Indiana daily times., 1921-01-01

The other afternoon n hotel owner Of
this city came out of Englishs after see
ing THE Marcus Show of 1920" and
was anxious to obtain his impression of
this show, which, practically unknown
to theater- -goers Of this city, had played
to standing room only that afternoon.
He was enthusiastic over this Marcus
show and said: II have had the best
| laugh of the season in seeing this Mar
] Gus show and I liked every minute Of
it."
AS I had previously printed in tsis
space my personal indictment against
this cheap attempt to entertain" l did
not pass up the remarks Of this hotel
| owner, who sees the best on the stage
and always pays his own way. decided
to learn the reason for his great enjoy
ment" Of this Marcus shdw' which is bur
| lesQre In character.
He told me that he was pleased with
the rapidity OF the scenes. the introdCc-
tlon OF new faces as well as limbs, aNd
enjoyed the antics OF the two comediaTe
Then he gave me the keynote to the
success of the Marcus show when he
said: Il was not bored by seeing traves-
ties on New York shows which never
visit Indianapolis, because this Marcus
show contains none, and also because
they did not wish a Eo-called classical
ballet on me but called 1t an Oriental
dance"
then began to digest" the express
sions OF others who have hocked to Eng
lish's this week and 1 discovered that
those attending had read the advertise
ments In the papers Of the Marcus Show
and saw In the large ads an intlmation
that they were going to see just the kind
Of show which the ad indicated
We, who have looked over the shows
for years and have commented on their
merits and demerits, found nothing, from
a personal standpoint. to rave over" In
this Marcus show. In fact. this show
failed to give me a minutes enjoyment
and I was restless during the entire per-
formance Monday night. Yet those
around me howled with evident delight
at this show.
While they were falling over them
selves at English's this week to buy tick
cts, "The Charm School," with Il new
York reputation to its credit, did less
than poor business at the Murat
4 What's the answer
The Marcus show spent large sums in
billing the show and yet the press re-
views told the truth about this night
mare Of a revue and YET English's has
done big business oil week.
! All the reviews were enthusiastic over
/ ''The Charm School" and there were
many empty seats all week at the Murat.
/ believe the secret is this: Every body
in town knew the Marcus show was in
town. Everywhere one turned, there was
a notice of the Marcus show Even a big
touring car, with a checkerboard body
and carrying a Marcus show sign, was
used to advertise this show.
The Marcus owners are showmen, they
go after the coin and they get It. They
appear to see that an audience is In the
house on the opening night and the per.
sonal representatives Of this show have
never asked favor OF this department.
The Marcus owners are live members
and realize the value Of telling the peo-
pie, who buy tickets, that the Marcus
Show is In town.
Il l. Il
Dixie Hines sends this department the
following Broadway chatter:
A play which commanded attention
this week is Mixed Marriage" by ST
John Ervine, the author of Jane Clegg'
and John Ferguson" This is not the
first performance of this play in the
United States, but It is one of the mos
satisfying. The play deals with the fu
tility Of intolerance. OF course 1t II