Variety (March 1923)

ii'-T7'^f77r^.? ^ "*7^ -;. , r-f i*,i»«7»'n-V' Thursday, March 89, 1928 LEGITIMATE STOCKS r, ■! ALCAZAR PLAYERS San Francisco. March 28. irolbrook Bllnn completes an *leht-week enKugenvent at the Al- cazivr this week In "The lioss." now in its third and final week. The first five weeks wer^ devoted to i.irhe Bad Man." which hunff up a record for mIocIc runo In th:r, city. The admi.H.«iion scale was raised to II 50 for the Blinn engagement. It will be maintained while the special star system continues. The Alcazar has made rapKl stride.-4 since coming under Thomas Wilkes" management last August. The selection of gootl plays ami the high class manner of presentation have built up a healthy buainesB. Blinn's success added consider- ably to the clientele. The impre.'^- sion made by Bllnn in "The Bad Man'" was further dlstinjjnlshed in '•The Bosis," the cunent attraction, In which the regular Alcazar Play- ers gave him admirable support. Nana I^ryant. playing the piincipal feminine role, gathered a good share bv htr excellent performance. Brady Kllr.e an •"Porky" AfcCoy was another who stood out and was seen to better advantage In this show than hef.n-e. Leigh Willard gave a good account of himnplf as James Cri.swold, and Kmmett Vo- gan was all that could »)e asked- for as his son. Norman Fouvier a.s the archbishop, a role somewhat different from what ho has been pla>ing, was very catisfav'-ory. Oeorne Sterling. Vlnriairi Flores. Ralph Kline, Netta Southeiiand. F. X. O'Leary. Jerome Sheldon, Karl Brooks aiul Ch irle^ S*»Hon had minor role-s which were h:nidled ac- ceptably. Hug'a Knox, who^ i.s tli« sfi*?^ di- rector, was al.-o in the c«:it. appoir- Ing briefly a.s the lientennnt of poUcp. Business has beerj ex eptionally gdod daring the entire Bl'nii en- gagen^ent. Josrjths. 5TH AVE. STOCK ('A WIFE FOR A DAY") K'liene .\rnau<l lJnj.»(i:ct MarUui-i i.- F*'>»f»fy M'>«)re 'Vrit Sp'or-r Kirk Field iivvg.- V. Di'l Alphonaf Poroy Kilbrl-J.- Kaiichftttf J.'Tniln? H'Tm-tI fli\rcft*» D>r<»triy I-:i<.'>f Mailanif (ianion tMna .M:»y S|»r>>>iicr Captjiin Marx Samue! <;<Ktfr'y Gttfiiianii? J. H. Mc>ntg<n;jery Considerable strategy was dis- played in the selection of a Holy Week bill for this Brooklyn stock under the management of Charles I^ and Harry Clay Blaney. The choice was 'A Wife for a Day" with au- thorship credited to Cecil Spooner, the leading woman of the company. That stock players are occasion- ally authors appears to hit a re- .spon.«ive chord with their audiences in many instances. It did at the Fifth Avenue if the Tuesday night attendance, capacity, was a crite- rion. Miss Spooner has consi(leraV>le work on her hand.>* pliying the lead- ing role in a different play each week without golna: into playwrit- ing with any degree of seriousnes.s. From general appearances the cur- rent attraction did not cause her over-exertion. It is safe to surmize aid was secured for several of the melodr.imatic punches from Harry Clay Blaney, who has a reputation of several years" standing in this line of work and incidentally is a brother»in-law of the authoress. "A Wife for a Day" is melo- drama of the o!d .school with its twist, the action taking place during the last war. Pari.s wa.s selected as the backerround. It is developed i" an artists studio an«l the home of a secret service agent. As the story works out a certain mysierj' surrounds each of the characters, the majority i)laced in the class of German spies. The oth- ers are .secret service agents. Both sides are desirous ol .«e»juring mys- terious i>apers broughr into play every few minutes during the three act.s. A love ani;le is introduced w'hich brings the jjleiH^ to an end when t!)e girl Informs the man .sli.