The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1899-08-20
THE THEATRICAL SEASON
MANAGERS BELIEVE THEY ARE CO.
ING To HAVE A GREAT YEAR.
Doorx of EDglish's and the Empire to
BE Opened This week-The
Parks Double Bill.

What promises TO be one OF the best theat-
r,cal seasons IN years in Indianapolis will
soon be in full blast. The city Is full Of
money and gold goes begging from the
banks. The present summer has been the
hardest run for amusements Of any in a
lcng time ard the public is hungry for lively
entertainment. Theatrical managers all
agree that the time is ripe for a killing"
and the only question to bother the stage
entrepreneur after big game Is what sort
OF ammunition will be the most effective.
II nay as well be mentioned that the mana
ger who secures the novelties and the really
ueritoriOus shows Is the one who will reap
the reward. AS said before, theater-goers
have money in their pockets. more Of IL than
for years. and they will be inclined 10 select
what they want to see and less inclined to
swallow any old thing as in times past,
because the price corresponded with their
ability 20 pay. This latter condition has
prevailed not only In Indianapolis. but all
over the country ever since the panic. 1t
began TO wear of last season and will be
less evident during the coming months The
theater-gOer. for the first time since the
record breaking year before the worlds fair,
f. In a position to select his amusements.
The conditions all point one way. Cheap
entertainment is all right for cheap people,
but once remove the condition and what is
known as cheap" shows will be the first
20 suffer.
Cheap shows do not necessarily mean
those Of the ten-twenty-thirty order neither.
A man with money in his pocket does not
always buy a dollar necktie when he can
get what he likes for a quarter. Under the
head Of cheap shows may be mentioned the
leg burlesques. the explosive and maudIin
melodrama. with gingerbread scenery and
barnstorm actors, the farce-comedies thai
make up in noise what they lack in art,
and any number OF the alleged star" at
fractions with a leading man OF reputation
supported by a dozen Indifferent performers
who can do little more than strut and speak
through their teeth. The manager who will
insist on real comedians instead of knock
abOuts who raise a laugh with smutty filings,
will find his weeks business holding up with
q good daily average. 1t is not believed that
theater-goers themselves will long stand for
any more of the indecencies that have been
perpetrated in this city. even if the police
will. Filth is a nauseating article for the
stage at any time. and the manager who
depends on II will lose out in the end. This
style OF amusement will soon be found only
IN the French importations, and it looks as
81 it would still continue to be dished up
under the disguise of art as in such plays
ss e Turtle Fiji and the coming New
York production by Charles Frohman of
1.-THE Girl from Maxim's." But the low
class burlesque will have to find a substitute
or go out of the business. The signs all
point that way.
It is expected that the public will demand
clean as we'll as worthy entertainment In
the future and in this connection it is more
than likely that any management which
makes a practice of w%illfully deceiving the
public regarding its shows will suffer as
surely as any other. There is any number
of third-rate shows every season made UP
OF incompetent actors playing pieces that
were a success in New York. which are
booked by inland managers TO fl open
dates. Such bookings are moro or less a
necessity in towns the size OF Indianapolis,
but when a manager finds Ii necessary 70
MI in with one of these attractions ne shoald
not attempt to deceive his patrons with
false and unjustifiable announcements, nor
should he take IL TO heart If the local papers
call attention to the fact. The theatrical
the amount of free advertising received. IL
IS one in which managers owe everything 10
the public and the newspapers and a man
ager who doesn't like what he sees in one
paper should look ahead and see that the
worst thing he can do is TO run TO an op'
position paper with his grievance. with. the
coming of flush times the day of little things
in the theatrical business must pass away
Not only cheap shows, but cheap managers
will find they are out Of date. A manager
who sizes up the dramatic ability of his
players by the number of photographs given
out at the box office shows one OF the mar
Towest heads in the business. The player
who receives the most applause in a com
pany may be really one of the least neces-
sary members of the cast. In a farce
comedy the man who comes on In a monkey
hide produces the greatest uproar. Monkeys
are amusing creatures. but ii must be re-
membered there are thousands of monkeys
able TO do the same. while real actors are
not so numerous. Again the managers PEI
In a company may have the roles that wiz
most attention from the audience, while al
TIE same time IL is frequently the case tina
the actor thus favored learns the lines 81
badly and goes wrong 80 often In business
that others of the company are thrown
or and scenes ruined. The managers them
selves are therefore often TO blame for pro
viding amusement which in the end work:
against the success Of a theater. These
little things are not made as much OF II
hard times when the price of admission rule:
the taste of theatergoers, as when the public
pocket is fat with dollars and when the
playg0er selects his shows. With the proper
bookings for the coming season there Is ne
reason why Indianapolis theaters should no
be well patronized and the long-standins
reputation of this city as a bad theater towT
gradually wiped out.