The Virginia enterprise. [volume] (Virginia, St. Louis County, Minn.) 1893-19??, 1912-02-23

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have preceded. Minor defects in
the earlier structures have served
to point the way toward making
the new Lyric the perfect play
house., ~~ ~ - =
The main offices Of the Allardt
circuit are located in the Maj;s.
TIC theatre building in Chicago.
An immense suite is occupied b.
the booking department, purcllas-
ing agents, stenographic crops
and publicity bureau :: -. :.
L.. F.: Allardt, general manag ger
OF the circuit, MAKES the head
quarters at the Chicago offices.
ii. j. Allardt, who supervises
the bookings of all the theatres,
has at his command five agents
who route acts through the West
ern Vaudeville Managers associ-
alton. Co'lcy Hoin4s is the repre-
sentative who will nave the d.
rect charge Of routing the acts
hat will appear in the new
houses in this section.
Thousand Of dollars worth of
supplies ranging from brooms to
picture films, are purchased an
nually through the Chicago Of
flee. Some idea of the huge size
OF the circuit may be gained
when it is known that the firm re-
Gently placed orders for ten mil
lion coupon and reel tickets from
the ARGUS Ticket company for all
the houses for a single season.
These tickets, if laid end to end,
would reach in an air line from
Fort Williams to Superior. The
combined weight is 10000 pounds.
1t has been but a few years
since the master brain and iron
hand Of the Napoleon Of vaude-
vile came into power. Previous
to that time the business was con-
Quoted in manner that would
put to shame Frisco alderman
during the Ruell regime. Per-
formers were forced to give up
half their earnings to secure book
lngs from INSCRIPTIONS agents
wild cat promoters inveigled the
unWary into investing in theatres
whose profits proved nabulous
and the public received such poor
shows that it seemed but a ques.
ton Of months ere those who sup
piled the wherewithal would turn
their faces and pocketbooks to
other forms Of entertainment.
Then Charles +. Bray was es-
tablished at the head Of the ship
vaudeville. The first week of his
regime saw the casting out of the
grating agents. He refused to
grant association franchises to
houses erected for stock jobbing
purposes. In less than year sys-
tenn ruled and the public and
artists alike were reaping the
benefits.
When Mr.. Bray came into DOW
er booking franchise was about
as valuable as copy of last
weeks newspaper. Now all is
changed. Conservative business
men recently offered the Allardts
$4,000 spot cash for their fran
chise.
1t is the motto Of the Western,
"We book anything from pic
ture show to a circus" This con-
cisely sums up the operations of
the big agency. In the smaller
towns where one act of vaudeville
sandwiched in between several
picture films the Western supplies
the animate proportion Of the en-
tertainment.
At the other extreme is the
circus and fair department under
the direction Of Ben Rosenthal.
The Western furnished most of
the big features for Ringing
Brothers Worlds Greatest
Shows, the Barnum & Bailey
Greatest Show on Earth, the
Adam Forepaugh and Sells Bros,
Shows, Buffalo Bill's Wild West
and Pawnee Bills Far East, the
Carl Haganbeck and the great
Wallace shows combined, Miller
Brothers 101 Ranch and many
others.
There are no less than one hun
dred booking agents and their as
sistants constantly at work sup
plying the needs Of amusement
lovers throughout the land.
On an ordinary day during the
height Of the thea trical season it
is no uncommon thing to route
300 artists in a single day. The
bookings range from some new
conner who is to appear in the
most obscure 5 cent theatre to the
high priced features Of interna-
tional fame which are schedul-
ed for early showings at the new