Variety (September 1923)

la LEGITIMATE Tbiirsday, September 27, 1929 INSIDE STUFF ON LEGIT Ctaangee In the new ''Music Box Revue'' were made early this week aa «xpected, followint; the premiere InKt SaturJay. There Is no doubt about the new revue having a big dcinanil. Last season epcculntors were on the pavement near thr Music Box with unsold iiclicts. Momluy and Tuesday all agency ftllotnients were sold early In the day and on the latter night the box ofllce was ordered tc stop eolline slnndces' tickets. The brokers were reported getting "union prices" at $7 70 nnd $8 80 per tfcket. Monday night the performance was out at 11;27 williout cutting Tues- day, changes In i)osJtlon anil deletions were made ind there v/a» one addition.' That was a "mystery melodrama," entitled "She Must Be Kept Out of This." by Bertram Block. The skit was ordered out of fhc premiere by Sam H. Harris after th' second act had started last Saturday, the manager doing some quick thinking and not caring to have the first performance run until midnight or later (premiere was out at 11:45). Deleted was Frank Tlnney's gambler bit, "Good-bye Mother," the numbar being descriptive Oi a sap about to "blow his brains out'' because be lost a bet at New Orleans Solly W.Trd's Kpecialty Bcng, "The Days That Used to Wasn't Long Ago," which flivvcd was also removed. Robert C. Benchley, "Life's" dramatic crilif, was moved ahead from the second to the first act with hi- monolog "irf.aid of Mesh'' was also transferreil to the early section. George B. Kaufman's card game skit was sent into the sec >id act where, too, Frances Mahan with Snow and Columbus were alloted a dance •pot before the silver drop. Mlsm Mahan's specialty was cut at the pre- miere and she cried plenty. Phil Baker who was^'ncxt to closing" was also moved up. Tuesday's combination newspapers citrried extra space for the "Music Box Revue" because of the curtailed circulaticnw whereby Kome reviews may not have been read. Stories reaching New York from the Coast within the past few weeks tell of liquor drinking out there rivalling some ol it that is going on now among people on the New York stages. On tbe Coast, however, the stage drinkel^< arc getting themselves talked about by lay people. The names of three well known women of the stage are freely bandied about along the Coast as examples of show people who drink. It Is not doing the stage out there any good and it won't do the stage In general any good. In New York it Is not so well known outside of show circles but a well known professional woman now on Broadway l^^ even linked on the Coa>t with the names of those out there as a notorious drinker One of the women on the Coast Is said to receive a drir.k after every scene by her husband, who stands in the wings. Naturally before the play flnlsbes ber condition becomes apparent and is tallied about by the audience. , Another of tbe trio hit It up so hard In San Francisco he collapsed, causing the theatre management a severe loss She reopened later. From accounts the picture people on the Coast are taking no pains to atop the spreading of the stories. They believe the stage people did nothing to prevent the dope party stories of the film players. They prefer to mention the booze thing to counteract the hop charges. The Idea of those on the Coast who believe something should be done is that If Augustus Thomas Is the "Czar" of the spoken stage he might Interject his influence or investigate. Although all of the women Just now are not in the legit, one Is from the legitimate and now in vaudeville Contrary to report the Cortlcelll Silk Company Is n»t floancially backing the Irene Castle touring show. The firm denies any connection with the show. , ' f The newspaper strike was recognized by three Broadway press agents as an opportunity to get out their own papers. 'Will A. Tage so acted for the Zlegfeid attrHCtlons; Murdock Pemberton pulled the stunt for William Harris, Jr, and Charles Washburn for Wager^ials and Kemper. Both the latter "issues" were one sheet affairs of tabloid size, called "Ritz Daily News," with matter anent "In Love With Love" at the Ritz, and "The Breaking Point" at the Klaw. I'.ige's product wVis more amliiticus. It was a four-page paper printed somewhat along the lines of a daily and of regulation size. Twenty-five thousand were run off. Under the name of "People's Daily News" issued "every little while during the strike," it had the policy of 'News, old r.ew's and such news as you never heard of." There were fanciful stories «n Marilyn Miller and Leon Eircl who are playing a repeat dale in "Sally." There was a comedy story on the central ticket office which