New Britain Herald Newspaper, October 11, 1924, Page 5

WA K U 7 EARLY DAYS OF VAUDEVILLE TOUGH ONES FOR STAGE MEN | One'Mannger Had to' Make House to House Canvass to Sell Tickets to His Theater — History of Variety Shows in This Country. . . houses that play about the same grade of acts, but five or six acts Instead of elght. These houses do not pay quite as much: In salaries; the players accepting a slight reduc- tlon,” Among such ‘houses come ‘I'le Junior Orpheum' Houses. The State-Lake in Chicago, Des Moines, Sfoux City, Lincoln, Neb,, gary tand Edmonton, Canada and several | houses now being buMt in citles {where regular ‘Big Time Orpheum | Houses' are now located. The Next Grade “The next grade are ‘The Pan- |tages and the Loew Houses' These houses play from three to slx shows | daily. ‘They play from three to six |acts and a good five reel moving | pleture., I'rom here down there are {hundreds of theaters playing one, two or more vaudeéville acts and pic- tures. The number of perform- ances and the salaries of the play- ers are unlimited, The number of |shows going up and*the amount of salaries going down, Keith s Originator The orlginator of vaudevilis, 8 it Is now known, was b. . Keith, This style of entertainment had al- ways been given. In fact, vaude- ville is the oldest style of entertain- ment in the world. The earliest en- tertainment spoken of in the Bible consisted of singing, instrumental Vaudeville, one of the mogt popu- W, it not the most popular bramd of stage entertainment, has spread all over this country, but there was a time, not so very, < many years ago that vaudeville shows were not nearly as common. OIld timers on the stage can recall the gradual development of this form of enter-| talnment and in this connection Will M. Cressy, a veteran among veter- ans who is at the Capitol next week, has an interesting series of reminis- cences which he has given to the “Stage and Screen” editor. Mr Cressy and his wife made their de- but in vaudeville on January 1%, 1899 at Keith's Union Square thea- ter in New York. ' Launching into his talk on vau- deville, Mr, Cressy continues: very “At this time Keith's Circult con- | Music, dancing and character im- sisted of four houses, The Union l’"};"""flflmwv Square theater, New York city,| “But up to 1895 it had been Keith's at Boston, Providence, |¢4/led Variety, and was a rather low Ithode TIsland, and Philadelphia, |style of entertainment, patronized “The Orpheuth Circuit consisted of "¥ men only. But Mr. Keith de- four houses, Omaha, Kansas City, |clded that this style of entertain- San Francisco and Los Angeles, {ment could be cleaned up and made “There were also the following |SUltable for ladies and ~children. vaudeville theaters in the United |And from this beginning his watch- Btatiss word was always ‘cleanliness’ Mr. “Hyde and Beamin's, Brooklyn; | Keith at this time had about as * Shea's, Buffalo; Moore's, Detroit and’ MUch money as a good healthy rab- [ the Chicago Opera House, Haymar- |l But he got hold of another ket and Olympie, Chicago. Four. chap Who had two hundred dollars, So they hired a little store, got hold ) teen in all. Today Keith has over 100, The Orpheum over 50, Loew ©f @ midget, a cockatoo and a cou- 150, Pantages, some 30; Fox 25 and PIe Of monkeys and started in. This some 200 others scattercd over the |38 on Washington street in Bos- e (ton. Tt was pretty tough sledding; “The Big Time” {cxpenses were heavy and patronage ““The Big Time' consists of yTeith | Va8 light. Anyone who happened to Houses in Boston, Proviac#®e, Three [P UP at five a. m. could sep Mr. in' New York, two In Trooklyn, | Keith most any morning with a pail, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Washing- @ MOP and a scrubbing brush clean- ton, Pittsburgh, Buffalo, Toronto, |'M& out the place, % Detroit, Rochester, Cleveland, Cin- Albee Enters cinnatl, Tndianapolis, Louisville.