El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1911-12-28

When confronted with spectacle Of
the proportions OF The Garden Of Al
Iah," the newest New York sensation, the
average theatergoer finds his curiosity
piqued on two pOints-how are the
various illusions and effects attained,
and how much does it all cost
The cost Of maintaining a production
of the size Of The Garden OF Allah"
is so staggering as to seem incredible
until its cOntributOry items are con-
sidered.
The Garden of Allah" must play to
as much money every two performances
as would support an ordinary attrac-
ton without Gloss a week Just to break
even with current expenses
When the preliminary investment is
assessed against the production, it re-
quires the FUN amount Of the almost
unprecedented receipts to which the at
traction is now playing at the Century
theater, about $4,000 weekly, before it
can show a profit
Ordinarily, a Broadway attraction
shares the gross receipts evenly with
the theater at which it is presented,
and if those gross receipts exceed $4,000
or $4,000. the manager finds that, after
paying salaries, royalties, advertising,
printing and billing expenses, and all
the little odds and ends for which his
carpenter, electrician, stage manager
ana uuellEe5 lllAAaeEA presents hD4GAA-
ers, there is stiu something tidy left
for his private pocket. The sad part OF
it all, as far as Broadway is con-
cerned. is that more attractions fall
below the $4,000 or $4,000 mark than ex-
coed il.
When the attraction happens to be
musical affair, with a large chorus, and
intricate effects, Ii becomes necessary
TO add $1,000 or so to the figures at
which the offering proves profitable to
Ha IN o
attraction. il may be taken as automatic
that any theatrical performance that is
attracting an average OF over $1,000
into the box office every time the cur
money.
A production like that of The Car
den of Allah" is different Tt was the
avowed intention Of the producers %
this play to excel any previous spec
tacle in point of magnitude. To attain
this end meant a prodtgal distribu-
ton of money. Various estimates OF
the preliminary expense of this pro-
duction place the total at from $4,000
to 100000.
Tt is known that the money paid
electricians, clearers and stage hands
during the 10 days or so that inter-
vened between the first stage rehearsal
and the opening performance fell little
short of $1,000 a day. Union rates, of
course, prevailed, and the men received
double pay after a certain number of
hours. There are 103 stage employees
used in the presentation Of the play,
and most of these were at work from
u to Is hours during the final weeks
rehearsals. On the night Of the pre-
miere some of the men dropped TO sleep
from sheer exhaustion at their posts.
This force of 103 men, the least inn
pOrtant of whom gets 81 performance,
while many Of them get from SIS to
$40 a week, in itself furnished a neat
item in the Productions weekly budget
of expenses Their pay must total
$500 every seven days.
The rent OF the Century theater never
has been officially stated. but even il
it amounts to no more than percent
of the money put into the land and
building. if must exceed $4,000 for
every week that the theater is open.
An expensive orchestra of soloists is
maintained, which, with the wages Of
the resident manager of the house. the
box office staff and other employees in