nevet came eft but which Zlegfeid was opposed to. There w.as a feature story sup- posed to tell how women ruin their beauty, by Ziegfeld; stories on the •■Follies," an editorial on "clean shows' and a "worning adv." about there %eing but one "Follies' and "don't be misled by any camouflaged "Follies." There were also two advertisements which might have been paid for, one from a caterer and the other an auto supply house. The opening next week of the Capitol, Albany, N. Y . as a week-stand Is a matter of concern in bookings. Albany has been a (hree-day town. The premiere Monday evening is to be an event of importance In Albany. A Joint management of the Capitol prevails, It having been taken over when the two "syndicates" were friend^. Robert E Forbes will be the manager In charge. The house seats 1,400, It Is claimed. John J. Osborne of the Shubert office looked it over last week and Al Aarons, for the Xlrianger office was up there this week. The Littleton Productions Co. Is presenting "Where la Your Wife?" at the 49th Street next week. The show opened last week in Baltimore under the name of "Love and Money." There are 11 stockholders In the pro- ducing coriwration Including the Shuberts and Arthur Klein, the latter beading the company. The play was written by the late Emlle Nytray and was first put on in Cleveland stock with Jack Norworth, under the title of "What's In It for Me." Herbert Hall Winslow aided In doing the play over but it Is reported most of the original script has been r^ained Channing Pollock Is as good a publicity pusher as he is an author or writer. He's not bad as a publicity maker, evidenced by his general all around crackerjack work for "The Fool," but what Mr. Pollocl. stirred up In Chicago with a couple of critics must have made Channlng's heart well up as he saw what he saw wthout half trying (and "The Fool'' running at tbe Belwyn In Chicago during the turmoil). Pollock's principal battle was with Ashton Stevens of the Chicago "Herald-Examiner" but It extended to Shep Butler of "The Tribune," Butler made It worse (or better) by nearly turning over a Sunday section to the agitation of Pollock and "The Fool" vs. The Field. Somehow Ashton Stevens got the impressior^ Channing Pollock was talking all over the lot to exploit his play. After giving "The Fool" a good notice, Stevens arcnRrrt Cbnmiitig of the exploiting thing. Stevens said It in his paper. Seeing it in print, Mr. I'ollock answered It on his typewriter. To prevent only the typewriter knowing it, Channing sent a copy all over the country. One paragraph Channing crushed down on paper was; "7 am glad you called my piece 'the Ford of plays.' I hope it may do AS much, good as the Ford has done, and I am Mire Chnut nevei aspired to being the Rolls-Royce of Teachers." ^ The Chicago "Herald-Examiner" printed this letter with Stcvtins' com- ment that a man with the wit to write the Ziegfeld "Follies" was r/astlng hia time writing "The Fool," and a comparison between Pollock and Frederick Lotujdaje, authoj o? '.Spring Cl^aiiiiin,' who, "while Pollock ila addressing welfare socjeties', is playing bridg<- at the Chicago CUib, or (Continued on page 31) BERT ST. JOHN BACK Agatn Ganaral Managar f«r B. C. Whitnax . . ■ Bart St. John, who for 11 yaara waa genera] manager for B. C. 'Wliltney until eight years ago, when he retired from shew busi- ness, baa returned to ofBclatc in the same capacity for Whitney. Lionel Atwill In "The Heart of Cellini," a new i/lay by Anthony Wharton, will play the New Detroit opera house for the initial engage- ment week of Oct. 15. The show will then play two more weeks on tour when B. C. Whitney, Rs pro- ducer, will bring It to New York. "WHITE CARGO," NEW C. Joficph Mulligan, who maii.-.gtd "The Last Warning" at the Klaw, New York, last season Is turning his t' Icnts toward producing and i.s sponnoring "White Cargo,'' a com- edy-drama by Leon Gordon, which goes into rehearsal next week. A. E. Anson Is engaged. The story of the play revolves around a while man who has mar- ried a colored woman. Gordon, the author, will stage the pla](. "THTJMBS DOWK" CLOSING Baltimore, Sept. 26. "Thumbs Down" closes Saturday, after winding up its fourth week on the road. It opened heVe to poor business and criticisms that were absolutely vicious in their gtneral tone. The piece played four weeks at the 40th St. in New York, two werkp in Philadelphia, a week at Washington, and its final week at the Auditorium, Baltir))«re. with but few ol the original caf^t mcmhns rtmnlninp. LEAj)S in no. 2 '-MERTON" (Secrge C. Tyler Is assembling' a second company of "Mcrton of the Movies," scheduled to open at the Lyceum, Rochester, Oct. 