I think Bockoven & Dean must have been just an equipment provider or something in the same building and most likely not a name for this theater. However, I there is another name for this theater from around 1906…The Hecla.
(April 22, 1906)
The opening of the new Hecla Theater, under the management of J.J. Cluxton, will take place today. The Hecla occupies the building formerly possessed by the Star, of unlamented reputation.
Here are a few things I’m moving over from the Cozy page….
(May 5, 1907)
Mary A. Jauch to John Rebman, alterations to Hotchkiss Theater, $5100.
(June 3, 1907)
The little Hotchkiss theater is scarcely large enough to pay in such vaudeville as the syndicate proposes to establish. The new theater being planned by Adolph Ramish and Philip Wilson, on the site of the Panorama building, is for melodrama. John Blackwood will be the manager, and his policy is outlined.
(April 17, 1920)
Spiritualist.
DO THE DEAD RETURN?
See Edward K. Earle, of the Angelus Spiritualist Temple, in his wonderful demonstrations of Independent Slate Writing, Sealed Questions Answered, etc., April 17, 18, 19 and 20.
NOVEL THEATER, 338 S. Spring St.
I wonder if these are the same theaters….both articles are on the same page of the same day:
(Dec. 7, 1924)
NATIVE BAND OF DURANGO IN CONCERT
The Mexican National Band from Durango will give a concert this afternoon at the Teatro Capitolio, Spring street, near Fourth, the Spanish-language playhouse recently instituted here. Members of the Capitolio company, which includes Spanish and Mexican actors, dancers and singers, will assist in the program…….
ALBRIGHT TO RETURN
Detective Lieutenant Cullen left yesterday for San Antonio to bring back to this city Walter Albright, 21 years of age, of Monterey Park, indicted her for the embezzlement of $1120 from the Capitol Theater, 338 South Spring street, where he was employeed.
It definitely became the Capitol in 1921….maybe they installed that organ then also. Some of the words are illegible…I put * to replace.
(May 15, 1921)
THOSE BABY DOLLS.
The velvet curtains on the stage of Gore’s Capitol Theater on Spring street will rise today upon Ed Armstong’s famous musical comedy organization. From now on the home of the famous baby dolls is to be this intimate playhouse. No money has been spared in making the Capitol one of the most comfortable and prettiest theaters in Los Angeles. The interior suit the taste of the most discriminating, and Ed Armstrong’s first production, “The Love Nest,” tuneful and gay musical comedy will receive its first showing under the most auspicious circumstances. All the famous favorites who have for so many weeks displayed the talents and grace on the stage at the Burbank will be seen at the Capitol henceforth. The cast in “The Love Nest” includes Manny Ki*** Irene Brooks, Billie Riddle and of course all the Armstrong Baby Dolls.
I don’t think this place was called Biola Hall for long….
(March 1, 1919)
BIOLA HALL
(Old Empress Theater, 338 South Spring Street.)
MEETING FOR MEN ONLY
ADDRESS: Rev. James B. Ely, of Philadelphia: “The Soldier’s Soul.”
This is starting to sound like the Jerry Springer show…..
(July 24, 1907)
MONEY RAISED TO ARREST ONE MEAN HUSBAND.
WARRANT ISSUED FOR T. JEFFERSON WHITE AT INSTANCE OF HIS WIFE, CHARGING NON-SUPPORT—CLAIMED THAT THEATRICAL MAN DESERTED MOTHER OF HIS CHILDREN FOR CHORUS GIRL.
A complaint charging Thomas Jefferson White, a well-known theatrical manager, with non-support of his wife was filed yesterday in Justice Chamber’s court and a special fund is being raised by attorneys to bring the wayward husband back from San Diego. White is the adopted son of Mrs. Jauch, formerly Mrs. Hotchkiss, formerly Mrs. Mooney, owner of the Hotchkiss Theater. Last season during a visit of the German comedians, Kolb and Dill, in Los Angeles, White acted as manager for both the company and the showhouse and at that time met Miss Fib Whitesides, a chorus girl, with whom he is now alleged to be living at San Diego. Mrs. White was too ill to appear at the Police Station yesterday and a relative went before Prosecuting Attorney Ford and swore out the complaint for White’s arrest. It was found that he could not be arrested by local officers because there is no fund set aside for the transportation of prisoners on misdemeanor charges. In view of the desperate circumstances of the case, Attorney Ford started a fund to bring back the accused man. Attorneys about the Police Station and a number of those interested in the case have promised donations so that the warrant can be served in San Diego. Whie, after his first wife secured a divorce from him six years ago, began to pay attention to a pretty young woman who lived at his mother’s home. Mrs. Hotchkiss favored the match and a wedding resulted. They lived happily for five years. White seemed to care a great deal for his wife and their little girl. Then came the Kolb and Dill show and with it the pretty chorus girl with her wealth of golden curly hair and her big gray eyes. Mrs. White, in a little Arizona town, began to receive postal cards instead of letters from her husband and then even these ceased. Last January, a second little girl was born to Mrs. White. She wired her husband of the important event and asked for a little money. She said yesterday that White promised to send the money, but did not. When she returned to Los Angeles, the Kolb and Dill company, with its show girls had left for San Francisco. But one remained, the same little golden-haired girl who had kicked in the front row. When the Hotchkiss Theater failed, White left for San Diego. Mrs White has not heard from him since the time she received the note after the birth of her baby to the present time. The care of the two little girls, one very young, fell to her. She lived at her aunt’s home and tried to keep the wolf from the door. Then the baby became ill. That was last May. The tiny youngster sobbed out its little life with the heart-broken little woman bending over it. She wrote to White and received no reply. He had never seen the little one. From a time, several month prior to the baby’s birth until after its death, he had not been to his home. Mrs. White asked for money to bury the little one. She received none. Then she returned to her aunt’s home and collapsed. She is there now in a critical condition and with only her aunt’s meager income to save her from being sent to the County Hospital.
