The Birmingham age-herald., 1915-02-18
MIR. KARL HOBLTTZELLE OPTIMISTIC ABOUT
 THEATRICAL CONDITIONS IN BIRMINGHAM
Ky DOLLY DALRYMp..r

Mr. Karl Hoblitzelle. president of the Interstate Amusement company, is dis t;nctly d young man to be recaoned with -a vigorous and interesting personality He combines those qualities of clear thinking, acute observation and cool judgment with those traits of quick un- dertakngs, ready sympathy and un- swerving directness which make such q powerful appeal.
 Mr. Hoblitzelle is very boyish in ap- pearance-tall, slender. and withal pow erful, and his enthusiasm and optimism in regard to Birmingham and it's future, especially in the theatrical line--is at once refreshing and encoura sing.
 Mr. Hobltzelle is spending the week in Birmingham preparatory to the reopen ing of the Majestic theatre and between times when lie could grant 8 few mo- ments for q short chat. I had the pleas ure of hearing his views on the subject of some interesting matters in.regard to the stage
 Mir. Hobltzelle isn't stranger to Bir- mingham, for socially. as well as com mcrcially, he has many friends here, and during his visit he has been the recipient of many delightful courtesies which is only another assurance of Birminghams kindly feeling toward him and his flu ture here
 In chatting about the theatre and his experience in such matters, Mr. Hoblit- zelle said, among other things
 Naturally l am very busy man. I nave IS playhouses under my manage tt,, t Is enough to keep the average man busy don't you think so?''
 l said did, and then proceeded to ask what had attracted him to the pro- tession. and if he came of long line of theatrical managers and deyotees of the stage.
 It Is rather odd that l was not in any way predisposed toward the theatrical business far IS heredity is concerned said AIr. Hoblitzelle. My family has lived in St. Louis for many years my grandfather being connected with the St. Louis Republic, and so newspaper work is rather more in my line you'd imagine than the management of playhouses. The Way my utilization with sucn things came about was very simple. After I finished college, my father gave me a small truck farm just outside of St. Louis and I decided to become q full fledged. old fashioned farmer. l was very much i pleased with the work I was doing and | during the St. Louis exposition 1 fur nlsned a lot of vegetables and things of some of them came in contact with some 1, with the fair, among them being Mir. 1 Isaac $. Taylor, who operated and built the fair. Through h:n | was offered a small position with the exposition, vhich I declined, but later became identi- ! fled with the exposition and for four years worked under MT Taylor. Later. | when he resigned, Governor Francis ap- pointed me to take charge of the dis mantling and general breaking up of the exposition, which was d bigger task than most people imagine.
 Tn 19Oi,' MT Hobltzclle continued, "Mr. McMechn, whom you probably know a well known and popular news paper man, came to me with a proposi- ton about vaudeville. He laid before me some plans and ideas that he said he believed could be worked out satisfac torily and having become interested in these things in way during my connec-
 
 under consideration, with the result that the Interstate Amusement company was formed
 'In the matter of theatricaliy present conditions, what is the outlook?' I asked. |
 "The prospects are very bright in many | ways" said MT. Hoblitzelle Business conditions are improving all over the country and there is a steady demand for pleasure and amusement in spite of the hard times. Of course the theatrical world is the very first to be affected by any sort of business depression, be- cause people feel that the theatre is a luxury and they can dispense with it when it comes to decreasing expenses, but as a matter of fact you'd be sur prised to know how little people really do this; it is a very good proposition in theory, but not in practice, for the tired business man demands entertain nient, and the worried housekeeper de- mands diversion. and the consequence is the theatres, especially the vaudeville houses, are well patronized.'
 Vaudeville has never been more popu- lar than it is today" MT. Hobitzelle said. 'Of course, while modern vaudeville is a new phase of the theatrical situa- ton, vaudeville itself is old as the hills. As far back as the sixteenth or seven- teenth century, vaudeville was popular, especially in France In Birmingham there is a replica in the form of a moving pie ture show of one of the oldest vaudeville houses in the world-the "rrianon,' at Yer sailes. In this country Tony Pastor was responsible for the first vaudeville