Variety (January 1922)

I &2L VARIETY ' *■ Friday, January 27, 19,22 ' • I ill ARRIVED ON THE S. S. CEDRIC, FRIDAY, JAN. 20th THE OA VBOOKED SOLID IN AMERICA BY THE B. F. KEITH VAUDEVILLE EXCHANGE * v W©0k Jan* Ween «ian. Week Feb. Week Feb. jWeek Feb. ■ Week Feb. 23—Keith's Orphcum, Brooklyn 30—Keith's Riverside, New York 6—KEITH'S PALACE, NEW YORK 13—Keith's Bush wick, Brooklyn 20—E. F. Albee, Providence 27—B. F. Keith's, Boston * Week March 6— Keith's Alhambra, New Yon: Week March 13—Keith's, Philadelphia Week March 20—Keith's, Washington Week March 27—Davis', Pittsburgh i PIRST NIGHTS (Continued from pace -•> frtayers endure. Through them the -critic swells his paunch, his coffers and his self-esteem. Through them Jthe manager lives. While the manager promotes them* he deplores them. He'd like them to be different. Ee'd like new tdood. He quails when he views the gatherings. His wares need stimulation, even when normal. When subnormal, the first night audience Is as exhilarating as cyanide. Prom, time out of mind tho cntrc- peneur has striven to change the eubsiance of his Initial audience. Only once did ho succeed. William McConnell, a producing manager of a generation ago. Introduced Amelia Bingham In a new play at the old Princess theatre to an audience free of any of the blase element insep- arable from compositions used to the consumption of caviare at every meal. McConnell through indefatig- able enterprise got every one of his first night seats gold to people who had never attended a Broadway first night. In his premiere audience there wasn't a critic, a rounder, a ticket speculator, a bone.man, a playwright, a J> layer. The stunt proved the play a bowling success. Off to a running start, the later ad- verse criticisms of the critics and the regular first nighters couldn't stop the box office r .n. The lobby of the theatre of an opening is the city's town square for the informed. There before the curtain rises all that is known of the play about to be tried is cir- culated and discussed. Any gossip of the producer, author or players is given free current. After the second act it's the lobby again for the paid reviewers and the variously inter- ested other factors. Here, again, the play's history is piecemealed, its author ventilated, its players considered and prospects appraised for success or failure. Rounders, speculators, players, playwrights, critics, nondescripts of all sorts Join in the Informal conclaves and share in the judgments of the self-elected juries. When the curtain rises upon the new play's second act critics in groups know by their lobby ex- changes romething of what their fellows of the guild feel aifd think of the submitted material. When it rl'.s upon th > third act the Judg- ment Is already^ seeking form and character of express" a as it is to go down on paper after tho curtain on this act falls. If the author hasn't Vised his critic during his first and second acts of a three-act piece he's c I WANT PERFORMERS to know fast my photos nr«» clear, {.Darkling a::d full of i»ep IV pro- ductions from any photo with t-vory detail preserved nnd every defect, of original corrected. Tlesults guaranteed. Double we'jrht paper. Standard lobby bir.e, 8x10, $3 for 25; f10 per 100. Photo poslnls, ut» to four photos on *ne card. SI.75 for .'.(>; $12.50 for 500. flarnple, any «ir.e. $1. trcllted on first Order. Lettering photos Cc. per word. Submit your own Idea of slid**, |arff« rAinttnirs and mounted photon for prices. Prompt eervlce. V. BARBEAU REPRO. CO., OHWKtiO, N. V. FACE SURCION Face Lifting F*os Correct*ant Crowtfret ^ Eyelid* Yeutnified DR. PRATT (40 West 34th St.) (I'hune 25 Perm) a miracle worker if he ever gets the critic's interest in the play later. Conscientious Critics Some of the city's list of critics are conscientious. Scrupulously, a few of them attack their responsi- bilities with a knowledge of the theatre and its functions. Truth is the aim of these. They temper their adverse opinions often with mercy and sympathy. These are the hope- ful elements that the theatre cannot afford to lose. More of the review- ing scribes are mere verbalist i<* mountebank*. A survey of the origins of the city's reviewers of the town's plays and deductions is odious. Hu- man elements enter largely into much of the character of the re- views. The critics of morning pu - pers must have their matter on ti way to the composing room by mid- night or shortly thereafter. T average play of account ends a eleven. A thousand words nn hour is speedy inditing, self written or dictated. The critical faculty isn't happy when rushed. A start with A weak phrase or a cul de sac of ex- pression or opinion when writing the rriticism and the critic for whom presses are waiting is uneasy. lie is his own editor. He cannot, mani- festly, fail to meet the time limit set fof his copy. Whatever he Is to do he must do expeditiously. More- over, he isn't paid merely for opin- ions, it's a manner In his report that counts for his esteem and hi» hold on his berth. If he be of the designedly facetious school and have not anticipated the comic possi- bilities Of the play under considera- tion he is In a bad way. The clock j calls, the muse halts, and yet some- iiing must go down on paper, and hat swiftly. Cut the critic, design- dly facetious and the critic con- ( ientious and equipped, solve their roblem by resort. Expert's Job At the close of the new play's