(July 23, 1906)
HOODOO’S PREY LOSES HIS LEG.
NEW MANAGER OF HOTCHKISS IS NINTH VICTIM.
Falls Under Street Car Wheels and is Seriously Injured—Series of Misfortunes has Visited Men Connected With Management of Ill-Fated Playhouse.
The left leg of Don A. Chick, manager of the Hotchkiss Theater, was amputated just below the knee yesterday morning as the result of injuries received in a fall from a car on Main street about midnight. From the hospital he was removed to his home, No. 2226 South Main street. Mr. Chick is the ninth victim of a “hoodoo” that is supposed to hover over the Hotchkiss, formerly the Casino Theater. Peculiar fatality has attached to the management of this house ever since its opening. Prosperity has attended some of its seasons, but the heads of the establishment have always suffered, in one way or another, after their connection with the house. The Hotchkiss was reopened yesterday, after a week’s idleness. On Saturday night Chick worked late at his office, in the theater building, and left about midnight to go to his home. Passing around on Main street, he waited in front of the Star Theater for some time and finally, seeing a car coming his way, made a try for the front step. Mr. Chick is past the sprightliness of youth, is large and heavy. He missed the platform and the next instant the front truck ground his leg to a pulp. The first manager of the theater was the man for whom it was built, Jacob Waldeck. The burlesque season, which was his opening feature, was splendidly inaugurated, but soon his finances became involved, and though he made the most stenuous efforts to meet all obligations, he became hopelessly in debt. He wandered off one day into a lonely canyon, receiving exposure from which he died. His salaried associate in the management was Arthur A. Lotte, who soon failed and abandoned the management entirely. Messrs. Morosco and Wyatt, successful in their own playhouses, took this one upon a co-partnership basis, and ran it together for a number of months. They, too, gave it up. Alfred J. Morganstern, a San Francisco lawyer, who had had an almost startling triumph in the amalgamation of vaudevill houses in Southern California, next took over the Casino as his chief theater. Then the gigantic bubble of the outside circuit bursted. Morganstern took in Rube Welch, and the two managed the place together. After a series of sensational stage plays, and the facing of numerous creditors' allegations, both Mr. Welch and Mr. Morganstern faded suddenly from sight. Edward F. Seamans, manager of the Olympic Opera Company, took hold of the theater for a second time last winter. With him was associated T. Jeff White, foster son of Mrs. Mary A. Hotchkiss, owner of the theater and the ground on which it stands. Mr. White’s recent fights in high finance have furnished town gossip for a week or two. After the exodus of White, Seamans remained only a few days. He said he had found trouble enough. In justice to the present staff it should be said that the Kolb and Dill engagement has been an entire success, as far as attraction and financial returns have been concerned. Both attaches and players avow that they will stand by Chick and “see him through.”
(Dec. 28, 1905)
CASINO REPORTED SOLD.
LEASE OF LOCAL PLAYHOUSE SAID TO HAVE CHANGED HANDS—MRS. HOTCHKISS NAMED AS LESSEE.
Has the Casino Theater lease changed hands? This question was concerning local theater managers yesterday, when the report gained credence that Mrs. M.A. Hotchkiss, owner of the property on which the Casino Theater building stands, had taken over the lease for her son, Jeff White. For more than a year it has been known that the Casino has not been paying large dividends, and A.L. Morganstern, manager of the theater, has had a stupendous task on his hands. The playhouse, though centrally located, has apparently possessed a hoodoo which cannot be raised. The building was erected at a cost of $40,000. Light opera was played then vaudevill, but the house steadily lost money. About a year ago, when the affairs of the theater first began to be shaky, Mrs. Emma A. Summers, the oil queen of Los Angeles, went on the bond of Morganstern, the manager, and for a time the playhouse did a good business. Mrs. Summers severed all connection with Morganstern and the theater company yesterday morning. Recently there has been a desire on the part of the company to sell and negoitiations have been in progress with several of the local managers. W.C. Wyatt, E.A. Fisher and several others have made offers for the desired lease. The report that it was sold yesterday came from reliable parties. Mrs. Hotchkiss, however, denied having purchased the lease. She admitted that negotiations are in progress, and said the house will be conducted by Jeff White in the event of the lease coming into her hands. Jeff White, for whom the lease is said to have been purchased, expects to start next week with a company in charge of Rube Welsh, on a tour of Arizona. He declared he knew nothing of the purchase of the theater lease.
I think Emma Summers went to SF and grabbed him by the ear and dragged him back to LA:
(July 20, 1905)
MORGANSTERN BACK.
Alfred J. Morganstern, manager of the Casino Theater, returned to his post of duty at the Casino office yesterday morning. Morganstern says that the theater is running with the usual force in the usual way. Mrs. Emma Summers, the oil queen who has come into public notice as an amusement magnate, returned from San Francisco with Mr. Morganstern. She says that the financial clouds have cleared away.
Everyone seems to blame the poor Casino for their troubles…..
(July 15, 1905)
HOODOO OF THE CASINO.
Making Trouble for Newest of the Magnates.
Morganstern in Deep Hole as Result of Losses.