> is already his wife, having been married to hini sometime befor*'. but had never seen hini since the ceremony. the marriage havin.r taken pl.ice in order that both might derive the benetit.s from the estate of a rleh rel.itive who tlemanded it in liis will. Th.- tut the ehap faib-d to reeotrnize his wife later was duf to the fitct .^h»' wore a veil to cover her f.toe during the ceremony. It is a flimsy t il«*. if it were nt»t for a lot of shootir;4? and ;i couple of «ood knoeUabonl Voinetlv i>its ih • laece would flounder ba«lly. The numlMTs of the r.th Avenu"-- comp.tny had little dllTlcultv witli ♦ heir roles. There w.is a slight ten- d^ney hy some earlv in the week to lalter In I heir line.n' wliicli could be ov#»rlooked m tlie lirsi performances. Mi.ss Si)4)(Mu>r wnikeil diligently. >be is ti'.e outstaii.liinr ligurc of ill'.' company .-nd has held up through- out the M«;ivMp_ ),..ini; lar-^ely r.»Mi)un- Mjlilf f^!r the MiicceHs of tlie «>j-gan;- •/.ita»n. which is consitlered one of the hi-^ lin.iuci.il wiuuMs in stork. <;eor«.- V. Dill has been with the « ' •'! patv\ >i'ver;il w ek.s as leading ni»ii. |r^. j^, .:>nthu>ia.siic in lii-^ ^■'"ili, but a irille .-ti.teil in mannei. Edna May Spooner handled a char- •icter part with ease in the current bill. The remainder of the cast fitted the parts satisfactorily. The two sets filled the bill. Th(j cost in the production end was ex- ceedingly moderate. The piece costs little and should make money. . Hart. PROCTOR PIAYERS, ALBANY Albany. N. Y., Mar.di 28. "TJip RM.ller Woman." A i>lay In three HCt». by Chiirlf-tt.> K. W«»lls an^l l>orothy Donr^ily. staged an<l directed by Harry .MaoFa.\<len. Mari»? M»*yer Teria I.oririK Kjr»*n Ho (iraverl Angela Warde rhira Bertol T.uolUe .\very Nilt Olrik Raymond Kawans" l.nia OlrlU Miary Danitl Maid ^....Jesaie Briitk Krixtia.* JtiKperKfln Phyl'la Otlmore t.tt>» ^^e.^■«>r I..ouIs Anker l^ir/. olrtk John Jtlynn Marl'-arKnv* «.oui:i Ifiiik HfNUigcr '..I'lerre Watkiii PIRACY CHARGE MADE AGAINST N. B. STOCK P. M. A. Man Investigating— Royalty Avoided by Camou- flaged Titles The Proctor Players ure^ now rounflin^ out their se:ond year at Harmanus Bleecker hall. Many changes have been made in the per- sonnel cC the company since it was orgar.lTied in the spfhig of 1921, and at Jea.^t hah" a dozen leads have been usod. The present feminine lead is Mary Daniel, nnd two weeks ago she really 'arrived" In the role of I^ilhi Olrik in '"The llldJle: Woman." Phyllis Gilmore was cast as Krls- tiiie Jesperson, and given an oppor- tunity t<» display her emotional tal- ents. She is i>ne of llic favorites in the slock. Johfi fJlynn MacFarlane is by far the best liked male lead since the Procter stock has been organized. Pierre \N'atkJ!), tlie only member of the stock who has been with it since the opening week nearly two years ago. played the scheming, un- scrupulous Count Krik rielsin.cer, ajid is the i<i*>al type for the role. "Waddy,"" as he has becf>me kn<jwn to the stock patrons, has been cast in a variety of roles, and always handles them caiiably. Angela Warde. the new ingenue, did well in a small role. Louis Anker diftplays ability in his char- acterization of Otto Meyer. Lucille Avery, an Albany girl, who has played small roles at different times, wa;^ cast in a minor part, and acted it handil>. Teris Lori«ig. wife of Hany ;\lacFayden. the stage dlrec- t«u-. gavf*a convincing performance in a .'