| “The other fellow got cold fect | Nineteen in all. | “The Orphéum in Milwaukee, two in Chicago, St. Lonis, Memphis, New and quit, - Then Mr, Keith got hold of a fellow by the name of Albee, Albee was a sidg show barker with Orleans, Omaha, Kansas City, Min- |small circuses, and he was some | neapolis, St. Paul, Duluth, Winni-hustier. In a couple of years they peg. Vancouver, Seattle, Portland, |got hold of money enough to hire a San Francisco, Los Angeles, Fresno, Sacramento, Salt Lake City and I Denver. Twenty-one in all. I! “The Tnterstate Houses in Ga , veston~Daltas, Houston, San Antonio { |little theater—the Bijou—on the |same street. They gave six shows a |day—every day and on Saturdays and holidays from a dozen to twenty. | The players slept in rooms up over i and Ft. Worth, five in all. This|the theaters. Salaries ranged from (e 5 {s meddling women and the near- e for in a disarmament bill prepared | . makeS 45 strictly ‘Big Time’ full |fifteen tolsixty dollars a week. ‘Want to sell your anto? Why not wreck of-a home as a result of their The Want Ads will answer many [ by the minister of defense, Mr. Ras- | salaried houses. The next grade 1s| “Three or four years later they |try a Want Ad—that's the quickest meddling and gossip. His wife, | puzziing quegtions for you and help mussen, and approved by a cabinet ‘ ‘The Small. Big Time.' That {8 got hold of an old theater on Eighth |wa {played by igrid Holmquist, before you In many ways. |council of the socialist government. | ‘ 0] N. Y. Sun SPECIAL SH{)\\' G FOR SCHOOL CHILDREN EACH DAY AT 4:15——10c¢ i{The engineer wore white duck |In Ban Krancisco, run by ° |theres Another success, street In Philadelphla and started another house. A little later they took & house In Providenc stil later the Unlon Square theater in New York was on the market and they took that in. Then they got outside capital enough to build the present Kelth theater In Boston, at that time the' most beautiful theater in America, One of its greatest sets was something that is usually carefully concealed from the public. The engine Yoom. This room was painted tn pure white, The ma- chinery was enamel or nickel, The tools were silver and gold plated and were kept on a plush-covered table, or fannels, The floor was covered with velevt carpets, “At ‘about the same time that Keith was getting under headway in the east, there was a large beer hall an Aus- trian by the name of Walters, Ie bought Xis liquors of a com,any headed by a man by the name of Meyerfelt, Business was poor, final- ly Walters failed, And in order to try and get out the money that was owing to him, Meyerfelt took over the place. And In order to draw in some custom, he sent a chap by the name of Beck to Chicago to hire some vaudeville acts to come out there and play the house. “The new ldea won out; business picked up amazingly. Meyerfelt had put in a man by the name of Leh- man as manager of this San Fran- cisco place, which by the way was called the Orpheum and Lehman got to Meyerfelt to let him go down to Los Angeles and start an Orpheum Then Lehe man wanted to have them start a similar place in Kansas City. But Meyerfelt called a halt. He said he was no theatrical man. He had simply gone into it to get his money back. House to House Sale “But Lehman was a belligerent little. man and he went to Kansas City and started an Orpheum house with his own money. And business was awful. But Lehman was one of those contrary little men who just won't be beaten. So he had hun- dreds of tickets printed off and he made a house-to-house canvas of the entire city. He told the people who he was, what his theater was, | what kind of shows he was giving' and he gave them tickets to come and see for themselves. And they did. Then he opened the Omaha house. And after a frightful strug- gle got that on to a paying basis.” COURT IN NEW QUARTERS Juvenile court met today for the first time in the new quarters of the city court at city hall. The rooms, formerly occupied by the school de- partment and the supbrintendent of schools, have not yet been furnished for their new use, but this matter will be taken care of shortly by the city hall commission. The formev office of the school superintendent will be the judge's office. ' WILL THRILL THE CITIZENS OF NEW BRITAIN AT THE .. PALACE E ENTIRE WEEK BEGINNING SUNDAY NIGHT You have seen “The Covered Wagon” and all the big photoplays of the last ten years, but you have never yet seen one that can compare with “The Sea Hawk” WE SAY IT’S THE GREATEST OF ALL TIME! “Greatest of All” “Best Sabatini story ever|“Excuse my slang—but it’s % brought to the screen” N. Y. Times ' NEW BRRITAIN DATLY HERATD. SATURDAY, OCTOBER 11, 1924, .NEWS OF INTEREST ABOUT THE SPOKEN STAGE, FIRST TIME AT POPULAR PRICES Matinees at 2:00 and 4:15 All Seats Rush —35¢— Orchestra rush ........... 