Variety (December 1914)

32 VARIETY b»P THEATRICAL HOTELS STARTING STOCKS Just as one instinctively thinks of book-keepers when office fixtures are mentioned, so do visions of footlights, scenery, Pullmans, changeful hamlets' and theatrical hotels loom up on the mental vision when the person to whom you have been introduced, ad- mits to you a connection with the stage. In the olden days, the good old olden days, the actor was "inned" right to his liking at the theatrical HARRY HALL Stage Director, LONDON HIPPODROME. Producer of numbers in the present Rerue, "BUSINESS AS USUAL," wishes to extend to his friends in America s cordial Holiday Greet- ing. boarding house, usually manned by some woman whose husband was a bally ballyhoo, or trying, or crying to be. Many tales are told of the fowl- tipped chicken soup, of prunes pruned, never-changing pie, sham pillows, shred- ded hash, and the hall bedrooms where authors of theatrical stories insist on incarcerating their heroines before they "arrive." Fixed fiction owes much to these places, but fixed fiction is fixed. The world moves. So does the actor. In quite a manner to de- note its being passe, he now passes up the theatrical boarding house. Today he puts up at a theatrical hotel, and does not put up any more for putting up there than he put up for the b. h. Theatrical hotels aim to vary, but miss the mark. They are inserted in close proximity to the playhouse, a carfareless proceeding, but are easily discerned by the rocking chairs abounding on and abutting the front sidewalk. It is on these chairs they revere each other by word of mouth, or in silent reverie await the din of the dinner bell. Somebody has said mis- takenly that actors do not eat. Any union hotel keeper will show statements of his larder to prove its utter untruthfulness. Theatrical hotels advertise European and American plan. The terms, how- ever, are synonymous of the same thing—room and board. Ordinarily, the European plan is a boardless room, seldom does one stop at a theatrical hotel without eating there. So the proprietor takes it for granted that when you state a preference for the European plan it is merely a ruse to appear stylish. Landlords of these caravanseries grow old before their time. They must temper temperament; advance the advance men gratuitous fare in or- der to fare well in securing part of the income of the incoming company; sob with soubrets; lead leading ladies aright, and see to it that all linen is first run on room release days. Some landlords place the names of their hotels on towels. Time was when this acted as a barrier to towels walking out. Nowadays it is merely done for advertising purposes, the actor, in his towel-kleptomania, hav- ing to take away an ad with his looty booty. It seems the only remedy for preventing towel defalcation is to chain 'em, which might interfere with watchful washing. Theatrical hotels are family hotels. People live in them as one hig family. Everybody takes interest in the affairs of everybody. Theatrical hotels are not littered with help. The chamber- maids are not so plentiful as in the non-professional places, which is a dis- tinct asset in that one may sleep long without being glared at when emerg- ing from one's room. There is also a corresponding decrease in bellboys. In the ordinary hotel you 'phone for a boy and he may come the same day. It's all very different at a theatrical hotel. If you desire a boy make an appointment for him. The most singular thing about a' theatrical hotel is its trunk room. The architect, in planning the building, provides a trunk room in measurement corresponding with the number of guests it is supposed to house. But most proprietors seem to evince a pen- chant for collecting trunks, and the trunk room grows to such proportions that gradually it takes up an entire floor. If you are unable bill for a week, the landlord your trunk. With four trunks, maybe four weeks. The landlords seem to have the theory some day there will be a premium on old trunks. O. M. Samuel. ip an entire to pay yiu'r srd will taxe NO COMPARISON. "I fought with Grant," the old man said, "Against the rebel South, I've charged against a hall of lead, I've faced the cannon's mouth, I was at Missionary Ridge And now. If life seems slow, I tumble off the Brooklyn Bridge Say once a month or so. "Things here at home are very tame And so, In foreign lands, I hunt and kill the biggest game WitJ> nothing but my hands, And when the sport of hunting wanes I win no small renown By hiring broken aeroplanes And flying upside down." "Ah yes." his listener replied, "You're quite a man, no doubt, But there are things you haven't tried And never will, old scout, You're not so much compared to me For though your life Is rough, I'm with a picture company That features 'Action Stuff!'" Berton Bralty. Anyone can start a stock company upon a shoestring but it's a hundred to one that without a