Opening- at Beautiful American Music Hall Omaha's Newest Theater s
- - . '.,-rff Pjsjl ill'1."'
'I
X
m mi ii ii wmmmmmmmmmmBmmnmmmmmmmmmmmmmwmntmwmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm
coy thf, Gmi.& nr tvakkyarp jioriKo their arrival m ohaha
yy fa x
$41 ry.lww.ijw: g?y
L
ODERN VBudsvllle aa It Ii pre
Ben ted by the great theatrical
corporations that hire scores of
performers and keep thousands
of patrons supplied with a varied
entertainment that changes Its
once a week ' and never
M
character
eta tiresome.
Is a modern and strictly
American Institution.
Most certainly It
should be called an Institution, because It Is
Zh only theatrical amusement that many
people take advantage of and It serves as
an Index to the passing tastes and temper
of the people. No other country has any
thing Just like It; the English muslo hall
and the Trench vaudeville are kindred, but
different, and the froth and fun that Is
frequently dignified with touches of more
aerloua art Is a form of entertainment
which Americans have developed until it
pleases themselves better than anything
else.
For years Omaha has had a first olass
theater for vaudeville performances, and
has been accustomed to the best that the
big circuits had to offer, but one suoh thea
ter has not proved enough to satisfy a
populace that la growing more and more
fond of the theater every season and now
we have a second the American SIuslo
Hall.
. Monday night was the . occasion of the
biggest event of the season that we have
Just entered upon, the opening of our new
est theater.
Occasion of Great Importance.
The premiere of a new play is an event
of Immense Importance to those concerned
In Its Immediate production. It la watched
by the author whose conception it was,
whose handiwork and toil have gone Into
its making, with the extremest anxiety
The manager, who has entrusted it with the
burden of a heavy Investment, trembles for
fear the public will oast it aside or miss
Its appeal, and the actor, staking upon it
his present reputation, adds both his pray
ers and his labors to make it succeed. But
of how much more importance to the thea
ter goers of a town and to the town Itself
Is the opening of a new playhouse.
Plays and the performers are legion In
number and one of them can attract but a
moment's passing interest before the next
tepa into view. But a theater remains with
us and collects for itself an atmosphere
and a personality. The stage of the old
Boyd theater that has sheltered the thou
sands of audiences In the older days could
apeak of so many artists whose steps have
moved across the boards. The Orpheum
could tell of the gay and clever enter
tainers of years who have come and gone
with their contributions of humor and fun
and philosophy. So the two newer members
of the Omaha family ot theaters, the
Brandels and the Ameriian Music Hall
have before theua the privilege of filling
their stages and their dresaiug rooms with
memories of pleasure and art.
Society Oat in Force.
The opening of the American Musio Hall
Monday night was an event of social Im
portance and the audience that attended It
represented all of the elite who were
prompt .enough to get tickets. The boxes
were filled with , handsomely gowned
women, whose appearance gave no hint of
the distance they were removed from New
Tork and Paris and the men clad In con
ventional evening dress or plain sack suit
garb were the men that do not play In the
audience when Important' business deals
are accomplished In Omaha.
The women who came to see the open
ing .show and the theater and each other
were the ones whose social activities are
noticed by outsiders in Omaha and out of
Omaha and when they stepped from their
automobiles Into the American Music Hall
thrlr grooming was In keeping with the
beauty of the theater. Of no less im
portance was the fact that the quiet tones
of the decorations of the house did not
cheapen or mar the effect of elegance and
beauty that the audience brought with It
The audience was most hospitably In
clined toward the performers and yet the
people were not Inclined to enthuse out
wardly over any sort of cleverness. The
company that played the Barnyard Romeo
and the opening acts was forced to take
appreciation for granted mucin of the ttm
feocauso U audience had so many things
in: !-, I .-.-i-riSJi?. r-
7
5
to think about besides what was going on
across the footlights. The spectators were
Interested in each other and for that reason
they were all more or lees self conscious,
they were Interested in the theater, they
were getting used to the place.
Welcome to , the Company.
But in spite of distraction the cleverness
of the performers was never lost nn the
patrons and they were all perfectly aware
that they wera seeing a good show.
Every actress who appeared upon the
stage in a part of any Importance was given
a huge bouquet of roses or other flowers
and Miss Holland, the violinist, smilingly
acknowledged her armful with the remark
that she was proud to be the "flrat woman
to appear upon the stage of the beautiful
theater."
