New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1911-05-28
'THE COST OF PLEASURE"
S569,0O0 Is Spent Weekly in
Theatres Of Manhattan.


writer. Mr.. Michael NJ. Davis, jr.. there are
O. tb,s ci,v five hundred places which sat
,.fv The dramatic hunger Of the people.
rhsss roughly grouped. include four hun
srsd moving picture shows forty vaudeville
.ha..-es ten hurIesoue houses. sixteen low
,r,ced theatres. Including those Of mixed
80 ard those presenting standard plays.
.na ,birtv-one high priced or so-called
r..ndo~d theatres From these figures.
which. hv the way. are only approximate
s,d fo- the season ~ 1901. the relative
,nsigniecance # the STANDARD" theatre IN
s. far as reaching the people Is concerned
NAV be seen The moving picture house
is the prime factor 70 be considered. %"
this point The report reads:
whether Judged By the number OF places
IN existence or the number IF persons
reached. the moving picture show is by far
~, dominant type Of dramatic representa-
ton in New York Vide observation 81
.beeA shows has convinced every unpretu-
diced observer that the moving pictures
Themselves provide in the main whole
some form OF recreation. The number OF
positively objectionable films displayed IN
New York constitutes a minute prolorton'
the number of relatively undesirable MINIS
Cnlv small proportion. This is true even
when the large percentage cf children at
fendant upon these shows = considered
There is little reason for Criticlsins the
moving picture show because of danger
from fire. particularly since the introduce
ZION Of the non-iuhammahle' or slow burn
ina hlm Lack of cleanliness. and dark
ness during the performances are tair
charges against the little shows. II IS not
generally known that moving pictures can
be presented in q room sufficiently lighted
20 read medium sized print. This can be
done if the lights are properly shaded SO
as not 10 illuminate the screen or shine
directly into the spectators eyes. At very
slight expense any show can be thus light
Cd. and the evils alleged 10 occur during
the darkness Of the performance are rem
dered impossible
Compared with the average estimated
weekly attendance a. the moving picture
shows (eooIoo. according to the report,
similar figures for the high priced theatres
05s, SS0 seem small. The low priced theatres
(vaudeville combination and bnrlesque'
have an estimated weekly attendance o.
701. 80 The average amount Of money suent
weekly in these places Of amusement Is
said 10 be as follows: Moving picture
houses. $50 600. low priced theatres. Sl5,-
~ 30. standard theatres. Sao"6 81.
The relative unimportance OF the standard
theatres in so far "a children are con
cerned. may be gathered from the follow
ing pare graph:
In few words the weekly audiences at
the low priced theatres and moving picture
shows Of Manhattan include. during the
winter season. an average Of about 50o0r'
children under sixteen, constituting % 10 p
per cent Of the total attendance The boys
outnuu1ber the girls TWO 10 one. and. among
the adults. the men exceed the women ny
about the same ratio Contrasting these
figures with those Of the high priced the
aires. we find that the weekly attendance
Of children At the latter Is about 5000, or
only Der cent Of the total. At the low
priced theatres the majority Of the au-
diencas are Of the working class. minority
OF the clerical and a minute remainder IS
made w of Migrants and leisure class per
sons. At the high priced theatres the
leisure class appears to be In slight ma
toritv over the business or clerical. the
working class figuring in az about : per
cent Upon the mass OF the people or New
YORK therefore. the direct Influence Of The
high prjced OF so-called standard theatre
s. relatively NIL"
r. The report is 10 be believed. those who
re, the worst form Of entertainment IN this
CITY are those who 90 70 hurlesque SHOWS
Ffve-sixths 81 these are rated as demoral-
,zine and one sixth as lowering or the
.o,devil,e acts three ourtJs are graded as
not objectionable one-ffth as lowering and
per cent as OF positive value. Half Of
,he moving picture Aims are rated as Of
positive value and half rs not objection
able.
The author pays his respects 70 vaude-
VILE in tho hollowing words
AS 10 vaudeville It's most striking char
scteristic IS simple stupidity. Three-fourths
of the performances are classed ss not
objectionable No person Of moderate in
felligence can attend dozen vaudeville
performance without being disguised at
their vapidity The humorous, sentimental
acrobatic and musical acts pass In sue
cession like the grinning figures az shoot
ing gallery Some are wholly crude. few
decidedly clever: the majority are trite
and empty: and as q whole there is no
imagination behind the creation, and still
less IN the managers mind 70 enforce their
harmonious combination Yet. Judged by
attendance and BY rapidity Of growth. the
vaudeville is the most successful type OF
performance in New York. The truth IS
that the people must be amused; more ex-
actlv they must spend their leisure time
tn some recreative way. for which neither
home nor pubic building offer opportunity.
The popular priced theatre is a way which
offers much for the money-and very little
money Vaudeville is an expedient OF the
theatrical manager for providing a cheap
performance chesply II may be described
as a succession Of acts whose stimulus de
ponds usually upon an artificial rather
than upon a natural, human and develop
ing interest: these acts having no neces-
sarv and as a rule no actual connection"
OF the high priced theatre the report
Gays:
The high priced or so-called standard
theatre presenting regular plays, advertis-
ing in the daily papers, draws, as we have
seen, only small fraction OF the total
thsatregoing population Of New York. The
estimated weekly attendance at all the
Manhattan theatres is l,76o,o0o. Of which
the standard houses get l5s,0o0. or per
cent OF the children's attendance they get
only 2 per cent-s.oo0 out of total Of 3d.
600 Even II we exclude the moving pict-
ure shows. and consider only the houses
holding theatrical licenses, the standard
theatres are drawing but IS per cent OF the
estimated total attendance OF $4,000 week
". and but 81 per cent of the attendance
OF children.
The segment OF the citys population
which supports the standard theatres in
cludes several widely different types Of PEG
pie though II is not possible TO estimate nu-
-