Variety (March 1923)

1« LEGITIMATE I'hursday, March 8, 1923 CHICAGO IN DEPLORABLE STATE; AVERAGE OF 15 SHOWS, $9,335 No Relief Looked For Before Easter—Chicago Is "Sick" of Similar Plays and Speculating Tactics— N. Y. Producers Waiting for Change in Conditions I'hk'ugo, March 7. Take the depressions of tho whole year at tho loop's legit box offices, roll them into one, and nothing like the gigantic slump of last week sizes up. This in some measure relates Jiow far business was off. For weeks past this report has been giving the New York managers who are financially interested here A mout accurate slant on loop trade. All season the receipts have been erratic, creating unheard-of situa- tions, most probably difllcult to fathom at a distance. The recent tip-off had it that it would be more than a mans job to pull the majority of the shows out of the prevailing *lump. Some thought this was over- exaggerating the Chicago situation. Others emphatically agreed with the tIp-olT. What transpired last week and what's continuing give certain pcoof of how the loop's legit theatres are passing through an important crisUi. Perhaps the simplest way to re- port la.^t week's occurrences will bo lo offer two outstanding facts: First, the 16 theatres averaged a gross of only $10,825 on total business of 1173,000; second, leaving off 'Sally's" rross of |33,000 (a drop of $6,000 over the previous week, an»l ob- Tained at a stiff scale, top $4.40>, the a\eraKe gross on the week for 15 theatres was ohe»'ked off as low as $9,335. Almiglity small bu.siness at any time, considering the apparently expected drawing power of the .««hows in town, also bearing in mind they are the total figures for tho second larg»'.st city in the country. A warning was issued to the man- agers for Just what overtook them last week. Several New York pro- ducers are waiting for a turn of conditions, when, they will ruH>h their shows here, and the present indica- tions are tliat Piaster will observe a flock of new plays ready to grasp tho improvement. No material in- crease in theatregoing is now ex- l)ected by the wi.«tst of loop man- agers until Kaster. Claim for tho proi>hecy that right- ly told in advance of what happened last week was drawn from tlie fact ti)at the average Cliicago playgoer i« siek—sick of the ticket scalping m'ame. sick of tho lack of sincerity of Home of the managers in gaining jiut'licity by saying i)ri(M's are com- ing down and sick of waiting to Iwive the produceis realize that the tastes of l(»cal playgoers have com- pletely changed. Then there has been an over- feeding of the same kind of plays. The pre.'^ent mystery play hysteria is fnding almost as fast as it seized the town, not through a demand, but by a false estimate the booking of- fices had of tho local tn.<;tcs. Two of the mystery plays make a hurried exit Saturday. Ono is limping toward an early exit, drawing for its final breath a belated campaign for $2 prices. The town could have successfully made fame for two of the mystery plav'^, but not with five, an were hurled h*>reahouts in a short space of intervening time. It begins to look as if "Cat and Canary," first mystery play here, will .stick all the others out. This would be another reeord for the "Cat" show. It cannot be slated that the Chi- cago public is making a united drive to Keep away from the theatre. It's merely a ca.se of the business slipping away from the loop houses. Enterprising north and south side dance hall manager.*? are digging deeper into the loop trade than som«.' of tho loop managers, who haven't even visited the sights in these <lance halls, u ill admit. Such inter- feron(.'es as Lent, tho iticoine tax period and an overdo.se of the same • aliber of plays <my.stery-small town plays) comprises ingretlient.s that are found in the indiffcron'^e of the playgoers. It's a wallop of a variaiioii of reasons why it's lone- some arotmd the looi) boxolVices these nights, but none of tlie rea- sons stand out so forciljly us Hk- ticket scff+pHnp drawback. The local ticket scalping situation in tlie most deadly operation any theatrical community faces in this I ountry. Its j.rimarily a .situation of the supervising speculators hav- ing poin<> of the tin utro managers huffaloed. Tho gen<'ra1 public suf- fers, but i>»e general pul»lic in suH'er- ing >8 antagonistic to the box olflces as» a whole—those meat res which aro sincere in liieir. llKht against the .vpeculators not obtaining full