THEATRICAL LOSSES.

Shannon News, 3 July 1923, Page 1

THEATRICAL LOSSES.

UNPROFITABLE 1 ' tours. &

GREAT INCREASE IN COST.

In an interview with a pressman,-Mr John Farrell, touring'manager for J. C. Williamson, Ltd., said:—

“Those play-goers who ' patronise® theatres on SaturHky’niglits ’Ohly, when 1 the playhouses hre invariably x well ' filled, may be forgiven if they imagine that very large sums of money are made by ‘J. •C. Willikmsbn; n Lt ! d.V * and : managers of other travelling theatrical organisatidn^' i \vhic i h tourthik'Do-'' minion. As a matter of fact, the ; balance sheets of the last half dozen companies which have been sent from Australia by J, C. Williamson, Ltd., disclose the fact •tha't- i: thh 1 i treihefldo < is l increase in Shipping, wharfage and' labour rates, together with the fact that theatre patronage has gone back!; ‘so far" as first- * class attractions are concerned, to the average which prevailed 1 before” ‘T'9 makes it now almost impossible ’to show a balance on the credit side of the ledger. The balance sheets of “The Peep Show” tour disclose the fact that this attraction lost £3500 during its recent New Zealand tour. Amongst the debts are £3OOO for fares and freight, £1382 for amusement tax, £2279 for labour (handling, scenery and effects, £216, for cartage and £1639 for bills and sundries. Other well-known attractions which have visited New Zealand during ‘the* *last !i few months, which have lost heavily are the Bennison Company (“Johnny Get Your Gun” and “The Great Lover”), £3600; t}ie Clay Smith-Lee-Wh'itd Corfljs’aiiy’ (‘‘Bran He”’and ‘“The Giil' for'the' Boy”) £3000; and the Grossmith Company (“The ’ Silver Fox” and “Captain Applejack”) £IOOO. A very small profit was made during the tour of the new English Musical Comedy Coinpany. ,

People who read these figures will wonder why the Williamson, , Ltd., management' persists in sending com- ] panies to New, Zealand; but the answer is that they own the Christchurch and Wellington theatres, and have the-one in Auckland on a long lease, and to have these theatres closed means a dead loss of £4OO a week. The amusement tax has become' a tremendous burden to travelling theatrical companies. Few people realise that for first-class attractions the Government captures 9 per cent of the gross takings. One will naturally conclude that this dees not affect those who control the theatrical companies, because the. tax is added 1 to the price of the ticket. This, however, is not a correc! conclusion to arrive at, because the price of-the ticket has to be-reduced-in order to keep it within the reach of the' public’s' ; purse: ’ This very heavy tax an the higher-priced tickets has the effect of driving people to the cheaper parts of the theatre. Then there is a section of the public which will not visit a theatre unless they can afford to patronise the best seats, and if they cannot, their custom is lost altogether. In addition to-the great increases which have been made m the price of boat and rail fares, the cost of labour is a big factor against tho chances of a profitable theatre tour through New Zealand. Quite recently the Arbitration Court granted the Stage Hands Union a 48 hour week, which has proved a big hurdte against travelling theatrical companies. The position is that, should a stage hand -*ave to work only 24 hours during one week he is, of course, paid full Salary, but should be be called upon the following week to work 49 hours ho bos to be paid for the extra hour. Daring t,he “Peep Show” tour £162 was paid to the permanent members of the travelling staff for overtime, although they.did not work an average of 48 hours per week. In Australia the travelling staff does nqt receive overtime money. “Unfortunately, the limited population of the various New Zealand centres prevents a play from enjoying a long season, no matter how popular it might prove. If a production runs for six months in Sydney and Melbourne, which frequently happens, this same play could not hope to run foi more than 12 nights to payable houses in Auckland or Wellington; for more than eight nights in Christchurch, or more than six in Dunedin. It nevertheless costs just as much to present a play in New- Zealand as it does m Sydney or Melbourne, and at places like Napier, Hastings, Wanganui, Palmerston North, Hawera, Timaru, and Invercargill, the various productions are staged exactly as they are in AuS 1 tralia. “The Peep* Sjiow” proved one of the most popular productions which has ever been 1 prebeiited in Ne\v Zealand, and large- Audiences bnjoyec it whereyer it was stagfed, but the liugt expenses in staging it, and transferrinf it from one town’to another made il an impossible finaheial proposition With this latest experience befoia them, the directors of J.C. Williamson Ltd,, were naturally h bit diffldenabout sending “Cairo” to NeW ‘ Zea land but it is understood that the) have now definitely decided ; to do so The latest Oscar Asche tion will cost, it is estimated about three times . as mucl as “The Peep Show” to tour througl this Dominion,' and a much large company will fib fiecessitiT'for its re presentation, for which will also b

utilised camels and donkeys, ■ also Chinese and negro men and women. The travelling members of the ! company generally look upon the New Zealand tour as a holiday trip, and, therefore do not reckon to save any money, so that the bulk =of the salaries earned is spent in the Dominion. Of course, members of ithe company have to, pay the usual fax on the money earned by them in New Zealand. “Theatrical management,” said Mr Farrell, in conclusion, "have never had any reason to complain about the attendances or the appreciation of New Zealanders of first-cjlass theatrical attractions; as a matter of fact, they are considered amongst the ' best patrons of the theatre in the world, but' the' 'tremendous’ inci&ase in the cost of sending-a company through the Dominion is becoming a serious; consideration to J. C. ’ an (bother theatrical'organisations; and unless the shipping and other rates are materially;-redufeed, they may find it more profitable t£ close the theatres rather than face tlte' still heavier/bur-