pe- nultimate act the critic's judgment is grounded. He knows he will not I alone in his opinion for good or ' ill, for his lobby exchanges have pro- j tided that. So, with two hours in- i stead of one, from 10 to 12, instead I of from 11 to 12, he can do better I with the Job in hand. And so it is, ! ihe thing's,done, usually. And sur- I prising as the thing may be to lay- ' men, the result isn't so often wrong as one might think it would be. The comic critic in his interval has had time to fuse his expressions to mean i* not arouse ridicule, and the seri- ous contemplator time to analyze, construct, inform and at the same time entertain. It's an expert workman's job, and only expert workmen can get away with it. The critic for afternoon sheets i i untroubled by openings. If he Is J one who aims at expressing his own convictions and these only he has until next morning to shape his thoughts. If he have any doubt of tho authority for his judgment he may seek counsel from the opinions of tho critics of the morning pa- pers. In contrast with the stress of the reviewers for the morning pa- per the evening man's task is child's play. Producing managers have long considered plans for the abolition of critics. The lack of echelon among the guild is the managers' most fre- quent complaint. Within the month the critic of the morning edition of one of the town's most Important dailies was flatly opposed at almost every angle of a new play reviewed by the critic of the evening issue of the same newspaper. A proposal was considered by"pro- ducing managers recently to com- bine in a request for the scrapping of what tho managers tcrnv-d the fossils of the calling. The managers claim that life's complexions Changs I with generations, and the old-time critics now still at the work of play [reviewing are Voicing T, °t what is true of today, but what may hav6 been true of yesterday. To which the antiques retorted that truth is ever the same. WHAT THINKS OF NOVELTY ACTS V«n Cellos Take Floto Back to 8awdust Ring Th* lure of the circus! llust be In the blood for I can't shake (t off. Went to the Orpheum the other night and saw the Van Cellos In their act, performing marvelous stunts. EASILY THE CRKATKST ACT OF ITS KIND IN T1IK ftVOKlJ). As we eat back and recalled the many years of practice it requires to perfect this act, and then iiaten to some monologlst spiel his rot, his pattern and Jokes taken from the comic papers, we wonder why folk don't enthuse over an act like th* Van Cello* more^than they do? The lady In the act is not only marvetously gowned, but her pretty flsrure goes a 'long way in putting it over. "Whenever I see one of these nets I feel I've had my money 1 * worth, for the Ivre o! the cirrus Is In me. KEITH AND ORPHEUM CIRCUITS A'tl. AUf. AM*. Aug- Kept, S»-i>t. I—BlrtraUe, N. Y 1»— Hlj«l>«M Ironic, ('levr'and » OnwiettBa. Sioux t'ity M -Orpheun, St. Paul 4—Or|>heum. Mlnneupoli* 11—Orpheum. ]tulutli K«i»f. l'» —Orpliouiu. Winnipeg Sei»t. M OfPfmil. fc»lmont«»n snJ Citfars <»ct. .1—orplieum. Vancourer, l>. C Oct. J»—Mo.re. Seattle oot. lrt—ittslig. Portland, Ore Oct. 2.:—Orplietini. San r'ranclseo Oct. .>(» - Orpnium. Oakland Ne*. «—Orpheum, S»oramciito in I I'rtsfto Nov. it— Orpheura. lis* AiiK»1e« Not. 2:<—orplieum. S.ilt Lake <Vr Nor. 2!>—Orphetnii, Denser 1>*«. 7— Orphcum. U»< -'hi I>ec. 11—Omheum. Oraatf* l>ec. IS—Orpheum, Kassaa CM? I>e<\ |.V— Mnii-tic, Ce<!ir n»pi- « Jan. J- Orpbsum, Jirs M.-lne-' Jan I—Heiin?piu. Mk tia Jan. 16-Pa'aoc. Chirac* .1 hi. j : - fcmi>i--.«. Urand Rapi-u .Ian. ."0 -KetthN. Tallin !>)•. C—-Keith"". Uejrtnta Feu, U—Keith's. I'otmuiMis Ieh. JM— Hart*. Pittsburgh IVl>. 27—lllpptulrome. Yeuiigst<>w*< M.inh fl—Temple. Oetrolt March 13—Temple. Ki»'he-l«T alarch 2-)—Colonial. Krie March -T—Keith"--. Syracuse April 3—Lyric. lUmiti . Out AprU li)-->*hsa"a. Tocnto Api II 17— Princess. le»n»r.-al April 24—Keith's. I,owrU >1mt 1—Keith's. Itoston Vsv I—Kelih's, Port I w I M;iy l.V—Bushsrlcfc. Beeoklre M>v M—Jf»rplk»um. Bmokt.M >l v 5'i Royal. Ne«v V. r . .tune 5 K.-i'Ii'. tt'i hi:,.- r Jaus 12 Keith's, PhltaUe' i Direction HUGHES & MAN WARING -— mi Revised plans for the buildins of the Tremont theatre in the Hronx by B. S. Moss have been filed and work will bo started immediately. The structure is a year behind pn schedule, due to high construction costs. The SSSting capacity will be 2,500 and the bouse will cost around $1,000,000. It will open under a straight picture policy. Trof. Thomas "Vy". Smith, nn in- structor in a Uurlington, Vt., high school, was dismissed by the Board of Education for having "jazzed up" a minstrel performance given In the guild house of St. Mary's Protes- tant Episcopal Church. The "prof,"' who was acting as nn end man, w.is charged with tolling stories th.tt wore "out of of thnt sort." place at a gathering Maxim's restaurant, which was forced into bankruptcy last June, has Mod a schedule that sets the liahHltios at $*-'0,h£>< and the assets it 56,791. P6r a genera] idea as to hosvinnh tlio recent financial depression h.u* affected large commercial concerns a report shows that Sears-Itoebuclc lost $16,4*5,461 during 19^1. From a gross sales total of $254,505.0f.'» ia 1920 the amount of business done bf the concern last year dropped to J17S.014.981. Tho reason given tlie decline in prices. is — mmiE s IN VAUDEVILLE EI) H. BART McHUGH BLANCHE and NEXT WEEK (JAN. 30)—B. V. KEITHS ROYAL, NEW YORK—AND THE NEXT WEEK—