New-York tribune. [volume], June 30, 1918, Page 2, Image 32

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CHRONICLE AND ^COMMENT OF'TH1~~STAGE"
Speculators
Theatre Ticket Profiteering Seems to
Fall Under the Caption of Useless In?
dustries?Might Well Be Suppressed
By Heywood Broun
NEW YORK CITY is the last stronghold of the ticket speculators.
Boston, Philadelphia and Chicago have made seat profiteering
illegal. Chicago's City Council has passed an ordinance which
would seem to make the profession of the speculator impossible. The law
provides that each theatre license shall stipulate, "That no ticket of
admission shall be issued, sold or offered for sale on the behalf of the
licensee to whom license is issued under such application at a price in
excess of that designated thereon."
The rest of the ordinance is cast in rather complicated legal ver?
biage, but it seems to cover the exigencies of all cases arising through a
collusion of managers and speculators.
The coming season would seem to be a particularly appropriate one
for nome concerted action on the part of managers or, better yet, on the
part of city authorities to end speculation. Ticket profiteering certainly
seems to fall under the head of non-essential industries and the whole
i practice encourages extravagance. After all, if democracy is broad
f enough it should include the provision that every citizen is equal at the
box office window.
One of the unpleasant features about
ticket speculating is the enormous
amount of hypocrisy which it has en?
tailed. As a disciple of the late Mr.
Mill we could hardly complain if a man?
ager said: "Now, if this new show of
mine ie a success I'm going to charge
$4 a seat, and if it's;no good I'll charge
$1." That would seem to be an equi?
table arrangement justified under the
law of supply and demand. But' no
manager ever did anything like that.
He aiways advertised that good seats
were on sale at the box office at $2, and
if his show went well he soid his $2
seats at $3 or $4, or thereabouts. If hia
plays were not successful he sold to the
t -xt rate ticket fr?en for as low as $1 or
75 cents. And all the time he con?
tinued to fc'tvertise "good seats at the
be*, office for $2." In cons?quence the
v\>r?t place in the world to buy tickets
was in tho lobby of a theatre. The man
who went to the box office either got
nothir.g at all or paid a prie? higher
than that charged the sagacious por?
tion of the public which went to the
cut rate agencies. At many a per?
formance it would have been possible
to have found three people sitting in
the same row, each one of whom had
paid ? different price for his seat
P. Ziegfeld, jr., seems to be making t
successful fight against the specula
tors. Up to date "The Follies" hat
been drawing approximately $3,400 i
performance, but, of course, Mr. Zieg
fold's fight is costing1 him money, par
ticularly as he no longer receives th<
boosting of the hotel agencies. Mr
Ziegfeld held out for an arrangemen'
with the ticket brokers whereby thej
*Seuld guarantee to resell the ticket!
j at an advance not to exceed 50 cents.
j In former years the speculators have
received as much as $25 a seat for
! front row stalls at "The Follies" and
$10 for seats as far back as the twelfth
row.
We will be interested to hear from
readers of The Tribune in regard to
ticket speculating and will be glad to
print the speculator's side of it as well.
Letters for next Sunday should be sent
j to The Tribune Dramatic Department
I not later than Wednesday.
And now we win a bet.
"The New York Tribune,
"New York City.
"Dear Sirs; Whoever Mr. Haywood
Brown is, whatever latent ability he
possess elsewhere should be encour?
aged. As a critic, he is a long way
from home.
"Although Elsie Furgerson'B main idea
of 'emoting* is to automatically heave
her bosom and look slightly worried,
we can stand hearing from the critics
that she plays on their heart springs?
because Elsie looks so lovely Inost of
the time that we do not care whether
she can actually act or not.
"But, when they say that Pauline
Frederick is placid looking, as soon as
we regain consciousness tve feel called
upon to remonstrate.
"If Haywood (what a pretty name!)
Brown thinks Miss Frederick is not a
'raving beauty,' he has a perfect right
to his little opinion, although his
rather unnecessary remarks in that di?
rection would lead one to suspect he
may have some time been slightly
?squelched by this 'placid looking' lady.
"Whatever Miss Frederick is, or is
not, there can be no diversity of opin?
ion about the suitability of one term
for her always?and that is vivid. She
is magnetic enough to make her beauty
and the' looks of other women seem un?
important.
