of the Golden West," as Mary Young, the wife of Manager John Craig, is returning to the cast. At the opening of this season it was announced that a booking agreement had been arranged which would assure a normal number of openings each week to stop the cross-bucking of the previous season when the war was on. This week there was a single opening and that was a pure accident, as "The Wedding Night," which opened for two weeks, had its engagement shortened to a single week because of the panning handed it by the Boston papers as be- ing unnecessarily suggestive. This gave an opportunity to slip in for a single week before the arrival of Gaby Deslys the new Grace George produc- tion for its metropolitan "try-it-on-the- Boston-terrier premiere." WHITNEY TAKES BROADWAY. Detroit, Feb. 25. B. C, Whitney has taken a lease on the Broadway and has appointed Bert St. Johns as manager. The house will reopen in March with Paviowa, who will stay for a week. Mr. Whitney has not announced what the permanent house policy will be, although it is understood he favors melodrama. SHOWS IN FRISCO. . San Francisco, Feb. 25. The Bessie Abbott Opera Co., here for two weeks at the Columbia, offer- ing "Robin Hood" as its first produc- tion, opened to good business and every indication points to a profitable stay. The press said the show made a favorable impression. Local interest has been stirred up considerably by the first performance on any stage here of "The Crime of the Law," by Mrs. Douglas Crane, the opening at the Savoy bringing a packed house. The reviewers agree it is ac- ceptable and Mrs. Crane does well in her role of the dancer. "The Crime of the Law" is the work of Rachel Mar- shall, who gave "The Traffic" to the stage. It looks like a run of four weeks for the new piece by the Oli- ver Bailey stock. Local critics say the play is appealing, fascinating and writ- ten in forceful language. Pretty well staged. Piece at times a little preachy but on the whole constructed to appeal to the masses. It pulled capacity Mon- day night (second performance) and a big sale is on. Emma Trentini in "The Firefly" is in her last week at the Cort and is draw- ing the average business. Marie Dressier reopened at the Gai- ety in "The Merry Gambol," Feb. 19, and has been drawing big houses since her return. GOT AWAY WITH $5,500. Baltimore, Feb. 25. Three yeggmen attacked the watch- man at the Academy of Music early yesterday morning, arid after blowing open the safe with nitro-glycerin took $5,500 in it and made their exit. The theatre was closed shortly be- fore midnight Monday and the receipts from the Saturday performances of "Damaged Goods;" from the advance sale of Saturday for Julian Eltinge's show, which opened Monday with a matinee; the receipts from the two per- formances of "The Crinoline Girl" Monday and some of the advance money for "Follies," which comes next week, and for Newman's lectures, were placed in the safe by Treasurer Little. "PEG" PLAYERS MARRYING. New Orleans, Feb. 25. T. Jerome Lawler and Ruth Gart- land, members of tht- southern "Peg O' My Heart" company, will he mar- ried in this city (hirin;j: the latter part of thi^ week. "Peg" is at the Tulane for a return engagement. ■"TTTooToimidvertliM* In VARIETY. dMt MlTvrtlM At alL CHICAGO G. O. SECOND TRIP. Cleveland, Feb. 25. Cleveland will be the first stop in the 15-city tour of the Chicago Grand Opera. Two performances will be ^jfiven here March 2, "Jewels of Ma- donna" in the afternoon and "La Tosca" in the evening. This will be the second trans-continental trip of this organization. 250 persons will make the trip, traveling in a train of two sections. It is estimated that rail- road expenses will total $50,000 for the 9,929 miles which are to be covered. The local performances will be given at Keith's Hippodrome, which will play vaudeville only five days of th e week. « AT UST" IN THE SPRING. Chicaj^o, Feb. 25. "At Last," .1 n'jvv play just finished l)y Canii)hell C'a.sad and Charlc? Dixon, who wrf»tc "'J'lirce Twins" and "Bright Kycs," is t) 1)0 f.'ivcn an early spring production by Jf).s. M. Gaites and a party of Chicago theatrical managers.