■mall role. Raymond Rawllngs and Jessie Brink also had minor pai'ts. Norman Tracey Is the stage man- ager of the company and also plays small Pides. This is the first in sev- eral weeks that he has not been in the cast. With the present line-up the Proc- tor stock seems to be headed for a profitable summer run. Burke. Newark, X. J., may suppoi t stocks but the town Is doubtful about it. The Fabians closed their own slock ot the Strand : nd at the .same tim- reinserted their a'J^ert]sIng in thi- Nev.'ark "CaV." Thc' smart critic of that pap'»r ol.'^orNed earlier in tlie season c4»'it the Alaude Fealy stock would f^till be in Newark when the Strand company quit, which be- came true, but throueh that r.^mark t:-.e -Cair lost th3 ad-.'crtisinq: of the FaV»ians, It is said. The t-aper. fortunately, held its rovI«nver. v.ho seems to know mere about tiie fhow bu.=iiness over ther-i than some of the Newark managers do. The Fabians are suspected of having wanted to tacitly adtnit as much by again using the "Call," although from repo'-ts the "Call" his been prin'ting just the same f»'nc(* losii;g the Fabians' tusiness, i ^ Two mi>re weeks and the Bon- steile Playvrs a\ the Shubert-Mich- igan, Detroit, will discontinue, six weeks later resuming their annual summer engagement of 12 weeks at the (;arrick. Opening June will be the Vaughan Claser IMayers at Or- chestra hall. Detroit, with William H. Powell and Plorencc Shirley in the leads. The Majestic will play stock through the summer. A fovunh company, the Pike Players, may go into tlie Shubert-Michigan or the .\cw Detroit, which will give De- troit four stock shows, ifugh Duffy will bring in a comp.iny of i)!ayers to present "Abie's Irish Rose," which he expects will remain at least six weeks during the summer. It h IS not been settled wliicli house he will play, » I>.din.ind F.ggena. of .\i\\ York. iiushand of Minna (Jombel, pleaded guilty when arraigned before t'ouTity Judge Noojian in IJiifialM under an indictment for grand l:ir- St John, N. B., March 2S. Piracy of plays has been charged against a stock now playing In New Brunswick (city) for an extended engagement. It Is alleged the or- ganisation has been showing royalty play.>4 under cnmoiidsged names with the objective claimed to be the avoiding of the payments of royal- ties. A representative of the Producing Munnfrers' Association is said to be on the grounds now. making an in- vestigation and will submit a report on his return to New York. Th-^ following are .'^ome of the titles oC plavs utilised hv thft company: 'The Moth." "The Shepherd of Shantv Run." "Two Daddies oi" Mine," 'l" Marrinrre a ti'allure," "The Done/' "The Otb^r Man's Wife." "The Oath" anj "The Cowboys Ro- nan'^e." Tbf» last similar instance from thi.- terriJory was 12 yi-str-^ ago whoii th.- j Hirkin.s' stock company Was prei- ; verte<l from usln.g an Eleanor Rob- ; son ; iiccess. HIGH ROYALTY FEES MAKE FOR PIRACY Small Stocks Can't Stand Tax—$25 Minimum Per Performance The high royalty charges for cur- rent plays iH causing a tendency on tlie part of small repertoire and stock managers toward pir.icy. High royalty is reported as forc- ing a number of shows of this order out of existence, with those c )n(inu- ing being force*! to use book plays or bllU without a reputation. Many of these companie.i pluylng towns with theatres seating 400 or 500 have little chance to break even with royalty pieces, the majority of which are held at |2u a performance in the smallest ot towns. The ad- mission scale f(u- companies of this order is topped at 50 cents. The manager of a small rej) trav- eling by auto desired to secure three bills for the small towns. He wag informed each was held for $23 per p«»rformance. He Informed the broker he could not look for a gross in the majority of towns of over $•-'00, which amount is shared