The Theater King of Puget Sound
Manager J. W. Hanna moves to control the theatrical circuit of the entire region by securing a five-year lease in Tacoma.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
Manager J. W. Hanna, of the new Seattle theater, yesterday secured a lease of the Tacoma theater, Tacoma, of which he was formerly manager, for a period of five years, and thus places himself in a position where he can control the theatrical business of the entire Puget Sound country. This will be pleasing news to theatergoers wherever Mr. Hanna is known. He can now get companies to come here that could not be brought to the Northwest before, for the reason that the conflicting interests of two managements would not admit of proper arrangements being made. Under the new arrangement, Manager Hanna will book all companies for the entire Puget Sound district and distribute their time between the cities as business and popular demand may justify. It will be remembered that when Joe Jefferson was on the Coast he skipped Tacoma with its fine theater and played here in old Turner hall, simply because the Tacoma management would not work in harmony with the Seattle management.
“He can now get companies to come here that could not be brought to the Northwest before.”
This reflects the early 20th-century 'booking wars' where regional dominance was the only way to lure high-profile touring acts. Today’s Seattle theater scene operates with far more distributed and independent digital booking models, but the struggle to balance the interests of distinct neighboring cities remains a constant in local civic planning.
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