50c Baleony rushi -t o aoc Loges and Boxes Reserved A ROMANCE OF THE DAYS WHEN PIRACY WAS THE PROFESSION OF A GENTLEMAN SILENT DRAMA AND BEAUX AND BELLES AT THE CAPITEL “Wen,” the Feature Pigture{ With Pola Negri her matriage, was a beautiful and talented opera singer, while the hus. band was a famous playwright, It was natural that.after her marriage she should wish to continue in her chosen career and remain on the operatic stage. Hereln, however, is where trouble starts. Her mother- in-law objects and so does her ter-in-law and this causes a great deal of trouble. The husband was busy working on a new play and called his mother and sister to him in‘hopes of settling the question of his wife's return to the stage. In his play he visualizes the characters of his real life and brings in the wreck- ing of his home by meddling out- siders, When they read over his | manuscript they sce for themselves Just what havoe they might have wrought had they insisted in med- |dling In his domestic affairs. STAGE AND SCRE ANTINTIV N THRILLING PLAY Famous Police Dog at Lyceum-- Lionel Barrymore Here Thurs. Rin Tin Tin, the fighting canine hero of “Find Your Man,” and the objects of his devotion, June Mar- lowe and Erle 8t. Cair, are fea- ltures at the 'Lyceum tomorrow night, to continue through Wednes- day. As an added Sunday attraction there is “Neglected Women,” a pow- erful, drama of a wife who is not given the attention she should have with almost tragic results Then on Thursday there will be Lionel Barry- Coming here direct from a stay at | Keith’s New York Hippodrome, Wil- | llam Brack and his company will be | | | SNOWY BAKER = |the big attraction at the Capito] on William | Brack has, for many years, the repu- “Woman's Secret” | “The Empire Builders” SPECIAL MUSIC PROGRAM the first half of next.week | tation of having the greatest tumbl |ing and trampotine act in vandevitie 1“']!1'!“ it has been a big success over and over again. This season he has |a company of five of the cleverest MONDAY—TUESDAY—WEDNESDAY | gymnasts ever appearing in any one more, that classic agtor of both B R n(r)v"nu.: KElTH VAUDEVILLE stage and screen, In .\!cddllns‘ . * | will teem with thrills and sensational 3 | Women." Barrymore 1s ‘easily The Palace.announces as coming stents, The old routine and the {America’s most distinguished actor |ttractions such masterpleces an | g ul, 100 O TR Gnd the |and among his latest screen suc- |Conway Tearlo and Coleen Moore, (yave heen discarded by this organi. | = — icemées have been “Enemles. oflin “Filrting With Love" Thomas|,qyion and this act is said to be the Women," *“The Eternal City,” *“The |Meighan In “Yhe Alaskan,” and |gnost act of its kind in'the world |Copperhead,” “The Jest,” “Laugh |Gloria Swanson, in her latest pic- | \notnar . big time offering will be the Beaux and Belles, a very clever entertaining act with the fragrance of old time Dixie written ail over it. | The cast is a large one and includes |some very fine singers and. dancers. | ! Other acts include the Ruby Trio, | three girls, who will prove delight- | ful to the eye as well as to the car; Hamilton and Egbert are versatile performers and what they do they | present with perfect harmony and | skitl; Mason and Gynn are recogniz- |ed among the best of blackface en- | tertainers and their offering entitlea | “The South Today” will meet with the approval of all who see this fine FEATURING WILLIAM BRACK And His Company Feet fry Peess Sensational Risley and Trampoline Attractions Clown, Laugh,” and “America.” ture, “Her Love Stor | “Rin Tin Tin,” star of “Find Your |Man,” is & Belglan pblice dog {brought to this country by Lieut. Duncan who bought him In France land trained him himself. In addi- Jtion to doing many difficult feats, {his dog has unusual intelligence, | The story of “Find Your Man,” is |lald in a lumber camp. Tt is’ full ot suspense, thrills, love and action. Paul Andrews, an ex-soldier, and his buddy, the dog, find themselves in- volved in a plot to steal government timber. Paul makes the discovery |too late and is arrested on a charge |of theft and murdel, of which he is |innocent. The dog's remarkable