Variety (January 1924)

ThursHay, January 10,198* LEGITIMATE ■^-"i.K* • ;■ •*• - VARIETy u \ WOOD REPORTS DIDN'T HELP FISH stock Manager Lost Financial Sponsor FoHowino News- paper Accounts A L. *''sh, who waa associated witli the now famous Leonard Wood, Jr In ■everal stock enterprlaes, flndg kimself, through no fault of hla own, In a position very similar to that of being In the hands of a receiver, FUh who bear* art excellent reputa- tion In stock circles, opened Dec. 24 with a company at the Pulton opera house. Lancaster, Pa., a theatre in vrhlch Wood recently hcid a com- ' pany. " The opener was "The Cinderella '■ Man" with business reported very igood. Suddenly the Wood scandal broke and for one reason or an- other Fish's backers withdrew their support. The mnn.Tcrement of the FuUon, seeing that Lancaster promi.sed to patronize the stock regularly, de- cided to finance "the proposition themselves. They took everytliinqr but the actual management out of Fish's hands and played "The Woman in Room LT' last week to what l9 reported to have been big business. Thla week the attraction is "lUre Comes tlie Kride" with the show- again financed by the FuUon ttv.iu- agemer.t and Fi.sli having no limi - rial interest in the comptu^j' he started. STOCKS A new niuJca! stock op*n.s Jan. 14 at the Castle Square, I?j«t():\ with "Irene" the first presentation. The company is known att the Berkeley Amusement Co. and is the Orst stock organization to play the Castle Sqiittre in many years. Lew AVelch, Robert Brister, Ze<h Arnold and Robert Cunningham are new acquisitions to the Harder-Hall Players at th'e Trent, Trenton. They •r» all to have Important roles in the first Btock presentation of •TVhat a Wife," the Songer A Jor- dan farce which recently had a short but varied career on Broadway. This is to be played at the Trent next week (J.an. 14>. Ed Vailo has replaced Walter Baldwin as leading man «ilh tiio For.sythe Players, Atlanta. Another change In this company (s the en- gagement of Angela Ward to follow Dorothy Stlckney as Ingenue. The Lyceum, Pittsburgh, with stock under the m.anagement of W. H. V.'riglit, closes this week with "PcvIIyanra " The company rtartcd •ii weeks ago, with poor business causing the shut-down. Stock pitron'i in the province.? are demanding bills of Broadway reputation and will not patronize •tandart stock billn, according to a stock impresario who haa tried it both ways. "They're getting to be carstul choppers," he ad^ed, "and unless you give Ihoin what they want you'll iml U at the box oince." Some of the smaller fitocks that had been operating on limited Iwnk- roHs have been compelled to throw up the sponge after a inr losing weeks, mainly because of high royal- ties asked for the newly released The Influx o£ holiday attractloas attractions with ti Broadway repu- Openinp their 93fh week. tl'C for- mer Forsyth Players, Atlanta, have become knnwn as the Lyric Players. Incidentally, they have made it easier for the theatregoing public to describe where they were attend- ing a show. Along with the change In n.arae, r:dwln Vail has become director, .succeeding W.ilter Baldwin, who lias left to reorganize the old Bald- win-Melville stock companies. An- other cli.'inKe l.^ the iippeamnce of Angela Warde as tngeniie, playing for the first tin.o in 'Her Tempoi .iry Husband" this weo'- S' • ■•.