Mrs. Summers the Angel Who Carries Him Through.
Theatrical men believe in hoodoos. They say that they have a right to point to the ill-fated Casino Theater here as an example. After wrecking the life of J.E. Waldeck, its founder, the Casino drove its company to financial loss, took money out of the pockets of Edward F. Seamans, proved anything but a paving investment to Managers Wyatt and Morosco, and at last, according to facts which came to light yesterday, has nearly upset the business of Alfred J. Morganster, its last lessee. Morganstern is the soldier of fortune among local managers. By some he is styled the theatrical adventurer of the town, because of his daring and his pioneering in fields not previously exploited. A few days ago Mr. Morganstern turned the theater temporarily over to Rube Welch, his assistant manager, and himself went to San Francisco on the advice of Mrs. Emma Summers, who as his business backer, has been the real exploiter of the Broadway and Casino theaters in this city, and other theaters in towns near by. According to the statements of the manager, the treasurer and Mrs. Summers, the theater has again turned its box office balance slightly on the profit side, and will be enabled, by careful mangagement, to pull out of the deep indebtedness into which it has plunged itself during he last two or three months. Morganstern for a year has been in a sense the most unique figure in Los Angeles theatrical circles. He attempted things only on a gigantic scale. He would not manage a single vaudeville playhouse, but a circuit of them, reaching half-way across the West. He was successful in an unusal measure for awhile, but a long and unfortunate contract, into which he entered concerning his San Bernadino house, is said to have started the tide against him. Morganstern took the Casino Theater and played against tradition. Nobody believed he could make it go; he believed he would break a record for success. And, indeed, so he might, had not an apparent fate been dead against him from the start. The trouble with Morganstern was that he played too expensive a show. His expenses during the past two months have averaged-so it is said-about $1400 or $1500 a week, while intake was not $1200. Mrs. Summers, who is the magnate of them all when it comes to financiering, has been for the past week virtual mistress of both theaters, and says that with expenses properly cut, they have cleared more than $300 from the Casino alone. So the Casino is not a bankrupt thing, after all. Inspection of the house at the matinee and evening performances yesterday showed a well-filled auditorium. Mrs. Morganstern said last evening that her husband had nearly concluded the business that called him to San Francisco, and would be back in Los Angeles either today or Monday-probably Monday. Rube Welch, acting manager, said yesterday afternoon: “Mr. Morganstern’s outside ventures handicapped him fearfully, and he has been unable to run this show profitably, partly on account of them. "His debts were against him, but they were honest ones. When he went away he gave me all his statements and accounts. That’s proof of his desire to do the right thing. I have been getting the accounts into shape, and when he comes back, as he certainly will, he will be able to handle the house with profit.” Said Mrs. Summers: “Nobody has any doubt of Mr. Morganstern’s honesty, and I, as one who has had a large and frequent business dealings with him, would be the last to cast any aspersion on it. The substance of the matter is this: In his work Mr. Morganstern has made enemies, quite naturally and has contracted big debts, which, with the failure of some smaller ventures, have all combined to seriously embarrass him at the present moment. The Casino is again on the up-grade, and is making money for us all. I have just received a telegram from him, saying that he has finished his San Francisco business, and will come down tomorrow or Monday. If anyone hints that he doesn’t intend to come back, they lie!” According to Welch, no change in the policy of the theater will be made. On the paper now out Welch is named as director of amusements.
(July 5, 1905)
DUNHAM’S GALLANTRY.
O.W. Dunham’s gallantry when a pretty girl asked him to light a giant firecracker for her on Spring street, landed him in the Police Station last night. Dunham, who is a real estate dealer with an office in the Currier Building, was standing in front of the Casino Theater when a stunning creature beamed upon him and asked for a light from his cigar as she produced three giant crackers. Dunham was accommodating and touched the fire to the fuses while the woman held the crackers until they began sizzling and then threw them in the street. Patrolman Hone stopped the fun by arresting Dunham but the woman escaped.
From looking at the map above, this must have been on the ground floor beneath the billiard hall:
(May 24, 1905)
THE FRENCH RESTAURANT DU CASINO.
A SWELL FAMILY RESORT.
French Dinner a specialty; five courses, wine and black coffee included.
Family Entrance Casino Theater Lobby
346 South Spring Street.
(March 5, 1905)
IT’S MORGANSTERN’S.
CASINO THEATER SIGNED OVER TO THE BROADWAY MANAGER’S SOLE CONTROL YESTERDAY.
Morganstern’s contract with the Casino Theater Company was signed yesterday, transferring to the Broadway manager the sole control of the Spring-street playhouse. Thus endeth a six months' squabble and a constant reign of internal turmoil and actorial-managerial strife, which has kept up almost continually since the death of J.E. Waldeck. The possession of the Casino has been Morganstern’s objective point for more than half a year, during which time people have laughed at him, taunted him with his failure to secure the lease, and have predicted that he never would achieve his end. But Morganstern kept at it, and now the laugh is his. Morganstern’s shows will commence playing the theater one week from tomorrow night. This week the house will be renovated and partially remodelled.
Sounds like it would have been stressful to see a show here with all of this nonsense going on….
(Feb. 26, 1905)
WAR BREAKS OUT ONCE MORE.
CASINO THEATER CO. SECURES BRAND NEW INJUNCTION.
