Show 1 DRAMATIC PERSIFLAGE I I I y f Has there been any advance in tho stage locally or nationally In the past ten or fifteen years Before answering this question either way there would boa bo-a long hcstltancy on the part of anyone any-one acquainted with the actual conditions condi-tions in the world of amusements during dur-ing the period in question Changes there have been many Tho aphorism that nothing stands still applies to amusements as much ns to any other sphere of activity probably more so At best the players career Is an ephemeral ephem-eral one Yet looking over the broad field of a dozen years in theatricals and it 5s very uncertain whether any distinct advance can on the whole be noted The most distinct movement perceivable has been In the thorough systematizing of the amusement business busi-ness A department store Is not now I handled with more precision mechanical I mechan-ical accuracy and method than the theatrical the-atrical business The salesman who shows you goods takes out his book pencils the price name of customer amount of goods rate total price cash received and change coming to you and sends the article with the bill In duplicate In a basket to the wrapping table there to be rechecked inspected wrapped and returned to youhe is not following a routine more fixed and unchangeable un-changeable than the agencies in New York which control theaters companies dramatists players scenlo and costume artists Fifteen years ago one would have said that It WVLS lmjK > ssible to apply ap-ply to a profession so volatile as tho theatrical one the severe laws of trade but people aid then that a machine that would setlpe or a machine that would perform tho complex operation of cutting binding and stacking wheat was impossible Today one can enter an office In New York and do In half an hour what took an entire yea rto accomplish and that cry unsatisfactorily unsatisfac-torily a dozen years ago Has the change been a healthy one In no profession pro-fession do people dIslike systems so much as in the theatrical proesslon The player rebels against set rules Inflexible in-flexible method In short against business busi-ness Ideas And so for the most part actors rail against the change which has brought their work to the same system and order that obtain in a railroad rail-road a fire department or a dry goods store But those who handle the finances of the profession who were for years at the caprice of a thousand different dif-ferent elements welcome the evolution that has enabled them to figure with some degree of probability on the outcome out-come of their ventures The revolution In theatrical methods Is evidenced quite as much In Salt Lake amusements as It Is in the world at large Ten years ago Charley Burton used each summer to go down to New York take desk room at some Theatrical The-atrical exchange and bargain with several score managers who were contemplating con-templating taking a tour with their at Iracllons across the continent With Bainaboo and MacDonald he entered Into a contract for tho appearance of the Bostonians with Russell for the appearance ap-pearance at the Salt Lake Theater of The Directory company with Hanlon for Tho Devils Auction tind so on through the list How Is this now Manager Pyper receives a letter about once a month from those In New York who control his house for he does not control it giving him a list of contracts made for the ensuing year Should a local company wish to appear here should a political gathering he desired at tho Theater should some stray maorick of a theatrical troupo rcslro admittance to the house Manager Py per wires to New York to ask whether the date can be given them He docs not go to New York annually to make his bookings ho does not haggle with dozens of managers over terms he simply attends to his part of tho machinery ma-chinery and lets the other operators do the same It is true that this change has not been wrought within the past year and for that reason some may think a resumo of this feature inapropos to a New Years review It has however como gradually through a decade of yearsthough most rapidly In the last three years and as Its consummation can now bo recorded It Is entirely proper prop-er to treat It as one of the phenomena of the combination or trust development develop-ment which has absorbed so many fields of activity The most Important question ques-tion naturally is whether this change Is beneficial or not and what Is to be Its outcome The latter isconjectural I as a matter of course It Is connected with the whole Industrial problemfor theatricals are now Industrials as much as cotton or steel or cordage It Is easy to maintain big propositions on an upward market When money Is flowing In from tin enterprise t few ever stop to asIc or care whether it Is established es-tablished on firm solid principles or not When the movement is downward down-ward when loss and disaster como rap Idly on ono anothers heels panic and demoralization follow the chain of enterprises en-terprises gives way in a dozen different links and every ono seizes what he can Whether this will be the result In tho theatrical combination as well as others oth-ers Is guesswork and the whole problem prob-lem resolves Itself Into the question of what the new system has lone and is doing good or bad for the profession it has undertaken to control As for the actor rebel as he may it has introduced an element of certainty cer-tainty Into his Income which he had not hitherto known Maybe he doesnt care about this he certainly has not appreciated appre-ciated it He takes a sort of pride in the traditions of his profession and his mind reverts fondly to the time when actors were vagabonds in law and fact when the player was as free as the Indian and when ho was not fettered by any canons of society or restraints of man If he starved one mlnuto and reveled in luxury the next why that was the charm of art The actor like tho painter tho poet tho author was the child of vagary and chance but alas the actor has como to be as much a part of the routine as the ticket seller in n railway office while his fel lowBohemians the poet and painter still feast and starve lIve In tho garret or dwell in luxurious studios as the chanco of the day may determine The actor who signs an engagement with Charley Frohman or Jefferson Klaw Erlangcr is as sure of his pay each week ns a locomotive engineer Is as absolutely sure that the term of employment em-ployment will run