New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1912-06-16
The Theatrical Center
of the Universe

~ 49, 414 ~ On
soers from over the whole country to revel
/ in the greater realism of the stage.
/ Another big playhouse which has been a
money maker is the Winter Garden, which
during the past forty weeks has gone con-
siderably over the half million point. The
elasticity of the programme at this theatre
J Of varieties with the general spirit Of i'm
! promptu and the constant innovations in
| troduced, has made it a place to drop in
upon now and then. This custom is high
| " profitable one for the box office, for It
! is quite as good as an increase in the pop
uation.
! Other notable figures in the dramatic
| field are those which represent the Weber
and Fields jubilee receipts for their twelve
weeks or so Of activity at the Broadway.
! The seat sales for that gala run alone
amounted to 100000.
Whether or not music is an entertainment
| in the sense in which the drama is. IT
seems usual to group the incomes result
| ing from both under the same head
| amusements. The opera, then, housed in
the one building which New York now pos
! sesses for that purpose, brought in from
What answer do these figures make to
the accusation that people attend the opera
| only because it is the thing" 1t GER
tainly is not "the thing" to sit in the fam
/ lily circle or the balcony or 10 stand down
/ stairs behind the parquet. Yet large pro-
/ portion Of the revenue Of the Opera House
comes from the occupants Of the sky seats
and from the dense packs of standees. An
other point for the music lovers is that,
whereas no one claims that IT is fashiona-
! BILE to go to concerts, there was S0o0,mC
spent on that form of pleasure during its
comparatively short season.
/ Lighter forms Of musical entertainment
are undeniably popular, and every sort Of
good musical play, ranging from light OPP
era to the musical variete. find continued
and enormous favor This spring Robin
Hood" the Gilbert and Sullivan revivals,
Rose Maid" as we'll the latest type Of
musical comedy such as The Winsome
Widow" at Ziegfeld's Moulin Rouge, and
/ over the River" have kept full house
and those that are still open are defying
the summertime heat to lessen their at
1 tendance b. a single ticket.
( If nothing else would tell the tale OF the
huge amounts spent on theatres. the sala-
/ ries paid to actors and the dividends re-
ceived by playwrights reveal clearly
/ enough what must be the intake of the
! theatres.
| Harry Lauder made such a tremendous
financial success for his managers last sea-
son that he has announced in England that
during mis- tour here next season he will
| receive 5000 week salary
! Naude Adams is said to have a guaran-
! teed salary Of 81, 900 a week for forty weeks
| in the year and besides this share in the
profits Of whatever play she is appearing
! in This share in What Every Woman
| Knows" brought her 500. 40 a year ago.
| Fabulous sums are reported as the in
come of Billie Burke during her long and
! highly successful tour of the United States.
! Amazing financial returns are also attrio-
uted TO Madame Nazimova. Both of these
players are to appear in London this sum-
mer, according TO announcements made
some time ago.
AS for the playwrights several of them
are becoming millionaires through the sue
cess Of their recent plays. George Broad
bursts Bought and Paid For" has made
a net profit OF over 10000 so far, and that
rs only 1.-THE of what 1t will make before
! il goes into stock. and even then will con-
/ tinue to earn large sums for its successful
author Harry B. Smith has become mill
/ ionaire through writing lbrettos for must
/ cal plays, while the playwrights OF the un-
derworld, Paul Armstrong and wilson
[ Miner and George NJ Cohan, the brilliant
/ young playwright Of Broadway nave
realized that the man OF the hour has
J plenty OF money to spend on what he likes
/ The amount Of money that rolls IN
/ through the ticket windows Of vaudeville
/ houses Is hard to estimate. But the fact
/ that higher salaries are paid in the varie-
/ ties than on the legitimate stage, high as
/ that is. shows how the wind blows, as does
/ the fact that Percy c. Williams considered
/ his six vaudeville theatres in New York
worth 100000 and that he was actually
paid this sum by b. +. Keith for the pos
/ session of them.
That all the worlds a stage" was never
so true as it is Of New York in the present
dav. The community may be divided into
many classes, but the easiest way Is to dl-
! vide it into just two, players and audience.