No sooner had Judge Trask rendered a decision in the attachment proceeding arising out of the suit begun by D.R. Weller against Oliver Morosco and H.C. Wyatt for possession of the Casino Theater, than hostilities broke out in a new place. The law firm of Jones & Weller in behalf of the Casino Theater Company, began a new injunction suit against Morosco and Wyatt, to have the courts declare that the contract under which the defendants have held possession of the theater is terminated. This contract was entered into on April 30 last year, but for the reason that on February 14 and 15 last the defendants closed the house, the plaintiff claims that it had the right-which it now exercises-to elect that the contract should terminate. Incidentally, too, it is charged that the defendants have received moneys in connection with the theater for which no accounting has been made, that they have not paid all the expenses of conducting the house, and have allowed the place to fall into a dilapidated condition. To cap these complaints it is alleged that Oliver Morosco is insolvent, and that no adequate relief can be obtainted if the court should refuse to issue the injunction prayed for. Judge Trask signed the injunction restraining the defendants from entering the Casino Theater building or in any way interfering with it, pending the adjudication of the new difficulty created. Jacob Adloff and John Hauerwaas qualified on the bond for $2500 necessary before the injunction could issue. This instrument went into force last night at midnight.
The marquee looks exactly the same as it appears in movies from the 40’s. I doubt it was replaced since then. It looks pretty worn but is supposedly going to be restored soon.
The Mason must have opened a little before the Casino from this blurb above…
At the brilliant opening of this pretty little playhouse on South Spring street last evening the four hundred of Los Angeles were strongly represented. Not since the opening of the Mason Operahouse has there been a theatrical event so much of a “function,” per se…
It looks so plain inside…maybe those are clouds painted on the walls. I wouldn’t want to sit behind one of those support poles. If that is truly the Casino then the photo must be from 1903-1906 or thereabouts.
Actually 1921 would be just about the right time. It was called the Novel Theater for a short time but the last reference I can find with that name is 1920, so the Capitol might have been the next name. I still haven’t found the name capitol before 1924 but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t called that earlier. Here’s a list of the names for this place so far…I’m sure it will expand:
Waldeck’s Casino [1903-1904]
Casino [1904-1906?]
Hotchkiss [1906-1909?]
Los Angeles Theatre [1909 City Directory]
Loewe’s Empress [1915 City Directory]
Quinn’s Empress [1916 City Directory]
Empress [1916 City Directory]
Novel [1920 City Directory]
Capitol [1925 City Directory]
Waxman's
Waxman’s Capitol
(Feb. 19, 1905)
ARMED GUARDS HOLD THEATER.
CANNON’S SIGN SAYS CASINO WILL OPEN TONIGHT.
WAR OF LESSEES AND OWNERS TAKES FIERCE TURN-PADLOCKS BROKEN, DEFIANCE HURLED AT INVADERS-WHO WILL GET THE CASINO AFTER ALL IS OVER?
The Casino Theater, continual object of managerial ructions, is now kept open by its lessees by force of arms. Six men, stationed yesterday in various parts of the building, prevent the directorate from putting obstacles in the way of open-house maintenance. The guard is kept up day and night, while a small cannon, stationed menacingly in front, bears the audaciouos legend-“We Open Sunday Night with a Boom!” D.R. Weller, secretary and treasurer of the Casino directorate, has long objected, with some others, to a vaudeville show in the house. Wyatt and Morosco, the lessees, state that a vaudeville entertainment pays better at present than any other attraction, and accordingly under the direction of Aliskey of San Francisco, that class of amusement has held the boards for some time. Alfred J. Morganstern and others have been ‘figuring" on the house from time comparatively immemorial, and rumors of a c hange in the active management have been rife of late-have been published, republished and as repeatedly contradicted. Messrs. Wyatt and Morosco, the lessees, state that their rent has been tendered for the current month, according to contract, and that, being refused, it was placed in the First National bank, where the Casino directors can call for it at any time. The guard established yesterday is to prevent the actual closing of the theater by the representatives of the theater by the representatives of the owners. Going down to open for daily business, the Wyatt-Morosco employees found the doors locked and padlocked. They broke the padlocks and threw them away. Then Charles Eyton of the Burbnk, heading a few lusty youths, took up his stand near the door to watch results. Another attempt was soon made to enter the theater and oust the present tenants. “Pass into this building, and you’ve got me to lick first!” shouted Eyton, and the directors’ following, knowing Eyton’s prowess as a boxer, gracefully desisted. The guards will remain on duty night and day: and the formidable little cannon, placed in front, announces to the world a reopening tonight under the same old management. A lawsuit probably will be brought to settle the matter, as it is understood that several charges (including even misappropriation of funds) have been passed and counter-passed in the heated controversy between the theatrical men and the owners. It was announced that the closing last week was “to repair a leaky roof.”
Negotiations for the transfer of the South Spring-street playhouse pending.
It is reported on reliable authority that Alfred J. Morganstern is negotiating for the purchase of the Casino Theater to add to his string of playhouses. It has been talked for some time that efforts were being made to buy out the Casino company. It was believed that John Fisher of San Francisco, who recently sold the Fisher Operahouse in that city, was after the Casino. He has been in Los Angeles several days looking over the field. A deal is pending.
Here’s an address confirmation:
(April 15, 1906)
HECLA THEATER-323 S. Main St. J.J. Cluxton Manager
at the opening Saturday Matinee, April 21
Ladies and Their Escorts Admitted Free
I think Bockoven & Dean must have been just an equipment provider or something in the same building and most likely not a name for this theater. However, I there is another name for this theater from around 1906…The Hecla.
(April 22, 1906)
The opening of the new Hecla Theater, under the management of J.J. Cluxton, will take place today. The Hecla occupies the building formerly possessed by the Star, of unlamented reputation.