with the house. The broker replied he could slip in a matinee now and then without paying royalty, which might help out. The company did !ioL take to the road. ABORN INSOUTH Summor Musical Stock on inter- Stat* Circuit loMlead of going dark this sum- mer, the Interstate Circuit will In- augurate musical slock in at least one of their theatres, the Majestic, Dallas, leaving off v.mdeviUe and taking on the new polh y April 2|». The organization will be tinder the direction of Milton Aborn and tha season will be for at least 10 weekn. Kach attraction wTiI run a full v.'e:»k. the first offering being "The Firefly." Many of the newer musi- cal comedies will be prcsenttnl, too. Henry Winchell will be the active manager of the company, which will numiier 4rt {>»»i-«t(MtM, ,•,!( b«!Ps* fe*Rt fum New Vork. In the cast are Maude Clray, Vlr- pinia Watson, Kdilh Bradford, Irene CattoM. Lee Daly, R.ilph Bralnard, Dan Marble. Oeorge Shields and Willard Ward. be the third to play (he house since the that of the >ear, the shows hav- ing originally started stock with a company organized by Corae Pay ton, who withdrew after the first week. George Barnes, from the coast, the new leading man of the President I'layers, was railed to Baltimore by Smith and Duffy to play the lead in ' Kast la West.' In Washington, where fJeorge Barnes and Wanda Lyon uto play- ing leads at the President, it has developed they went to school to- gether in'Bait I^ake City, while over at the Belanco, Washington, with Marshall's company. Hazel Dawn is also from Salt Lake. IVfarsuerite Lee, who vAis severely burfcd when fire swept the theatri- cal rooming house In West 67th street. New York, Monday, up to two weeks ago was a member of the Union Square theatre stock In Pitts- field, Mass. Her mother, Mrs. Ma- dora Sitzler, who was ^ one of the victims of the Are, accompanied Miss Lee to New York when the latter left PIttafleld a week ago Sunday. The manager of an out of town stock was. |25 short when It came time to pay his broker for a play. He got out of the offlce when stating he would mall the money. The fol- lowing week he appeared without the shortage having been settled. He also failed to have sufllclent funds to pay for the new bill he had .selected. The broker tightened up and the play failed to leave his of- fice. The manager left to sean:h for a new source of supply. The Majestic, »Ulica, N. Y. (Bob- bins), will open its stock l-]as:er Monday. Harry Heme, who has di- rected the company for several sea- sons past, will be In charge. Clay Clement will be the leading man. The company will give muliticeH daily except Mo'ulay and Thurj-day. Scale LTj-TTi at night, with matlnee.i 25-35. The opening "Nice Pet»ple."* ceny. The indlct-:ent. whicl. grow.-- out of the alleged theft of .".» auto- mohi.e, was bniUglu in 1017. 1» t l^ggeni was only arre.Hte<l last week after i»is ac<tuittal of a cliarge of grand larceny, first degree, in .M- hiny. In the absence of $.'»,0()o bail he Was ?eni.tn'led t» \\>- Ki'ii' ''ount\- EDWARD BERNARD GARNETT DRAMATIC EDITOR, THE KANSAS CITY "STAR" Edward Bernard Garnett, dramatic editor, critic and Sunday editor of the Kansas City "Star," made his first entrance on life's stage August 8, ISS.I, In Kan.sas City, Mo., us a "single," presented by Kdward Pres<ott CJarnctt and Anna B. Carnett. His first role In big time journalism was as a reportei- on the "Star-Times"' in 1907; subsequently was assistant city editor, telegraph editor, day city editor and Sunday and dramatic editor i!i the same drama. The biggest production Mr. (JTrn* .t ever reviewed was in Paris. France, August 1, 1914, entitled "The World \Var."" He reviewed from a •seat as cable etiitor and oji the war desk of the "Star"' in K. ('.. remain- ing thero until the signing of the armistice, when he was made dramatic critic. On October 21. 