iwork figures In Paul’s escape and his {miraculous escdpe from death. Be- sides the performers already men- Especially apropas for this time of the year is “Lif~'s Greatost Game,” a picture soon coming to the Capitol. Among other things it compares baseball of years ago with the game today and in one scene the New York Giants are shown in ac- tion, The Lyceum theater, following the custom of movie houses through- out the country, is endeavoring to give especial attention to its music and the six-plece orchestra, under | oo qouiye’ b the leadership of Miss Maa Murphy, | “qne feature photoplay he:le : offering wiil from now on be an added at-| ity this show will present Pola traction. | |Negrl in her latest success “Men," |in Which she is seen as the dancing | RUBY TRIO 3 Clever Girlies ' HAMILTON & EGBERT Nifty Entertainers ] 1 | | Those Clever Comedians | Extra Added Feature jtioned, the cast includes Charles Incidentally, Miss Murphy, the|pet of Paris—matching her wits ‘ {Malles, Pat Hartigan, Fred Stanton, | pianist, is one of the few women |against the kind of men who bar- | |Lew Harvey and Charles Conklin. [theater orchestra leaders in the |gain for souls. The supporting cast | country, includes Robert Edeson and Joseph | Swikard. The Sundawgnight program of movies will offer two fine features in the presentations of Mae Marsh in “Woman's Secret,” a great dra- matic story, and Rex Snowy Baker will be seen in “The Empire Build- jers” a story that deals with the | great outdoors. The Capitol orchestra direction of Mr. David The exterior scenes in this picture |were taken at Klamath Falls, Ore- gon, in the most beautiful section of the town where a picturesque river land falls furmished the settings for one'of the most thrilling scenes of the story. 4 This picture, as are all others at the Lyceum, is to be greatly en- hanced by the musical program ac- |companying it. The Lyceum or- A characteristic offering to strains of the old time Dixie Willlam Brack and company, fam- ous American risley workers, will be at the Capitol the first half of next week. g [ —in— | ] | “THE SOUTH TODAY” ADOLPH ZUKOR and JESSE L. LASKY PRESENT Will M. Cressy & Co., at the same theater the last half of next week, is the oldest top notcher in vaude- under the Mathewson |chestra, under the leadership of Miss |V1I* 10 addition to being a vaude- |will render a specially sclected pro- | M “' f 'd N B ville performer, Mr. Cressy 18 algram of music. | e CEANO DD “‘“‘Twrn»r of no mean ability and has| On Thursday a big time Keith at- der programs that are sure to appeal to the public and in addition to spe- |cial numbers accompanying various [films, the orchestra is to specialize !in all the latest popular melodies |with variations and specialties. Thursday’s coming attraction should not pass unheralded either, for “Meddling Women” is a picture |well worth attention. In this pro- |duction T.ionel Barrymore stars in a drama, the central theme of which | several little plays and sketches tc|traction will his credit. be offered presenting | Cressy and Dayne in “The Village | Lawyer,” as taken from Mr. Cressy's Ramon Novarro, Rosemary The-|own novel, “The Hills of Hamp- by and Wallace Beery are threc shire” There will be three continu- stars to be seen in “The Red Lily,” |ous shows dail coming to the Lyceum soon. ‘ | No Danish Army John Barrymore {n Beau Brum.| Copenhagen — The substitution {mell, also is coming to this thea- |of a reserve police force for the iter at an early date. | present national militia fs provided Broadway Music Score By PALACE WONDER ORCHESTRA George F. Tourtelotte Director OVERTURE “THE SEA HAWK” A Dimitri Buchowetzki PRODUCTION " THURS.—SPECIAL FEATURE ATTRACTION The Big Time Favorites CRESSY and DAYNE —IN “THE VILLAGE LAWYER" Three Continuous Shows Daily 'PARSONS THEATRE HARTFORD AL THIS WEEK 2L15—TWICE DALLY—8:18 Parson’s Theater HARTIORD | COMING MON a “wow” Fred—N. Y. American ot MAIL ORDERS NOW Messrs SHUBERTS 51 e M Evenings at 7:30 o o Ve L seggld?f Douglas Leayitt-Vannesi Lew Hearn cayshors il PRICES: Eve. 30¢ to $3.00 city, this season Popular Mat. e 50c 1o $2.50 50¢ (0 $2.00 Original New York Production and orchestrn of 20, | erlcEs—ar. 50e. { NIGHT—50¢ Saturday SEATS OCT. 17 0c. to $1.00. te §1.50. Plus Tax, SRRy T MAIL ORDERS RECEIVED