They had to have a lot of different names to escape the Hoodoo curse.
Here are a few things I’m moving over from the Cozy page….
(May 5, 1907)
Mary A. Jauch to John Rebman, alterations to Hotchkiss Theater, $5100.
(June 3, 1907)
The little Hotchkiss theater is scarcely large enough to pay in such vaudeville as the syndicate proposes to establish. The new theater being planned by Adolph Ramish and Philip Wilson, on the site of the Panorama building, is for melodrama. John Blackwood will be the manager, and his policy is outlined.
(April 17, 1920)
Spiritualist.
DO THE DEAD RETURN?
See Edward K. Earle, of the Angelus Spiritualist Temple, in his wonderful demonstrations of Independent Slate Writing, Sealed Questions Answered, etc., April 17, 18, 19 and 20.
NOVEL THEATER, 338 S. Spring St.
I wonder if these are the same theaters….both articles are on the same page of the same day:
(Dec. 7, 1924)
NATIVE BAND OF DURANGO IN CONCERT
The Mexican National Band from Durango will give a concert this afternoon at the Teatro Capitolio, Spring street, near Fourth, the Spanish-language playhouse recently instituted here. Members of the Capitolio company, which includes Spanish and Mexican actors, dancers and singers, will assist in the program…….
ALBRIGHT TO RETURN
Detective Lieutenant Cullen left yesterday for San Antonio to bring back to this city Walter Albright, 21 years of age, of Monterey Park, indicted her for the embezzlement of $1120 from the Capitol Theater, 338 South Spring street, where he was employeed.
I guess Gore’s Capitol Theater should be added to the list of names…
(May 23, 1921)
GORE’S CAPITOL THEATER—Spring at Fourth
Ed Armstrong’s Baby Dolls in “The Fountain of Youth.”
It definitely became the Capitol in 1921….maybe they installed that organ then also. Some of the words are illegible…I put * to replace.
(May 15, 1921)
THOSE BABY DOLLS.
The velvet curtains on the stage of Gore’s Capitol Theater on Spring street will rise today upon Ed Armstong’s famous musical comedy organization. From now on the home of the famous baby dolls is to be this intimate playhouse. No money has been spared in making the Capitol one of the most comfortable and prettiest theaters in Los Angeles. The interior suit the taste of the most discriminating, and Ed Armstrong’s first production, “The Love Nest,” tuneful and gay musical comedy will receive its first showing under the most auspicious circumstances. All the famous favorites who have for so many weeks displayed the talents and grace on the stage at the Burbank will be seen at the Capitol henceforth. The cast in “The Love Nest” includes Manny Ki*** Irene Brooks, Billie Riddle and of course all the Armstrong Baby Dolls.
I don’t think this place was called Biola Hall for long….
(March 1, 1919)
BIOLA HALL
(Old Empress Theater, 338 South Spring Street.)
MEETING FOR MEN ONLY
ADDRESS: Rev. James B. Ely, of Philadelphia: “The Soldier’s Soul.”
This is starting to sound like the Jerry Springer show…..
(July 24, 1907)
MONEY RAISED TO ARREST ONE MEAN HUSBAND.
WARRANT ISSUED FOR T. JEFFERSON WHITE AT INSTANCE OF HIS WIFE, CHARGING NON-SUPPORT—CLAIMED THAT THEATRICAL MAN DESERTED MOTHER OF HIS CHILDREN FOR CHORUS GIRL.
A complaint charging Thomas Jefferson White, a well-known theatrical manager, with non-support of his wife was filed yesterday in Justice Chamber’s court and a special fund is being raised by attorneys to bring the wayward husband back from San Diego. White is the adopted son of Mrs. Jauch, formerly Mrs. Hotchkiss, formerly Mrs. Mooney, owner of the Hotchkiss Theater. Last season during a visit of the German comedians, Kolb and Dill, in Los Angeles, White acted as manager for both the company and the showhouse and at that time met Miss Fib Whitesides, a chorus girl, with whom he is now alleged to be living at San Diego. Mrs. White was too ill to appear at the Police Station yesterday and a relative went before Prosecuting Attorney Ford and swore out the complaint for White’s arrest. It was found that he could not be arrested by local officers because there is no fund set aside for the transportation of prisoners on misdemeanor charges. In view of the desperate circumstances of the case, Attorney Ford started a fund to bring back the accused man. Attorneys about the Police Station and a number of those interested in the case have promised donations so that the warrant can be served in San Diego. Whie, after his first wife secured a divorce from him six years ago, began to pay attention to a pretty young woman who lived at his mother’s home. Mrs. Hotchkiss favored the match and a wedding resulted. They lived happily for five years. White seemed to care a great deal for his wife and their little girl. Then came the Kolb and Dill show and with it the pretty chorus girl with her wealth of golden curly hair and her big gray eyes. Mrs. White, in a little Arizona town, began to receive postal cards instead of letters from her husband and then even these ceased. Last January, a second little girl was born to Mrs. White. She wired her husband of the important event and asked for a little money. She said yesterday that White promised to send the money, but did not. When she returned to Los Angeles, the Kolb and Dill company, with its show girls had left for San Francisco. But one remained, the same little golden-haired girl who had kicked in the front row. When the Hotchkiss Theater failed, White left for San Diego. Mrs White has not heard from him since the time she received the note after the birth of her baby to the present time. The care of the two little girls, one very young, fell to her. She lived at her aunt’s home and tried to keep the wolf from the door. Then the baby became ill. That was last May. The tiny youngster sobbed out its little life with the heart-broken little woman bending over it. She wrote to White and received no reply. He had never seen the little one. From a time, several month prior to the baby’s birth until after its death, he had not been to his home. Mrs. White asked for money to bury the little one. She received none. Then she returned to her aunt’s home and collapsed. She is there now in a critical condition and with only her aunt’s meager income to save her from being sent to the County Hospital.