To the management of the theater friends
from all over the country, actors, managers
and theatrical people of every sort sent
telegrams of congratulation and good
wishes. Walter Leslie, the local man
ager, has taken all of the more precious
ones and will have them framed together
to be hung in his office. Oeorge M. Cohan
and Pavld Warfleld were two stars in
other lines, that sent their words of Qod
speed to the new enterprise and others
were Eddie Foy, Lew Fields, Frank Bush,
J. C. Matthews, the Empire City Quartet,
"Cleopatra," Colonel W. A. Thompson,
Emma Carus, Julian Eltinge, William Mor
ris, and the general manager of the Mor
ris theaters, Walter Hoff Seeley.
Mr. A. D. Brandels ot Omaha, one of
the men interested In the enterprise, sent
cabled congratulations from Switzerland.
Thus the American Muslo Hall in Omaha
started out from the very first with the
backing and the best hopes of dozens of
actors and theatrical people. To the theat
rical people It was a new opportunity for
fortune and enjoyment
l.ara-er Than the Chicago House.
The house of the American Music hall In
Omaha Is larger than the American Music
hall In Chicago, the theater from which the
company came to open, the local season
It will seat with both balconies 1.600 peo
pie. All of the seats are comfortable and
every seat Is a real seat. There are no
groups or rows that are entirely out of the
direct line of vision with the theater and
although there are differences, none of the
sections of the 1,000 are unsatisfactory.
There are two rows on each side of large
comfortable boxes. The space occupied by
the boxes Is large and they are not only
close to the stage, but comfortable, rather
an uncommon virtue in the seats that are
built for display.
As a comfortable place In which to spend
an evening, the theater is attractively
fitted up with conveniences for both men
end women. The rest rooms are well furn
ished and roomy. At the right of the
lobby Is a room for women that is wallexl
with pink silk brocade and at either end
Is a plate mirror.
The effect of the softly tinted brooart-
walls, the gleaming mirrors and the shai-'
lights Is charming. In this room Is to 1 c
found every possible aid to the women
patrons of the theater. There lsoa maid
whose whole duty it Is to wait upon
visitors and help them with their wraps
or gowns; there are ample supplies of extra
pins, hair pins, combs, and all the small
articles that might be needed' In an emer
gency. The pin cushion Itself Is an ex
pensive Importation from France, a bisque
doll with cushions in Its ample skirts and
It Is carefully locked up every night with
the rest of the theater's valuables.
Ksperienced staff in ( berse.
The attendants of the theater are ex
perienced and are trained In service and
courtesy. During the Intermissions pages
circulate through the audience with water
to drink. Everywhere is a uniformed of
ficial ready to satisfy some patron's wishes.
During the opening there was a carpeted
and canopied path leading from the auto
mobiles and carriages that drew up to the
curbing to the door of the lobby. The
lobby Itself is not unusually large, but is
well arranged.
The vaudeville theaters on the same cir
cuit In many cities allow smoking during
the performance but In Omaha that custom
will not be adopted. The theater desires
to cater as much as possible to the patron
age of women and children and since the
. if if-c -h m "A ' ,J
THE ArTTVRICAK
XIDS10 HAL1
jaTonj 3X)DOIS ST.
i 1
' llf
society women of the town have not as yet I
loolied with fafror upon the use of tobacco
for themselves they will not be forced to
breath the cigar smoke of the men In the
audience. If there ever should come a
time when a sufficiently influential senti
ment should be aroused In favor of smok
ing the managment would be willing to
allow it
The ' American Muslo Hall In Chicago
which is patronised by. most aristocratic
theater goers In the city has both the
smoking privilege and a gentlemen's buffet.
Stage and Lighting Equipment.
The stutfe of the American Music Hall is
commodious and it Is noticeably well fitted
up with every convenience for l,he stage
hand and carpenter. The scenic effects of
vaudeville are never large enough to oc
cupy any great amount of stage space, but
the stage of this theater was plenty large
enough to set the elaborate scenes of the
Barnyard Romeo, which has the full scenlu
complement of one act of a big comlu
opera.
The curtains are so well weighted t&at
they may be worked with scarcely any
exertion at all. As a properly balanced
window may be made to slide up and
down with a touch, although, It may be
very heavy, the big curtains are pulleyed
and weighted so skillfully that even an
amateur at scene shifting could, without
difficulty, move them up and down.
