Variety (May 1923)

Thursday, May *, 1*23 i;—- - -— — ♦ — — - - — ■ ■ ' ■ ■ ■ ■ »■■ »■ ■ ■ -,.w. , ra,>w> l iii a ipww—i mm LEGITIMATE ppoUy Preferred," Little (16th week). Now one of leading calls In agencies, rating with six strong- est calls. Little's small capacity counts, but no question about show being hit Over $11,000 weekly, which means capacity here. PPride" Morosco (1st week). Late entrant is dramatic production un- der direction of Morosco enter- prises. Opened Monday, succeed- ing "The Wasp," moved over to Selwyn. #»Hain," Maxine Elliott (26th week). Makes half year.mark Saturday. Estimated strong enough to run throughout next season. Business remains over capacity for all per- <ormances, with $16,200 averaged weekly. f Romeo and ^Juliet," Henry Miller (15th week). "Takings went up last week, extra matinee on an- niversary of Shakespears drawing $1 200. and gross for week going to nearly $12,000. Good through month and maybe June. ••Sally. Irene and Mary/' Century (35th week). Moved here last week with campaign of "two for ones" accounting for heavy trade late In week and sending takings to better than 412.000. "Secrets," Fulton (l»th week). Went to better than $9,000 last week, when cut rating helped. Pretty English comedy can ride through month. Engagement here not what expected from London success, but ought to be road winner. •Seventh Heaven, 1 ' Booth (27th week). Still playing extra Fri- day matinee, latter performance only one not selling out. Gait con- tinues at nearly $15,000, and call one of strongest. •So This Is London," Hudson (36th week). Still getting important money and stands chance of rid- ing into hot weather going. Last week takings beat $12,000. with management satisfied. •The Adding Machine," Comedy (7th week). Theatre Guild has knack of running their productions at small crosses. Doubtful if this one will last much longer. Moved up here from Oarrick last week. Takings about $4,500. •The Clinging Vine,*' Knickerbocker (19th week). This musical has gone along good popular-priced clip, but slipped lately and is not counted on lasting further than end of month. Between $10,000 and $11,000. •The Comedian,* Lyceum (8th week). Will move over to Belasco Monday when that house loses great "Kiki." ''Comedian" around $10,000 last week. Lyceum gets 'The Mountebank." The Dancing Girl/' Winter Garden (15th week). One week more for this musical show, which goes to road. Al Jolson In "Bombo" enters Garden May 14 for a month or so. House will get a summer musical afterwands. •The Devil's Disciple," Garrick (2d week). Guild's last production of this season. Shaw revival hardly counted on for big business and no chance of moving uptown. *The Enchanted Cottage," Rits (5th week). Expectation W. A. Brady will get fair run with Pinero play In spite of late entry. Business off slightly last week; takings about $7,000. Some out-rating but draw high class. •The Exile," Cohan (4th week). "Barnum Was Right" will succeed here Monday. "Exile" guaranteed $4,000 for four weeks. Gait $7,000 weekly, with $1,000 little less last week. "The Fool," Times Square (28th week). Indications strongly in favor of drama running Into falll summer attendance almost as- sured from visitors. Still getting /top gross among non-musicals but giving extra matinee. About $16,000. •The Gingham Girl," Central (36th week). Moved directly on Broad- way last week, placing house back in legitimate list. Cast changes accompanied move. Management counting on transients and Cut- rates to carry into summer. Re- cent pace at Earl Carroll around $9,000. "Th* .Love Habit," Princess (8th week). Moved from Bijou, where guaranteeing almost as much as grossed. Originally framed for Princess. Probably $3,000. •The Old Soak," Plymouth ($7th week). With season's run to credit, an even chance this com- edy .staying into summer." also figuring to get draw from visitors. $7,600 now. "The Wasp," Selwyn (6th week). Moved here from Morosco Mon- day, having succeeded "Within Tour Walls?' taken off after two weeks. 