You do that Hoodoo so well……
(July 23, 1906)
HOODOO’S PREY LOSES HIS LEG.
NEW MANAGER OF HOTCHKISS IS NINTH VICTIM.
Falls Under Street Car Wheels and is Seriously Injured—Series of Misfortunes has Visited Men Connected With Management of Ill-Fated Playhouse.
The left leg of Don A. Chick, manager of the Hotchkiss Theater, was amputated just below the knee yesterday morning as the result of injuries received in a fall from a car on Main street about midnight. From the hospital he was removed to his home, No. 2226 South Main street. Mr. Chick is the ninth victim of a “hoodoo” that is supposed to hover over the Hotchkiss, formerly the Casino Theater. Peculiar fatality has attached to the management of this house ever since its opening. Prosperity has attended some of its seasons, but the heads of the establishment have always suffered, in one way or another, after their connection with the house. The Hotchkiss was reopened yesterday, after a week’s idleness. On Saturday night Chick worked late at his office, in the theater building, and left about midnight to go to his home. Passing around on Main street, he waited in front of the Star Theater for some time and finally, seeing a car coming his way, made a try for the front step. Mr. Chick is past the sprightliness of youth, is large and heavy. He missed the platform and the next instant the front truck ground his leg to a pulp. The first manager of the theater was the man for whom it was built, Jacob Waldeck. The burlesque season, which was his opening feature, was splendidly inaugurated, but soon his finances became involved, and though he made the most stenuous efforts to meet all obligations, he became hopelessly in debt. He wandered off one day into a lonely canyon, receiving exposure from which he died. His salaried associate in the management was Arthur A. Lotte, who soon failed and abandoned the management entirely. Messrs. Morosco and Wyatt, successful in their own playhouses, took this one upon a co-partnership basis, and ran it together for a number of months. They, too, gave it up. Alfred J. Morganstern, a San Francisco lawyer, who had had an almost startling triumph in the amalgamation of vaudevill houses in Southern California, next took over the Casino as his chief theater. Then the gigantic bubble of the outside circuit bursted. Morganstern took in Rube Welch, and the two managed the place together. After a series of sensational stage plays, and the facing of numerous creditors' allegations, both Mr. Welch and Mr. Morganstern faded suddenly from sight. Edward F. Seamans, manager of the Olympic Opera Company, took hold of the theater for a second time last winter. With him was associated T. Jeff White, foster son of Mrs. Mary A. Hotchkiss, owner of the theater and the ground on which it stands. Mr. White’s recent fights in high finance have furnished town gossip for a week or two. After the exodus of White, Seamans remained only a few days. He said he had found trouble enough. In justice to the present staff it should be said that the Kolb and Dill engagement has been an entire success, as far as attraction and financial returns have been concerned. Both attaches and players avow that they will stand by Chick and “see him through.”
Casino exit stage left….enter Hotchkiss.
(Dec. 28, 1905)
CASINO REPORTED SOLD.
LEASE OF LOCAL PLAYHOUSE SAID TO HAVE CHANGED HANDS—MRS. HOTCHKISS NAMED AS LESSEE.
Has the Casino Theater lease changed hands? This question was concerning local theater managers yesterday, when the report gained credence that Mrs. M.A. Hotchkiss, owner of the property on which the Casino Theater building stands, had taken over the lease for her son, Jeff White. For more than a year it has been known that the Casino has not been paying large dividends, and A.L. Morganstern, manager of the theater, has had a stupendous task on his hands. The playhouse, though centrally located, has apparently possessed a hoodoo which cannot be raised. The building was erected at a cost of $40,000. Light opera was played then vaudevill, but the house steadily lost money. About a year ago, when the affairs of the theater first began to be shaky, Mrs. Emma A. Summers, the oil queen of Los Angeles, went on the bond of Morganstern, the manager, and for a time the playhouse did a good business. Mrs. Summers severed all connection with Morganstern and the theater company yesterday morning. Recently there has been a desire on the part of the company to sell and negoitiations have been in progress with several of the local managers. W.C. Wyatt, E.A. Fisher and several others have made offers for the desired lease. The report that it was sold yesterday came from reliable parties. Mrs. Hotchkiss, however, denied having purchased the lease. She admitted that negotiations are in progress, and said the house will be conducted by Jeff White in the event of the lease coming into her hands. Jeff White, for whom the lease is said to have been purchased, expects to start next week with a company in charge of Rube Welsh, on a tour of Arizona. He declared he knew nothing of the purchase of the theater lease.
I think Emma Summers went to SF and grabbed him by the ear and dragged him back to LA:
(July 20, 1905)
MORGANSTERN BACK.
Alfred J. Morganstern, manager of the Casino Theater, returned to his post of duty at the Casino office yesterday morning. Morganstern says that the theater is running with the usual force in the usual way. Mrs. Emma Summers, the oil queen who has come into public notice as an amusement magnate, returned from San Francisco with Mr. Morganstern. She says that the financial clouds have cleared away.
Everyone seems to blame the poor Casino for their troubles…..
(July 15, 1905)
HOODOO OF THE CASINO.