The lighting system was pronounced by
the city electrical inspectors to be perfect.
The first night was marred lightly by the
fact that the operators were not yet ac
customed to handling the switches, but
when the working order of the wires are
understood better, any electrical effect can
be shown. There are also all of the other
devlecs that go to make up a complete and
efficient stage presentation and all of the
regular stage machinery for making
thunder and lightning, snowstorms and
blizzards, the wind that "howowowowls"
and the ocean waves that "sob and sigh"
are all there waiting for some performer
to Invoke them.
Conveniences for Performers.
The dressing rooms, the closets in which
common ordinary actor . folk are trans
formed In a few moments into black face
comedians, or Irish acrobats, masked and
alluring oriental beauties, or shlmmery
soubrettes, are large and numerous. This
Is proved by that fact that the opening
bill, with Its fifty chorus girls, although It
did cause some inconvenience, was housed
and taken care of.
There Is, however, no chorus dressing
room as Is found In a theater that regu
larly exhibits musical comedies and a
temporary green room had to be put up
for the chorus girls' convenience. This
was done In a tent located east of the
theater on a vacant lot. In this green room
the members of the chorus gather every
night after they have put on their cos
tumes and gonip and discuss the fasci
nating details of their profession. On hot
evenings it has been a very pleasant re
lief for them and they have been glad of
the chance to slip away into the open air
beforo they had to go back on the brll
liantly lighted and over-heated stage.
For the girls of the Barnyard Romeo
company the heat has been a positive af
fliction all summer. Their costumes are
made of heavy canvass and the feathers
are put on the outside surface of that.
When a girl is prancing about the ttase
in a true clock-hand fashion she Is glad
to have some handy retreat for a moment's
breathing.
Extent of Morris Enterprise.
. . . 1 . ... . V.
aiio t-'iiiuua iiieaier is only uue ui iiiv g
many that the William Morris company
operates all over the United States and
Canada. There are American Music Halls
at New Tork t'lty, Boston. IVjckaway, Chi
cago, New Orleans), Indianapolis, San Fran
cisco, Los Angeles, Oakland, Sacramento,
Spokane, Ienver, Seattle, 1'ortland, Van
couver and Kansas City. Other theaters
on the same circuit are the riaze Music
Hall of New York City, the Fulton theater,
Brooklyn; Orpheum theater, Cincinnati;
Canadian Music Hall, Toronto; Dominion
theater, Winnipeg; Walker theater, Winni
peg; New" Princess theater, St. Louis,
which Is to be opened September 12 by the
"Barnyard Romeo," and the Newhouse
theater of Salt Lake City.
During the rst of the winter In Omaha
i
1 "
Ira"?,
r
...1
twBnttnJsnH
urtKBios or raiBKAw
the William Morris company will bring to
Omaha some of the finest attractions that
are known to the vaudeville world. Be
ginning next week and in addition to the
"Barnyard Romeo," which will remain,
there will be the great spectacular act now
playing Chicago called "Cleopatra en
Masque." Traveling with this act are Harry
and Irving Cooper, formerly of the Empire
City Quartet, who do a burlesque on Cleo
patra that Is said to be one of the funniest
acts on the stage.
Later in the season will come such people
as Henry Lauder, Great London Carno
company, Julian Eltinge, Amelia Bingham,
Oeorge Primrose, Trixie Friganza, the four
Mortons, Laura Jean Llbby, Oeorge
Lashwood and Arthur Prince. These
are the headllners, but the Amer
ican Muslo Hall management real
izes that one act does not make an
evening's entertainment and special efforts
will be made to present a well balanced
bill always. The secondary performers In
all the bills that come during the season
may not be as well known or as highly
salaried as the penplo whose names get the
big type at the top of the program, but
they will be of the highest class.
New Ilonac Well Located. .
The situation of the new theater Is on a
corner easily accessible from the retail dis
trict of the city and Harney street, along
the street of playhouses In Omaha, Is soon
to be rivaled by Douglas street. Counting
all the cheaper moving picture shows and
second-class theaters ranged along Douglas
street. It has more amusement places now
than Harney and two very Important thea
ters. No one could ever miss it who was looking
along the Sixteenth street for a place to
spend an evening. Although It Is two or
three blocks from the very center of the
retail district, it has upon the roof the
largest electric sign In Omaha, a huge dis
play of "American Music Hall" In capitals,
surmounted by an eagle.
