Variety (March 1924)

Wednesday, March 5, 1924 LEGITIMATE VARIETY 0 SEASON'S BIG BUSINESS IS OVER; DROPS LAST WEEK REACH $7,000 $5.50 Musicals Walloped—Reaction from February's Rush—"Artists and Models" Below $16,000— "Moon-Flower" Got $14,300 Business on ItrnJwMy in in vio- lent reaction to the fast i;aoe main- tained during the b'cbruary holidays. The rapid decline immodiatoly after Washington's Uirthday came as no surprise- to experienced show- men who believe it is a natural phe- nomenon with tlie asiutnptioti hiR businosa gener.illv is over l\ir the season. Box ofllco trade up to Thursday of last week wa« excptionally slack. At the usual tiini» before the cur- tain when the telephones should have been rintjiny;, most o( IJroaJ- way's ticket ioiUeis wore strangely quiet. It mean tli.it the aBtiicies wore having truuble in Bettiiiff rid or allotment;; and tlie dumpinfj of tickets for a fl'>ck of big money shows into tho cut :.»tes v,m.s a vo:'i- flcation. Several of t!i" t' '> tnp ^rc.up .suf- fered matori.illy, -.vhilc although tickets for other.-) wer.? dumped the statements showed the u.uial gros.-^. the brokers taking a loss on tickets not sold at a preniium The "Ful- Ues" skidded abmit J.',000 under normal, being quoti>d at a little un- der $34,000. A new edition of the rovue 13 announced for March 17 when additional pliyera and num- bers will be iiiseitel -The Music Box Hevue'" was also olY, running about $4,000 under nirmal "The Stepping Sloni-.,' and -Kid Boots" were unaffecu-d iMr did the slump interfere with 'he inim.ni,iu Jr iw of "The Miracle." Other musicals .""uffered with "Ar- tists and Models" dropping under $1G,000, "Mary Jane McKano" to less th;m $15,000, "VVildllower" down to $i:!,000, "I'oppy." $15,000 atid about the same for "Mr. Battling Butler," "The Chiffon Ciirl" $10,500 which was no surprise. Two of the newer musir Us. hofi- ever, stood up to great bu.siness, Chariot's Revue" drawing not far WAYBURN AND AMATEUR PERFORMANCES-NEW staging College Affairs, Direct-1 ing Only—Takes on Two i Stagl:;ff amateur performnnces givon by colleges Is a new depart- ment of the Xed W'aybum school, with applicants procured through eiri-uiarizatiiM,. Thus far Way burn has been re- tained to direct the I'ennsi Ivania State I'lilU-ge performance at Belle- fciiite, I'a., April S, and another col- lege show at Akron, O., to be held frum $23,000 at the Times .Square , , . „. ac-'s the^^^''^ ''•'>•■'• ^I"'" -•"-*'• W'ayburn s charge Is on a weekly That pace in a slow week pi lOnglish show among the lists lead ,, , ,..,., « , ing mu.sicaLs. "Lollipop" played to ^,f'''•,?'',';'•', ^' :^"'^'""" °^ \""'- ,,, , „ A ,.,. ',.•..;.,,,„,. The lielleliMito college wants four an excellent figure at the Knicker- bocker with near' $20,000 gro.ssed, The brace of fre.sh comedy suc- cesses also proved their clas.s last week. "Ifeggar on Horseback' beat- ing $19,000 at Ihe l!ro,idhur.-:t .and topping the non-musical bunch. "The Show-Off' bettered $1.1.000, which meant rap.acity trad? at the I'layhou.'-e. "Out\»%y-d Hound" was rather good at the Vtilz, gro.s.siiig between $12,500 and $13,000, while "Spring Cleaning" bettered the lat- ter figure at the Kltinge. ' Tlie Botters" suffered but little, count- ing about $13,000. "The Nervous Wreck" was dented about $2,00 for a groes of $16,000 at the Harris. "The Swan" was slightly better at (Continued on pige 34> weeks of rehi-arsals, while the Akron affair is sitislii-d with two. None but college iiit'mbers, all am.ateur.s, aro t-;i:,'aged in the pres- entatirm, with Wiiyburn assigning directors to assume the work under his supervl.sion. I>eo Morrison, of the Wayburn booking dep;utrn''i'.t. conc«-lvod the [ilan of the new held and is closing the contracts for them, having .-i couple of more api>lic,atlona to pass upon for imniodiato attention. ALL-NEGRO CAST WILL | "SPECIAL MAT" ROUTE BE TESTED IN "SUBWAY". DODGES UNDER EQUITY "RQS^anne" Uptown Next Reported H. Baron's Scheme Week—Color Line Trouble for "The Strong"—No Inter Already Encountered fcrence in Financing Hurtig & K,-aiiioa wil! bi'ing "Roscann.