'Wasp" showed life, busi- ness nrlth iiit-rate aid climbing from $t;.000 to $8,000. Guarantee- Ing here as .'it Morosco. Up She Goes." Playhouse (26th week). Best run of any attraction at Playhouse this season or last. first muaical here :m| has done r business* Intimate type of show. Average $S.oon weekly, latlsfactory at house and show under same management. "Uptown West," BijOU (2d week) ^ '' ' ■ I • ■ \'t r i nvi i in»>o .i; tract ion i" j.irn"»M. moving here insi'wceK der $4,000 stop limit, summer schedule for ho is Cle> erly joosted 'mil una 11 xrosa won. "Whispcr ; ng Wires," Broadhur?! i^.T'h weeR). y,on st stayer t*t this «* •■• >on'S frnjt Of m;. slerv plays. Originally played si 49th s tree md moved lu«re tem- porarily three months ago. Busi- ness good'enough t» give season's run. Skidded to less than, $6,500 last week. "Wildflower," Casino (13th week). Few musical shows able to climb so steadily as this; now acknowl- edged one of hits of season and strength points to engagement lasting through summer. Better than $19,000 last week, not far from capacity at $2.50 top. "You and I," Belmont (11th week). Claimed best draw of Harvard prise plays given at Belmont. Strong cast factor in keeping lower floor business at capacity. Pace $9,000 and better. House small and gross comparatively excellent. "Zander the Great," Empire (4th week). Alice Brady credited with giving one of her best perform- i ances. Easily most promising play brought in after holidays. Beat $11,000 last week and has chance to Improve. The Russian grand opera company entered Jolson's Monday, offering a medley of operas under name* of "A Night of Love.'* the title being heavily billed. At the 48th Street Maurice Schwartz, who withdrew "Anathema" after three weeks of poor business, opened "The Inspector General." also translated from Yiddish, booked in for one week. CONTRASTED GROSSES "Tip Top/' at Denver, $20,000—D.t richstein Hardly Anything Denver, May 2. "Tip Top." Fred Stone's musical extravaganza, filled the Broadway comfortably all last week, seven nights and one matinee, at ?:!.30 top. This heJag the home town of Stone and his wife, formerly Aloen Crater, that was freely exploited. The rather stiff prices didn't seem to hoid baek the customers at all, the gross be- iiv. not far from $20,000. The success of the ■totts. show contrastel sharply with the failure, the week before of Leo Ditrichste!n In "The Purple Mask."* Despite that Ihtrlchstein is famed for being the "greatest lover of the etage," the houses which greeted his show would have been a disgrace to an attraction of a quarter its merit. One night In particular, there ap- peared to be less than 300 persons In sight. A year ago Ditrichstein told Judge Ben Lindsey of the Juvenile Court that he would "never make Denver again." "Tip Top" will wind up at Detroit May 15, when Stone will go back to New York. Mrs. Stone and her daughter, Dorothy, left for the big town Sunday morning. Dorothy will be given a part In her father's show next year, according to an announce- ment by the star. "And I will be paying the American stage a com- pliment by permitting her to appear on It," he declared proudly. Dorothy- Is not quite 17. J™ ^HOT SAVING L A. RECEIPTS $16,000 May Bs "Purple Mask" Mason—"Bad Man," Capscity at Los Angeles, May 2. Leo Ditrichstein, in "The Purple Mask," opened very big at the Mason this week In "The Purple Mask." It now looks as though he will do $16,000 on the week. "The Bad Man," with Holbrook Blinn, is continuing to play to ca- pacity at the Majestic. "We Girls" is showing a steady gain at the Morosco. Now in Its eighth \reek the end of its run is not in sight. FRISCO SHOWS San Francisco, May 2. Mclntyre and Heath, in "Red Pep- per," opened well at the Curran Sunday, but fell off somewhat Mon- day. The second and final week of Walker Whiteside at that house in "The Hindu" grossed CJOSC to $.11,- 000. Ina Claire In 'The Awful Truth," opened big at the Columbia Mon- day. "The Pepper Box." at the Century, showed a little improvement in business, maintaining the pace set during the first week here. The show has improved greatly, a id it looks good for the road. "PEPPER BOX REVUE" MOVING s.in Francisco. May 2. After much tinkering and doctor- in- "The P*PP«r Box Kevu •" with Sophie Tucker ;inrt Geo. LeMalre at the Century at last is running smoot h l y — in —k«—t44«l— w ee k — w i th business show inn a Slight profit. The attraction will lea re the Century Ma II, »hd take to the road for 16 days. May 21 luled in open In ilos Anui'i's i"i two Wi >■ en- I > ;• nvnl. Local Public Used Up—Mitzi Brings Cheerful Sur- prise Boston, May 3. The count-up at the box a/Bees last Saturday night revealed Inw grosses, with'the exception of one or two Isolated cases. The belief is that the season Is about finished for the shows that have been play- ing for some time. This la Indi- cated in the flop registered at the Hollls, where "Llghtnln* M grossed only $11,000, a new low figure for a week's business, and even worse than was done during Lent. The figure of last week Indicated that the show had about used up Hs local public. However, the show has done a whale of a business here, and has already set up a rec- ord for the Hollls as to length of stay. Mitsi. in "Minnie and Me," was one of the surprises of the week. In the first week she did something like $22,000. but as that was a holi- day week it was figured the gross was a bit too high for her to ap- proach on the second week out, and a drop to below the $20,000 mark wouldn't have been a shock to those connected with the show. However, the count-up for the second week showed she had done $21,000, and the business during the week showed signs of building up as it went along, reaching capacity houses for the end of the week with a most substantial advance sale. Jolson found some weakness in the town the opening nights of last week, and a few vacefnt seats wer.« observed both Monday and Tuesday nights. After that there was more strength and he finished strong. He is good, though, for strong busi- ness for the balance of his local stay and should never play to less than $20,000 while here. "Six-Cylinder Love" also seems to be travelling the reverse route, the business for this show being about $3,000 less last week than the week before. It wilt leave at the end of this week, and for two weeks the house will be taken over by "Molly Darling," with Jack Don- ahue starred. This show was forced to quit the Tremont earlier this season, when it was playing to ca- pacity. So far nothing Is mentioned about "The Pool" at the Selwyn finishing up. While grossing in tho neigh- borhood of $10,000, with enough of an advance sale weekly to Indicate a fair break, it will stay on until warmer weather. The Majestic is dark this week, awaiting the arrival there next Monday of the Russian players. This Is supposed to bo made to or- der for Boston audiences of the highbrow type. The company is booked in for two weeks, with the orchestra scaled at $5 and $3.50 for the evening shows and $3.50 top for the matinees. Two new shows nosed Into town this week, both coming Into Shu- bert houses. "Sun Showers" (mu- sical) came Into tho Wilbur, re- placing Helen Hayes, and being, by the way, the first musical attraction to play the house this season. "The Monster" came Into the Plymouth. Looking over the field with an eye to what houses may keep open for the summer, there seems to be just one possibility, and that Is the Tremont, where Cohan is due to open about the first of Juno with his newest production. The weather, which has been against the theatres during the en- tire winter, does seem to be giving the breaks to the houses now that spring has arrived. In fact, muggy weather conditions, not at all good for business, have prevailed the last week, with considerable rain. The summer parks in some parts of the distriot are beginning to swing into line strong with advertising for a near future opening, and the dam- • halls in most of the beach and coun- try places are running full blast to capacity. Daylight saving went Into effect here on Sunday, and this is an- other factor for the theatres to com- bat. Estimates for last week: "Lightnin"' (Hollis, 19th week) Slid off sharply last week, touching $11,000; very weak. "Minnie and Me" (Colonial, 3rd week). Held up very well—a bij; surprise -and grossed better thati $21,000. "Six-Cylinder Love" (Tremont. 