Variety (July 1923)

( '5 li LEGITIMATE Wednesday, July 4. 1923 STOCKS The big, outstanditifi, also surprise Ing M\iccet>9 of last week in Denver rtsm the opening of th« ElUoh's Gar- dens ttock company. It will b« here for a Benson of ten weeks. "Rose Briar," «■ noted In « special dispatch to Variety, played to ca- pacity business Sunday night, with close to 11,000 )n th« hous«. despite a plenitude of paper, at $1.26 top. The opening success did not di- minish as the week wore on. Busi- ness continued top hole. Tuesday night, for Instance, was the biggest singia night's business in the four years' history of the g&rden's stock revival. The gross was almost $1,200. with almost no paper in. Toward the latter part of the week seat sales had to be suspended. The gross for tha week was about 17,300, with two matinees fairly well attended. The Witch players will have things their own way for the first six weeks, and Denver has no vaude- ville this summer. Picture houses constitute the garden's only rJvals for nmuscment favors. ful aets were pamicd uy Hubtrii. i>«:'l. Although the p:dna Park Players have been given a new contract for next season, the stop clause is $8,200. As the remains of that company have left for a barn-storming tour through Louisiana, it la doubtful whether they will ever go over again next season, e.specially after the beautiful stage setting and real acting offered by the Lytle Players in the one-act playlets in the Princess (F, P. picture house). --sri s r Dunn M.Uloy hns as stage director. been re-engaged Mabel Brownell's stock, at Xew- aik, N. J., will quit with this week's iPorformance. The hot weather knocked bUHlness all to pieces, and the Shuberts, whose houso she has on sharing terms, got cold feet when they saw the gross. Miss Bfownell expects to return next fall, but In whiU house Is doubtful, as she re- fuses to play in the Strand again. Tills week she la doing a new play on prohibition by an unnamed au- tlior. It is called "The Fast Set." It in said Ilurtig & Seamon are pleased with its possibilities. Dorothy Mor- timer has been added for this en- gagement. Unquestionably the com- pany would have closed Saturday, but Hurtig A Seamon wanted to get a line on this piece. Next week the Shubert will bring in "How Come?" What Ilurtig A. Seamon will do with the Strand Is a puasle. They can't run pictures or burlesque and every- thing else flops thcra. '*The Bad Man" will be used to open the season at the Denhara this fall, according to an announce- ment by Ben Ketcham. house man- ager for the Wilkes Players. George Barnes and Gladys George will play the leading roles. The house will open Saturday, July 28. instead of Sunday, as has been the custom in previous years. Eight nights and three matinees will be given, it being assumed that the play will pull a heavy week's gross. Huron Blyden will xtf^ain direct the productio^is. Others who will return aro George Cleveland. Ben Erway, Guy Usher. Most of the balance pt the company will consist of new people, it is believed. . Dramatic stock will have a strong foothold in Texas in the fall, the majority of cities in the Lone Star Stat* hftving formulated plana for the Installation of companies. The- atres in the Texas cities which have adhered to a straight picture policy during the past few years aro turn- ing to stock through a falling oft in attendance with the straight picture entertainment. A scarcity of road attractions in the territory necessi- tates stock organisations being in- stalled in order that the houses m?.' get away from the picture policy. A few recognixed stock managers operating in Texas during tho past season met with success in the larger cities. Local capital is said to have become Interested and will be behind some of tbe^ew organlxa- tions, with a company to be in- stalled in practically every city of any Hise within the state. INSIDE STUFF LEGIT • (Continued from page 10) Oliver Loop bouses built In recent years Malcolm Fassett made such a monetary success in stock in Loui?;- ville last spring he has returned to Macauley's with a much Improved company. Of his 1922 company only Lloyd Neal. who takes most of the character roles, and JXilia Morton (Mrs. Fassett) returned. The com- pany is now on its fifth week and will continue until the middle of August. Fassett seems unable to keep his leading ladies. Virginia Hnjnmond left before the close of Jast sea.son, v.hile Kathleen Comegys took her leave in the middle of the season. She has been succeeded by Florence Martin. The Miles Royal, East Akron, Ohio, reopened June 30 with musical stock after being dark for nearly two years. The company, known as the Weber and Fields Players, is presenting two bills a week, with Nat Fields the comedian. Other membtrs are Vera Walton. Frank Flynn, Jack Symonds, Jeane Breen, Jack Kramer, Gaby Fields. Lillian Devere and