The Redwood gazette. [volume] (Redwood Falls, Minn.) 1873-1940, 1935-11-21


L sponsored amateur plays in conjunc-
ton with firms holding or claiming to hold
the royalties for them and furnishing dir
ectors'' who in their winsOme way, took
away the vastly greater share of the pro-
ceeds will appreciate the following reprinted
editorial as striking directly at pure an'
simple racket, the more vicious because it
preys on sincere and unsuspecting persons,
devoted to the causes of their organizations.
Persons sincerely interested in amateur
theatricals will applaud the article, knowing
what the staging of elaborate shows with
enormous, hurriedly picked casts after two
or three rehearsals has done to the demand
for od-fashioned home talent plays, once
worthwhile pastime for the actors and en-
tertainment for the audiences, with some
chance of profit for the sponsors.
During the last five years we have seen
good many persons come to Redwood Falls
with schemes of various kinds, including
shows of every nature, usually involving the
sponsorship of an organization, the mer-
chants or the newspaper. Often the scheme
the promoter profted entirely out of pro-
portion if not exclusively. We have, there
fore, become wary of all schemes entailing
such sponsorship and urge all organizations
which consider giving of such backing to
rely little upon promises but make thor
ough investigation of the experiences OF
other groups with the promoter.
The editorial follows:
eff this newspaper can correctly gauge public
sentiment businessmen and citizens of the city gen.
orally are more than tired of the amateur theatre
cal promotions which have been staged several
times during the year by outside parties who have
coupled up with local organizations and then taken
from the city the bulk of the receipts-both from
admission and from advertising receipts the re-
suit of programs.
Businessmen appreciate the fact that the adj
vertising phase of these schemes is veritable
racket, but the promoter-usualy an engaging
femme with an abundance of smiles and seduc-
tive line of chatter, is invariably accompanied by
a good customer a businessman belonging to the
organization sponsoring the racket
"He is thus forced to contribute piece of
money in self defense so to speak, realizing only
too we'll that he is being held up with about as
little conscience as if the promoter were two-gun
operator in some dark alley.
"A recent production collected approximately
one hundred dollars for advertising and at two per-
formances had less than one hundred spectators,
number of which were comps. Of course the 'ad-
vertising' was without value-it is never computed
in any other form, and the businessman merely re-
sponded to the holdup in order to avoid the odium
which might accompany his refusal.
"This newspaper has to grind in the
matter but is merely speaking for others who have
no public vehicle or dare not voice their protest.
"Isn't it high time that ALL local organiza-
lions of every form and nature pass stringent re-
solutions against being made sponsors for the vic
limitation of local businessmen in order to please
some racketeering promoter-even though OF the
engaging feminine persuasion.
eff there is any occasion for the staging OF
amateur theatricals in Detroit Lakes there is an
abundance of dictatorship material fully as COM
petent as any outside raeketeer have ever seen,
and our suggestion is that we make these affairs
strictly locafrom beginning to end, and thus keep
local money at home instead of feeding it to some
stranger whose sole interest in the city and its
people is from compensating financial angle.
"This is merely matter of home loyalty and
good common sense as we see it."-Detroit Lakes
Record.