The Washington herald., 1922-01-22
BIGGEST SHOW =
BOSS HARD JOB,
SAYS MTgrYRE
Hippodrome Man Busy
With Twice-aDay Ap-
pearance of 1,5O0.
By o. o. MINryRK.

NEW YORK, Jan. q - MARI
Leuscher- 90 the boss Of the Hippo-
drome. He 10 the official custodian
Of everything from the black pet !
crow 20 Lucy, the biggest elephant
And running the largest theater IN
the world is no easy Job but 90 FAR
Mark has never cracked under tA
strain.
The Hippodrome has i.Boo peopi.
on its payroll. Twice a day they
give performances and the run Of
the spectacle is always nine months
To keep that many people together
in harmony requires the tact OF a
trained diplomat
Mark must buy hay for the ele-
plants. horses and ponies. He sees
20 Il that spsngies are in place on
all the tights. smoothes outbursts Of
artistic temperament. entertains
newspapsrmsn. sends out pieces 20
the papers. keep the clowns from
getting melancholy and a hundred
and one other things.
But despite his many duties ne
never neglected the art OF making
friends.. Nearly everybody in New
York knows and loves Marx
Leuscher. He has a habit OF DROP
ping little cheerful notes 20 those
he has not seen for some time. He
is in his early COS and is one OF
the snsppiest dressers along the
Rialto.
One Of his closest friends wa,
the late Rennold Wolf. Of the
Morning Telegraph. They used 20
foreesther nightly In a little cafe
on Eighth avenue and speed the
tagging hours spinning yarns 10
n
attracted to them.
Leuscher started out in life as =
Newspaper man and worked on
nearly every paper on Park Row.
One day he met Louis werba, who
/ was just then learning about the
theater under the tutelage Of A. L.
, Erlanger
They decided TO produce a play
| OF their own. Their first was The
Spring Maid" one OF the most sue
cessful musical comedies financially
Broadway has ever known. Then
came the Rose Maid" another big
! success-snd in those days the
money came in SO fast that the
F. hrm OF Werba and Leuscher be-
/ came one Of the most enterprising
/, In the country.
As anyone knows. theatrical pro
ducing is hazardous business
werba and Leuscher picked a year
for their greatest activities when a
panic was in the offing. When IL
came their losses were tremendous.
and, after trying vsinly 20 weather
the storm. they decided that there
was nothing TO do but close up
shop-and they did.
Mark went up, TO his farm near
New York and spent the next hve
years raising dogs and planning for
future conQuests. When Dtlling-
ham took over the Hippodrome from
/ the Shuberts he wired Leuscher: D
I've got the hardest job in Amer
lea for you IL you'll come back 10
Broadway"
.Leuscher wired back: Shoot when
you're ready" and in a few days
/ he signed on the dotted line a.
manager Of the big playhouse. The
Hippodrome has been a success ever
since. He Is Dillingham's right
hand man and has a supervising
interest in every Dillingham; attrsc-
tion. Dilhngham, tooQ WAS a former
\ Hartford newspapermsn.
Mark has one extravaesnce, and
that is riding in taxicabs. He lives
In hotel a half block from his
! OhiCe. OuN dlWdgs rloce 10 wOrE.
IL he wants to leave his once on
Sixth avenue and 20 TO the stage
| entrance on Forty-third street, he
calls a taxi, He believes IL is q
good form OF insurance. for while
he is riding in one he figures that
| one VIII never run over him.
Treat a taxi kindly and Il will be
your friend" he says.
Whenever New York wants 20
give a benefit performance for son-
charity OF some actor, Mark Leusch-
er Is called upon to arrange mat
ters. And he'll do il. too, IL they
will just put a taxi at his disposal
South Sea Island influence has final
ly reached Tin Pan Alley. Tahaiti
lis glorifled in a song called '-Ty-
Tee" which the shimmying GiIda
Gray is introducing at a nocturnal
rendezvous in the Roaring Forties.
II is one of the early New Years