-.- with its all-Negro cast, headed by Charle.? Gilpin, to the Shuberl-Uivera next week as a tost to find out whether theatre- »;oer3 will support iuch an attrac- tion. This particular liouse has been nelected, inasmuch as Giipln in a previous veliicle. ' Kmperor Jones," ero.s8ed $!V0OO on a week's run here. Since "Boseanne" has been re- east with all colored players it has been the storm center of much agi- tation. Originally scheduled to open at I,ester B.ryant's Playhouse, Chicago, but did not open there through the owners setting up a color lin?. It was shifted to the put, I'ittsbnrgh, for two weeks. neporls have it that If the piece does not measure up to expectations on the "subway circuit" Hurtig & Seamon will route it on a chain of Negro theatres. "ADRIENNE'S" OVERHEAD Forced Closing—Disagreement Be- tween Jean Newcombe and Carle A. disagret-metit between Joan Newcombe and Buhard Carle of the cast of "Adrieniie" came to the sur- face with the cIo.--ing of that show Saturday night Miss Newcombe reported the mat- ter to Fliiuily. but nothing has been driven out by the org.anizatior.. nor i IS it reporleil what was the trouble ' between the two pl.ijers. I The reason for Werba closing tUe show wa.^ due to tlie lu-avy over- head, $H.riOO weekly, and the nar- row margin of jirolit shown was not ; lullleieti', to cjiniterbilance a bad, week. t Carle is ^ail •'j !:ive ne\»r mis-ed i perform ite-e during t'lv.' run of j 'he play in New VorU. I _ _ I •PROFESSIONAL HAtR CUT" | Chi'ago, .M.irch 4. j The In.i Cl.ih-e" is a style of bob- •Inur suited to the clo.v fitting hat ind nlanni■■.l^^ tiilleiir of th e spring. It 1 i described .i.s merely a bob on the sides willi the b.ick .sli.iped 'o the head in whit wis known to man as ;i ■ jn-,!'• w-o"'i'. 4 «.r cut" S'> Jrear:, ijn Henry B.iron U .^ald to 'oe taking tlie special matinee route with his latest opus, "The Strong." to get under the Equity blacklist. Baron has been posted at the actora' or- ganization since the ' Bed Poppy" flop and several members have .■^uits pending agaln.st him for sal- ary due. It Is explained that the special matinee arrangement takes the linanclal status affair o'lt of F^quity's hands, making It impera- tive, however, that Baron employ a 100 per cent. Equity cast. SWEDISH BALLET DISGUSTS MANAGER Ginter of Mishler, Altoona, Bought House for $200,000 —Burlesque Only Draw- ing Card Altoonn, Ba . March 4. -Vfter but 225 iieojde had paid t,> see the Swedish B.illet Kriday night ,it the .Mishler. Melvin (iinter. its manager, expressed his disgust .'ind stated he i.i thinking of changing the policy of the theatre. Ginter paid I. S. Mishler $200,000 for the house last summer. A new the.alre at Barnesboro near here, with but a few thousands in popu- lation, h.as been drawing better bus- iness than the Mishler. Burlesque is the only re.al draw at the tiinter house. I..egit shows of the front rank have been a con- tinuous lloj). There .are some legit bookings re- m.ainlng for the season on the Mish- ler's books, but Ginter is consider- ing cancelling them. PERCENTAGE OF CRITICS The subjoined tabulation for the relative st.indmrj of the dram.itic reviewers on the metropolitan dailies is based on 71 failures passing out of the Broadway legitimate theatres since August 13 last. Added to the boK score are other tabulations as published In Variety during this season in the percentage record of the critics for guessing right on their written opinions of new plays when produced. The score of January \7 was based upon all plays until that time, while the oth3r boxes, Including the current one, are computed upon the failures only. Alan Dale ("American") still leads, though out of the running for two weeks through his sudden illness. An absentee from the list is James Craig of the former "Mail," who led the reviewers on the first two Dcores. Upon the merger of "The Mail" with "The Tele- gram," Craig did not continue to review plays. The key to the abbreviations is SR (shows reviewed); R (rights ; W (wrong I ; O (no ooinion expressed); Per. (percentage). • SR R W O Per DALE ("American") .,...;,. 