1921. Mr. fl.irnf^tt decided TU>t to r^^main a single and from then began working with a partner, K-ilier Clark Liarnelt tnoii- professional). His reviews signed "I'l. B. C." have gained wlde,si»r,.ad notice. Out- side of his ne\v.«papcr activities, .Mr. Cl.anc'tt lind.s time ft leach budding authors that audiences already kiu)w what tluy want. !]«• has also been acti\ely interested in coniniunify dianta. ind«'|iendenl theatre enterprises, and is the author of a nuint>er of tnag.i7.ine articles, stories and 8k<*tcheH. (This in the ninth of the soif.t of uholof/roiihiK nrd brirf shrtchrs of (he (iroiniitir editors of the eoiiiiiit/ a}i)>earinff in \'<ir:e(i/.) jail. Eggcfia i< at pre?;ent defend- ant in an annu' lent of marriage .suit brought by his wif<', who al- leges that li fraudulently rf»i»ie- sen'ted hinis<Ml' as wealthy .ii: ! of distinguished fatni.y. The result Is that liynn theatregoers are ixlvised tn av«dd the rush by buying tieket.s early, so that they can SIC ' \'»'hy .Metj Leave Home," being presented tliis weelc. ■a ] i > ^w m Il«)lbrook Blinn will do a new rdav during his engagement In stock at the Majestic. Los Angeles. Mury Ncwcomb, Wilkes' leading won-.rifi of that company, has retired. Her place Is as yet unfilled, an Ingenue playing the lend in the current pro- duction of "The Trouble Iloun 1." Willamene Wilkes has succeeded J.'imes Neill as director of Maje.'tlc stock. The Henry Duffy stock tip«'nlp'.T Monrlay nt the Crescent. Brordilyn. N. v., will appear in "Six Cylinder "Love" OS the first bill. For each play presented several production l>eopIe will be uy^d, the numb«-r of weeks for each piece dependiu-x upon ^ts i>opul;irity. Lorin Raker will play the role originated l>y KrneKt Truex hi the opening ple.e. * Iluilig iK- Sc.imon tal«e o\'i- the Last weelijlie man.igeincfir nt l!if^ . S; rand, .'•.'ev.iiik. .V. .1., c<»inni<-:MiiiK Audit<irium IM.ayers in Lynn. .>laH> .Moral.ay, f',:- fliMniafic stud; villi a advertised tbat the stf)ck i)iay for lioly U'eek wouiM ^' \\ liy .Meti L'^avr f 1 »m(" and that'Tlie li.mi- ^"irgia" Would he presented durin,:;; eojni»{(ii.\ headed by Maid,' i*!Une!!v- TIW- .Mr.iiid I ' ln.i Ifvii |. | .iM i>^ i:U^l\[ villi a i<trni»aKy op* rale I },y tin l-'abians. the c».\norM of tli ■ lir» ivc Kasler week. Thereupon llev. Che:^- Tii.'it <«>nipa»iy closf^.i S:tlur»la\. 'liu- tef J. Fnderhii.. of Wa^ iilimlon | iinn -e lias been rciti-il to Hniifi; »*',• Street D.iidist «.'hu!cli, in a lujldic | Searnon with the iKu'e:-. ! tn li;.!^ i: statement, asked the theatre to j v 1 1 f»l.i\- sin -k »»Tv!x- in:d'r t' ^ ..'i.~i,« • chant;" tlie [►lay.s for the two weel;s. itremerM. Th" ne\\ «i..n;v;:; v. ; j The Mnjestte stock, ftba. open- ing Monday (April 2) with ".Nice People* have Clay Clement, Nea- trlce Henderikson (U•ad^■). Nat Davis. Jlal Dawj-.on. Wlllanl F()ster, Douglas Co.sgi-f»ve. I'loi'cnce Arling- ton. Margaret llobertson. r)irector is If.irry Home with K'ei win Wil- kin •.on .'issistanl. The .Tame>4 Carroll sfncU opens .\»iiil 1.1 at the P.ijou, liangor. Me, in "Declns.sfce.* Edna I'reston wfio has b«>en pl.'iyinjr the leads with th-e Carroll comi»any In ilulifa'C v.dl t.-.insf'-r to I'lar.gor. with Madelei«»r j i Mn.n; ' j'Wi ' .t; ii n' :f iiu f ji x ihth '" ' ^>- (ion :o; b-iidhig v.otnan for a sjm clal four-wee!: en ;.!«<merit. , T! • Ch.n.o're Wyiiters stod: \\:.:. ;. f . • ' ] ;,; the L..c>i.m. i';ii''r- i'\ ::. .'. I !»f wfPli wili reura to tV ••!! i«: e I nn page 17^ ^