I The beginning of the American Mulc Hall
In Omaha has been very auspicious. Even
iiou the best sort of good will has sprung
up between the management and the pa
trons. The policy of the manager was to
establish himself financially on a cash ha
els. If the theaterKoers keep up their pres
ent enthusiastic attendance, he will have no
difficulty in doing it.
Marl, with t.ooil Wishes.
A good many healths have been drunk to
the success of the Omaha house, and the
visitors who came with the company have
all taken a cordial Interest In the hopes and
future of the enterprise. The William Mor
ris company stands In all cities where it is
represented for the highest class of vaude
ville entertainment, and It has no desire to
do otherwise than maintain the same happy
relations with Omaha people.
The new theater does not come as an in
-v. :..'. m m jri
l TT.ie
tint kAthn!saxfst. WfaM-
A it
V
V
-
... . . ....
I
xurrc hali. - oxiama.' hcwwt
vader. It comes io supply Omaha's need
for another flrst-claBS theater for the per
formance of variety bills. Omaha has
passed the stage where everybody goes to
the Bame place at the same time. It has
reached some claim to metropotltanlsm, and
with new aosumptlons of Importance It must
OMAHA GREAT IN ALL THINGS
City Banks High in All Branches of
Its Industries.
BANKS BO LARGE BUSINESS
Althoua-h Omaha Is About Thirty
Fifth City In Slse, the Bank
Clearings Put It In Thir
teenth Place.
Any booster with sufficient nerve can
say a thing over and over until he gets
people to believe it, that is he gets some
people to believe tt. But the people who
believe things without being shown are
not the people who ao things and the
booster who gets action Is the one who can
buck up his assertions with real facts.
Advertising is one of the greatest aids
to business that there Is, probably it Is the
gicatest of all aids, but it Is not business.
Business itself ts delivering the goods.
The man who tries to boost his business
without having something to boost is
sure to get into trouble finally, and when
he has once Inst the confidence of his
patrons he has lost every tiling.
It Is because they know this that the
men who have boosted Omaha so success
fully for the last fifteen years, with the
most unique advertising schemes In the
country, have always been quite willing
to let everyone know all there Is to know
about Omaha. The things that reallv do
exist In the city, the Industries, the fav
orable business conditions und the general
prosperous fitmosphere, need only to -he
accurately described and tlio boosting Is
done without exaggeration.
There are live wire tor. ns just as truly
as there are live wlie nun; they work to
cether and one cannot exist without the
other. Omaha Is a live wire town le
cause all of Its citizens wurlt together for
their own good and the common business
welfare.
If anyone doubts the commercial and
civic greatness of Omaha he knows little
of Its Industries, Its activities and its
struggles to make of Itself a splendid
American community, fit to be what It has
so long been called, The Gateway of the
West.
Every year of tbs last ten has shown a
1 1
f !
, :..,n-'-.
W ..ft 4 !
mi
t -
vxure&i&.
support new enterprises. There Is a well
trained and discriminating body of theater
goers, people who take the theater seriously
enough to be unwilling to accept anything
but the best In any line, and the American
Music Hall will have to keep up the pace It
has set for Itself if it holds its patronage.
material Increase in the commercial
strength and Importance of the city. All
this can be demonstrated by Incontrovert
ible facts, by figures and statistics.
For one thing, Omaha Is aaout thirty
fifth among the larger cities of the United
States as they are ranked by population,
but in almost every branch of business
activity It stands higher than It should
on the basis of size. It ts the metropolis
of a great and fruitful territory. The
proverbial milk and honey are both plenti
ful, but the honey Is not so Important as
the corn, the wheat, the cattle and all the
other farm and range products that Ne
braska, western Iowa, northern Kansas,
Wyoming, the Dakotaa and others states
pour through the gate of Omaha Into the
markets of the world.
Omaha controls more tributary country
than the big eastern cities several times
as large and the territory is as rich as any
section In the world.
It is because of this that the volume of
business here Is out of all proportion to
the size of tho city. For Instance, the
bank clearings are exceeded by only
twelve cities In the country. For 1M they
amounted to $740,000,000, which was an in
crease of $132,000,000 over the year preced
ing. The lowest point reached by any one
month was over $40,000,000 and several
other months were over $70,000,000.