57 33 22 2 .579 RATHBUN ('Sun") 44 22 20 2 .500 MANTLE ("News") 54 20 30 4 .370 BROUN ("World") 42 15 24 3 .357 CORBIN ("Times") 43 16 24 4 .349 WOOLLCOTT ("Herald") 48 15 29 4 .313 HAMMOND ("Tribune") 40 8 26 6 .200 VARIETY-SOWN SCORE SR R W O Per VARIETY (Combined) 62 48 14 2 .742 PULASKI (Ibee) 10 9 1 OOO GREEN (Abel) 9 T 2 .777 LAIT 26 18 8 .592 SCORE A3 OF JAN. 17 SR R W O Per DALE ("American") ." 82 54 24 4 .658 CRAIG ("Mail") 67 44 18 6 .657 RATHBUN ("Sun") 59 36 22 1 .610 MANTLE ("News") 77 42 27 8 .545 BROUN ("World") 54 28 21 6 .519 CORBIN ('Times") 56 27 25 4 .482 WOOLLCOTT ("Herald") 62 29 28 7 .453 HAMMOND ("Tribune") ...r 58 24 26 8 .414 VARIETY'S OWN SCORE SR R W O Per VARIETY (^Combincd, 93 72 18 3 .774 PULASKI (Ibce) 22 21 1 .955 SCHADER (Fred> 6 5 1 .833 LAIT 32 24 7 1 .750 GREEN (Abel) 13 9 4 .692 GREASON (Rush- 9 6 4 555 SCORE AS OF DEC. 6, 1923 SR R W O Per CRAIG ("Mail") 31 18 9 4 .580 DALE ("American") 37 21 15 1 .567 MANTLE ("News") 33 15 14 4 .155 RATHBUN ('Sun") 27 11 15 1 .407 BROUN ("World") 25 10 13 2 400 CORBIN ("Times-) 27 10 15 2 .370 WOOLCaTT ("Herald") 31 8 18 5 .258 HAMMOND ("Tribune") '. . . . 24 6 14 4 .250 VARIETY'S OWN SCORE SR R W O Per PULASKI (Ibee. 7 6 1 .857 LAIT 17 12 5 .706 GREEN (Abel) 8 4 2 .666 VARIETY (Combined) 39 26 11 2 .666 (Other Variety reviewers "catching" but one or two showe each not listed.) SCORE AS OF OCT. 26, 1923 Dp p CRAIG ("Mail") 13 7 BROUN ("World") 13 6 CORBIN ("Times") It B DALE ("American") 18 8 WOOLLCOTT ("Herald") 16 6 MANTLE ("News") 15 6 RATHBUN ("Sun") 11 3 HAMMOND ("Tribune") 12 2 VARIETY'S OWN SCORE SR R LAIT 7 4 VARIETY (Combined) 20 14 BE YOURSELF" MUSICAL HERMAN ROTH SENTENCED Title of Musicalizod Bearers" "Tjrch- ENRICO RASTELLI "THE MASTER JUGGLER" !-^eoond weel: it Keiih' , )l iiipodrorne. .N'ew Vj:k ^,'-)t a mtsnomrr. lie- irt wdwd a M ASIKK_J L'i'JM',K. I,;ist weel; at llipi.o.Irome, VABII-:TV said one t,f the higli lights next in Uastelli. The most diftlenP feals made to l-.ok like < liilds play by this marvel. He's billed a.s the 'masler .Higgler of the worM,' .and tli.it tinish- mg triek he does jiroves ills cl.iini to luedoniiiiai Helrl rapt ittention " 3oo!"'d jo'd Greater Keith T'^eites b/ H. B. MARINELLI. Inc. Ml J)o Voor-ielf" is the title of the niM.sical version of 'The Torch- Ite.irer.-,," to be produced 1)/ Jules Hurtig and I.ee Hhubert. 'J'lie .1(1 (Idation of fleorge Kel- ley's s.itire is bring done by 11 ir- 1 and Thompson ,and Ilirry Archer, wlio teamed in writing 'I,ittle .1' ssie James." The I'S origin U elnr le'i.r.. ire re- I lined In the niusie.d version, tlioiigli the play itsejf i,4 j.riie Ijially (■m[)loyefl for atniosidiere. 'J'hrei^ .idditloM.il ch.ira.ler.i Ui\'- le-en written in .Slew.art .<• I''reneli, who produee,! "Thn Toridi-Bearers." are not con- cerned, but the firm will rei < Ivi- a pereeiit.ige of the gro.ss ,ind prolUs of lie VollLself.- Signed to '27 Cliicaj{u__it "■■'■ » I,o.>)ter Allen his beep signed by Ceorge White for anolter two -. .•lr.^ wit;, the '.Scand.ils" after i\, e\- alr^tlori if .V'l.-n'i ,.,riti, ■ i iry, Verdict of One to Five Years—La Marr Failed to Enter Plea I,08 Angeles, March 4. In spite of an appeal for stay of execution, asked on grounds that hl.s health was so bad that conllne- ment would mein death, lleiinan Both his ber-n .sentenied to from one to live ye.irM In .St Quentin for extorting $r)00 from Arthur .S'awyer. man iger of Barbara La Marr. Itolh, who is nearly 70 year.< old, had agreed to disbarment and would have returned to New i'oili If rr,lilted pi dilation. Misa I.a Marr failed to enter a idea for mercy for Both, desiiiln a piihlMlie.i .s'atemeiil tliat she wo'.ild. Hopper in "Kempy" Revival lie Wolf Jlopin-r's next appearance is iiliely to be Willi the Nugent l-'.im- ily ill ,1 reviv.il of "Kempy." John I'olloel; n H.iid to Ii've Hopper under eoiitr let, and will place him in the |irodllelM[| " He |ie,- is to 'i .v» the role cr- at-^d iiv .1 i:. Niig-nt while the latter \.n • i." the '.ixn'. Mitchell p\it