Isidore Herk
| Isidore H. Herk | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1882 |
| Died | 5 July 1944 New York City, New York, USA |
| Nationality | American |
| Occupation | Burlesque manager |
Isidore H. Herk (or Isadore, Izzy; 1882 – 5 July 1944) was a burlesque manager who played a major role in the evolution of this entertainment before World War II. His show at the Gaiety Theatre, closed in 1941, was the last burlesque show on Broadway.
Herk was born around 1880. Herk's first job was treasurer of the Valentine Theatre in Toledo, Ohio. He moved to Chicago and became the personal assistant of the producer Herman Fehr, head of the Empire burlesque circuit, or Western Wheel. In 1913 the Eastern and Western wheels were consolidated into the Columbia Amusement Company, headed by Samuel Scribner and Isidore Herk. The combined operation put on fairly clean shows, as had the Eastern Wheel. During World War I (1914–18) Hirk staged burlesque shows for the Empire circuit such as Pacemakers, which featured a game of strip poker played on stage. However, Herk was primarily a manager rather than a producer.
In May 1915 the Columbia circuit transferred its No. 2 circuit, the former Western wheel, which had forty theaters and thirty-four touring companies, to a new subsidiary corporation called the American Burlesque Association, or American wheel. Gus Hill was named president of the new entity. Herk was put in charge of the American wheel, set up to provide an illusion of competition. The American wheel played raunchier shows than its owner, with runways, hootchy-kootchy dancers and risqué comedians. Herk pointed out that "We're not producing Sunday school shows." The American circuit faced competition from stock burlesque theaters like Minsky's Burlesque National Winter Garden, whose shows went farther than Columbia would allow, and had to close in 1922.
Herk wanted to move into the more respectable vaudeville. In April 1922 Herk left Columbia and joined with the Shubert Organization and E. Thomas Beatty to form the Affiliated Theatres Corporation, which would book Shubert Advanced Vaudeville. Faced with fierce competition from the B.F. Keith circuit, the Shuberts closed their vaudeville operation in February 1923. Herk was left bankrupt. He moved to the newly formed Mutual burlesque circuit, then to the American circuit, and when that closed down back to the Mutual circuit. At the Mutual Herk cut costs, paid low salaries and eliminated elaborate costumes and scenery. Performers for the Mutual wheel became the first to expose their breasts.Billboard said the Mutual "polluted public morals". Herk said it was not musical comedy, but was the "jazz of American entertainment." Herk claimed that these were "clean working class entertainments".
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