4th and final week). Did $12,500 last week, as against $14,000 the week before, and showing signs o, weakness. Would do well if it keeps above $10,000 for current wea k . "The Fool" rselwyn, 11th week) Running about $10,000; not much change. "Sun Showers" (Wilbur, 1st W"~k >. l< > '■< i-« .1 ♦•■lii ion of music al which played Astor, New York. "To the Ladies" closed to about $4.4oo here. Al Jolcon ("Bombo"), Shnhert 3rd week. Jolson and Mitzi i Splitting the musical comedy trade between I hem. Jolson started oil ai bettei than $10,000, whieh gait GUMS IT ALL UP IN PHILLY State and City Under Different Rules and Box Office Suffers From Train Confusion—Moscow Players' Disappointment • Philadelphia, May 2. Philadelphia did the unexpected last week by being lukewarm to the much-touted Moscow Art Theatre. Not once during the week did the Lyric touch capacity. The opening night, which was expected to be the gala Monday premiere of the whole season, saw about a three-quarters house upstairs, the gross being re- ported at $3,865, almost $1,000 under capacity. The Tuesday and Wednesday per- formances had even smaller grosses (though both beat $3,000) and the matinee is reported at $2,700. The first good break came with the first performance of "The Lower Depths" on Friday night. This was close to capacity.' Balcony trade was big all week. The gross for the week hit some- where close to the $32,000 mark, $13,000 from top at the $5 scale. Some of the dailies were not alto- gether enthusiastic In their com- ments, especially on "The Lower Depths." It had been generally be- lieved that this week would see a jump In business, but a daylight- saving mixup Monda; put an awful dent in all the.legitimate houses. "The Changelings," with Henry Miller, at the Broad, did better than the Russians, though the $8 scale, of course, prevented them from gross- ing as much. The week's gross is reported at nearly $22,000, very big in this house. Another show to hit on all cylin- ders was the "Greenwich Village Follies" at the Shubert. This revue was definltley off Us opening week, but glowing notices and good weather breaks sent the gross soar- ing last week, a gain of nearly $4,000 being claimed. With good breaks this revue may stay six or seven weeks, as it has no immediate book- ings and the house is In a similar position. A fourth show to hit big money was "Spice of 1922," which, in the third week of its fourth engagement in this city, played to large takings at the Chestnut Street opera house. A gross of $14.5C: was turned In. The revue could have stayed In- definitely but for a booking of "Make It m Snappy" that could not be changed. "Captain Applejack" dipped con- siderably, and while still playing *o profitable business showed plainly that the edge is off. This is Its final week, the Garrick then being dark a week before the new Werba musical comedy, "Adrienne," comes in. The animal film, "Hunting Big Game in Africa," surprised the doubters In its third week at the Forrest. If it had not been for weak matinees, this picture would have cleaned up. At the Walnut, Fi«ke O'Hara's "Land o' Romance," in its second and final week, dropped to a grow that didn't touch $7,000. while "Blossom Time," the Schubert operetta at the Adelphl, had another very bad week and grossed some- where around $6,500. The daylight saving trouble men- tioned above caused all sorts of trouble here Monday. Because of the passage of the Derrick (antl- daylight saving) bill at Harrisburg, the city council here met Saturday and Issued* a proclamation asking that clocks be changed. Railroads, all places of business, schools and colleges followed suit, but the the- atres announced adherence to standard time. Tho result was hun- dreds of cancellations at all houses from suburban people whoso laet train left before the shows would let out. A meeting of managers was held Monday afternoon, and a change to daylight time was an- nounced for Wednesday. In the meantime, however, Mon- day's and Tuesday's business went way down, and present indioatlons are that practically every legit house in town will register a tumble in gross this week over last. 'Make It Snappy." with Eddie Cantor, which played at the Shubert last season, opened a return en- casement at the Chestnut street opera house Monday, and "Kempy" returned to the Walnut, where it was favorably received lost winter. The Cantor advance sale has boon tremendous. 