8. Nell Martin and Jean May will head the cast. Henry Starr, Colored, Arrested Oakland, Cal, Sept. 26. Henry Starr, colored, claiming to be a member of the original •"Shuffle Along," will be tried In the police court Oct. 3 on a charge of battery and resisting an offleer. The arrest was the outcome of a row In West Oakland, the colored section here. Wm. H. Bender's Strange Death Los Angeles, Sept. 26. The Ceath of William H. Bender developed mystery when traces of poison were found In his stomach. The deceased was manager for Guy Bates Post. H. & H. Minstrels Close Harvey and Henry Minstrels, who opened In the South five weeks ago. closed last Saturday night in Piedmont, W. Va. LEGIT ITEMS A second company of Give and Take" opened Monday in Pittsfield, Mans. Barney Ward Is appearing In the Louis Mann role and Nathan Sacks In the George Sidney part. Bee Palmer for the new Ziegfeld "P'ollies." Borr, Mayo and Renn for "Bal Tabaren."" Edith Taliaferro, Percy Warren, Charlotte Granville, Mona Kingsley and Marjory Chard, "A Love Scandal.'" John Byam has replaced Bernard Granville In "Vanities"' at- the Car- roll. Granville has Joined "Go-Go" on tcur. Jerome Flynn, assistant treasurer of the Hudson for a number of years, is now with George M. Cohan's office. His berth In the Hudson box office has been taken by John Hnll. The fourth "Barney Google' about to go Into rehearsal. Is Harry Ruby and Bert Kalmar are writing the music for tiic musical version of "Nothing But Lies" which Aaron Hoffman and Eddie Buzzell arc preparing. Florcnz Zeigfeld has rented from Strauss & Company, the five-story building at 614 West 43rd street, to be used as a warehouse. The build- ing has 30,000 square feet. .V V BEDSIDE CHATS By NELUE REVELL V; Somerset Hotel, New York, Everybfdy'a glad to know you're getting batter, Nail; Glad you're home again along the lane you love ao well. Withycur leva ana faith in God^you heaven'd every hell; Broadway'a haarta ara glad to know you're getting better, Nell. .1 William Jerome. :i Though I don't even know the name of the show ,or who Is* In it I'm attending rehearsals dally now, and unlike most of the profession I don't care how much longer I have to do It. In fact If It weren't tor the others who have to be there, I'd hope the show would never open and we could go on rehearsing for months. I'm never late for rehearsal either and I stay until even the stage director has gone home, but I don't feel the strain of going through number after number thre« and four times each. The secret of it all is that I can stay In bed the whole while, for from the vantage point of my pillows I can see. Into a rehearsal hall on 46th street and can even catch gllmp.ses of principals and chorus as they flit past the windows. Though It makes me a bit impatient to get back into harness again and really become a part of rehearsals once more, it la good to be bade even so close that I can see them. Many^(Hf the dance numbers sound familiar to mc and I ara quite sure that the other evening I heard the director explaining the business for one of the old Toby Icon's numbers and then putting the choru.s through It A male quartet Is evidently going to be one of the features of the attraction for their harmony has drifted into mc very often. The prima donna Is working hard also. Some of her notes may be blue«or flat for all I know, but I am quite sure nothing has seemed ic nit quite so heavenly as her voice. The premiere can't be far off for tlicy art rehearsing until the wee sma' hours almost every night, but I don't mind how late they keep me awake. And on that opening night if the public enjv\vs It Just half i,s much as I have, it is bound to be one of the biggest successes Broadway has ever seen. May it enjoy a long and prosperous season of clean racks, kind critics and lull weeks. Mu-Ic wa." not entirely absent from my life at the hospital for I lad a l.honograph for a while, numbers of sinyera and musicinns c'lme down to entertain m>. nnd several times I v.as th& recipient of band -oncerts by the Keith Boy's Band and one pent by the Drama Comedy Club. However, one evening last week I heard for the first timo since I had left Broadway a full orchestra rchcars.Tl. There were the br.isse^ and the .strings, the piano and the drums, all blended into a whole of a sweetness I had nlinost forgotten could exist. I imagined 1 could see the musical director, baton in hand, wcldint: each instrument In with the others. Only those who have been deprived o£ such music for ycaiH can imagine what it meant to me to he able to drink in the harmony once j.iore It was, like emerging at last from a cheerless, silent de: ert into