Variety (April 1920)

'■/"'>-' y**-; »".*: _T: :—y-c^' ;i'':-:?.'i^{ ■'r\^5;//>'-T-y.iJ.: •■s^J>'-^^y^y^^^;^v;v.'^^>?<i^;--^/ -^c^i^-;:;:^:¥^^^^'=^.xi u ^ VAUDEVILLE 19 X)RPHEUM MnHOLOGY By JACK LAIT. j&\ l- r drphius, after whom the owaera of lite great circuit in the weat choaTe 4o name their theatres, was an, Oljfm- iic god who smote his lyre, which:;jras i Greek ukelele and produced music which is said to have bad the power ,to mov« inanimate objects. /Probably H press agent yarn.)' Orph never split M week between Calgaty ajnd Victoria, confining his stuff to the al fresfeo tardens of Mt. Olympus, which got a eavy tourist play from the tired busi- Jjess men of Athens. But »»«**"» headliner who went big and pulled .eUssy trade. He worked in an ex- terior fancy and did a surefire single, dressed :eccentric. Homer gave hinj a irtet i^otice without asking him tor an ad. Homer died poor. ■ When Meyerfeld and Beck chose to make Orpheos famous by gwng him The ioining, thus, of the two great legendary peoples—the Greek and the Redskins—gave to the unipn all the traditiondl poesy of Olympian romance together with that rugged western cus- tom, tnoney-nuking, mingling the two into an ideal combination of art and dividends^ The wide prairies of the great lands beyond the stifling cities of the east having always been prime grazing country, for live stock. Or- pheqm common and preferred soon be- came the livest stock thereabouts. The Orphic music "^ kept the inanimate shares moving;: and' soon tbe^ widow aqd the otphan, the rich old miser, the retired waiter, the struggling million- aire and the prodigal hod-carrier, all thumbed their worldly all in green and gold Orpheum certificates. Little, perhaps, did the whiskered tTe'iSrSee"orpromrneSce IS bili: oTpheum Taney; as h* jazzed it up on I"* ^°?? ?J^.?. 5.." %4„i. flu, Sim. it h s tvre. oluaurina a published number. I 5\' ■>•■ ,>■■■-. his tyre^ plugging a published number,. that he wouldf become the beat known "uame in vaudeville"; further,yet from his dreams was it that he would be- come a star in stock. I- ing Ihait Gus Sun gives GurSttn, it t^as thtt jigger about Orphs m«sic inoving^Mnanimate objects that caught them. That was just what they were 'itarting;out to do themselves.. Among the inanimate objects they have since ■ iutcessfttUy moved have been Sioux , City audiences, the two-a-day policy, Ibout $50,000,000, Sarah Bemhardt^a .farewell, mountahis, Mountford and opposition. The music they emptoyed was by Kr;iic Ball, entitled "I'll Build a Homein the West ahd Let "the Rest Of the .World Roll By." The world k«pt rolnng on and they kept on band- ing homes in the west. Now they Imld them faster than the world can yroll by, having each roll faded"ia •^advance. ■ . „ . One of their lutkiest rolls was by a • little gray home called the State-Lake. ' Hospitality increased with prosperity, and they grew so generous that in- stead or entertaining but two parties a day they invited four. Since then thousands of inanimate objecta, male >and female, have been standing at the , threshold of the State-Lake, waiting- to be moved, while thousands of others sat within, refusing to be moved until they had seen two shows for the price .'Of half a show. To relieve the over- rtlow io Chicago they immediately be- gan building another in Minneapohs, and now propose to have State-Laft^s in all their towns, using one home as k parlor for their choice friends and • another as a garage for the hoi poljoi. To finance this the Orpheum Circnit, ■Consolidated, was engineered, and bankers began attending Monday matinees and talking like Wolpinites. In territory contiguous to Orpheum buds lay a circuit called the Finn and Heiman lime. When-the owners of this looked at the beautiful Orpheum emblem and read with glihtenin^ eyes the beautiful word pregnant with so much significance of classic origin and moving inanimate objects, then looked back at Finn and Heiman as a name for a circuit, they grew very anxious - to capture so pretty a title for their possessions. And so they came forth with a handful of glass beads and a . half bushel of wampum, and the^ were made adopted sons of the tribe of Orpheum, and duly named Orpheum, Jr., after a pow-wovjr and a war dance. The.new tepees were assigned to a sturdy warrior named Heiman the Great, who at once smoked the calu- met of peace with the braves of the N. V. A. nation and invited them to frolic in the new Orpheum, Jr., tepees without being scalped. The toma- hawk was'buried under old leaves and bundles of preferred stock, and there was great rejoicing in the W. V. M.