As another Index of Its business activity
Omaha has a remarkable record of ex
penditures In building. During 1!KW per
mits were Issued for over $7,000,000, almost
$3,000,000 more than the year before. The
largo Increase was laigely due, of course,
to the beginning of the City National bank
skyscraper and the new court house, both
of them Sl,000.0ti projects. The facts of
building are more slmilficant, because the
building Increases steady and rapid, as
they have never been more than the town
could stand. The sixteen-story hank
building followed upon the completion of
several other splendid new office bulldlnffs.
such as the Pranrtels theater building,
which Is Loiiijinia'lvely recent. hut it
found tenants ss roon as ro'ms were of
fend for rent. One of the owners re
marked recently: "The building of such a
structure as the City National bn:,k build
ing creates the tenants that must fill It.
We had enough rovenuo from tenants
promised tu Insure success before our
building was more tr.sn well started and
most of them were outsiders who were
Just Invading the territory. Putting up the
building assures outside capital that there
""I
1
A Mil
r
c5. il LA1T - G EJT'l, PBJuSS JtflP WIJ
TIOKKIS.rNC VvSTEKN
is a field .here and the opportunity tt lo
cate is taken Immediately."
Although they are not In Omaha proper,
the stock yards and packing houses are
one of the most valuable assets that the
city has. The world-wide advertisement
of a single product of South Omaha has
done immeasurable good in advertising
the name of the community.
As a center for the sheep packing busi
ness Omaha has been first for some time
and there seems to be no danger of any
loss of advantage there. In the combined
packing Industry Omaha is close to Kansss
City, which Is second only to Chicago. In
the South Omaha houses over 1.000.000 cat
tle are converted every year Into beef
products, 2,500,000 hogs go the way of the
fat porker and 2,000,000 sheep die for mutton.
In the Btock yards there Is also an
enormous trade In horses. They are brought
in from all over the west and S0.0U0 head
change hands every year.
The grain business, although really only
five and a half years old In Omnha, has
n-ade the city a leader In that branch nf
the world's trade. It Is dotted with enor
mous elevators, vast granaries filled to
overfowlng with the food for millions of
human beings. As a corn market Omaha
is fifth In the country and only eight cities
surpass It In the receipts of nil grains.
During the year 1309 more than fifty con
cerns Invaded the territory that finds Its
center in Orraha. Some of these were old
established firms with millions of dollars
of capital that have been doing business
In other places and Just recently have
found out that this Is a good place to he.
Others are the younger enterprises which
have chosen this town as a favorable place
In which to launch their hopes and fortunes.
Because Omaha is big and healthy the
national government realizes the necessity
of maintaining here the beautiful big post
office and federal building that cost $3,tV0.
000 and the headquarters of one of the five
big military departments with a fine build
ing of Its own. The revenue collector
gathers Into t'nele Sam's coffers $:.r.0Of
a year from the duties levied on Omaht's
activity. The money order business amounts
to $9.(!O0,000 and Omaha people buy nearly
$100,000 worth of stumps every twelve
months. The postofflce force sends out
every year about !0,000,000 pieces of mail.
Most citizens of Omaha, well Informed
as they are and confident as thoy all are
that the city is great, would be stHgueied
by actual figures of the volume of busi
ness. Frequently the newspapers and the)
various agents nf publicity gather them
and publish them, but growth Is so rapid
and so vailed that no one can keep tiack
of It.
Here are, for example, a few annual
Jobbing figures, taken seven months atto:
Agricultural Implements.
Automobile supplies
Automobiles
Hoots and shu .
Cement
Coal and coke
HU.IWO 0
1 ic ti OKI
s.roft.o o
2,;'.iii,0iO
2 O'm.oi'O
B.fHI'.'KO
HVl.O 0
1.1 V00
ft 00 I '
4 11 1 '10
S.flMi.nun
f i iilts and ve
fir icerles
Liquors
Plumb'ng ....
Lumber
'tables....
Omaha has miles and mllen of beautiful
streets and comfortable homes. It nas
UuOuO good citizens. It has unlimited re
sources, heaped up wealth and the who.j
world before it for future conquest. It Is
a great city and as long as every man,
woman and child remembers that and tells
everybody else how trus it ts U wiU stay
great.
11