re- ward in the general comnvjit and ;>pprobation. It's a long story, that <.f the inside illustrations of how the local scalping game is destroying box office patronage, but more will be told before long and told \cry yr;»nkly. As the diJ:advaMt:)t< ' of the tloket scalping situation now prevails here the whole matter could be adjusted If the Shuberts Joined hands with the other theatres in town in a very apparent Inside fight being con- ducted. But it's the lack of unity among the theatres that allow the high-handed methods of the super- vising speculators to have full sway and cause the damage to the box office business that the playgoers are compiling because of bitter de- nunciation of the sy.stem. It's not the idea of the theatres fighting the ticket scalpers that the latter should be driven out of their hotel otfices, But it is the idea of these same theatres that the system undergo an adjustment, having the whole plan executed such as gov- erns the system at the Cort theatre. In many ways the hotel speculators could better show their strength as a co-operative system to benefit the theatres if it wasn't for ideas in at- tempting to make "a trust" of the local frame. Desire to be "'hog- gish'' is going to ruin more than one Chicago speculator when the linal show-dowti comes. There are club members in Chicago who want the scnce appeared in "n« of the after- noon papers. The disappointment exhibited by tho nightly audiences when it was announced from the .'itage that Errol was not to appear was sufficient for the management to know that any broadcast an- nouncement would cripple the en- gagement until it was assured the comedian was back. It was a trying week for IlpUo Timponi to deter- mine between sincere playgoers re- questing refunds because of the Errol Incident and those who were attempting to slip back the over- stock of the "gyp" speculators. In most cases the theatre management waited until the announcement was made from the stage before refund- ing mojiey to those seeking it. If Errors illness had become generally known, "Sally's" business would have sunk something unbelievable, for this is undeniably Errol's strong- est town, his admirers, hew and old, counting high. Even with p:rrol back, "Sally" is going to have a hard time returning capacity business. The edge is off the big drive for "Sally" with the independent "specs" leaving it alone to a big degree. Regardless of the terrific lilt the Zlegfeld show has been and will be, the price of $4.40 is going to prove a stumbling block for capacity business after 12 weeks. Sam Harris has an apparent hit in "Peter Weston." It's the talk of the town, this melodrama featuring Frank Keenan. Against the low tide of business "Weston" climbed at all benefits of the hotel speculative i performances, and ended the week stan<ls because of the service ren- dered. But why the general public should be deprived of the same serv- ico by calling at the box ofilccs and learning all the .seats are at the hotels is the bitter pill for the pub- lic to swallow. It's a case of tho hotel stands overstocking them- selves on the strength of their claim that what tickets they take can bo filled with club orders and the transient trade at the hotels. This with enough word-of-mouth adver- tising, enthu.sia.stii and advance sale to predict an unusual hit for a new play for Chicago. "The Bear Car" got away lo a smashing premiere at the Cort, but the fate of the show is in the bal- ance. One of the critics slashed the piece to bits, but this was followed with good box oftlce reviews from the other critics who "caught" tho show later In the week. Business SHOWS IN N. Y. AND COMMENT' ^Figures •stimated and comment point to soma attractiona btino suecaasful, whila tha a«ma groaa accredited to othera might suggeet mediocrity or ioee. Tha variance is explained in the difference In house capacities, with tha varying overhead. Aiao the size of caet, with consequent difference in necessary gross for profit. Variance in busineea necessary for musical attraction aa against dramatic play ia also considered. Is an over-exaggerated claim. It is { started to creep \\\k with the week proved every night at tho theatres where the hotels get a bigger stock of theatres than the demand war- rants. Dump-backs result; empty seats are noticed down front, and the playgoer who is sitting In tho 15th row, viewing tho empty seata caused by the theatre nofhelng ablo to sell the tickets after the dump- back, has tho kick coming, partic- ularly when it is proved the i)lay- goer called at least a week in ad- vance of the date. It was a simple kick that the jdaygoer here was making up to the start of thi.s sea- end turning a prolit for both house and company. It will bo an uphill fight for the 'Car." 