Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1897-12-13
TOO MUCH THEATRItALS
LEAVES ACTORS AND ACTRESSES UNPAID


Doors closed. actors stranded ana
manager gone to parts unknown. such
in brief is the story of the recent
vaudeville venture of the Lyceum the
alter on Second south street.
The house started out on its check
cred career for winters run under
the management Of Frank Maltese
and Joe Bamberger Later a. W.
Duncan, son of I'D Duncan. cashier OF
the National Bank of the Republic,
saw theatrical fame and individual en-
iichment though Identification with the
management and bought a third in
tercst in the venture. Now his where
abouts are unknown and he is receiv-
ing the malediotons OF half score
OF stranded San Francisco actors ana
actresses. He left this city suddenly
On Saturday night after having mailed
a letter to his pareuts in which he eN-
pressed profound regret at his untor-
tunate experience. He did not now
ever. take his departure until utter
having collected the box office receipts
OF the nights engagement. Prior to
| leaving the theater he penned the fol-
lowing note to Mr.. Bamberger:
Dear Joe: / will ahve to go home
tonight as mother Is ILL., You and
Mckee meet me at the Theater at ~
o'clock tomorrow Sunday and VIII
bring money with me then. Yours.
DUNG.
But Dune" never came back. Yes
| terday Bamberger, Mckee who was
| the chief performer at the Lyceum re-
| ported promptly at II O'Clock ana
waited for young Duncan. Finally they
came to the conclusion that his mother
h.
down town later With that idea in
| view a rehearsal for this weeks bill
was carried on throughout the after
noon. Finally" says Mr.. Mckee, we
smelt n rat and went to see Mr.. IL. W.
Duncan and talked the, matter
over. In the hope and expec-
tation TO settlement we prom
ised to keep the matter quiet
until today. Now we are told to go
| to, for our money. Some of us are
in n really desperate condition. When
we first came here 1t was under con-
tract with Frank Maltese and Joe
| Hamburger. The performers We're all
engaged separately. Our fares were
paid to Salt Lake and deducted from
our salaries, including agents com
mission, and board. That left us pen
niless. We saw the house wasn't go
ing to pay. Maltese and Bamberger
| saw the same thing and then Duncan
He claimed TO have money. But /
wanted to be sure of 1t and 1 asked
| him IL he would tell me on his honor as
brother X. p. that he had the cash
| He said he had $500 and we started out
on another weeks work. Saturday
night he skipped owing the perform
ers something over $500. 1t leaves us
in terrible plight. Myself and wife
were just being elected from our hotel
this afternoon when n brother Mason,
who was n stranger to us, put up the
money, so we are all right for the
present.
MIR. DUNCAN TALKS.
Mr.. L. w. Duncan, father of A. w
| Duncan, was seen by a News man
| this afternoon and said: my boy was
employed here at the bank and for
n year has been wanting u change. He
| inclined to theatrical business, honest
| ly enough, / suppose, for / was en-
| gagged in it myself for twelve years
Maltese & Bamberger induced him to
| Join them at the Lyceum. He didn't tell
me anything about 1t for he knew
would have advised against 1t. But
| he went to his mother and
got 500 with which he bought n one
third interest In the house. Maltese
and Bamberger had no money and they
induced him to get si16 more with
| which to pay the railroad fares OF the
performers to this city. He was to
have paid his mother this amount of
money out of the first weeks receipts.
But they played TO poor business and
they arranged to cut expenses, Mckee
becoming a partner in the conduct Of
| the house. Saturday night he tele-
phoned to the house that he couldn't
pay up; that he couldn't face 1t. and
said he guess he'd skip town until the
affair blows over; that is all there is
to it."
All Of the performers of the stranded
company, except Mckee and wife. are
now camping in the Lyceum and are
really in very dire straits, having
been compelled to leve their boarding
and lodging houses on account of hav-
ing no money with which to settle
their bills. They claim that they are
absolutely without n dollar.