Variety (December 1923)

Thursday, December 6,1923 LEGITIMATE VARIETY 15 \-3ja SIR JOHN MARTIN-HARVEY TIRES OF BOSTON; GOING TO CANADA Oiti.rH'n>000 Last Week at Opera House—^Thanks- giving Pleased Local Manager—White Show Drops—Cohan Show Grows 3 WASH. SHOWS HAVE VARIED GET 'Sail/ Did $37,000: San Carlo $17,000; 'Red Hawk' Not Over $3,500 GOOD NOTICES, UGHF BUSINESS FOR NEW SWEDISH BALLET ^ Di-.iiou. Dec. 5. The final kick in what is consid- ered tlie first liali of the soaoon at the leRilimato houses in tliiB city vas rcgislorcd last week whf;n^ the »hott« pi-yIns here rolled up afotal gropa tor the wcpV of nearly »1D0.- 000. This buainpss could be. tra.ed directly to the bu.iinrss done on Than';MKvln;5 Day and tlio. night be- fore, a.s businees around to.vn the first two days ot the v.-cci: had shown tlie same inclination to slump off that has been noticeable now for many v. e.-ks past. ThanU.sp.ivln!; was a l)it of a sur- prise to local s'.iowmen. In p'.st seasons i; has been mor'' or \".<\ of a lemon for big plcklnRS and him flivvered on them many timc-=. This year, however, the reversf^ was the case. Saturday night prices pre- vailed for the holiday shows at the Shuhert houses, with White's '■Scin- dals," playine the Colonial, tlie only one of tlie attractions p!a: ing the syndicate string to Jump prices fore. 000. As gdaled show could do $30,- Is fleured now that UTiitea shows booatcd the prices Just a liit too much and there wasn't the response noted as at the other theatres either afternoon or evening. The month at hand looks lein. There is nothing in the w.y ot a hoUdav to give business an added ■•acking up. and the football crowds have gone. With the dallie.5 tilled With ads for the Ghristrttaa seaFon and the trend of thought helm; that way the theatres are liable to feel the effect. Nothing startling In the way of business except in some Isolated instances Is looked for until New Year's. One of the sensations just mw is "So This Is I.K)ndon," at the Hollis. This show came In here with Coh.T '1 nam*, but little else In the wav or a rep. In the Ilrst week With eight performances and scaled at a t2.50 lop for ail performances It did J17.0C0. .Last week, the sec- ond. It did $21,000 with nine per- formances (extra show on Thanks- giving), but with the house still •caled the same. This business la almost record breaking for the Hollis. Seid6ra has It been equaled in the past, and Cohan's comedy looka good, unless his personal appearance here In "The Song and Dane* Man," which opened at the Selwyn Monday, cuts Into it. Another feature of the town s business was the flop registered at the Boston opera house by Sir John Martin-Harvey. The gross for his first week here was In the neighbor- hood of Jll.OOO. and so poor he Is leaving after ■this week and going direct to Canada. For a reason for this poor showing It ie said he hit Into one ot the worst weeks ot the year. On account of Thanksgiving mo»t of the schools and colleges around Boston were closed, and from them he expected to get his draw for the upper parts of the house. The floor was strong during the week, but the balconies way off. "Mary Jane" at the Shubert has developed remarkable strength. With nine performances last week. It drew close to $24,000, better by |4,000 than that of the week before. Aa a result the show will stay on for two weeks more. Cohan, opening In his "Song and Dance Man," Is relied upon to save the day for the Selwyn. This house, one of the bjest in town, has not had the best of breaks so far this sea- son. "Ilunnin' Wild," supposed to be a second "Shuffle Along." petered out after a few weeks, and then "The Old Soak." also recorded as a hit, did a nop at the house. "Two Fellows and a Girl," the Coh.nn show which ju.st finished there, followed the lead of its prcilecesaor. and after the first week had dlfflculty in mak- ing a gross of $8,000. It is now In the storehouse. AVith the personal appearance ot Cohan in his show the nece.s.