Making Trouble for Newest of the Magnates.
Morganstern in Deep Hole as Result of Losses.
Mrs. Summers the Angel Who Carries Him Through.
Theatrical men believe in hoodoos. They say that they have a right to point to the ill-fated Casino Theater here as an example. After wrecking the life of J.E. Waldeck, its founder, the Casino drove its company to financial loss, took money out of the pockets of Edward F. Seamans, proved anything but a paving investment to Managers Wyatt and Morosco, and at last, according to facts which came to light yesterday, has nearly upset the business of Alfred J. Morganster, its last lessee. Morganstern is the soldier of fortune among local managers. By some he is styled the theatrical adventurer of the town, because of his daring and his pioneering in fields not previously exploited. A few days ago Mr. Morganstern turned the theater temporarily over to Rube Welch, his assistant manager, and himself went to San Francisco on the advice of Mrs. Emma Summers, who as his business backer, has been the real exploiter of the Broadway and Casino theaters in this city, and other theaters in towns near by. According to the statements of the manager, the treasurer and Mrs. Summers, the theater has again turned its box office balance slightly on the profit side, and will be enabled, by careful mangagement, to pull out of the deep indebtedness into which it has plunged itself during he last two or three months. Morganstern for a year has been in a sense the most unique figure in Los Angeles theatrical circles. He attempted things only on a gigantic scale. He would not manage a single vaudeville playhouse, but a circuit of them, reaching half-way across the West. He was successful in an unusal measure for awhile, but a long and unfortunate contract, into which he entered concerning his San Bernadino house, is said to have started the tide against him. Morganstern took the Casino Theater and played against tradition. Nobody believed he could make it go; he believed he would break a record for success. And, indeed, so he might, had not an apparent fate been dead against him from the start. The trouble with Morganstern was that he played too expensive a show. His expenses during the past two months have averaged-so it is said-about $1400 or $1500 a week, while intake was not $1200. Mrs. Summers, who is the magnate of them all when it comes to financiering, has been for the past week virtual mistress of both theaters, and says that with expenses properly cut, they have cleared more than $300 from the Casino alone. So the Casino is not a bankrupt thing, after all. Inspection of the house at the matinee and evening performances yesterday showed a well-filled auditorium. Mrs. Morganstern said last evening that her husband had nearly concluded the business that called him to San Francisco, and would be back in Los Angeles either today or Monday-probably Monday. Rube Welch, acting manager, said yesterday afternoon: “Mr. Morganstern’s outside ventures handicapped him fearfully, and he has been unable to run this show profitably, partly on account of them. "His debts were against him, but they were honest ones. When he went away he gave me all his statements and accounts. That’s proof of his desire to do the right thing. I have been getting the accounts into shape, and when he comes back, as he certainly will, he will be able to handle the house with profit.” Said Mrs. Summers: “Nobody has any doubt of Mr. Morganstern’s honesty, and I, as one who has had a large and frequent business dealings with him, would be the last to cast any aspersion on it. The substance of the matter is this: In his work Mr. Morganstern has made enemies, quite naturally and has contracted big debts, which, with the failure of some smaller ventures, have all combined to seriously embarrass him at the present moment. The Casino is again on the up-grade, and is making money for us all. I have just received a telegram from him, saying that he has finished his San Francisco business, and will come down tomorrow or Monday. If anyone hints that he doesn’t intend to come back, they lie!” According to Welch, no change in the policy of the theater will be made. On the paper now out Welch is named as director of amusements.
Firecrackers are fun!
(July 5, 1905)
DUNHAM’S GALLANTRY.
O.W. Dunham’s gallantry when a pretty girl asked him to light a giant firecracker for her on Spring street, landed him in the Police Station last night. Dunham, who is a real estate dealer with an office in the Currier Building, was standing in front of the Casino Theater when a stunning creature beamed upon him and asked for a light from his cigar as she produced three giant crackers. Dunham was accommodating and touched the fire to the fuses while the woman held the crackers until they began sizzling and then threw them in the street. Patrolman Hone stopped the fun by arresting Dunham but the woman escaped.
From looking at the map above, this must have been on the ground floor beneath the billiard hall:
(May 24, 1905)
THE FRENCH RESTAURANT DU CASINO.
A SWELL FAMILY RESORT.
French Dinner a specialty; five courses, wine and black coffee included.
Family Entrance Casino Theater Lobby
346 South Spring Street.
A resolution?
(March 5, 1905)
IT’S MORGANSTERN’S.
CASINO THEATER SIGNED OVER TO THE BROADWAY MANAGER’S SOLE CONTROL YESTERDAY.
Morganstern’s contract with the Casino Theater Company was signed yesterday, transferring to the Broadway manager the sole control of the Spring-street playhouse. Thus endeth a six months' squabble and a constant reign of internal turmoil and actorial-managerial strife, which has kept up almost continually since the death of J.E. Waldeck. The possession of the Casino has been Morganstern’s objective point for more than half a year, during which time people have laughed at him, taunted him with his failure to secure the lease, and have predicted that he never would achieve his end. But Morganstern kept at it, and now the laugh is his. Morganstern’s shows will commence playing the theater one week from tomorrow night. This week the house will be renovated and partially remodelled.
Sounds like it would have been stressful to see a show here with all of this nonsense going on….
(Feb. 26, 1905)
WAR BREAKS OUT ONCE MORE.
CASINO THEATER CO. SECURES BRAND NEW INJUNCTION.