-..1,1 "tWfOthy Sti,.Uney. DANCES HELD AS BABDIT Albany, Jan. I. One of three bandits held hero for the attempted hold-up of the night clerk of the Hampton Annex has been Identified aa Pete Laurie, a dancer, whose home U ia Jersejr City. Laurie bad been dancing In cab- arets here. He admitted his part la the attempted stlck-up, and is he»d for the Grand Jury. He is 21 years old. STOCK HOUSE SHORTAGE IS NOTED EVERYWHERE Manag«rs in New York Unable to Find Houses in Desir- able Locations The shortage of theatres in the big legitimate field is duplicated in the matter of stock houses, accord- ing to Laura Tlntle, of the Paul Bcott dramatic agency. Miss Tiu- tle states that In her oRlce are half a dozen companiA already organ- ized :ind financed, but they arwlylng idle because the mar.ugcrs cannot get desirable theatres. These man- agers are willing to rent or play on a shaiing basis. This situation, she claims. Is not merely local but obtains every- v.liere in the country. The former stock houses are now playing pic- tures or small time vaudeville, and the stock company is In these cases shut oVit. This Is a condition which. Miss Tintle allows, must adjust it- self. The Scott ofBce this week bookqd Howard Miller to replace Wlljper Walter in the leads of the Audi- torium stock company. Lynn. Mass.; alto Edwin Vail as director of the Forsyth Players, Lyric, Atlanta. York. This 1:^ the second Newark house to announce a tut within a week. Ivan Miller, who has been leading man for Belle Bennett at Wilkes' Alcazar. San Francisco, and who cloned his engagement last week, has joined IColb and rHll In "A Big Reward." Miller succeeds Charles L. Marsfh in the principal juvenile roU^. Marsh .'iucceeded Edward Woods, who created the part. Five stock companies, are said to be operating on a weck-to-week ba- sis, taking advantage of the optional closing clause, which gives them the right to close at any time after no- t_icc without paying the regulation two weeks' salary demanded by I'Jquity. None of thein is getting en- couraging business. Alfred Sweiison leaves the New Bedford stock company, Jan. 12, to play leads and direct a similar company at Richmond, Va. His wife, Lorie Palmer, also le'avea New Bedford to take the role In a forth- coming Brock £eml)erton produc- tion In New York. Howard Miller made his Initial appear.ance as new leading man with the Century Players at the Auditorium, Lynn, Mass., in "The Man Who Came Back," Jan. 7. He succeeds Wllmer Waller, who has been with the company since last Septenriber. The Robbins stock \7hlch* re- cently closed its season at the Ma- jestic. Utica, N. Y., reopened at the Avon, Watertown, last week. Miriam Desmond hao loft the H.irdcr-Hall Pliiyers at the Trent, Trenton, and Peggy Hastings is now leading woman. Dwlght A Meade h.'is left the F-mpire stock, Salem. M-uss.. where lie was leading man. The Mack Pl.iyers, Lynr. M.ass., have Howard Miller as le'id. suc- ceeding Wilmer W.iUon LETTER TO MRS. FISKE McLaughlin Answer* Belaaco's At- tack Upon Him In a fppoc'.i lo (!;• an i; "v-j in ><ewark, N. j., Mau.ie P'.mIv an- ' uunccsl th;.t beginning with next v'Pok she would cut the top from »1 to 75 cents ind propo-tion.ately. Misa I'e.ily ,-v|3o ^^u g^o hod lost money for the 1 i&l four we«ks and would wait 30 iU,yn before deciding If .'•Ik- could stay in Newark or move her ttock to C'levelanJ, She .added that rext weok she would do "Uose- •nne, wUch U omt »l«f loc to M«v Ti.e ^'..rar.d stock. I!r>l)r>k<>r, closvd l-ist week. The liouse will revert to p'Icturcs. l>oroti',y Se.irle and iirues West h.we joltwd the stuck a", il.e State. Springfield, Mass. Mel Kelly h,%» repl.xce.I Ji.-k Mr- Kenii\ with tho CarUor. PI lyers, at th9 Stir. Pawtucket, R I. The breach between David Bc- lasco and Rot>ert McL.-vughlin, man- ager of the^Ohlo theatre, Cleveland. over Mrs. Flske's engagement was widened when the Clevelandcr ad- dressed a letter to Mrs. Fiske con- taining tjome sharp references to Belaaco. He refused to apologize to the star, saying he had nothing to apologize for. Belasco, when told of the letter, said he was going to Cleveland per- sonally when Mrs. Fisike plays there and addre.