Buddy Clark. The or- ganlration, slated to use a number of former Weber and Fitld.s musical pieces, opened In "Fiddle Dee Dee." What started as a publicity Ktunt and almost ended aa a cataslrophy for the McGarry Play- ers, at the Majestic, Buflfalo, was the introduction iir the company's production of "Its a Boy" of a ten- months old baby. As the result of the publicity given the child's ap- pearance the Children's Aid Society interceded with an arrangement Anally niado to continue for the bal- ance of tli».' week. An examination made Incidentally by physicians disclosed that the child had de- veloped chicken pox and the super- intendent of the Children's Aid "liaracterlzrd the infant's engage- ment of "a violation of the law. and «lnnger to himself, and a menace to patrons of the theatre." The mem- bers of the company were greatly disturbed at the discovery, but to date all appear to have eR»nped r'ontagion. Maude Fulton (in private life Maude Fulton Ober) has taken de- fault judgment for $2,871.41 against Oliver Morosco arising from the hlock rights of "The Brat," authored by MlBs Fulton. Jan. 1, 1921, the authoress <ontrac'tcd with Morosco for the d!«po«ition of the stock rights to her play, which the <'entury Play Co. purchased for $5,000, an<l which both parties were to split alike. The complainant alleges that April 3 J«ht Morosco admitted being indebted (o her to the extent of $1'.500. This week Mrs. I^onid Ducom- innn institutod an action to recover $3,000 on a note from Morosco. o'Uiien. M.ilevinsky &L)riscoll, of New York, are acting for Mi-fi. Ducomniiin. The suit Is for a per- liOiial lOctn. The etO'k placed by the Inter- state Circuit of Texas at the Lyric, Birmingham, Ala., opening June J8, Is under the stage direction of Walter D. Gilbert, with George D. Waiters managing. John Olynn McFarlane is leading man and Hazel jL'orJnne leading wom.in. Jiklith .Spearc. Raymond Bramley, Hazel Heading, Sherold Page, Helen Traver.«», Franklin George, Arthur Bryon, Melba Palmer and William Kugc are others in the company. The Auditorium, Lynn, Mass., has been leased for three years by John B. Mack for stock. A company will be opened there Labor Day under the Mack management, ho also directing. The people engaged by Paul Scott include Donald Kirk and Miami Campbell, leads; Ida Moul- ton, Hildegarde Challenger, Prlscilla Knowles. Donald Baker, Guy Cald- well and Louis Wolford, stage man- ager. -- • .•■■ Corse Pay ton in "Bought and Paid For" will -pray three days at the Premier, In the Brownsville section of Brooklyn, N. Y., commencing July 9. The Payton company will present the full length play in con- Junction with a feature picture, the Premier ordinarily playing a pop vaudeville and picture policy. If Payton draws sufficiently well he will be kept in stock at the Brook-, lyn house to play a new piece each week for three days. Stanley La Price, leading man with the Harder-Hall Players, Trenton, N. J., all season (39 weeks), has been engaged by the B. F. Keith offices "to present a dramatic sketch at the Capitol, Trenton, for the week of July 9. Mr. Price will present "The Pardon," by Tom Barry. The Academy Players stopped at the Academy, Richmond, Va., June 23 and each member was given con- tracts for a similar season next summer. The company consisted of Alfred Swenson, Jane Salisbury, AInsworth Arnold, Antony Stan- ford, Lester Howard, Antoinette Rochte, Henry Sherwood, Peggie Paige and Isabell McMinn, Corse Payton Is to head a stock at the Academy of Music, Brooklyn, N. Y., opening Aug. 6. The Acad- emy is given over to concerts and opera during the regular season, with Keith vaudeville played on Sundays. It is the first time the house ha« played popular-priced stock. Money and jewelry to the value of several hundred dollars were stolen by a thief from the dressing rooms of the Proctor Players. Troy. N. Y., during a performance last week. Ruth Rickaby and Russell Hicks, whose rooms are on the first floor, suffered no loss, while most of those who dress upstairs did. The Rivoli Holding Co., Inc., con- trolliiig tho RlvolI, Newark, has taken default judgment for $2,625 r.galnst the Blanry Prod»icl»>g Cn.. Inc., which held a lease on the houve for $16,500 annually. The Blaneya defaulted on several weekly instal- ments of $437.r>0 each. The I>1na Park Players, San An- td^io, owe their success to good press work. The younger members of the organization are now In the Lytle Players group. The owners of the stock, Edna Park and Jack Ed- wards, caused a much earlier clos- ing than \Tan contemplated. BeautI-reopen Allan St. John, late man.'iger of th. Blaney Stock at the Strand. Newark, N. J., has been engaged by Frank Kecney to manage his new picture hoiise at Wlliamspur*. Pa. The Milton Aborn Musical Com- edy Co., which has been playing the Majestic, Dallas, for the Interstate Circuit, will complete a 10 weeks' engagement Saturday. The organi- zation, which numbers more than 30 persons, will jump to Charleston, W. Va., opening there at the K^rse theatre next Thursday and continu- ing for two and a half weeks. The Charleston house has a vaudeville policy, supplied through the Keith agency. Both engagements of the Aborn company are guarantees, the attraction being protected from loss. wherea.