«ary ^tinch seems to be at hand to give the house a good bre:;U. which it deserves. "Nellie Kelly" at the Tromont (re- peat) has held un excepl ioiially well. It was belter by $l,ono last weel; than the week befiue. playing tti $22,000. This is capacity for tlif ^tionsr at the smle and \* ii« )'<""! "t^ the busiiu'XB the fallow did v.l.i-ii it first opened. It has a big adv.ure sale registered for this week and is sure to i)l.iv to laiiacil.*. the ."il- vance .sale taking care of the .'.•141- plng tciidi'ncy that will piobalily af- fect many of the other iiUractioii.s. Last Week's Estimates "Scandals," Culniiial (4lli week). Rven with Thanksgiving f.iiled to play up to bin business. Did J^O.Ono last week; oft $4,000 from week be- Song and Danes Man," Selwyn (1st week). Bis business expected with Cohan appearing personally. His late show, "Two Fellows and a Girl," touched $8,000 with difnculty final week. "Ths Lady in Ermine," Wilbur (iRt week). Comes Into house that iia.s been making real money for money with "Sally, Irene and Mary." In final week that show did $15,500 tor eight performances, up $500 from week before. "80 This Is London," Hollls (Sid week). Flaying nine shows last v.'eek at J2.50 top did $21,000. Show buHds on all the time. ^'Noliii Kelly," Trsmont (4th week). Did $22,000 last week, ca- pacity. Better by Jl.OOO than week before. Looks good to touch same figure this week, last one here. "Mary Jane," Shutert (5th week.. With nine performances last week, this show, one of the strongest mu- .■iioala that have pla.i'ed the Shui;crt string here this season, did $24,000 last weclv. Here for two weeks more. "The Love Phild," Plymouth (3rd week). Did $1^^000 last week with eight shows, ^hout same figure run- ning to righr along. On last two weeks. Sir John fvlartin-Harvey, Boston Orern House C^iid week). Gros cl but $11,000. first week getting poo. break. La^t weel; at house. Wushlnglon, Dec. 6. "Sally" was a getter of business at the National last week. There ".as np let up. and although but six days were allotted the show the Thanksgiving business counteracted any loss from the Sunday night be- ing out. The San Carlo Opera Company, presenting a different opera at each performance, found the Italians loyal, but with the more exj)enstve .seats on the lower floor not hnvlnj; much demand. Some of the per- formance were criticized by the lo- cal musical writers, but In the main all were liked. The business done cannot be complained of. "The Red Hawk." under the di- rection and authorship of George Hroadhurst. worked through a week ot trying out at the Cnrrick, with possibly enough cash„ realised to I'over expenses. Kstimates for last week: National—"Sally," good $37,000, possible because of holiday prices Thursday and boost ot scale Satins' day night. Formerly In making these esti- mates It was a case of having the gross quoted at least ten grand above, now sober countenance Clar-'' ence Wiiletts, manager for Zlegfeld. renortcd the gross at $1?.000. Poll's—"The San Carlo Opera Company. I4ght attendance down- stairs, but with scale able to get about $17J)00. Garrick—"The Red Hawk." Lib- eral estimate, $3,600. On for One Week at PhiUy—"Kiki" Does Smashing Final Period—"The Fool" Set Through Holidays and "Clinging Vine" GeU Third Week PADER£WSKI, $12,000; FARRAR ONLY $3,000 Pianist Far Outdraws Singer in Same Place—Farrar Got Auditorium Last Minute TICKET CO. NOT EESTBAINED John A. .Mahone.v, Robert M. Burke and Phillip A. Weiss may continue operating the Premier Theatre Ticket Co., Inc. on the Hotel Broadv.ay-CIarldge premises. New York, according to a court de- cision in their favor. Walter Stewart and Gus Rosen- blltt petltlonod the New York Su- preme Court for a restraining or- der on