The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1900-07-04
THE oRPaEuM TO CLOSE.

The closing OF the Orpheum will be a
matter of regret to some people who
have found an agreeable pastime there
but not of surprise. At best IL IL diff
cult to run a stock theater, minus
bar, In a town like Honolulu where size
of population Is no index of theater-
going numbers. In the Eastern States
$4,000 white people are not more than
enough to support a continuous vaude-
vile even though theatrical companies,
suitable for the work, are in easy call.
Here where there are supposed TO be
5000 people, the bulk of the population
In made up OF natives and Asiatics to
whom the American theater does not
appeal. OF the white residue n large
part condemn the theater. especially
the variety theater. on moral grounds.
What Is left is so small a group Of play
goers that a manager must be bold in
deed who asks II TO make a place like
the Orpheum profitable.
The Orpheum idea, as described 20 us
by n director, was TO make the play
house an annex or feeder to the cafe.
Given a bar where drinks are Fold be-
tween the acts or passed around among
the audience and a supper room where
after the theater" parties may drink
champagne and eat oysters a la New
burg and a playhouse may be kept
open In a town of no great population.
What II loses in the box office Is more
than made up at the bar. The scheme
to run the Orpheum In this way failed
owing to the refusal Of the Government
TO give the place a liquor license and
after that the little theater had no
chance. Good business policy would
have shut It up at once.
Mr.. Cohen. manager of the Orpheum.
II disposed To ohide the Honolulu pub
lie for not turning out and making the
southwell venture a success merely as
a tribute TO a good thing. But It is not
the fault OF the people that Mr.. Cohen
misjudged their taste. They knew, II
he did not know they knew, that most
of the Orpheum ATTRACTIONS" could
find no place at San Francisco save in
the beer halls and the Chutes and that
u was a rank imposture TO ask the Ho-
nolulu public TO accept ham -fatters'
"a artists. We are not so characterize
ing all the SouthweIls who are a mix
ture of good and bad actors from sew
eraI play-houses. They are not the
original Southwell company by any
means though a few of them figured &c
advantage In the San Francisco cast
Branson and Miss Sallinger. accom-
plished players both. are old-time IA
vorites OF the Tivoli In the chorus art
people who probably never saw any o.
the Southwells before meeting some Of
them at the steamer bound for Honolulu
and whom Mr.. Wolf would not be seer
with at a theater on the Coast. IL wa'
perfectly evident after one opera
that Honolulu was being Imposed upor
and the play-goers resented II. People
were not getting what they paid fo1
and they found no compensation for al
uneven and UNDERGONE performance II
the presence of a few bright spirits wh'
shone In the cast like arc lights among
tallow dips.
What the future promises for the or
pheum we cannot say. No doubt ever.
effort will be made to get the right &
open the theater with a bar and res
taurant. II Is quite probable. however
with the attitude of the Government
az Il is. that the quest for such a priv
ilege will have TO be prolonged.