No sooner had Judge Trask rendered a decision in the attachment proceeding arising out of the suit begun by D.R. Weller against Oliver Morosco and H.C. Wyatt for possession of the Casino Theater, than hostilities broke out in a new place. The law firm of Jones & Weller in behalf of the Casino Theater Company, began a new injunction suit against Morosco and Wyatt, to have the courts declare that the contract under which the defendants have held possession of the theater is terminated. This contract was entered into on April 30 last year, but for the reason that on February 14 and 15 last the defendants closed the house, the plaintiff claims that it had the right-which it now exercises-to elect that the contract should terminate. Incidentally, too, it is charged that the defendants have received moneys in connection with the theater for which no accounting has been made, that they have not paid all the expenses of conducting the house, and have allowed the place to fall into a dilapidated condition. To cap these complaints it is alleged that Oliver Morosco is insolvent, and that no adequate relief can be obtainted if the court should refuse to issue the injunction prayed for. Judge Trask signed the injunction restraining the defendants from entering the Casino Theater building or in any way interfering with it, pending the adjudication of the new difficulty created. Jacob Adloff and John Hauerwaas qualified on the bond for $2500 necessary before the injunction could issue. This instrument went into force last night at midnight.
I wonder if the organ that Lost Memory was talking about was installed in this theater in 1921. It was most likely called the Capitol then.
The marquee looks exactly the same as it appears in movies from the 40’s. I doubt it was replaced since then. It looks pretty worn but is supposedly going to be restored soon.
The Mason must have opened a little before the Casino from this blurb above…
At the brilliant opening of this pretty little playhouse on South Spring street last evening the four hundred of Los Angeles were strongly represented. Not since the opening of the Mason Operahouse has there been a theatrical event so much of a “function,” per se…
It looks so plain inside…maybe those are clouds painted on the walls. I wouldn’t want to sit behind one of those support poles. If that is truly the Casino then the photo must be from 1903-1906 or thereabouts.
I think Ken mc posted this somewhere but here it is again for this page…you can see the theater at the left where it says Hotchkiss…
View link
Actually 1921 would be just about the right time. It was called the Novel Theater for a short time but the last reference I can find with that name is 1920, so the Capitol might have been the next name. I still haven’t found the name capitol before 1924 but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t called that earlier. Here’s a list of the names for this place so far…I’m sure it will expand:
Waldeck’s Casino [1903-1904]
Casino [1904-1906?]
Hotchkiss [1906-1909?]
Los Angeles Theatre [1909 City Directory]
Loewe’s Empress [1915 City Directory]
Quinn’s Empress [1916 City Directory]
Empress [1916 City Directory]
Novel [1920 City Directory]
Capitol [1925 City Directory]
Waxman's
Waxman’s Capitol
Trouble, Trouble…..
(Feb. 19, 1905)
ARMED GUARDS HOLD THEATER.
CANNON’S SIGN SAYS CASINO WILL OPEN TONIGHT.
WAR OF LESSEES AND OWNERS TAKES FIERCE TURN-PADLOCKS BROKEN, DEFIANCE HURLED AT INVADERS-WHO WILL GET THE CASINO AFTER ALL IS OVER?
The Casino Theater, continual object of managerial ructions, is now kept open by its lessees by force of arms. Six men, stationed yesterday in various parts of the building, prevent the directorate from putting obstacles in the way of open-house maintenance. The guard is kept up day and night, while a small cannon, stationed menacingly in front, bears the audaciouos legend-“We Open Sunday Night with a Boom!” D.R. Weller, secretary and treasurer of the Casino directorate, has long objected, with some others, to a vaudeville show in the house. Wyatt and Morosco, the lessees, state that a vaudeville entertainment pays better at present than any other attraction, and accordingly under the direction of Aliskey of San Francisco, that class of amusement has held the boards for some time. Alfred J. Morganstern and others have been ‘figuring" on the house from time comparatively immemorial, and rumors of a c hange in the active management have been rife of late-have been published, republished and as repeatedly contradicted. Messrs. Wyatt and Morosco, the lessees, state that their rent has been tendered for the current month, according to contract, and that, being refused, it was placed in the First National bank, where the Casino directors can call for it at any time. The guard established yesterday is to prevent the actual closing of the theater by the representatives of the theater by the representatives of the owners. Going down to open for daily business, the Wyatt-Morosco employees found the doors locked and padlocked. They broke the padlocks and threw them away. Then Charles Eyton of the Burbnk, heading a few lusty youths, took up his stand near the door to watch results. Another attempt was soon made to enter the theater and oust the present tenants. “Pass into this building, and you’ve got me to lick first!” shouted Eyton, and the directors’ following, knowing Eyton’s prowess as a boxer, gracefully desisted. The guards will remain on duty night and day: and the formidable little cannon, placed in front, announces to the world a reopening tonight under the same old management. A lawsuit probably will be brought to settle the matter, as it is understood that several charges (including even misappropriation of funds) have been passed and counter-passed in the heated controversy between the theatrical men and the owners. It was announced that the closing last week was “to repair a leaky roof.”
(Feb. 3, 1905)
CASINO ABOUT TO BE SOLD!
Negotiations for the transfer of the South Spring-street playhouse pending.
It is reported on reliable authority that Alfred J. Morganstern is negotiating for the purchase of the Casino Theater to add to his string of playhouses. It has been talked for some time that efforts were being made to buy out the Casino company. It was believed that John Fisher of San Francisco, who recently sold the Fisher Operahouse in that city, was after the Casino. He has been in Los Angeles several days looking over the field. A deal is pending.