the ground they held a'lease giving them exclusive permission to conduct a ticket office In the hotel for which they ar« paying $10,200 annual rental for a small store with a six-foot Broadway frontage. Justice Daniel F. Cohalan refused to issue an Injunction sustaining the defendants' contention the lease made no specific mention of any ex- clusive franchise to the plaintiffs for the sale ot theatre tickets. Morris M. Glaser, president of the 160 West 44th Street Realty Com- pany, Inc., another co-defendant, to- gether with the 150 West 44th Street Realty Company, Inc., In an affi- davit set forth he had advised Stew- art and Rosenblitt that Joe Leblang and the Waters Sisters were among others negotiating for theatre ticket locations 'on the Claridge premises, to which no objection was mriJe. MAUDE HANLON'S BEQUESi wilt Receive Bulk of Al'jcrt Folk's $150,000 Estata HACEAY'S NET ESTATE, $3,708 The net estate of Frank F. Mac- kay, who died at Coytesvllle. N. J., last May, has been appraised at $3,708. It Is divided between his three sons, Clarence D.. W- A. and Eldward J. Mackay. The elder Mac- kay was 91 years old when he died. He went on the stage In the late 60's. He was one of the directors of the Actor's Fund, organired the Actors' Church Alliance and various other theatrical orders. "LOLLIPOP" AND CAST "Lollypop," the revised edition ot "The Left-Over," a musical by Zelda Sears and Vincent Youmans, will get under way at Poll's. Water- bury, Conn., tomorrow (I'Yiday) night, and follow into the Tremont. Boston. Mnulay for a nm. Ada Mae Wieks will again he.ad the cast, which includes Zelda .Sears, Ktorencc Webber, Rosamond Whiteside, Virginia Smilh, Adore Aiiiliews, Aline .Mitilll. Il.irry I'u<k. (ills Shy, Nick Long. .Ir . and others. KATHERINE LYONS ANNOUNCES I'.DSiiiii, i)fc. r>. Katlierlne I.yniis. dramatic editor and critic of the "liostoii Tr.ivcler." surprised her. a.ssociates by an- nouncing her eii,;.igemint to Her- man liletzer of Boston. .St.ige celebrities including Kddle liuwling Hal Skelley and Klizabclli Mines Joined her assoriates (»m the "Traveler" and "IliraUi" in giving her a »iirpii.-e Uinnur. With the withdrawing of all ob- .Icctlons to the will of the late Al- bert Falk. wealthy tobacco man. by his brother, Arthur. Maude Han- lon, actrees. of 241 West 97th street. Mew York. Is frei to Inherit the bulk of an estate estimated In value at around $150,000. No account In . of It has been taken. Falk. who died Jan. 25 last, under a will dated Nov. 3, 1922, bequeathed the residuary of his estate to "my fiancee, Maude Hanlon." Arthur Falk, the brother, con- tested the will's validity on the al- legation it was executed under "duress and the undue influence ot Maude Hanlon or someone who acted for her." The decedent set forth that no provision Is made for Arthur, his brother, because "his financial condition needs no bequest from me." Other bequests were to friends, relatives, the United He- brew Charities, et al. BSppsteln A Azman represented Miss Hanlon and Dlttenhoefer Sc Flshel the estate. ' CABUSO CONCEBTS' PROFITS Francis C. Copplcus. who has fig- ured In legit managerial circles as a producer, is primarily a concert manager. His relations with the late Bnrlco Caruso figured In the trial of an accounting suit this week in ths New York Supreme Court by Mrs. Rosa B. Scognamlllo, executrix of tier late husband's estate. Copplcus is being sued for a nhare of tli« profits derived from the Caruso concerts. Mrs. Scogna- mlllo alleges her hunband was re- sponaible for bringing Copplcus and Caruflo together. Bruno ZIrato, former secretary to Caruso, testlfled In Copplcus' behalf that the gifted tenor was exceed- ingly ■vexed when he learned that Scognamlllo had thus commercial- ized their friendship. Justice Davis reserved decision. Atlanta, Dec. 5. Ignace Paderewskl outgro^sed Gcr- aldiiio I'"avia!