^ Oliver Loop houses oum m rv^u,. ,^-.- •njoy '*"'f\« '/^ stores and olfices above the theatres. However, the twins paul oft $275.00^ in obllsationa since laiit October. , . , . . About $125,000 came from the earnings of the houses, the balance being SMpplled from New York. Under the jn rangement whereby the twins were bum. the mortgage fs substantially reduced annually. ^Jhe property I. oxoeited to be greatly enhanced in a few years, when the novel double- S^'S^d boulevard i*s constructed along Water -*;;tf;;' -,f »f .^•^r* ^'^^^^^ dlatant. The new thoroughfare will be a connecting Unk between Chl- cag?a boulevard system, and wi ll relie ve trafflo on Jackson boulevard. Any number of advance agents whll > away the afternoons gueasing the winners at the tracks, but without leaving thehr favorite summer haunts ^long Broadway. The wagers are rarely more than a few dollars, the boys long ago having learned their lesson. There la one however, who has developed a system of playing safe. He la "Careful" Walter Mes- aenger, sometln e of the Woods forces. ^ ^ ^ ^ , v •« ,- . ' Walter's yen la playing parlays. When the flrat horse wins, he InvarU ably aella half of hia bet for more than the original amount ^agercd, and in that way he has frequently made a small Amount, although, the parlay actually lost. Messenger plunges a dollar at a time an<» when the flrst horse comes I ahead It ia eaay to sell half the bet for $1.50. which make. him four bits t > the good, regardless of the result. Last season, after be'ng $1.60 to the bad. he placed a dollar on a three- horse parlay. Two of tho horses came In. hut Walter sold half his chance for $4 50 That time the parlay went through and paid $37.50 to each man. Fellow agents oanned him pretty for not taking a chance on the third horse, but Messenger said he knew his own stuff and neve;- would have slept, worrying about the $1.50 he was in the hole. .» »/ ,.> .•, George White and Louis A. Werba are getting ready to stage a ticket sellers' contest. White sells nightly at the Globe's box office, while Werba performs a like duty at the Cohan, where his production of "Adrienne" is playing. In the contest it seems that White ought to get something of a handicap, for W^erba was a theatre treasurer for a number of years before becoming a producing manager, while Whiio has alwaya heen an actor until he started selling for his own prodiciion of "Scan- dals" several yeirs ago. Mary Katon and Eddie Cantor may bo co-starred in a musical show by Flo Ziegfeld, according to the manager's intentions for ihe fall. MIsa rjaton's sudden withdrawal from the "Follies" two weeks ago escaped attention, but furnished a surprise to insiders because of her rating af- one of the leading toe dancers in the revue field. W^hcn asked why Misa Eaton was not in the summer edition of the "Follies." the manager said she desired to rest through the summer. There is a report Miss Eaton had been promised featuring in a new show and its failure to materialize resulted in her stepping out of the "Follies.* Last season when quasi plans for a second production of "Sally" wet4 made. Miss Eaton was mentioned by Ziegfeld to head the cast. Last fall the manager's producing program was conspicuous with a proposed musical show for Fannie Brice and aldo one for Miss Eaton. Miss Brlce remained in vaudeville through the entire season. Miss Eaton's salary with the "Follies" was $600 weekly. The Robert Sherman stook at the Palace. Fort W^^yne. Ind., did good bu.siness last week and will con- tinue. The Dorothy La Verne company, which opened at the Orpheum at Madison, Wis., late in April, con- tinues there. ;. Bertha Mann, FHlton Stock, Oak- land. Cal. Clara Joel, Balduin Stock, Atlanta. Barry McCormack will open a .«tock at the New Evanston, Evans- ton. III., July 9. The Graham Stock opened a sum- mer engagement at Barber Park. Bellows Falls. Vt.. July 2. *'AT MBS. BEAM'S" INTACT An addition has been made to the Solwyna program of production of foreign plays next season. The firm has secured "At Mrs. Beam's" for this side.