The Montgomery advertiser., 1904-06-19
HOUSE TO BE REMoDELED AND
 NAMED BIJoU THEATRE.
After Forty-nve years of Connection With Montgomery Playhouses
 Veteran Owner-Manager Re
 tires--TaIks of Olden Days.


 Jake Wells has secured a long leas,
 on McDonalds Theatre and Professor IGeorge F. Mcdonald owner and mana. ger of the Bibb Street playhouse wil
 retire from the theatrical business fl
 Montgomery after a service of forty.
 five years broken only by the war bo
 tween the States in which he served a.
 a Confederate soldier.
 With the change of management Mo
 Donald's Theatre will pass away ant
 with the retirement of Professor Mo Donald from active business his nam,
 will cease to be connected with tht theatrical records of Montgomery. Tn, theatre on Bibb Street is to be re. ichristened the Bijou Theatre. More.
 over MT. Wells has agreed in his con.
 tract with Professor MtDonald to ex- pend s5.o00 undermining and improving
 the house.
 While neither Mir. Wells nor his rep resentatives are in Montgomery, they have been here at various times since last winter negotiating for control of this theatre and Professor Mcdonald said yesterday that he was authorized to make public the character of i'm provements that are. to be made The lproseenium arch Is to be enlarged, new | scenery Is to be added and the old IiCtOuCHcos ueW carpets ana IlHOleuH | are to be put on the floors, the interior and exterior of the building Is to be repainted and redecorated throughout and there is to be an additional en- 1 trance and an additional exit to the already ample provisions for entering and leaving the theatre.
 l The work of improving the theatre preparatory to giving 1t the new name, Bijou, will begin about August l. This Is with a view to a formal opening ' of the playhouse to the public early | in September. In fact MT. Wells has already indicated that the Bijou Thea tre in Montgomery will be opened on September 18th with one of his numer- ous companies. It Is quite probable MT. Wells. who has in recent years de- veloped into quite successful manager of theatrical enterprises, will himself be here to start his youngest venture in person on it's theatrical voyage | The theatrical syndicate. of which | Mir. Wells is the executive head con | trols winter theatres in Richmond Atlanta, Birmingham, New Orleans
 Memphis and Nashville. The syndicate conducts summer theatres in Rich | mond Norfolk, Lynchburg, Roanoke
 Danville, Columbia, Charleston, Au- | gusta, Savannah, Atlanta Birmingham
 and two in New Orleans. The winter
 theatres of this syndicate Sz& called l the Bitou. The summer theatres are all given the name Casino.
 l It will be observed that in securing | lease on McDonalds theatre and con | ducting a winter theatre here the | Wells syndicate Is placing N- N--ntgomery | in the same cl~Ss as the larger cities
 in its chain of theatres. The syndi- | cate has no connection with the Casino | 4haafTa a pfHlatf GnrinCS | Mir Wells and his associates do not | aim to invade the so-called high class l business dominated in this section of | the country by Klaw and Erlanger of | New York. It is their purpose to pro- l vide popular attractions at popular | prices. They control companies like | the Bijou Comedy Company and the Wells-Dunne Harlow Company enter 1 tainments at prices within the reach of
 all classes. In addition to the attrac-
 tions owned by the Wells Syndicate a | booking arrangement has been made | with Stair and Hawlin and other New | York managers whereby excellent
 companies will be routed over the | Wells circuit that otherwise would
 not be seen in the South.
 While the Wells Syndicate is inde-
 pendent 1t Is not hostile to the KIaw
 and Erlanger circuit a~ so far as the | | feet harmony in cities where there
 are theatres aligned with both syndi- | cateG
 Either Mt. Wells or one of his rep
 resentatives is expected in Montgomery soon to contract for improvements to l be made on the Bibb street property. At that time 1t is expected that an an- | nouncement will be made as to t-le ap- | pointment of a local manager and the | daftnife nOlicV of the theatre.
 The passing of McDonalds Theatre and the retirement of Professor Mo Donald from active business life are events of more than ordinary interest | to Montgomery. The building was l built by Professor Mcdonald for a the atre. and was first opened to the public as McDonald's Opera House on October | 2C. 1881. The opening bill was Tom | Taylor's The Victims" with the we'll known comedian John E. owens as the star. It was really a double bill for
 The Victims" was followed that night by "Solon Shingle."
 Professor Mcdonald has carefully preserved all of the programs of en- | tertainments at the old opera house,
 and they are of the deepest interest to persons who care for the stage and
 the warm hearted generous people who | live on it. These faded old programs | of Professor Mcdonald disclose the fact
 that on November 10. 1881, and follow
 ing Mir. Owens and his company Min
 nie Palmer and her company began d
 weeks engagement at the old opera house, playing My Sweetheart" a
 piece which made her and her some
 time husband, John R. Rogers, much
 money.
 In this connection it Is noteworthy
 that Miss Palmer separated from her l husband and both of them lost their
 money. Mir. Rogers is poor but popu-
 lar in New York today, and he was
 within the past month, given a great
 benefit by New York managers and act
 ors. movement is on foot to revive
 My Sweetheart" and produce 1t as a
 musical comedy.
 |