- practically tour to one last w<«k despite the extra pub- licity given the singer when barred from two churches because of her sensational interpretation ot a "Znsa" role three years ago when appearing here with Metropolitan ^rand opera. Paderewskl took $9,000 away from Atlant;!. p'ay'nj? 75 per cent net of all gate. In addition his manager would allow only 20 passes. Includ- ing the grilles. The houae was es- timated at $12,000, the biggest in years at the City Auditorium, with a $4.40 top and $1.50 in the roof. This was Wednesday night, with the onrush ot Thanksgiving day visitors already here la> full force. The attendance was around ,'>,000, Two nights later In the same au- ditorium Farrar sang before 2,600 people, but ot that she doubled the crowd that would have htard her at the Wesley Memorial church, where the concert had first been planned. The gate approximated $3,000 and Glorious Gerry took away $2,300, It was announced. Her top wua $2.75, and the arena was filled. In addition to being barred from Wesley Memorial, one ot the leading Methodist churches In the city, Far- rar also was barred from the Bap- tist Tabernacle—and all ' ecnuse of the afore-mentioned dressing room scene in "Zaxa.' The auditorium was obtained aftec-A burst of fever- ish activity by promoters, who per- suaded a high school to postpone a minstrel production booked for the big house. The I'aderewskl concert waa sponsored by the Atlanta Music club, which lost money on a Farrar concert three or four years ago. For the Paderewskl concert the promoters had no dlfflculty In filling the house., Hundredis of Atlantans went to the auditorium Friday night to hear Farrar because ot the front page stories that heralded the fact ot her being barred from the church after a contract for the concert had be^n signed by the Church Activities As- sociation. The pastor of Wesley Memorial church was transferred two weeks ago at the annual conference. One reason for his removal after five years' service, according to reports In conference circleit, was that Far- rar had been booked at the church. Ministers took an adverse view ot this action and the plans for the concert were abruptly halted Wed- nesday when Dr. W. H. I^Prade, Jr.. presiding elder for the North Atlanta district, announced the con- cert could not be held at the church. PALM, OMAHA, CLOSED BY FIBE Omaha. Dec. 6. The Palm, musical stock and movies. Is closed as the result of an early morning fire which badly dam- aged the Interior of the house and destroyed the wardrobe and stage settings of the company. "Highwayman" at Playhousa Xmai Chicago. Dec. 5. Joseph Schlldkniut. K'ile Rirl- Jott and (Jrant Stewart will be In "The Highwayman," which Lester riryant will open at the I'layhouse Cbri.Htmaa. "Children of the Moon" has been • xteniled to Dec. 22 in the same liouse. Dayton. O., Dec. 6. Mary Garden appeared here .Saturday under the auspices of the Junior League, playing to a gross of $7,S00. Ot this amount $.1,.'',00 was turned over for charities. The flardcn concert became'* so- cial affair, drawing 5.000 people to Memorial ball. Some umiuestlon- ably wanted to see and hear Mary, but most of the mob wanted to look at the local celeh.s. all dressed up. Philadelphia, Dec. 5. Only two of the eight legttlmat-> theatres had extra matinees las vz-eek, but even without the aid of this added performance grosse.i jumped for every show in town. It was undoubtedly thb biggest all- around week of the season, though lacking In some of the towering grosses that were reported earlier In the fall at certain houses. The big noise was "Xlki." With- out an extra performance it beat it< two previous weeks by a substantial figure. The three weeks' engage- ment of the Belasco success was un- doubtedly one ot the biggest money- makers Philly has had in years, and could play a return booking