* The attraction is running in Lon- don, but company and production will be brought here intact by the Selwyns some time during the winter. ■%3 Louis Mann is bewailing he is unable to be in Shelby, Mont., toda^ (Wednesday) ti witness the battle for the heavyweight championship oC the world. Last Thursday Mann tried to prevail on Max Marcin to cloae "Give and Take" one day earlier than the scheduled closing for Saturday night so that he could make the trip West to witness the fight. But Marcin and the Shuberts relx^ed to listen to his plea, so Mann is having the fight returns relayed to him at his country place via radio, Wille, Westimd McGlnty, the English comedy turn, which failed to register with the "Follies" summer edition as well as expected, improved their scoring after the first show. They were permitted to add a finale, ex- tending the act's running time somewhat more than intended. The British comics claimed they were not able to introduce a comedy bit with four women, claimed to have been one of the beat bits in the routine. The explanation was that It might interfere with Gene Buck's "Four Guys and a W'ell Know.i Dame," a travesty on "Rain." ' ' / , Dick M;uUlen of the American Play company, while recovering at D^ Stern's sanitarium following an appendicitis operation, enjoyed an off occurrence la.^*, week. One of the nurses was walking to and fro in the hallway with an infant, whose mother was in a room close by. Madden, having no kid of his own, Induced the nurse to let him have the babe for a moment. Just then a bell summoned the nurse and left with the tot, which Madden was fondling. Two women visitors passed by the door, looked in amazed. As they passed on one said to the other: "Did you see the same thing I saw?" A former company manager for John Golden has dug up a promising light heavyweight In Hoboken, N. Y., who haa been endowed with the nom-dc-ring of "Frank Craven." The christening after the author-actor of "The First Year" is accounted for by the company manager having been with that show. Golden met the promising pug recently and after one slant at the 178-pound, 19-year old Adonis thought it a great idea to make an actor out of him. "The battler refused the proposition, maintaining that professional pugilism was "more steady." ■I) i > 3 i "Abie's Irish Ro.se,'' the perfect refutation of what a critic's opinion means compared-to the public's judgment. Is In its second year and ita prolongation on Broadway reflects on the offers for the screen rights. To date the last proposal is $150,000 with the producer and authoress. Anne Nichols, still biding her time. One manager recently aaked another: 'How's business, you liar?" Since then the gag line is going the rounds of Broadway. It was lifted from the cloak and suit trade and is said to have applied to conversation between two Ea««t Side merchants. The Blaney ""Mayers closed at t^e Gotham, Brooklyn, N. Y, and wi'l at the .same houw Sept. J2. Mayor Hylan has appointed Police Conimiseioncr Richard Enright, Commi.«;sIoner of Street Cleaning Alfred A. Taylor and Commissioner of Correction Frederick A. Wallis as his three municipal representa- tives to serve on the "jury" which will award th«? prices in the Traffic Problem Contest now on In the Keith and aflUllated houee.s. The Fifth Avenue A.^.soclatlon has dele- gated .Samuel Walter Taylor, chair- mai) of its traffic committee. The Broadway Association names Leo J. Rastman, president of the Packard Motor Car Co. Tho Architectural League of New York appointed D. Everett Wald. President T. A. Dwyer of the Rotary Club of New York will be the seventh prize Juror ■ o determine the three winners of 'he fi.OOO oapital p»i/,c. ^ Lincoln J. Carter waxed enthusiastic when he heard Ralph Thomas Kettering, his collaborator, read The Crash" in its completed form in Chicago last week and expressed his pleasure by some rich profanity. He immediately handed two unfinished plays of his own writing to Ketter- ing—"AVhile the Devil Laughs" and "Kit of the Relay." If "Tho Crash" is successful the coming season It Is possible that Mr. Carter will resume his position »n n Chicago producing manager. There was a time when Carter, .'Ingle handed, produced more plays at the Criterion in Chicago than all oth»r mid-West managers together. Victor l,il^Uiun, hooking executlv*^ for the Erlanger ofllca, u'wrltlng a sort of man.n;< rial diary, which he plans to put to novel use. He proposes publishing the work In book form and to devote the entire proceeda to aid needy or ill advance agent.i and company managers. The Actors' Fund win be asked to administer the money go derived. The booker contends that executive.^ with traveling attractions have never been included In any beneficial projects, and believes a fund such as he proposes will become permanent. Lelghton has been at work on the diary for about six )nonths. There Is an observation for each working .i.iy of the year, the comment being pithily and wittily phrased. ThouRb tho writing Is almost entirely epl- gramatic, the many problems and events marking the progress of the season are shrewdly set forth. The comment Is entirely relevant to legiti- m.ate produrff and producers, but there are no personalities nor names mentiortd. > . . ij