The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1916-1920, 1919-09-07
# THEATRE
NOTES

Broadway and F1fty-hrst
street, which is rapidly ap-
preaching completion, will be more
than a motion picture theatre de luxe
and confirmation of the persistent
rumors that the huge playhouse will
encroach upon the field of the So
called Legitimate house constitute
the salient features of an announce
ment made yesterday by Managing
Director z. ]. Bowes. The extent to
which this will hold true il not dis
closed, but the announcement is
calculated TO increase rather than
diminish the anxiety OF theatre man.
ayers and producers as to the future
OF the largest theatre in the world"
in so far as II may constitute "op-
position" o..
The moving spirits of the enterprise
have devised an entirely new form Of
entertainment, or at least a new COM
bination Of entertaining units, accord
ing to the view. Ned wayburn, popu-
larry regarded in many quarters as the
discoverer OF the girl and music"
show, has been engaged by them,
through an amicable arrangement
with Florenz ziegfeld, as producing
director Of The Capitol to put their
ideas into practical execution; and 1t
Is this fact that is responsible for
augmcEting speculation as to the form
and extent of the entertainment that
will share honors with the motion pic
ture on the big new stage. Along
Broadway the announcement of Mr..
Wayburn's name was accepted as
equivalent to a declaration of the
adoption OF musical comedy, speotacu-
lar opera or the revue type OF enter
tainment as the accompaniment to
movies"
Mr.. Wayburn. whose long and con-
spicuous association with the Zieg-
field enterprises has made him as much
a concrete part of the entertainments
exploited under that banner as the
productions themselves, will not sever
his long Identification with that man.
agement, according to The Capitol
statement. There will be no conflict
in the form of entertainment given
at The Capitol and the Ziegfeld at
fractions and Mr.. Wayburn was Sc
lected by Mr.. Bowes as the best man
with the broadcast knowledge and abil-
fty TO put into form the ideas devel-
oped by his associates and himself to
embellish the pictures that will form
the foundation and backbone of the
programme. This course was taken
with the consent and approval of Mr..
Ziegfeld, with the result that Mr. Way
burn will divide his activities between
the Ziegfeld camp and The Capitol
For the former he will continue to
stage the "Follies," the Mine O'Clock
Revue" the Midnight Frolic" and the
other attractions in which Mr.. Zieg-
field is interested. At the huge new
playhouse he will preside over the
realm back Of the curtain line, devils
ing and staging the entire entertain
ment under the general supervision OF
Mr.. Bowes.
Although Mr.. wayburn's deep seated
knowledge of theatricals is popularity
supposed to centre exclusively about
the stage possibilities of music and
the dance, II develops that he has
been making serious study OF motion
pictures for something over four
years. He has had a miniature studio
fitted out at his home in Bayside and
has been experimenting with every
phase of picture production and pres
entation under the guidance of an ex-
pert. All this has been in secret and
his experimentation have progressed
TO the point OF actually directing a
picture that was successfully given
presentation and release. Whether Mr..
Wayburn's ambitions in that direction
presage ultimate desertion of the
tired business man" for the lure and
lucre Of the movies" remains to be
seen, for nothing bearing on the sub
ject has been made public by the
parties at interest
Mr.. Wayburn declined to amplify OF
elaborate the brief announcement OF
his excursion into the new field. merely
confirming it and declaring his plans
too indefinite as yet to justify an at.
tempt to go into details.
1T is impossible to forecast what we
viii do at the Capitol" he said. for the
reason that we can do anything within
the scope of stage possibilities. We
have the advantage OF one of the best
equipped stages in the world, capable
of being converted in the space OF
three minutes into a regulation pro-
duction stage. The tremendous size
OF the theatre presents problems thai
are new. so we are embarking upon a
voyage on an uncharted sea, and under
the circumstances II is best to permit
our offerings to speak for themselves
rather than anticipate public judgment
upon them. The form of entertain
ment toward which the management
and I are building is entirely new, al
least in the combination in which il
viii be presented, so in fairness to al
concerned we shall pursue our efforts
in silence until able to call upon press
and public TO pass judgment nthe
results In concrete form.
so far as my personal plans art
concerned my relations with Mr.. Flor
enz Ziegfeld continue precisely as they
have been in the past, except that my
time viii be divided between the two
institutions through an understanding
to which he is party