SEEN BY 400,000

Sun (Auckland), Volume IV, Issue 1070, 6 September 1930, Page 24

SEEN BY 400,000

“The First Mrs. Fraser” Pays £17,000 in Taxes

AMATEURS WHO BACK PLAYS

“The First Mrs. Fraser” has paid £17,000 in entertainment-tax since Henry Ainley came back to the stage with Marie Tempest at the Haymarket Theatre exactly a year ago, writes a London critic.

The 416th performance of Mr. St. John Ervine’s comedy at this theatre has been passed, and I am told that the amount of money the play has taken during the year is £IIO,OOO. It has been seen by 400,000 people at the Haymarket. So good are the bookings that no date can be given for the production of “Hamlet” that is to follow. With figures like this it is not surprising to find Horace Watson sharing Mr. Cochran’s disbelief in a slump where shows that please the public are concerned.

Some of the plays that faded out quickly were so obviously foredoomed that they gave fresh point to the puzzle of the source of the money that makes such enterprises possible. About one of them I have heard a quaint story of three “backers” who were so keen on going into management that they put up their money without having read the play.

Behind the scenes these three staid ti-adesmen from a country town were known as the three musketeers. In cutting their little theatrical dash they never separated. When they visited the theatre they came all togethr, even called together at the leading lady’s dressing room. In confiding their hopes that the show would pay they confessed that they had not told their wives about the adventure.

These three highly respectable citizens have paid for their experience in exploring a strange territory. Probably they will not be tempted again from the steadier paths of ordinary business, but others will be coming along and optimistic gentlemen with affable manners and shows that want backing are ready for them. And, after all, there are chances to be taken in entertainment.

Any of these amateur showmen might have snapped up “Journey’s End” when the expert managers were eyeing it dubiously.