Arizona republican., 1902-09-14


 profit and loss pages in the managers ledgers are never given to the public, but they would undoubtedly present a fascinating study and give good idea of the vast increase which hes been made in the cost of running metro pc!itan thclter in recent -yestrs, as well as the extent of the speculatl1l the manager makes each year, when the failure Ci one play may make nina bankrupt in tWenty-four hours.
 But the managers aIe learning. Com plete failures are few nowadays. The purveyor of amus.ernents no longer pats all his eggs in one basket. lie has another play concealed somewhere near his elbow to replace the failure. and II i isn't often that his judgment is ;.t fault | twice in q season.
 Fer the Empire theater Charles ! Frohrnan pays $45, ,000 a year. COnsii- ering the fact that the dramatic seq son usually lasts only eight months, l this rental is much more than Sl.GO0 q i week. During May, June, July and | August the owners demand us much money from their tenant as he rays during the winter months. In summer time d theater closes it's doors, but not 1 it's mouth, ard it can eat up gredt deal of the profit of the regular season.
 Being built and furnished, more eG- pcnses fall upon a theater. TEerc is the play. As we have sorrowfully Cb- served this summer, it is an effort O. difficulty 10 secure a good drama Tn" manager goes to Europe in search of ohe. His travelling expenditures, on the ocean, in railways. and his hntel bills must be added to the cost oi the frT,, amount to several thousand .lc3ia.s. The authors royalties vary from five to fifteen per cent of the gross receipts. | What with one thing and another 5he | manuscript alone of q successful drama II costs over $1,C0G 2 week. An author of repute demands from $5.0C0 to 5lO91J in II advance royalties. This item, IT addi- \ ton to traveiirg expenses incurred in securing the play, may represent an \ outlay for the Untr;cd piece f $1J0GG. I Then there are actors, for play | without players is unprodUctive. A dramatic company varies in cost as in ability. Weber & Fields organization has q salary list amounting to s coo q week, whereas the Empire Stoel: ' company cannot cost half that sum. When the new Republic theater is I opened David BelasCo must pay 10 his l leading woman alone almost enough | money every week to defray the entire salary list of many long established complnios. This winter Mrs. Carer will receive $1.5O0 week. and she is worth il, for no ot2er actress in Amer ica can draw as much money into T box office as is attracted by Zlza It. barry. On the other hand player like Margaret Anglin cannot expect to . |
 Mary Mannefirg is worth s259 week. while Maude Adams is cheap at $500. Ethel Barrymore earns $50 a week, which is q Gcod deal Of money for an actress who has not yet quilted girlhood. Julia Marlowe. being her own manager. of great popularity and equal prosperity Tn the selection of plays, takes all the profit oc her work and pockets O. an average of S1000 week
 Ingenues and soubrettes may be had arlerty fer frc1r $40 to $75 a week. Old
 women vary. Mrs. Glbcrt would not look at less than s1OO a week, and Mrs. Bates probably earns as much as that and .Gadge Carr Cooke must be satis- fled with s75.
 Leading men are inexpensive, be- cause they have no sooner become eX- penaive than they go starring. 4 ca | pable young actor with good looks and a good tailor, will fetch $50. When his price runs far above that amount he | buys a play, engages company of his own and tempts fate.
 Eccentric or character actors are dearer. Henry Dixey, w. II. Thomp- son, w. J. Ferguson and Wilton Lack aye must have at least S2OO a week. | Villains are cheaper, being quoted fair to middling at $75 to S1G0. Walking ladies and gentlemen, lords and ladies. peasants, and gypsies, and cries of q mob in the distance vary from $25 to | S10 Q week
 All considered. dramatic company can be formed respectfully at an aver | age cost of S1. 800 a week
 Productions. Here is a diversity. On Madame Dubarry" David Belasco spent $80, 600. Or ",rhe Auctioneer" the same manager spent probably S5,OOc These are extremes. Farce is the least | expensive, melodrana frequently the most costly in production. An average outlay of $10,000 would cover all the scenic and mechanical features de- handed by the play. Press agents put forth larger figures. but they are of eStravagart notions.
 Costumes. That depends An Empire play is five times the expense of q Fourteenth street play. It depends. too. on the contract entered into. Some managers clothe all their actresses, some half clothe them. come would let them go bare if those lovely creatures did not pay for their own gowns. Au- gustin Daily used to settle for 50 per cent of the bill, his actresses paying the remainder It depends also on the modiste. Mrs. Osborn. who possesses sartorial genius. is like famous spa- cialist, who demands high fees. She would turn up her patrician nose at anything less than $200 and could not smile under $500.
 Then the manager must have a crust for himself. One of the richest of our