Its full period as tho man who contracts far a ton of steel from the steel trust But somehow he dont like It that way or affects that he doesnt It is too regular He would rather start out with the Idea that If the show busts he will have to walk th6 ties back to New York while If the I show proves a big success ho can hold the manager up for a fancy raise in I salary Aq to the managers i e the little managers who own shows or rather attractions as they have come to be euphoniously known The manger ota ot-a troupe or show used to dicker through tho whole summer and late into in-to the fall and then through the winter as he moved from town to town for dates with various houses whore he wished to play Ho woro a big 17karat plateglass shIrt stud to prove that ho waa the real thing If anyone should doubt his Identity When he made a contract with a house It was with the mental reservation that he would break It if it was deemed advisable to strike in come different direction Just as the house was ready to dump him If a stronger show should come with an application ap-plication for the same time The papers pa-pers during tho season afforded plenty of interesting paragraphs regarding the shipwrecks and the collisions on tho The Last Year in Theatricals < Home Talent and Its Accomplishments Changes in System < Moneyt for Amusements Well Spent I I theatrical high seas The manager I when the wreck came always put for tho New York lighthouse with damaged I dam-aged bottom or perchance In a lifeboat I life-boat If not thus then on a piece or whatever wreckage came within hands reach When the beach which was anywhere between Fourteenth and Twentythird street New York was I finally reached the manager was always al-ways sure to find some sympathetic mariner willing to share a crust ojC bread Those days of Irresponsibility and uncertainty ar gone forever The manager now steps into tho booking cannot bo furnished by every playwright play-wright Such perfect ensembles are not to bo secured by the mere expenditure expen-diture of money as those Mr Daly wrought In the cosy Dalys theater on Broadway Mr Daly was neither a product of tho syndicate system nor the absence of IL Ho was simply a wonderfully gifted man who would have accomplished all ho did In connection con-nection with or In spite of the system which has been evolved In the past few years Turning to the local stage wo have In the past years been afforded new I r t ki 44 t Ws1 r s T L v P FI A l 4 i7 I sr v1 ± J t L I k L r Interior of Salt Lake Theater agency of the syndicate In New York and states In general terms what part of the country he desires to covei In tho season to come The booking agent takes down his lists lays out his route gives percentages charges a commission commis-sion for having routed tho attraction draws up contracts for fifty to 200 theaters the-aters hands them to the traveling manager to sign and the work Is over The show goes out knows that every houso will he ready to receive It at the appointed time that there will bo no dumping of his attraction for a moro Important one without a compensation to be mutually agreed upon and that his percentages of the receipts will bo Just as stated As to the theatersji Instead of every theater through the country lighting for attractions and striving to get the largest end of the percentage In the division of receipts and of hundreds of managers wasting tlmo and 11on yIn y-In Now York bargaining for a seasons attractions the work Is now dono for tho whole aggregation of theaters by a single set of men In Now York It Is tho simplification and systematization of labor the elimination of wastage the distribution of different pieces of the same kind of work to men skilled In that particular branch It is against this commercializing of the theater that the huo and cry has gone up Tho monopoly thus created it Is claimed puts In the hands of a few men the power to dedicate terms exact ex-act unconscionable tribute and lower the standard of amusements Those varieties of entertainment and a new generation of talent Time has shoved one line of performers out of the stage door and bid another enter The famous fa-mous old Home Dramatic club has given place to the new Salt Lako Opera company both working practically under the same auspices but with new faces Edith Clawson and Birdie Cummings Cum-mings and Lottie Clarldgo and Heber M Yells and John Spencer and Bid Young who charmed theatergoers with their mirthful comedy or brought tears by their effective melodramatic touches are gone from the stage If we may except Spencer who tarries to create laughter for the opera company com-pany H G Whitney whose skill asa as-a stage director earned half the success suc-cess of the old company Is manager of tho new rue opera company has nol only been under the same auspices and recruited from tho same sources as tho old dramatic club but it has been built on practically the same lines It has steadily Improved There has been steady and Judicious weeding weed-ing out The few attempts to make a star of this or that one has been effectually discouraged and when mutiny I mu-tiny threatened the offenders were quietly put below decks without attracting at-tracting the attention of the passengers passen-gers The Salt Lake Opera company like the old Dramatic club has been the beneficiary of the theater management manage-ment In the way of getting the pick of dates Conference season has usually usu-ally been reserved for Hand every local encouragement offered This may be put down as part of the fostering fos-tering of home Industries that has always prevailed In Utah The other attempts during the past year to organize or-ganize and present home companies has not succeeded to the extent that has the home opera company for several sev-eral reasons In the first place they have not had lo the same extent the benefit of exnerlenred stage direction Secondly that they have not had the backing that has the lyric organization organiza-tion and lastly they have not been given the benellt of the choice dates for presenting their efforts In minstrelsy min-strelsy we have during the year had two performances by home talent the last a great Improvement on the first but both lacking In sufficient preparation prepara-tion In a dramatic line we havo had these affairs one or two exhibitions as fairs are usually designated but both having too much the llavor of the classroom rather than the drilling of the stage Aside from these endeavors