The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1911-01-16
BOTH SHUBERT AND K. & E FOR
 THEATRE HERE
New Syndicate Takes 12 Year Lease of Bridge
 ports Big Playhouse
BEST ATTRACTIONS PROMISED
Syndicate Can Offer Solid Weeks Booking to the Production.

l James R. Sheehan. manager of the Franklin Square Theatre in Worces- ! ter, Mass, today assumed charge of Jackson's Theatre in this city. in be-
 half of the F. F. Shea Theatre Com
 pany. a syndicate which has assumed 1 the lease of the local playhouse for | the next 12 years. and which prom ises Bridgeport the greatest list of
 theatrical attractions within the city's | history saA
 The change of management of the theatre was cor1sum mated Saturday from Edward C. Smith the remainder of his lease on the local playhouse. and added a ten years lease from the
 P. T. Barnum estate. which owns the | property.
 MT. Sheehan. who is an experienced | charge of a number of important | houses. has been appointed resident manager. On taking charge today he at once sent for contractors to make which will open under the new man.
 agement on January 2S, with Cyril Scott in "The Lottery Man." Some of the rear seats are to be removed; and number of changes made in the interior of the theatre to make 1t cosier: new heating apparatus l is to be installed. to make the entire | theatre warm on the coldest day of winter; the house is to be recarpeted. and other changes are to be made ] from time to time in the near future.
 as the management sees the necessity l for them.
 | As for the bookings. the greatest se- | ries of attractions ever brought here | is promised, for the reason that the new controlling company enjoys the
 unusual privilege of booking both
 Shubert and Klaw & Erlanger pro-
 ductions.
 of course we are handicapped this
 year by stepping into control right in the middle of the season. when many | of the good attractions are already l Sheehan this morning: "but we are going to get some corkers just the same. For instance, we are planning to open on Jan. 2S with Cyril Scott | in The Lottery Man. which has just finished two years run in New l ahead of this. we will make the open 1 ing ! little earlier. Then we have
 John Drew and Billie Burke for dates | later in the season. We would have had John Drew for the 30th. but for l the fact that the Bridgeport Lodge of Elks has arranged to present Sam | Bernard in his great musical comedy, | He Came from Milwaukee, on that
 date. MT. Drew will come later. | This gives you an idea of the attrac- | 'The P. F. Shea Theatre Company | enjoys unusual advantage as regards l bookings. Not only is it able to book
 both from the Shuberts and Klaw &
 Erlanger. but it is able to offer
 solid weeks booking to the very best
 productions.
 ''This. as you may see. is a great 1 tdvantage. It means that the secur- | ing of dates for the best stars in the
 country by offering them solid week
 at the Shea theatres. will be much
 more attractive to the managers than | the making out of a week of one
 nights stands. switching in the dates etc.
 "Mr. Shea will spend three days each
 week in New York, booking up the
 very best attractions obtainable.
 we have come here with the un- derstanding that Bridgeport wants
 first class attractions. We shall pre-
 sent them. From the outset. further more. it is to be our policy to give every production strictly as adver- companies to play here at first-com-
 pany prices When the public sees | s1. 50 advertised as the price of a per
 formance at our house. it may rest
 assured that it will be s1.5O play or | better. We believe that absolute hon.
 esty in this respect is needed to re- | tain the confidence of the public. and
 we mean to deserve it.
 "Of course the lateness of the sea- son this year may mean that we shall show few popular priced productions | for the lack of other bookings. but nevertheless we feel sure of obtaining 1 a number of the best for this year. Next year it vii be all first-class plays.
 "When the deal for the theatre was concluded Saturday night. we wired F<law & Erlanger at once. We received today a list of 13 bookings for Bridge
 port, all of them good ones.
 ''It is simply our aim to give Bridge port what it deserves-a first class theatre with first class productions" The Shea Theatre Company con- trols the Worcester Theatre in Wor- cester. Mass. the Franklin Square Theatre in Worcester. the Hoiyoke Opera House in Holyoke the Park Theatre in Manchester the Taunton Theatre in Taunton. and the Gilmore Theatre in Springfield. the Bridgeport