<is the public on the subji^t. He reiterated that neither Mrs.1?Mske nor any other Belasco production would play the Ohio so long as McLaughlin continues as manager. Following Is McLaugtilln's letter, addressed to Mrs. Flskc a: the Powers theatre. Chicago: December 29, 1920. Dear Mrs. Flske: The Times Square Daily Dec. 23 contains a lengthy fulmlnation from Mr I'.pI.-ihoo as a result of a dis- agreement we have hail dver tlio terms for your attraction In Cleve- land. In.this diatribe Mr. Belasco charges me with Insulting you; wilh bl.ickinail. and other crimes ton numerous to catalog. He demands among other things Ihat I apologize to you. 1 ah.Tll not apologize, for the sim- ple and obviously adeciuato reason that thert is ncrthing to apolojizo for. The controversy between Mr. Belasrn and me has been one of dol- lars and cents purely. Your eminence as an artiste h.as not been Im- ptigneil. nor, Indeed, was it even in- volved, until Mr. Belasco. by a subterfuge altogether unworthy of him. sou{;ht to project your person- ality into the equation, insisting that you have been Inaalted and nuiligned. I regret that the stern demands of the landlord, the trade unions, the butcher, the baker and candlestick maker have put the cost of operat- ing theatres in provincial cities like Pittsburgh. Detroit and Cleveland far beyond the meager returns af- forded by the sharing terms de- manded by the Important producers. I have had the experience In this city of eeelng. week after week, the man.agers of attractions playing our theatres walk off with fat profit checks in their pocliets and the the- atre for the same week charge up an actual loss On the engagement. I recite these sordid* details to indicate to you tiiat squUbbles o\er terme are constantly recurring in Uie consld€>ration of sharing con- tracts and that such controversies are entirely extraneous to the artis- tic standing of stars or the beauti- tudes of certain gloritkd Ihcatric.il managers. With assurances of my deepest reg.ard and with best wishes fur tho new year. I beg to rem.iln. Y'ours mo.st sincernly. • ROBKRT McLArGIlUX. "HELEN" INFRINGEMENT? Elaine Sterne Carrington Starts Action—Julia Chandler'Involved Alleging Infringement of "Helen of Troy. New Y'ork," Klaine Sterne Carrington has brought New York Supreme Court proceedings against Julia Ch.andler. George S. Kaufm.an, Marc Connelly. Rufus Le Malrc. George Jessel. Sidney "Wilmer and Walter M. Vincent for nn Injunc- tion restraining the further produi-- tlon of the musical comedy. 'Helen of Troy"; also '.i .accounting of ll'c profits, and suitable damages. Miss Carrington, represented by O'ltrien, Malcvlnsky & Drlscoll. si-ts forth that prior to Oct. 1'.', ir>L'2, she wrote a play and created the title of "Helen of Tro.v, New York," which she submitted on thit dale to Julia Chandler, ai her pl.-iy broker, for disposal. That "upon information and belief. Julia Chand- ler, in viiil.ation of her agreement, and for the purpose of defriiiiding pl.alrtiff. secretly c.'iuse<l or iiermlt- ted n. cn|>y of sriid dramitic rom- poslti'in to b'? made by dfreii!.!.n.l.-i. I/cM.iire .nnd Jessel. . . ." Kiufn,an .and Coanelly are cn- deferidanls, nn the authors uf tl.e musii-ai como<ly. Albert Moore hi* j.lined the Burns-rc*sp«r stock Wilmington. JDoc BACK TO LEGIT Til.' -\stor and 41th St . wl,i. ii I.ave been housmg picture specials fur the last couple of seasons, revert to the legit in two weeks. "Hufif hbuck of Notre Dame" is at the Asfor and "Scaramouche" it tbe BROADWAY STORY tContinued from pa.ge 11> $17,006 (extra nvotlnee); "Rain" was as strong as ever with nearly »16.- 000 wtthout an added performance, and "Seventh Heaven" beat (14,000 in nine performances. "The Pot- ters" picked up with nearly $14,000 In la.