fairly competent company and good plays failure will result. Starting a stock company and keeping it afloat are two different things. . There is a vast difference between a traveling stock and a permanent house stock. One can organize a traveling repertoire outfit and maintain it at a much lower cost than a permanent company. A traveling stock can operate with the playing quota requiring less sal- aries than the permanent company and can also use a line of plays at less roy- alty. There are traveling stocks that use Broadway pieces and pay Broad- way royalties but most of them in the production end use three or four pieces that do not command the royalty pay- ments others require. In permanent stock the bills change each week. In some towns there is a split week bill. This requires weekly rehearsals for a new play during the running of another piece. A stage director is engaged and in the perma- nent stocks he is generally of good experience and receives a substantial salary. With a traveling stock the stage director is not so important. His company starts and makes few changes. The bill for a week is se- lected, sometimes a change each night. The six shows are carefully rehearsed and then require no further study. With the permanent stock a scene painter and corps of assistants are hired for a season; There are also the carpenter and his assistants. These two stage departmental staffs work in unison in painting scenery and build- ing sets from week to week for the new productions. A traveling rep car- ries so much scenery for each piece in the repertoire, and neither paints nor builds up as it goes along. Some com- panies have their scenic equipment touched up en route but the scenic end is not as expensive for a season as compared with the permanent stock. Permanent stocks pay higher sal- aries and in the long run put out more money for pieces as they will play more plays in a season than a travel- ing outfit. A traveling stock though has railway ransportation to meet and in long jumps this is an item. Stocks have been started on the road with a $500 bankroll. A stock-man re- marked the other day he could carry a competent company and put on good shows for $1,000 a week. With the permanent stock managers a thousand a week wouldn't mean much especially in cities close to New York where the top royalty price is demand- ed for plays and the people expect to see a $2 company play at $2 piece at popular prices. If a permanent manager plans to stay a solid year, if weather conditions permit, naturally he goes in for a big- per outlay and with competition in- variably keener in the bigger city dis- tricts, he must pet stock people with reputations and stock plays with the Broadway label. Stocks come and go in the cities without the losses going into the col- umns entailed when a big production in the legitimate falls by the wayside. There have been any number of shoe- string stocks, permanent and other- wise, with a disastrous ending proving more embarrassing to the players than to anyone else, Almost anyone can lease a house and announce stock as the policy. This person then visits any of the New York theatrical employment agencies and sets up an office for the time be- ing. The agents look over their alpha- betical files and send out cards to so many leading men, women, soubrettes, ingenues, characters, second business players and so on. They in turn re- port, often summoned by the telephone or messenger. Post cards are the most popular form of notifying an actor or actress that he or she is wanted to call at a certain time. In a short while the people are un- der contract and in no time have re- ported for rehearsal. Few new bills are on the tapis for the opening weeks and in many cases the stock people engaged have played the bill at some previous stand. So it takes but a few days for a first class stock company to open in a first class play. There is the royalty to be considered and in most instances a'cash part pay- ment must accompany the order and the remainder be paid upon the arrival of the play via the old C O. D. way. Companies in some of the big cities in past seasons have given big legiti- mate stars as high as $350 a week for a several weeks' starring engagement to head their house stock. This "ex- tra" is added to the regular weekly draft for stage direction, scenery, play- ers, house expenses and royalties not to mention the billing and newspaper ad- vertising. In employing high salaried leads the wardrobe is furnished by the players except in* costume plays and these of course are supplied by the stock management. Some stocks have been formed sea- son after season by the same man- agers and a majority are still oper- ating. The profits are not as big as in other seasons but there has been enough remuneration to keep them everlastingly at it. HARRY ELLSWORTH AND COMPANY* Playing "THE SILK STOCKING" S'All Right, Fill 'em up again Greetings to All