without any trouble. The gross tor the three weeks totaled $73,736. tV.c final week's takings having been $28,788. So encouraging was the business that it has been decided to hold ovei- "The Clinging 'Vina" for a third week. Previously it was planned to leave the house dark the two weeks before Christmas because ilo Spok- Ings could be secured. Accordingly "Scandals" Is coming in Chrlstmaj week tor a fortnight, with "Vani- tles" tu follow, also for two weeks. After that it la underatood that the house will get "The Covered Wagon" flkn. This week saw two openings—th5 Swedish Ballet and "The First Year." The former, at the Shubert. had con- siderable papering and ahows little sale (It is In for only a single week), but some excellent noticss may halp It at least break evsn. "The First Year," at the aarrtck. was the occasion of a baneflt for the Olrl Scouts, and eomplcta capacity was expectad but did not material- ize. There was a fin* houaa at the opening, but two or three rowa were completely out. Tha notlcea were as lauditory aa expected, and the fjolden comedy ought to clean ap big i|(>oney In Ita short stay (Ave weeksN^nly). It Is the fifth big suc- cess the Oarrick ha« had this year. Next Monday will also sa« two openings—Sothern and Marlowe's Shakespearean repartoira angage- ment of two weeks, starting at the Shubert. and "Polly Preferred." opening for four weeks at tha Wal- nut. Dec. 17 the Broad, following the long tenure of "Lightnin'." will again break Into the "flrst-nlght" class with Alice ' Brady's "Zander the Great," which Is In for three weeks. Estimates for last wMk: "Liohtnin"* (Broad, 12th week). Up again last week, with extra mat- inee and holiday Influx, grossing nearly $14,000. Goes out on 16th. Swedish Ballet (Shubert, one week only). Opened to unexpectedly good, notices but not much business. "Lady In Krmine" $16,000 In final " "Tha FIrrt Year" (Oarrick, 1st week). Not capacity opening, but much onthusl.-ism and fine notices. In for five weeks only. "KIkl," $26,- 000 final week. "Tha Clinging Vina" (Forrest. 2d week). Not type that would usually fill Shubert, but won fine notices and was one of two houses to give extra matinee. Gross reported at around $22,000, probably trifle high Stays an extra week, house then be- ing dark until Christmas. "Red Light Annie" (Walnut. 2d week). Final week, which didn't benefit by publicity given to en- forced cuts. No extra matinee, but capacity Thursday night, and ^ross nearly $10,000. "Tha White Sister" (Chestnut, 4th week). Far better than expected. Likely to complete nice run now. No underline. "Pvtnars Again" (Lyric, 2d week). Off bX opening of week, but came back strong holiday performances. About $11,000. "Tha Fool" (AdelphI, 4th week). In stride now and went to about $14,500 last week. Ought to ride easily tiirough holidays. TBUCE WITH TBANSFEB MEN A .30-clay trine h.as iK'en (ierlarod belwiiun the Iheatrlcal transfer men and tlii-lr emiilnyes, who move shows ill and out of .\ew York. A time limit for nmctlng demands of the employes fnr ,i wage increase ex- pire,! last K.itunlay, but was ex- lendiHl until Dec. 30. It is said the men. who wi le re- liorted lo have asked one-third In- crease over the present wane sc.ile have modified their rcqiiist In the Interest of pcuco. MRS. KOLKEB'S DIVOBCE Lillian B. Kolker was awarded a separation decree from J. Henry Kolker, film director and actor. In the New York Supreme Court Justice I'roskauer ruled In the plaintiff's favor off the bench since Kolker did not defend the action, although appearing through counsel. BATES ESTATE f 716,000 Oswego, N. Y., Dec. 5. A state appraisal of the property left by the late Norman L Uutes, owner of the Richards theatre here, fixes the value at $716,612. Ot this the widow gets $427,000. and the re- mainder Is divided equally amony four children. Bates died lost May.