<»t week. That Hgure was ap- proximated also by "The Other Rose" in 10 performances, but the chances for a run are not stronir. Two of the non-musicals which were consistently among tho leaders through the fall fell down. "Aren't We All" slipped ot the Gaiety, and "The Ltillaby" dropping markedly at the Knickerbocker. The latter attraction has been oft ' since changes were reported In the book. "Aren't We All" looked set for the season, but the withdrawal of Cyril Maude reeulted in business tum- bling. "Lo(lil>op" is named for the Knickerbocker Jan. 21 and on the same date the Gaiety wilt . get a itpcclal picture "The Dramatic Life of Abraham Lincoln." After an- other week also "Henry IV" a Piran- dello play Is due to succeed "The Alarm Clock" at the 39th Street. Many Switches Considerable switching Is dated tor the next two weeks on Broad- way as tho-result of weakness at i. e box office. Monday "The Dan ccrs" which was going strong at the Broad'hurst wiH move from the Amboseador back to the original house. The Ambassador will get "For All of Us" moving from the 49th Street, the latter house getting a new play "Gypsy Jim." "Toptca of 1$23 " wiii shid from the Broad hurst to the Winter Garden. "Mary Jane McKane" may be moved from the Imperial to the Astor whlchc has been in films and the Imperial will then get "Innocctit Eyes," the Mis tinguett show. Busineas this week was expected to be a clean-up along Broadway by virtue of tho automobile show crowd. Monday and Tuesday, how- ever, were claimod to be ordinary, and that the show to spotted for uptown may explain the failure of bigger attendances. Neither did the downtown cabarets benefit to any extent by thq motor shows. Three attrjkctlons will leave this week, "The Wild Wescotts," whicti stops at tho Frazee; "The Blue Bird." a holiday revival at Julson'u, and "The Greenwich Vill.ige Fol- llee," which goes on tour from the Winter Garden. Three sudden clos- ings marked la»t S.vturday. when the Swedish Ballet departed from the Century Itoof. "Time Rxplred" at tVie Punch and Judy and "Chains" left tho Playho'ise. "Tlie New Poor" siicecetled Mordny and wa« well regarded. On that even-ing also "Outward Bound" debutto< lut the Ritz and waa accorded ex'jeptional notic*-.«. Six New Ones Next Week Six new attractlon.i are carded for next w ck: "The Miracle." which li.is been twice po.slponed at the Century; "The Road Together" at the Frazee, "Fan.shastlcs" at the Henry Miller, "Gypsy Jim" at the 49th Street, and tho Moscow Art Theatre which returns for a sec- ond repeat ergagemer.t of six weeks at Jolson's. "The Magic Ring," with MItzl, topped the subway circuit Ia.it week with close to $20,000 at the Shubert, Newark; "Sally, Irene and Mary." with liddie Dowling. did \ory well with a gross of $16,800 at the Ma- jestic. Brooklyn: Raymond Hitch- cock in "The Old So.ak" went to nearly $14,000 at the Broad Street, Newark; "Dew Drop Inn" was a lit- tle under that mark at the Rivera; "Itvd Light Annio" got $10,000 at the Bronx Opera House. Lilt of Buys Growing This week the amount ot buys which the brokers are carrying on current attractions leaped to 28 In number, with Monday and Tuesday nights lindliig the broker.i dumping to tlic cut r-ile-i on attractions where they could not •■.^rnl^ back" what- ever they were overboard on. One of tho newer attractions on the street turned out as an "y\pril Fool" joke on the broker.s, a num- l«>r ot whom cirt the niimlter of seats allotted to them oh the buy for tho Ikldle Cantor show. "Kid Boot"." figuring th.at the $r. 50 box office top might crimp the demand. Instead of cleaning up, these brok- ers are now shopping around among the more fortunate one.-i, try- ing to Rf't si-ats to nil their order.-". The buy on the "IJools" show I.