"Surely we have enough cheaply
pretty stars without an ounce of abil?
ity. Why have critics who do not rec?
ognize the difference?
"Miss Frederick is better suited to
the part of a gypsy girl or any other
'dashing* r?le than a great many of
the others, because those r?les need
personality.
"When Mr. Brown desires dash there
is always Eva Tanguay (If!) and May
Murry. For an 'emoter' there is Lillian
Gish.
"There is a standard in taste with
motion pictures to-day, just as there
is in literature and music. One in?
stantly classes the people who do no<
at least appreciate the work of Mar
gu?rite Clark, Pauline Frederick, Madg?
Kennedy and a few others with thi
people who admiro Robert Chamber?
and cannot stand anything but ragtime
"It was, according to Haywood, 'un
gypsylike' for Miss Frederick to rid
sidesaddle. Did he look at the picture
It does not seem that it would matte
much one way or the other, but if h
did not look at it why criticise it
Miss Frederick was with fashionabl
friends in Paris who were introducin
her into society. Was it the natura
thing for her to ride as they rode, o
astride because her mother was
gypsy ?
"What idiotic criticism! Surely,
paper like The Tribune had better r<
main silent about the 'passing show?
than to print such junk. There wa
only one sensible thread runnin
through his discourse?it was a 'sill
story.' M?bs Frederick has not ha
anything but bad stories for the la;
two years. Any one with less abilit
would have been swamped long ago.
"I'll dare you to print this letter.
wish you would, but I'll bet you do no
"With fond regards to Haywoo
yours very truly, Mrs. B. E. H."
In these dull days we would print
letter twice as long even if it containt
no dare and offered no wager. And y
we will confess that it disturbs i
Our correspondent is correct; it is
shocking thing that critical colum:
of comment should be turned to an a
praisal- of the charms of this pc
former or their absence in anothi
But what can a critic do? We ha
found it feasible to write about t
stage and pay only the most casual i
tention to the pictorial qualities of t
performers. The movies make this i;
possible. When the machine flash
upon the screen the face of a you
lady magnified to heroic mural prop?
Plays for Next Season
The following list of thirty-two at-1
tractions already housed for next sea?
son is printed by "Variety." Most of
them open around Labor Day in the
Times Square district:
"The Bubble Girl" (musical version
of "A Full House") (K. & E.), George
M. Cohan; "The House That Jack
Built" (K. & E.), Amsterdam; "French
Leave" (K. & E.), Liberty; "David's
Adventure" (Cohan & Harris), Cohan
& Harri-, Theatre; "My Boy" (A. H.
Woods), Eltinge; "Tea for Three" (Sel
wyns), Harris; "Information Please,"
Jane Cowl (Selwyns), the New Selwyn;
"Dolly of the Follies" (A. H. Woods),
Republic; Ruth Chatterton in a new
play, Henry Miller Theatre; "Keep
Her Smiling," with Mr. and Mrs. Syd?
ney Drew (Richard Walton Tully), As
tor; "Lightning" (Smith & Golden),
tions something must be said about it.
The head seems to be only four or five
inches away and the eyes are looking,
into yours. A decision is imperative.
Concerning such a large head and such
n close one neutrality is impossible.
Either it is the face that "launch'd a
thousand ships" or it isn't.
It seems to us that beauty blazes
when the play of expression is ever so
rapid. Mere opulence is not enough.
Vivid women, we think, hnve bright
but small eyes, thin lips and rr.ther
high cheekbones. Further th?.ti that
we cannot classify. Whatever t'l ? pon
alty, we must insist upon co,itlnying
to believe that Mt?s Paulina Fredorick
was not implicated in the conflagration
which consumed "th*5 toplp^s towers of
Ilium." *
Gaiety; "A Stitch in Time" (Oliver
Bailey), Fulton; Julia Sanderson and
Joseph Cawthorne, Globe.