- A. vservatioh, where Chief Nash and , Chief Tink announced that the white brothers and His pals. Unlike most man's law would thereafter be re- little men, he Is never "fussy." He spected by good Indians and agents < dislikes extravagant language and loves and there would be no more massacres "cold turkey." He tries to be access ' of defenseless women, children and sible and detests flunkies, camouflage No. 2 acta. and "dog." ' MORT H. SINGER, I A wee chap, but a little giant. Ilis slender shoulders welcome tons , of toil and mountains of wornr^—he loves it Seek makes him play golf and do a lot of recreating, but Singer would rather work than chase « ball and meld a hundred aces. He started-as a boy of all work' in a cabaret re- sort in Minneapolis, where he filled bottles,, took tickets and :kicks, and ; in time, became trea^surer of a bur- ' lesque theatre, later . gravitating to Milwaukee, where he nfet Herman Fehr.. Fehr liked little Siiiger and gave him a wh.ack at a theatre in Chi- cago that' wasn't a success, offering him a bonus and a percentage to Ipqt it over. Singer took off his coat and ran the house into a big winhjer. Fehr and he strung along and'Singer built a couple of additional Chicago houses. In the maaipulation of one of these he met Bcck. who was' heafvtiy im- pressed. Beck made his matifiger of the western Vaudeville Managers' As- sociation. Singer knew little about y^iudeville bookihg - technique, but he was 'way ahead of it, and it was he who nursed the germ of an idea which eventuated in the State-Lake Theatre, the most prosperous enterprise in vjiudevillc hislorv,; of course,, in the,, carrying out uid development of the ' project he had the support of' the a'ghty Orpheum inner family. Singer s never claimed originating the S|ate-Lake idea, in fact, he denies that he ever influenced' it, but that is one 0^ his mannerisms. Singer has rarely been known to raise his voicie, always seems to give everyone everything he asks, and dresses and acts like an as- • sistant bookkeeper. But, when he means it and the matter is important enough, he can whisper "No" so that the echo can be heard for a week, and can issue ap order in a piano tone so that not tytn a vaudeville agent will violate it In Chicago, which is rightfully his 'home, where he grew t6 full development and is best known, he has the unstinted respect of big men in all callings, little. men In all capacities, and hundreds who have been the benefactors of his generosity I as a business man, a host' qr a friend. He has an acute vein of humor and is no dub as a story teller. He has a husky bo^ at college who gives him mdre 'thrills than all the rest of the world put together, and he is pas- sionately devoted to' his wife, his MARTIN BECE. An unusual type for a self-made mil- lionaire. Born poor and circumstanced iqto a humble occupation,^ Beck'battled through. He evinced a genius for_or- ganizatidn ■ and intensive aggressive- ness, though he is a man ot tremen- dously artistic inclinations and ncfver was a glutton for detaif. Economy has always been negligible to him where he had'faith .in a policy."', He views' life through a sense of humor and has not been a slave to his desk. He never talks shop outside his office and never spends more than 100 hours a > month in it His recreations are golf, pinochle, grand opera, domestic- ity, motoring, twelve-carfl rhum, long walks, unpopular books, week-ending and "riding" his friends to see how Strong they can take a. joke. He is a kindly man in many large respects, having enriched many ot his employes and associates by letting them in On . promising ventures, but the '"soft word" is not his forte, as he affects, a brusque method of speech and seldom praises anyone to his or her face., He never talks money except with his confidential coterie, loves to -brag about his golf stroke or his marvel- ous 400 bids or eVen of his pet shows, but never. pf his gross receipts or profits. He acts with incredible ra- .pidity, contracting for a theatre in ten minutes or. engaging^ a department head in five. He loves to read "fine writing," but never uses it, expressing himself on ^aper with titter simplicity. His vaudeville judgment is nev^r in- fluenced by how an act "goes," and his ideas about entertainment are oft^n formed from the wings; he rarely sees. acts from the front and almost never' sits through a show. He likes about • him in busings men of phlegmatic dia- position aind cannot tolerate peraoni who volunteer opinions or who try to get "chummy." Beck likes to "kid'*^ bis intimates, but it is not alwaya safe to '"kid" him back. He has an uncanny. memory for names and faces. He guides his affairs along lines based on a distinct psychology which he has developed throogl^ experience and ob- servation, and he says the most impoi^- .tant thing in life is to see his daugh- ters happy; the. next is to keep his health; the next is ,to eliminate avoid- able-work and worry; the next is to ^ake money. Though not of an es- sentially retiring disposition, he has successfully retired some of the best known persons in vaudeville. ' . ' IMPRESSIONS OF THE ORPHEUM. (Continued from page 7) . allel in the easf.. Cullen is received in Seattle likfc the newest favorite is- on Broadway; but Cullen will be received more enthusiaistically in Seattle long