The Golden Age of Indianapolis Theaters

15. The 1930s and Its Challenges II

15 The1930sand ItsChallengesII The busiest theater stage in Indianapolis throughout most of the 1930s was at 133–139 N. Illinois Street, the site of the Lyric. Most weeks were filled with vaudeville performers and eventually popular swing bands along with feature films. The performers, possessing a variety of talents, were still provided by the RKO (RadioKeith -Orpheum) circuit. There was the five-year-old “child wonder” Baby Rose Marie. There was crooning troubadour Nick Lucas. There were those wild Hoosiers , Olsen and Johnson, and there was Blackstone, the “world’s master magician ,” to keep customers coming back for more. Unfortunately, economic conditions at first limited the crowds, and stage bookings were costly. Visiting performers, house musicians, and backstage personnel all had to be paid. Offering some of the best talent available didn’t always guarantee success at the box office. For example, one week a star of the future, Bob Hope, appeared in a routine onstage titled “Keep Smiling,” and a few weeks later, a popular movie clown of the previous silent era, Harry Langdon, paid a visit. Response both weeks was modest. In the summer of 1931, the Lyric tried to improve its film selection by joining the Apollo in an arrangement with Universal. The Indianapolis Star’s Corbin Patrick observed that “Universal generally succeeds in landing one or two of its special productions among the box office leaders each season.” Fifteen months later, both theaters changed their minds and signed an exclusive deal with RKO Radio pictures. 153 Apparently still not satisfied with customer response, during the 1932 Christmas holiday the Lyric announced it was bringing in a resident musical company to produce vaudeville programs. This change included a master of ceremonies and a thirty-member chorus line. It was abandoned after eight weeks due to a wage dispute. Lyric management had asked its nineteen union employees to take a salary reduction of 25 percent. The answer was no, and the Lyric announced it was closing indefinitely. How the wage issue was settled was not reported in the local press, but the Lyric was back in business two months later with what it called “something new in vaudeville revue.” A new producer was hired, and the Indianapolis Star revealed that “visiting acts will be ‘dressed up’ with the band on stage and a [new] line of chorus girls doing three or four nifty routines.” The theater had a gala reopening with a ninety-minute stage show, headlined by radio comedian Joe Penner. It also provided eleven scenes and costumes for the girls that were shipped all the way from New York City. Once again a new policy ended in eight weeks. This time the Lyric said it was dropping stage shows for the summer and would continue to provide first-run film programs. New life for the Lyric was just ahead, however. The Fourth Avenue Amusement Company surrendered its sublease with the Washington and Illinois Realty Company of Indianapolis. Owners petitioned that a long lease with W. and I. be dissolved, and it was accomplished through a probate court order. It is ironic that the first summer the big Indiana was closed (1933) was the same summer the Lyric, now the city’s only vaudeville house, would return to the hands of its creator. First of all, his intent was to restore it to its former vaudeville popularity. Corbin Patrick expressed it well in the Indianapolis Star: “We understand on good authority that he [Olson] will reestablish immediately the seven act vaudeville policy under which he operated the popular amusement place successfully.” Patrick also hit on a most significant point when he added: “Success at the Lyric in Mr. Olson’s fifteen-year regime is generally attributed to the fact that he gave personal attention to the acts that he booked for his stage and was a liberal spender of money in building the shows that he wanted. He is known as a great lover of good vaudeville and it is ‘in the air’ that he does not intend cutting the corners on acts in favor of feature pictures.” Olson’s second Lyric era began on the first day of September 1933 with seven acts of metropolitan vaudeville featuring the Watson Sisters (vocalists) and a film program of short subjects (no feature). Within three weeks there was a disruption . The motion picture machine operators claimed they were entitled to eleven more dollars a week in salary...