The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1907-03-30


spent most of it, Yet his will is in
domitabfe. and he still is in the fight.
r. One Of the most successful extraSa-
1 ganzas that ever was played in this
country was The Spider and the Fly"
4 1t made great deal Of money, was
played all over the land. NJ. B. Leav-
lit was its owner and manager. After
the golden harvest of "The Spider and
the Fly" Leavitt's luck was not con-
sistentiy good. He had more downs
4 than ups, but he never quit.
PleIty of managers and actors can
i IND their way into the bankruptcy court
without a guide. Many of them have
/ gone through bankruptcy proceedings
/ and have emerged to win new fort unes.
1t IS truism to say that only small
i percentage Of those managers who have
essayed the conduct Of grand ope; a
| have saved their bacon. Conried has
i buttressed his grand operate fortune
! with a German theatrical company that
/ plays at the Irving Place theater in
New York and with a corporation that
/ deals in, ocean chairs.
Mrs Carter is an example of the ac-
| tress that can't quit. Her marriage to
young Payne hurt David Belasco SO
had taught Mrs. Carter all tho acting
| she knows, cut loose from her aitegetn-
ed. He took her picture out OF tie
Belasco theater lobby and the pro-
play of his intention to make Frances
Starr the greatest star of his string. He
| refused to read the letters Mrs. Carter
wrote him or to hold conversation with
| the emissaries she sent to him. And
she lost some of the best weeks Of the
season.
She passed under the management of
Charles Dillingham; and she and the
| playwright that wrote "Cleo" for her
Quarreled. Again she lost out and
again there was a long vacation ana
no play. And Norma Munro, who
had been her closest friend, sued her
for nd "a i,c'1
placed upon her studio building in New
York in another case.
1t certainly looked as II hard luck
had come to camp with her But there
was nothing like quitting to be thought
of. Every theatrical firm of any I'M
portance, with the exception OF klaW
& Erlanger, the most important CT
them ALL bargained with Mrs. Carter.
She announced at last that she would
manage herself and after series or
most distressing circumstances imaglna-
BILE she resumed her tour In Iaza'
and "Du Barry
Lillian Russeil's starring tour came to
smash early in the season when Bar
bara's Millions" failed both in Chicago
and New York. Instead of quitting she
waited till she got hold of The Butter
fly" She then went into the one night
stands where she has played a harrow
ing season. But she is SO EAR from
quitting that she has found time dur
ing her one night stand journey TO be-
gin suit against the Shuberts, alleging
that they engaged her for 5000 d week
and half of the net profits for one of
their attractions, Lady Teazle,'' and
which returned no profits,
Will J. Block, who has had more than
his share of failures, kept hammering
al Coming Thro' the Rye" till he maze
a big money maker out of 1t, and in
each of the attractions that he puts on
every little while he presents casts
that fairly take the breath away or
account OF, their responsiveness:
Lena Ashwell quit this year. it is true,
but only after series of experiences
that would have made most women
quit much sooner than she do: a35
which finally ended in a physical aid
mental breakdown, from which there
was no chance of recovery aside from
a complete cessation of professio All ac-
~