ifter that Broadway favprite of an hour has been forgottep in Brooklyn. Cullen is an easterner, but the'Or- pheum audiences are westerners. Their loyes are not necessarily, for; those born among them, but are for those who stick by them. The Orpheum, of course, has had the uni(^^e advantage of expanding with a territory which grew in mushroom manner. Towns jike Chicago, Kansas 'City, Los Angeles,' Seattle, have dcnbted. and in some cases tripled, in population since the Orpheum emblem; first adorned a door within their 'pre- cincts. The same could not apply in anywhere near equal percentage in the more firmly established and only mathematically growing centers of the older American cities. There are strategic psychological benefits from "growing up with the city" that are easily understood. Age is only com- parative. In Chicago, "Established 1873 is a boast of venerable endur-, ance on its foremost merchant institu- tion, whereas in Baltimore or Boston "Established 1783" would not be unique. It is difficult to bring home to those who have not dwelt in Orpheunil towns and who have 'not traveled In them, just what this chain of houses means to the territory it links. In . states where playhouses aie overflowe4 ■; %■ v/hen alluring attractions are adver-. •;■ tised and neglected when no tempt-,r-: ing bait is hung up. it may not be understandable that a trade-mark ..has been accepted as the headliner in some thirty big cities, and that the' Orpheum has surpassed the transitory ,. character of vacillating patronage, just a;-has the Saiita Fe. railroad or the Chicago Tribune or Marshall Field & : Company. Orpheum shows are patron- ised to a very lar^e degree )>y. the ■ ; same people week in and week oi^t, who are virtual subscribers, and, who --;. look at the advance ads about as often ^ and as lackadaisically as the business man who has full confidence in bis \ bank studies, its monthly financial re^..;: ports.. ' This is not to say that the Orpheum . hotises are independent of their ar- tists. Those .artists, more than any : oUier factor, have made this situation and condition. The.sjelection of those artists-has been the work of foresight, '.characteir and often inspiration. A few bad bills would jar this enviable es- tablished constancy, just as a few . shaky statements would slash deposits in the oldest and soundest bank. But the individual depositors who make possible the continuous good state- ments get but little glory in the eqd —it is the' bank' which has collected and managed to consistently hold'so many good ones that grows and be* comes a landmark and is regarded as , above suspicion. In the same way It «ould take a lot-of bad vaudeville'a lot of times to disturb the Orpheum name; for there are thousands who , would confess themselves incompetent judges before they lyould trust them> .' selves to assail so thoroughly founded > . and so firmly built an institution ak '^ that, western fetich—Orpheum. MARCUSHEIMAN. ^ i A retiring Ijttle chapi "Marky" is aii. far removed from the popular con- ception of a "showman" as Caruso la from a song-plugger, A smartly but. i 'quietly dressed, sotto voce party is ' Helmail, ready, to throw oh'a bewil- dered look at a moment's notice. Yet, when he called the bookers and agents of the Orpheum, Jr., and Western Vaudeville Managers' Association to- gether on assuming general charge of the Chicago territory, he laid down the . i law so that there could be no tfaisun- standing left. A cunning buyer and '-'deft merchandize^ with a shrewd -knowledge of amusement tastes in medium-sized cities of the mid-west territories, he has been a success in show business since he rose from the box- office house in Syracuse, the ■cradle of show business.. He has the . temperament which appeals to men of finance, and he easily found capital rreeptite. He interested Joseph Finn and then joined him as'a partner, since which the firm expanded and made a good deal of money. He is a conserv- ative and has consistently strung with those who were in rather than kiting with-those who were betting the long odds outsiders. If he has any out- spoken pastimes he never makes them conspicuous. He likes to patronise the health resorts and engage mildly at seaside or recuperative diversions, but Is no fiend for golf or riding, hunt- • ing or fishing, He is stubbornly loyal ' to his associates and cabinet officers, and he "cots them In for a piece" of his Investments. No' man has ever been heard to say that Marc Heiman double crossed him,, gave him a raw deal or broke his word with him. He buys closehr, which is his business; but he gives. iree-handedly, which is his pleasure. He is a bachelor, which is . his misfortune. '-■■iA •H POLI BACK TO BUILD. ^ N. t. Poll returned from the south this week and is expected to pass upon plans for several new theatres , in- tended for Bridgeport and Waterbury. There are to be two new houses in Bridgeport occupying the same site. ■..-I ••'¥ i •'V