New Britain herald., 1923-01-18
s5O,0O0,OOO JOINT
 THEA7ERS MERGER
Erlanser and Shuberts Plan
 Big Deal

New York. Jan. 1s.-The bigges theatcr combine ever attempted 1T tho United States has been virtual,
 completed, according to authoritative
 statement last night. Under the ar.
 rangemcnt, which awaits little more
 than the signing of formal papers
 q vast majority of the theaters in
 New York and throughout the coun-
 try will pass under one control. there-
 by creating something like a monopoly
 O. houses in which legitimate enter. prises can find lodgmenr.
 According to 4. l.. Erlanger, who
 admitted that the deai was far under
 way when rumors concerning it were
 prese nted to him last nrg:l.., the prin- c!pal factors in the combine will be himself and the Shuberts. The talk in the theatrical district was of an even more sweeping merging of interests. whereby some of the few remaining independent theater owners would be found allied with Mir. Eranger and tie Shuberts, so that the would-be producer would find himself force.l 10 fnG in a single office Inc only outlet fo. his productions. Whether the deal will be so extensive was not learned.
 Mir. Erlanger did volunteer the in formation, however. that Charles B. In'lingham with ms three big thea ters, the Hippodrome, tho Gaiety and the Globe, was expected to be party to the merger. His adn ission dew attention to the power that vii, be Welded in the amusemenr world even by those three, should no others be brought into the new organization.
 Will End Tribute to Owneys
 The exactions of thcater owners not mere so in other large cities through out the country, haze been caIise of sore complaint among playmakers in tbo last few years. The revenue that went into the pockets of the man who owned or leased the theater has been so great share of the box off, flee returns that independent produc- ing has been discouraged, and some who have put out plays have come back from the road complaining that they had been gouged in towns where eiiC dCiAduu lol lHSdteIo NdS STcIteF than the supply.
 Added to higher salaries, increased freight rates and big wages to stage kands. the take-out of the theate- according to some who have had to pay tribute, has been an overwhelming factor against Inde- pendence.
 The new plan has two new features, tn" greatest innovation being that tho public is to be let in on it. The involved in the deal, itgis said, | will reach approximately s5o,0oo, ,00o, and to finance it the public is to be let in. No details of the stock-selIlng i feature of the enterprise were await able last night, but both Mir. Erlanger and Lee Shubert admitted that the public was to be invited to inves, freely. Incidentally, that was one of the few points on which the two prin- cipals in the merger agreed, Mir. | Shubert minimizing che assertion or Mir. Erlanger that the deal virtually had been completed, and insisting that the Shuberts had not even audited their books yet to determine he extent of consideration they would demand in return for participation in such a combine.
 second feature that had Il been lacking in the previous talk of Il heater combinations and earlier ef- Il forts actually to form one, is that New ork, is to be included A year ago, when a pooling arrangement was at tempted. it was intended to include all he cities in the country, playing first ,lass attractions. Eventually that ieal dwindled to all arrangement ef- ecting Philadelphia alone, and the present season the heaters there have been under one control with indiscyiminate booking
 News that such an arrangement probably will be in force here and elsewhere very soon, is expected to .ome as something of shock to in- dependent producers who hitherto nave been in position to bargain be- ween two booking offices whereby now they may find themselves com