'The Blimi)" came close to claim- ing the low figure of the year if it really didn't land it. It is reported one of the performances (Monday) went below $100, and several other performances not much over the century mark. The critics were kind to "Blimp,"' but no response came, not even from the hounds of com- plimentaries. Tile slump took "Partners Again" in it's hurricane whirl. The week's son, but the kick has developed into \ figure fell below the .stop clause, a whale of a roar, and ticket scalp- Claim that April 1 would see end of Ing is the main cog in tho opposition this run is now bearing fruit, for it machine with which the general I is umlerstood the Selwyns are an- public is bearing down on tho the- i gling for an Ea.ster attraction, atre.s. Ii'.s easy to predict who li? Eddie Cantors $965 Monday night oing to win. The victory would be | house, on top of a slim Sunday night J^omg Torthcoming immediately if the Shu bert houses joined hands witli the syndicate houses here and battled the situation with a viewpoint of helping the public. The whole ticket scalping game in Chicago needs fumigation tablets. When the public's confidence is re- stored, perhaps one of the main reasons for the erraticness of night- ly business in the loop theatres will bo made plain. It's decidedly wrong for the New Vcrk producers to size up the Chi- rigao ticket .^pccukiting system like Owy would Broadway. There is no city in this country, or In the world, for that matter, wliere the ''specs" have "gotten a\^ay with murder" as they have here. The inside expose has at least started a movement towrtriL the theatre manager.*! view- ing the various angles more scri- i ously this year than ever before. A complete readjustment of the ganjo can be made if the Shuberts join hands with the whole alliance in town. J. J. can tell I^ee what he foimd for himself while here visiting Al Jolson. If Lee will listen to Ed«lie Cantor more facts will be at the disposal of the Shuberts. The whole town Is shouting for a readjustment of tii'kct scalping and the Shuberts can hurry it if they have the welfare of the Chicago public at heart. Naturally when tho town was Htruik with the fullness of the slump last week, multitudinous became the ini idents therein. It was known the mystery plays were out of breath b< fore the week started, but restor- atives, supplied by the greatest cut- i-nte ticket campaigning ever ob- served in wholesale houses, etc., kept the majejrity of these shows <Mose to an even split, thanks to small 1 iiMuing expensc.<». Tho losses, in gen* r.il, however, were plenty. •S.-iiiy' r^iarled to shake from its -firtn" f »*» m^ »i on of of i ) » ac .i t y liiuiinesii .Monday night, .slij-'ping a gooel $l,00u in tho receipts of 'he night eAcr the or<:vious week. I.e<»n Errol'.s ab- .sonco from the east threw a big scare into the Colonial. Errol was rushed to the hospital Tuesday morning but big loss was'saved in business by the fact being l<e])t out of the daiiie.«'. Toward the eiid of the w«'« k a Htie about lOrrol's ab- audience for the Apollo to boast of, furni.shed the first inkling that Can- tor would bo included in the week's wallops. A.s stated, the mystery plays had rough voyage all week. "Zcno" and 'The Monster'' both give up the fight Suturtlay. "Cat and Canary" being transferred from the Princess lo fill the "Mon.stcr" gap at the La Salle. Sam Shipman's play, "The Crooked Square,' get.s <a hearing at the Princess Sunday. No attraction is as yet announced to follow "Zeno" at the Great Northern. "The Last Warning" holds out for recuperation on the strength of a $2 top cam- paign. There is fear the campaign was started too l.ite. The whole calendar must be switched before better results are compiled. Tho shows in now will get the "jumj)" on the Piaster attrac- tions, but where all the shows aj"e coming from insiders are wondering. Chicago Is undf)ubtedly a worri.^ome spot right now for the New York booking nfilces. —^ Last week's estimates: "Peter Weston" (Harris. 