"Back Again" (Weber & Fields),
Apollo; "See You Later" (Elliott, Corn
stock & Gest), Longacre; "Friendly
Enemies" (A. H. Woods), Hudson;
"Over the Hills" (David Belasco), Be
lasco; "Daddies" (David Belasco), Ly?
ceum; Jack Barrymore (management
Arthur Hopkins), Booth; "A Very
Good Young Man," with Wallace Ed
dinger (Arthur Hopkins), Plymouth;
musical play unnamed (George Broad
hurst), Broadhurst; "Gloriana," with
Eleanor Painter (was "A Widow by
Proxy") (John Cort>, Cort.
Leo Ditrichstein in a new play (Co?
han & Harris), Playhouse; "One of
Us" (Oliver Morosco), Morosco; new
Bolton, Wodehouse & Kern play foi
the Princess; "The Passing Show'
(Shubert's), Winter Garden; "Maid o1
the Mountains" (Elliott, Comstock i
Gest), Century; "Sinbad" (Shubert's)
Forty-fourth Street; "Flying Colors'
(Smith & Golden), Criterion.
The Empire will probably house ai
opening attraction which will be th<
joint work of David Belasco and Al
Hayman.
? ? .
Benefit at Astor
The benefit to be given to-night a
the Astor Theatre for the Chappaqu
Chapter of the Westchester Division o
the Red Cross promises to be not onl
one of the most successful affairs o
the kind held this season, but by fa
the most novel and original of an
held in many seasons. It has been ai
ranged entirely by Adele Rowland,
member of that division of the Re
Cross, and, having taken part in scores
of benefits herself, she has known
what to do and what not to do to make
this initial effort of herself as an im?
presario decidedly different.
Just what the novelty surprises are I
to be Miss Rowland will not disclose. \
Suffice to say, the people are not just j
going to walk on, do a turn and walk off.
The entire proceeds of the benefit ?
are to go direct to the Red Cross. The j
'? Astor Theatre has been donated by |
Selwyn & Co. and the members of the
"Rock-a-Bye Baby" company have all
offered their services for any purpose
from selling tickets at the box office
to helping out with the show.
Now on the Boards
Astor."Rock-a-Bye Baby"
j Booth."Seventeen"
Broadhurst."Maytime"
Casino."Oh, Lady! Lady!!"
Century Grove.Midnight Revue
Cohan & Harris.."A Tailor-Made Man"
Cort."Flo-Flo"
Eltinge."The Kiss Burglar"
Forty-eighth Street,
"The Man Who Stayed at Home."
Forty-fourth Street,
"Hearts of the World" (Film)
Fulton.Four one-act plays
Gaiety."The Rainbow Girl"
Globe."Hitchy-Koo, 1918"
Liberty."Going Up"
Lyceum ."Tiger Rose"
Lyric.. ."Pershing's Crusaders" (Film)
Maxine Elliott_"The Eyes of Youth"
New Amsterdam."Follies of 1918"
New Amsterdam Roof,
"The Midnight Frolic"
Park."Stolen Orders" (Film)
Republic. ."Parlor, Bedroom and Bath"
Shubert."Getting Together"
Winter Garden."Sinbad"
The Marionettes
The two performances of the Mario?
nette Theatre given at the Community
Welfare Association clubhouse, 49
Vandam Street, last Friday and Satur?
day evenings, were received with great
enthusiasm by the large crowds that
attended. Because of this fact the
theatre feels sure that even larger
crowds will turn out at the last two
performances on this Friday and Satur?
day, June 28 and 29, at 8:30 p. m.
The two plays which will be repeated
are "Orlando and the Dragon," in
Italian, and "Uncle Sam, the Devil, or
the Kaiser?" In English.
"The Kiss Burglar" Moves
On Monday night "The Kiss Burglar"
will be transferred from the George M.
j Cohan Theatre to the Eltinge Theatre.
The original cast, with Fay Bainter,
Dcnman Maley, Stewart Baird, Grace
Field and Harry Clarke, as well as "The
Peacock Alley Chorus," will continue in
the piece.
'Sir, the Carriage Waits"
When Frank Burbeck Began Players
Had to Know "Harnlee' and "Macbeth"
Before They Were Given That Line
By S?lita Solano
Frank Burbeck, of "A Tailor-Made !
Man," received his schooling in the
days when any super with a line about
a waiting carriage was physically and
vocally able at a moment's notice to j
replace an ailing Hamlet or a tempera-|
mental Macbeth.