an oasis of musical sound and 1 hope I am never senten^id again to such a long absence from the land of harmony. \ The musical intelllgentla have contracted a habit of sneering at much of our popular music—the tunes that are turned out by the bale from Tin Pan Alley. To me such an attitude is a good bit like looking down on flivver automobiles, comfortable shoes or mother's home-made pies. They perhaps could be a trifle more decorative and artistic but after aft there Isn't anything that quite matches them when It comes to keeping the morale and the happiness of the community up to such a high level. How conclusively thij was proven during the recent world disagree- ment! Men the nations had plenty of, powder they were well supplied with, but not all the powder in the world would have done those soldiers muc(i good had fhey not bad some means of keeping up their spirits. Many a charge over the top'Svas inspired by the various war songs of the nations and many a victory was achieved by fighters who sang while they battled. The genesis of almost every one of those songs was ip New York's Tin Pan Alley or In that of gome other nation, 'the men did not sing the operas nor thT mualc one goes to the symphony to hear; alwaya it was the simple ballad of the popular song-writer and these modest lyricists, I am sure, contributed Just as much toward the winning of the war ai did all the munition factories. As It was In war so It Is In peace, which has as many if not as bloody battles. To mo the men that can make a whole nation laugh and forget Its troubles mean more to the life of the people than all the intelllgentla lumped together. When I was In the hospital and hunting apartments by proxy and by letter, my one Idea was to get/ar above other buildings where n.y view of the sky and the clouds and the sun would be unimpeded. I was sura also that the last thing I wanted to look at was the rear facade of apart- ments and worttshops and if anyone had told me that I would epjoy that very sort of an outlook I would have merely said, "Applesauce" and main- tained my point without debate. « But here I am In the hotel on the fourth floor with buildings towering all about and I find many things to compensate me for the lost advantage of the heights. One Is the sight of a workshop where theatrical costumes are being made and the spectacle of deft fingers making beautiful materials into even more beautiful garments brings back glorious < memories of the days when 1 was so much concerned about the costum- ing of shows. Sequins, spangles, beads, silk and satins In the most wonderful shades I can see being moulded into visions that will delight the eyes of theatre- goers for months to come and I thrill at the ^thought that I am touching once more, though only the fringes, the whirl of theatrical life. I love beautiful things and I love the theatre and my nearness to beautiful things for the theatre more than makes up to me for anything eise my fourth-floor room might deprive me of. Good morning. Judge! I hope you're lenient with the people the police rounded up in that raid on 46th Street one night last wepl«. because I had more fun and excitement In the few minutes it was on than I've had since Hector was a cop—or pup. I could hear the night sticks pounding on the doors, hoarse .shouts from the raiders, the tinkling of a window pane as It suddenly entered the has-been class. Then I saw the uniformed men breaking into an apartment bearing invitations for those inside to go for^a nice, automo- bile ride in the control wagon (as Sam Morton says). It was Just as good as an old-fashioned crook melodrama and I didn't feel so badly about my enforced absence from the theatre that night. What it was all about and what sort of sentences the victims received I haven't heard. But I feel sure that when they know how much I enjoyed the show It will make up to them for having to spend a couple of months coaxing rock apart. 1 hope It will anyway Dear Dainty Mairc; The pretty, ".-^oft nill uws nrilVed. for which you have all my thanks. "I'retty soft." Is right. Clipper's Green Cover Know the Clipper" by its green cover. "The outdoor ^aper." Answers to numerous inquiries: Yes I can w.ilk Of ('i„is( I cinnot qualify ns a walking delegate yet, but I can t.ikr .i few steps I can also sit up and what s more 1 can sit down. tco. My heartfiil gratitude for every letter, wire, postal can', ir tflfphone call, I apyrrciiite them even If I haven't been able to ackno\ 'rdse them. Bead About the Bum Runners The Clipper is the only p. "Jer '" In the CMppc'r. The only Pi'ohibi-the world solely devoted to outddon tion Department published. entertainment.