1st week). Every earmark of solid hit. Advance sale indicates it will do better this week than premiere gross of $12,000. "The Rear Car" (Cort, Ist week). Has chance. Daring advertisements causing unusual comment. Made money on $S,000. "The Blimp" (Olympic, 1st week). Sad business. Doubtful if $3,000 reached. Thurston due March 25. "The Awful Truth" (Powers. 2d week). Firmly established. Chance of engagement extended. Figured around $14,000. "For All of Us" tStndebaker, IGth week in Chicago). (Jetting i)e(>plc who haven't b'en In theatre tor years. Clipped off $1.1,000. "Zeno" (dreat .Northern, 8th week). Closes S.)turilay. Went to pieces with li.ni. }■;-( ini.i t'd link' under $7,000. .\m lu-'v altraclion yet for house. "The Monster" (La i^allo, Hd week). Qu.ts S.iturdny, barely hit- ting $7,000. "Cat and Canary" moves to this house to fill gap. "The Last Warning" <Blackstone. 4lh we.k). Went little over $7,0(»0, now hoping to stay longer than two we»'k:x rn«'i"e on s: length of $2 lop "Abie's Irish Rose," Republic. (42d week). Riding pretty for comple- tion of full year on Broadway and ought to beat that mark. Stood up much better than the badly af- fected list, and drew $14,000. In 11th week in stock at Baltimore. "Anything Might Happen,** Comedy (3d week). This new one may get into going, but has shown little to date. Business last week not as good as opening week, with pace under $6,000. "Better Times," Hippodrome (27th week). Will shut down some time next month, but sure to keep go- Ing until after Easter holidays early in April, as house gets big draw then. "Caroline," Ambassador (6th week). Ought to finish out season here; though takings not as strong as some other operettas formerly In this house, it is framed as money maker. Around $10,500 last week, slump hurting business about $2,500. "Chauve Souris," Century Roof (57th week). Another six or seven weeks to go. Business has been off recently. With new bill week- ly until close of run should easily pull it back to real money. New show stunt started this week. Ad- mission still $5 top. "Dagmar," Selwyn (7th week). An- other week for Nazimova drama, which will hit tho subway time then. Show has been money maker until last week, when tak- ings dipped under $8,000; played on house contract given Teleview, patent picture process, which showed around holidays. ""The tJullty One" March 19. "Follies," New Amsterdam (40th week). Ziegfeld'.s champ "Follies." Question whether it will go to road in spring, but Is likely to hit few major stands and tour all next season. Business is still big and tops musical field; $33,700 last week, affected about $3,000. "Give and Take," 49th St. (8th week). Spurt taken by this com- 1 edy, but last week's slump hurt; I takings $8,500; that is profitable, however. Special promotion to keep interest alive. "God of Vengeance," Apollo (3d week). No question this foreign adaptation can make money for short time because of its daring plot and langtinge, but it may be interfered with by authorities. Slipped down under $10,000 for second week here. "Greenwich Village Folfies," Shubert (20th week). Final week. Has bigger grosses than any revue of this series with average well over $25,000. "Peer Cynt" succeeds next week, moving up from Gar- rick. "Follies" hurt badly like other musicals last week. "Hail and Farewell," Morosco (3d week). Takings are not impres- sive. Last week gross between $22,000. "Humoresque," Vanderbilt (2d week). Laurette Taylor won great notices, but < hanccs of show catching on are in doubt, as Indl- prlce campaign. Future doubtful and company (No. 2) may be called In. "Cat and Canary" (Princess. 26th week). Moves to La Salle Sunday on strength of returns from cut- rate.s. Checked little under $9,000. "The Twist" (Playhouse, 6th week in Chicago). Moves out In two weeks. Owen Davis* "Up the Lad- der" due to follow. Around $7,000 for "Twist." "Make It Snappy" (Apollo, 8th week). P'lnal time Saturday, draw- ing $19,000 past week. 'Blossom Time" to follow. "Partners Again" (Selwyn, 10th week). Got jammed hard In slump, falling to $11,000. IMayed to full clientele here, promising departure April 1. "So This Is London I" (Cohan's Grand, loth week). Closes Satur- day, with "Two Fellows and a Girl" succeeding. "London" checked be- low $8,000. "The First Year" (Woods, 17th week). Failing to draw usual fare- well week's business. I^ittlo over $S,000. House dark next week, with "Light Wines and Beer" opening March 18. "Springtime of Youth" (Illinois, 2d week). Dei)arts Saturday for ar- rival of "Whites Scandals." "Youth" doubtfully reacheil $10,000. "Sally" (Colonial. 