Schooled in the companies of the old
Boston Museum and Boston Theatre
stock organizations, Mr. Burbeck ab?
sorbed the best traditions of the stage
and was associated with some of the
finest players this country has ever
known.
Those were the days when actors
learned their art through toil and
minute observation. No "type" actor
became a star in a fortnight then,
egad! Players studied well their
Shakespeare before ever speaking a
line and until they had memorized the
r?les of the most frequently acted
plays, mastered fencing and dancing
and sounded as if they had attended to
their adenoids when very young, they
were not allowed to be conspicuous
while the curtain was up.
After Mr. Burbeck's talents had been
mellowed and cultivated by constant
association with thoroughly trained ac?
tors, he allied himself with the late
Charles Frohman, under whose man?
agement he remained for twenty-one
years, supporting the luminaries of the
great star system that Mr. Frohman
founded here.
But there is no very good reason
why Mr. Burbeck should not tell about
himself directly. After all, it is his
story.
"I was born in 1857 in Boston. There
I prepared for Harvard and doubtless
would have been graduated and there?
after lived the life of a staid profes?
sional or business man had not th<
lure of the footlights dragged me oil
from an existence of stability," re
lated the actor as he bestowed a fonc
pat on the white whiskers he wears ir
the role of Abraham Nathan, steam
ship president and discoverer of prom
ising youth.
"My first professional part was ?i
1878, when I went on the road to play i
small part with Robson and Crane
sr., in 'The Two Dromios.' Two yean
later I was thrust unexpectedly into m:
first big part?things came more slowl:
in those days to young actors?througl
Charles Webb, the English actor, hav
ing missed the boat from Liverpool,
was twenty-three years old, and I wt;
given the part of an old man to plaj
whose first speech was fifty tines,
have never forgotten the feeling I ex
perienced as I walked on the stage sad "
tried to remember to forget the audi?
ence and my shaking knees.
. "After two seasons of playing in The
Planter's Wife,' 'Hazel Kirke' and "Es?
meralda'?Georgia Cayvan was in tit*
two last plays?I went back to Boston.
Mr. Thome, my uncle, was then leading
man of the Boston Theatre company,
and the best American actor of his
time. The leading woman was Ag?e?
Booth, and her husband, John Scboeffel,
is now the manager of the Tremont
Theatre, in Boston. I played in <*?
famous plays about that time?Tout?'
and 'The Silver King* (which is ?ttX
to be done in the movies.
"Edith Kingdon, now Mrs. Geoff*
Gould, was a member of the sanwcoB"
pany. I can see her now as she looked
in 'Youth' playing the part of a Frene*
adventuress?vampires, I believe they
call them now. She was altogether
beautiful and charming. Of coarse, j
none of us young men could know that j
it was written she was to marry Georg? j
Gould, so we all paid her our assidues? \
and respectful attentions. She U'itiU
charming to her old friends, and ?**
spoiled by wealth and society.
"Next I went to the Museum for *
season. In the company at that tiB?
(it was in 1886) were Charles Barrel?
Annie Clark and WiHiam Warren, 9&
players of the highest merit. One e?
imagine the incalculable value thai*
work was to a youth who was aspirin!
to as opportunity to act. To my mil*
these actors have never been surpass??
in their particular line of work??*?*?
tainly never in one city.
"At Selwin's Theatre, too, now l?*f
passed out of existence, I found a wel?
come opportunity to study the method?
of the great Charlea Fetcher, Jams?
Wallack, jr., George Honey (who df??
the then unheard-of salary of $SW ?
week) and Katherine Rogers, Later I
became the juvenile man with Die*
Boucicault and John Mason at the lit* j
seum.
"I was in the original product?? ?? ?
'Shenandoah,' which we played *"?*
three seasons; 'Charlie's Aunt,' It* f
and Women' and 'David Hartt??' * f
have played with W. H. Crane, Willi*?
Gillette, Maude Adams, J. E. De4?*?>
Henry Miller, J. K. Hackett and H***?
Doro. Also, I have been with one canst
opera, one vaudevilH ict and oas ?*' |
tion picture."
Many are the amusing adveaWWjfi
Mr. Burbeck has to tell. In fa**?**!
usual things have happened ?* "** j
quently to him that they have \)*0$.;]
but the commonplaces ef hit t?t^