'Kempy" will stay two weeks, anvway, and, if business warrants it, a third. On June 4 it will commence its newly announced summer revue policy with the as yet unnamed pro- duction of Joseph M. Gaites. The Broad brings Its season {<> a he held last week. Is due back in New York 111*> middle of the month. "The Mon»ter" (Plymouth, 1st \ ••••'<>. close Saturday, the first of the eight theatres to close, a not unusual oc- currence at this house, which de- pends in a large degree on its so- ciety patronage. * The Forrest next week offers "Shuffle Along," its length of stay being entirely problematical. The only other openings will bo the new- ly formed Philadelphia Theatre Guild's first offering, "A Successful Calamity," with William Gillette and Lola Fisher. On May 14, in addition to tho Guild's second offering, "Winnie of the Wolves/' a new play by Gillette, there will be "Adrienne." After that the only legitimate attraction an- nounced is the Gaites revue, though report still has it that "Lady But- terfly" will bo brought into sOmo house. Martin Johnson's "Jungle" plotures are also reported seeking a house. Estimates of the week: "The Changelings" (Bread, 3d week). Final week of the season for this dramatic house, which Is winding up In blase of glory. "The. Changelings" did virtual capacity last week, which, at Its $3 top. meant $22,000 or slightly under. This week Is figured to show about $2,500 less. but still big money. "Greenwich Village Follies'' (Shu- bert, 3d week). Got into Its stride after week opening, and Jumped over $27,000. "Hunting Big Game in Africa" (Forrest, 4th week). Final week for Snow animal plotures, which proved their worth by holding up last week. Only matinees were short. "Shuf- fle Along" comes In Monday. "Captain Applejack" (Garrick, 6th week). Final week for this show, which has been a hummer here, but which started to slide off last week. Gross reported as just beating $11,- 500. House dark next week, with "Ardienne," new musical comedy, to follow, "Make It 8nappy" (Chestnut. 1st week). Started very big, with Indi- cations of walloping large gross. "Spice" went away with another very flne week, over $14,500. "Kempy" (Walnut, 1st week). Opening weakened by light-saving mix-up; is in for two weeks. Flak* O'Hara in "Land of Romance" dropped to about $7,000 in second and last week. Moscow Art Theatre (Lyric. 2d week). First week a disappoint- ment, with gross not passing $32,000. whereas at scale used house fould do $44,000. Only good Friday and Saturday night nouses pulled gross above $30,000. This week in doubt. Monday house goes over to first Theatre Guild attraction, "Success- ful Calamity," with William Gillette. Blossom Tims" (Adelphl. 2d week). 28th week in city, and one of worst grosses of stay. Hardly touched $6,500. LEGIT ITEMS "Goodness Knows," the produc- tion which the Charles Frohman office tried out In Pittsburgh and Cleveland, has been shelved for next season. It is to bet one of the early fall attractions which the or- ganization Is to present. The re- ports, both as to critical opinion and the box office, that the attrac- tions received during the two try- out weeks lead the Frohman office, to. beJieva that it Is a surefire winner. - .. . "The Mountebank," which Is attraction at His Majesty's, Mon- treal, this week, Is believed by the natives to be a direct importation from England, not only as to play but cast as well. They were given that opinion through the advance that was worked out for the *how, which had a cast that was entirely composed of English players, even though they were engaged in New York. The piece is due at the Lyceum next week. The vaudeville road show headed by Irene Castle, closed Monday in Ithaca, N. Y., having completed four weeks and one day on the toad, the final performance In Ithaca, the dancer's home, being a benefit. The tour Is reported as" having been financially successful and witi be resumed in the fa!T. Col. William Roche, weakened from the breakdown which removed him from his duties as manager f»f the Harris, Chicago, is now at Kit- Clemens for a two weeks' rest.