8th wek). Started to .<?kld Monday night. Leon Errol's absento hurt greatly; much more if same hadn't been hushed up for general public consumption. Be- ing further hurt by "specs" report- ing house sold out in their not get- ting "Sally" tickets and trusting to switch "Sally" patrons to .shows for • which they ha\c tlekets. Business 1 figured around $n3,000. * cated by weak pace ivfter pre* miere. "Icebound," Sam Karris (4th week). Picked up again after Wednesday and closed strongly. Belongs with best dramas of the season and on form ought to build up. Slump setback with gross about $9,000. "It is the Law," Bayes (15th week). " Final week for mystery play, ^ which will try the road. "Li«i," ^ colored show, will succeed, moving ^ down from Daly's 63d Street*., where it has been getting between » $6,000 and $7,000. "Kiki," Belasco (67th week). Broad- way's run leader. Approximately ' two months more to go, indica- tions being show will end season ■ in May. Holding its own among the non-musical leaders. Quoted at $14,000 last week. "Lady in Ermine," Century (23d week). Two for ono and other ' ctit rates keeping this one at pay- ing pace. Ought to last until Easter and may stick longer. $15,000. "Lady Butterfly," Globe (7ih week). Like others, started off very bad- ly last week, this one particularly so. (Jross on week hardly over $10,000. Reported moving to As- tor when "Jack and Jill" (first called "Tho Cherry Chalr.s") ar- rives March 19, but that is not defiplte. "Last Warning," Klaw r.'Oth week). Best of mystery plays this season. Business of late off, but show still making money. Quoted at $9,000. "Laughing Lady," Longacrc (4th week). Ethel Barry more piece looks set for balance of season. I..owcr floor trado jiartlcularly good; also matinees. Last week takings about $12,000. "Little Nellie Kelly," Li'oerly (17th week). Cohan's speediest musical .show; keeping paco without trou- ble and due to outlast all the cur- rent musicals. Last week ovtt $7,000 and $8,000. "Liia," Daly's 63d St. (15ih week)<: Colored piece was listed to go on tour. Change made when Bayes (roof house) was oftend and It moves there next week. "Go Qo" succeeds here. "Loyalties," Gaiety (24th week). Af- fected by slump as true of nearly all of Broadway. Business of English drama measured bit un- der $11,000 last week, which waa drop of about $3,000. "Mary the Third," 39th St. (5th week). Somewhat of disappoint- ment. Figured havinu: strong chance, but flirs^ montli showed only moderate takings. La.st week $7,000 or less. "Merchant of Venice," Lyceum (12th week). Final week for Belasco's production and WarJield's Shy- lock. Piece will not go out until next season. Made good on Broadway, averaging 517,000 to $18,000 weekly, and playing $4 top. "The Comedian" succe« ds March 13. "Merton of the Movies," Cort (17th week). Tyler's comedy winner this season. One of most likely candidates for summer continu- • anco and pulls one of smartest draws. Gross last wtek around $16,000. Moscow Art Theatre, Jolson's (8th week). Three weeks more to go; extension from eight to 12 weeks did not surprise wiseacres, but management states no further ap- pearances will be given. Business last week quoted at $40,000. "Mr. Malatesta," Princess (2d week). Did not get much of break from critics and business no better than indications. Guaranteeing $1,500 with the gross quoted at little over that. . "Music Box Revue," Musi.-itox (20th week). Was off last \\<*ck. though finished smartly as usual. Gross around $25,500, which was lowest to date. Another four week.s' buys starts next week which will give show six months at $"» top; record among musicals. "Peer Gynt," Ganiek ("ith week). Will move to Si»iubert next week. Been playing at $3.r,0 top liero for approximately $10,000 weekly gross. House dark one week when the Guild offers "The .\dding Ma- ( hine." , . "Polly Preferred," Little (Sth week). Back on eight peiforni.«n<>e basis; pl.iyed extra Frida> matinee for about six weeks. Business last week better than expected in bad going, with gro.«'2 $ll.<'.00. About $r)00 under capacity. , "Rain," Maxine Elliott <18th week). \\\»H outstanding txt-.^pllop las^ week and still st.wuls oiit as strongest drawing dr.una of sea- son; getting over capjolty at every )»erformance, with la'-t week over $l.').L'00 as true oi' .ill normal "Romeo'and Juliet," He-ny Miller (Tih week). Aflect* I »'arly las' Continued on l'a>;e 17