The Golden Age of Indianapolis Theaters

9. The Shuberts Come to Town as the Theater Competition Grows

9 TheShubertsCome toTownastheTheater CompetitionGrows The Mystic Shrine added a major theater to the city’s growing downtown entertainment scene in 1910. The Murat would be a major part of the fraternal organization’s new temple. Wisely, the Shriners made a deal with Levi and Jacob Shubert to run the Murat and book professional shows. They, with their late brother, Sam, had become the biggest owners of theaters in New York and elsewhere . They also produced shows that traveled the country and would now play the Shubert Murat. The Shubert name is long gone in Indianapolis, but the Murat still exists today at 502 N. New Jersey Street. Architecture was by D. A. Bohlen and Son of Indianapolis, and the challenge was to design a facility that would reflect the Arabic origins of the Shriners. For example, inside the New Jersey Street entrance was a brilliantly lighted foyer with a Roman mosaic imbedded in the floor. It was a Shrine symbol, a camel crossing the desert carrying an Arabian rider. Levi and Jacob Shubert booked professional shows for the Indianapolis Mystic Shrine in 1910. Bass Photo Company Collection, Indiana Historical Society. Above. Marble stairs led to the Murat’s balcony, which contained 600 seats. Another 1,155 seats, all upholstered in what was described as “royal plush,” occupied the first floor. That floor also provided four double-tiered boxes that seated another 156. Bass Photo Company Collection, Indiana Historical Society. Below. The Murat’s revolving stage made it possible to hold two sets of scenery onstage. Bass Photo Company Collection, Indiana Historical Society. A novel feature at the time was the revolving stage. It would make it possible for two sets of scenery to exist at one time for theater productions. The stage’s equipment was considered some of the best in the country. Opening night was limited to Shrine members. The public got its first look at the impressive facility the following evening, March 1, 1910. Schubert productions usually were musicals, and one of their typical shows played there opening week. Havana starred a veteran “small, red-haired, rubber-faced comedian,” James T. Powers. The show had completed two seasons in New York, and it came to Indianapolis (proclaimed newspaper advertisements) with its original cast of 100. Al Jolson was a frequent musical comedy performer during the Murat’s first decade. He made four appearances in a series of shows by the New York Winter Garden Company that always included a “Broadway Beauty Chorus” and 100 cast members. Fanny Brice was listed in the 1912 edition. The company was identified with other musical productions at the Murat. The Passing Show of 1916 boasted that its cast numbered 150 with a “rosebud garden of girls” on the electric elevated runway. The cast also included a future radio comedy star, Ed Wynn. One of the earliest of the stand-up comedians was a regular visitor at the Murat . Harry Lauder was described in The Oxford Companion as a “wry, wee Scot, who was almost certainly the most popular foreign entertainer in American vaudeville between 1907 and 1923.” The Murat did have its moments when popular music was not involved. One of them was when E. A. Southern and his wife, Julia Marlowe, were onstage. They appeared together here four times, doing works from Shakespeare. Southern was considered to be at the pinnacle of his career during this era. Another Shakespearean actor matched the Southerns in Murat visits. Robert Mantell got mixed reviews nationally, however. Some critics thought his “thundering, roaring” style was outmoded. The birth of the Murat (competing now with English’s) offered Indianapolis a greater choice of acclaimed plays and musicals by nationally recognized professionals . The new theater, however, also excelled in offering more classical dancers , vocalists, and instrumentalists than did English’s. For six years, what Tom Aikins calls “the most significant predecessor to the current Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra” appeared at the Murat. Its conductor was Alexander Ernestinoff. Seats sold for 25 and 50. These concerts lasted until late 1917, a victim of, in Aikins’s words, “a combination of factors, including financial strife and a general anti-German sentiment” due to World War I. Facing. Harry Lauder was one of many comics who played the Murat. He emphasized his Scottish background and captivated audiences with his Scottish regalia, homespun stories, and songs. Vincent Burke...