- about 4D0 a night. "The Wild Westcotts." at the Frazee. Is also In the buy cl.iss. with 200 a night, while "Mary Jane McK.ine" baa 4S0 la the brokers' bands and '^'Tho Song and Dance Man" ia set at 2&0 a night. The complete list ot buys Includes "Poppy" (Apollo); "Laugh, Clown, Laugh" (Belasco); "Seventh Heav- en" (Booth); "Topics of H2J" (Broadhursf); "KlfJ Boots" (Uarl Carroll); "The Swan" (Cort); "Rain" (Elliott); "Spring Cleaning" (Eltlnge); "The Lady" (Empire); "For All of Us" (4»th); "The Wild Westcotts" (FYazee); "One Kiss" (Fulton); "Aren't We All" (Gaiety); "Stepping Stones" (Globe): "The Nervous Wreck" (Harris); "The Song and Dance Man" (Hudson); "Mary Jane McKane" (Imperial); "The Rise of Rosle O'Reilly" (Ub- e.'ty); "Chicken Feed" (Little); "Little Miss . Bluebeard" (Ly- ceum); "Tbo •Other Rose" lUo- rosco); "Music Box Revue" (Music Box); "Cyrano de Bergerac" (Na- tional); "Follies" (New Amster- dam); "Artists and Models" (Shu- bert); "The Alarm Clock" (39th); "In the Next Root.." (VanderblU), and "The Greenwich Village Fol- lies" (Winter Gard&p). In the cut rates there were slx- t.-en shows listed, with the Indica- tions early in the week that, despite Aiuomoblle Week, there would be at least another halt dozei(_ added before Friday. Those on <ale at bargain prices earlier in the week were: "The Dancers" (Ambassa- dor); "The Whole Town's Talking" (Bijou); "Topics of 192S" (Broad- hirst); "Runnln- Wild" (Colonial); 'The Shame Woman" (Comedy); "White Cargo'' (Daly'a); "Sprln« Cleaning" (Eltlnge); "Neighbors" (48th); "The Wild Westcotts" (Fra- zee); "Hurricane" (Frolic); "Rose- anno" (Greenwich Village); "Chick- en Feed" (Little); "The New Poor" (Playhouse): "The Potters" (Plym- outh); "The Alarm Clock" (S9th), and "The Oreenwich VUUg* Fol-^ lies' (Winter Garden). LITTLE THEATRES The first perform^e* of th* Neighborhood Theatre Foundation, Boston, was held recently under the direction of Raymond Oilbert, ot the Actors' Playshop, author ot three of the sketches presented. They were "The Pearlmaker.!!. "Prana" and "Crystal Gazing." Another one- act sketch, "Artists' Dreams," also was presented. Henry Jewett and members ot his company took part in the third act ot "Othello," presented at the fourth meeting ot the season of the Frances Jewett Repertory Theatre Club, at the Copley, Jan. 2. The first act was presented at the De- comber meeting of the club. The entertainment was frilldwed by a re- ception and tea, with the players as liostii. "A Sin,gle Man," a play by Hubert Henry Davis, will be presented Fri- day evening In tho Grace Episcopal Church. Lawrence, Mass, by the V. P. F. Players ot that church. Elsie Cronhimer, Itadcllffe College student, will- direct the play. Hu- bert Taylor, of Lawrence, will por- tray "A Single Man" with Kdna Brown as his stenographer, the loading female part. The cast in- cludes Thomas 'H. Houghton, John Berwick, Ethel Johnson, Bernlco Hart, France* Klvelle, Alice Cun- (Contlni'ed on phgc 37) LEGIT ITEMS "Gypsy Jim," with Leo Carillo, Oldened theShubert-Crescent, Brook- lyn, this week, taking the date orig- inally held b/ the Theatre Oulld Repertory Co. The latter went to the Auditorium, Baltimore, Into which tho Hammorstein piece had been booked. Emily Stevens will open in 'Love in a Cottage." by Henry Kltchell Webster, at Stamford, Conn., to- morrow (Jan, 11). "Trimmed In St-arlet." with Clai-a Kimball Young starred, will bo pre- iicntcd oa tUu Coast soon by Uarry.^ Garson. Carle C'lrlton Is r»!»dylng "Para- dise Alley" for production. It Is by Harry Archer, composer of "Little Jesse James," in collaboration with Carlton. Kddie Long I nx resigned a." mnr- ■ iRer of the Colonial, New York, nnd ISobby Newman Is now hnndling the Itou.so in addition to the publicity for • Itiuinln" WlUk' Clarence Gray rontip;ie? as manajer ot the attrac- tion.