This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 12/9/2023
CHUNG Ling Soo (W.E. Robinson, 1861 – 1918). Chung Ling Soo Annotated Theatre Contract. Dated June 24, 1913, the contract governs an appearance by Soo and “a variety company of seven turns at least,” at the Grand Theatre Bolton, for August 2 – 9, 1915. With original old folds (minor splitting thereto), and the rubber stamp of Kenyon’s Agency in the upper right. INITIALED “C.L.S.” in ink three times beside typed and holographic annotations or corrections in the margins (the manuscript changes are in Soo’s hand), and SIGNED in ink at the bottom of the first sheet, “Chung Ling Soo.”
Here, Soo works for the management on a percentage basis, receiving 65% of the gross receipts, from which he agrees to pay his supporting specialty artists just over 33% in salary for the week. The contract was signed more than two years before the performance was to take place, anecdotal proof of Soo’s popularity with variety audiences of the time.