The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1922-05-20
RUNS N.Y.THEATER
Roy Crawford of Topeka Rea-
Lies His Lies Ambition.
For One Week He Enjoyed the
Thrills and Profit.
LIKES JACKSON STREET BETTER
Many TOpekans Called on Him
During the Week.
New Production 'Lady GOdiya"
Does Big Business.

has been manager Of a Broadway the
alter. For one solid week he enjoyed
the honor. the prestige. the glory, the
excitement. the profit, and-he's
curedi
broadway has its points," sighed
Crawford. as he finished counting the
receipts of the Associated Exhibitors
feature, Lady Godiva.' at the Central
theater Saturday night, but here
after when it comes to hanging around
. box-office Jackson street or Kan
sas avenue or Eighth street will suit
me"
It is told Of Crawford that he sold
theater tickets for the first time when
he had reached the mature age OF O.
his father I. NJ. Crawford, flrst en-
+v1sfi1q- him with the cash-box and
pasteboards OF the old Crawford opera
house on Kansas avenue one BUSY gay
some thirty-five or so years ago Nnen
the receipts we're counted up Roy va
lust SIS to the good. Whereat the
elder Crawford uttered the conndeht
prediction, "Son you'll succeed: ana
ROW. being a dutiful boy, did-and
has
1t was just about then that me
ambition to invade Broadway vs.
horn For a long while the youhs
man nursed his ambition secreuy' a. |
the time helping father 10 poc5el -
shekeIs which Topeka, 81 Josep. . 1
Wichita and other towns thereaoouts
showered into the Crawford coIIers IN /
recognition OF the high quallty OL
histrionic entertainment that they
father and son-presented-
All the time, too, advance agents
and road managers and prima donnas
from the east poured into the youth
ears the seductive words; These
western towns are all right, but wait
till you see broadway Between you
and me. young man. TINS burs w
small for YOU. There's only one place
TO fit your talents mat ,
N'Yawk- oh bOyl"
Still Roy bided his time IN silence
wear ago. when Arthur S. Kane re-
organized Associated Exhibitors, one
of the big picture companies OF the
country, the big chance came name
himself was a Topeka boy VINO nao
been associated with the CraWfordS IN
the MANAGEMENT of the Grand but had /
come east and grown up to be a mag
nate on that same Broadway he con-
ferred with his other directors, then
urging Roy t come to
New York and be treasurer OF the en-
terprise, of which Kane is now presi-
dent.
Crawford accepted-with reserva-
tons He was willing to go if the
zolne. involved the abandonment OF
none of his interests in Topeka or
elsewhere in the west. He was deter
mined. too. to take advantage of every
oDportunity to visit the old home town,
a. promise which he has fulfilled glee-
fully. And finally. when the time
came to move, he prolonged the oper-
alton as much as possible. travelling
by auto thru the mUd-holes Of Hi
nois and West Virginia, instead Of go
ing By santa Fe's No. 6 to Chicago
and thence by the fleet goth Century
Limited |.
Not Up to Advance Notice. n
And New York. somehow. once he
had arrived. wasn't quite up to the adj
vance notices. He found hims II seated
in a deep leather chair behind a glass
topped desk in a 45th street sky
scraper. with the nearest Broadway
ticket-o office twenty-five floors down
and two blocks west.
It was at such a distance, that is,
until last W Eek. Then along came As
ISOLATED Exhibitors big picture, Lady
Godiva," booked for a weeks engage
ment at the Central theater up at
Broadway and 47th street. just off
Times Square and in the glare of the
brightest bulb of the whitest lamp of
the Great White Way.
Here" declared Crawford. bark
Jig back to those boyhOod days of
metropolitan yearnings lis Old Man
Opportunity at lasti Somebody must
watch that box office this week. And
who but me. the treasurer"
Lady Godiva's" run proved one of
the great hits of the Broadway season.
The theater was jammed- afternoon
and night, for seven solid days. Back
in the shadows of the box-office stood
Crawford proud, serene and happy
until he was discovered
"Out in Topeka he unused. after
midnight. Saturday-"Out in Topeka I
used to marvel at the number of folks
who insisted their names should be on
the free list OF the Grand opera house.
1 fOn6ly imagined I'd be safe on
observation-disclosures suppose anybody in
New York knew me. But l-ere's what
happened, and he drew forth a crum-
bled roll OF clOsely-figured papers
-Four hundred and eighty-siX men
and women, entering the lobby, had
exclaimed: why if there ISN'T Roy
Crawford I knew him whenA'
Five hundred and forty-two sought
him out and greeted him with: 10
Roy. Member me when I was out |
ahead of 'Susie's Silken Stockings? p
Some play Ell? You was knee-high
to a grasshopper then-one OF them
Kansas grasshoppers!"
One thousand and eighty-nine-at
a conservative estimate, Crawford ad-
mits that he lost count-said simply: |
Mr.. Crawford. I've often heard OF
YOU and long wanted to meet you. For
tune is smiling upon me tonight. OF
course you, or. are still recognizing
the profession
Topekans on New York Map.
Which proves. Of course, that To-
York map. and that running a Broad
way theater. il only for a week. has
its disadvantG ges.
AT that" Crawford told the State
Journal correspondent. Lady Co
diva was the biggest kind of a winner.
Don't imagine that the theater was
packed with comps Believe me I
used discretion. Yes. I have realized
my ambition, but who was that wise
old bird who said something about an
being sweeter than realiza-
tion 1 came, I saw, WAS disil-
lusiOned. New York, repeat has its
points. But when it comes to actual
theater management I'll oil Topeka'sl
good enough for met