the most worthy comment was the ap pcaranco of Emma Lucy Gates as a concert artist and her engagement by Pond the New York manager for a series of concert appearances In the beginning it must be said that Miss Gates Is a lineal descendant of Brigham Brig-ham Young and as such enjoys that special favor which Is ever bestowed in Utah upon members of the illustrious illus-trious apostles family She was In advance assured of a cordial reception recep-tion and attentive hearing whatever her abilities or meritsand that Is halftIme half-tIme battle for any debutante In art But the other half which Is essential to success could not have been furnished fur-nished by anyone but herself That last half Miss Gales has won fairly honestly and decisively She has an exceptional voice which has had the benefit of the best training and which Is handled without any evidence of timidity or conscious effort When MaJ J B Pond presents her In succession succes-sion of 011163 he relics on her Inherent ability to carry her with t audiences The professional concert stage Is the hardest branch of artistic end avor because It appeals to a cultivated entajro that Is Invariably exactingly critical and Indifferent to exertion or Influences Strangers In Utah and to Mlsa Gates have united in the praise of her voice with the same fervor as those who might have been expected lo show a degree of personal bias Miss Gates is to have another public hearing hear-ing In Salt Lake In the form of a testimonial tes-timonial In the early part of tho present pres-ent month Taking the Salt Lake theaters up for consideration the first feature that appeals to comment Is that the old house under the management of George D Pypor has profited by continuous con-tinuous and consistent management while the new one has suffered from spustnotlc changes and lack of systematic syste-matic policy The public dislikes to ba upset It likes to know what sort of board Its landlady can be depended upon to give during the season It dont like a weekly change of cooks Unfortunately the Grand has tried all kinds of chefs and tablefare experimenting experi-menting upon Its guests It i started the year with a sort of full dress flashy regime Manager Kalhnan was going to electrify the staid old town with the most versatile company and was going to inject utarlllng methods Into the theatrical business The experiment started with a Hash dropped to a flicker and then wont out Mr Kallman went a lltllo ahead his experiment The Cummings company however was picturesque If not profitable profi-table It regaled the habitues of the hotels and the loungers of the lobbies with Interesting sldelalk and kept the news columns of the papers In spiCy paragraphslong after the departure of the company by tho way The most startling episode was when the head of the company appeared at the most widely advertised performance of the engagement In a condition which indicated In-dicated that he had partaken of something some-thing else than art The Grand had a spell of high fever during the Kail man regime followed by the inevitable relapse after the fever had passed It will be treasured In memory however as an Interesting episode In an Interesting Inter-esting house In this Instance as In many others notoriety wasnt synonymous synony-mous with success After the taking off of Kallman the Grand got back Into the old channel but the water was low and the current slow The vessels which had been booked to navigate the Grand hud been turned into other channels and It was hard to get new boats to take their place Manager Mulvey did his best to repair the damage and the season was finished out with sUch scows as could be Induced to turn their rudder During the summer Mr Mulvey started again to establish the Grand as a popularprice house repro seating popularprice attractions for popular audiences One change was made by Mr Mulvey hiiiisclf however which told sadly I against the popularl ty of the Grand That was tho ad vanclng of prices to 75 cents The standard of prices for the Salt Lake Theater had been 1 to bring the price of the Grand from half that price to within 25 cents of the same rate made the difference in rbtes look very slight to the publicnot sufficient for the dlf ference In character of attractions Popular prices throughout tho United States according to the accepted ac-cepted definition of the term means GO cents for the best seats outside of boxes Every big city which runs popularprice houses has the COcen rate established and this serves to draw the masses Ralso that by 25 cents and the clearcut distinction between be-tween cheap prices and standard prices very nearly vanishes The mistake mis-take was a fatal one and has told sadly on the fortunes of the Grand ever since It was made It was not what would have been expected from so astute a manager as Mr Mulvey When the Grand closed for the summer sum-mer Mr Mulvoy took the employees of the house and the scenery und prop ertles of the institution to the Salt Palace which he leased from all parties par-ties in Interest He brought from Mil I waukeo an opera company which had proven a bJg card In a number of cities gave It carte blanche at tho Salt Palaco and introduces the town to ono ot the most delightful diversions It had enjoyed In years The Wilbur Klrwln company didnt make any pretense pre-tense to supernatural gifts of voice and didnt aspire to rival the Metropolitan Metro-politan Opera company It was simply sim-ply built to pleaso the eye tickle the ancy create laughter and catch the car with simple Jingle Those who wanted classical music didnt find it at the Salt Palace But the fellow with a quarter or halfdollar lo spend for an evening of relaxation and enjoyment en-joyment took his best girl and went to the Salt Palace Susie Kirwin the Woman who oned the company was juicci wan a practical knowledge of how far chorus girls could be let out and when to pull In the string She knew how to give a tasteful lollicklng evening of comic opera spread with local hits and topical reference No summer has passed moro pleasantly to the masses of Salt Lako than the past one and not the least of this was due to tho laughable and the pMt performances at the Salt Palace Pal-ace Manager Mulvey says he will not be In charge ot this resort the coming year The public will sincerely regret the retirement of the man who had he ability to carry the enterprise so successfully as it was handled the pnst summer With the reopening of tho all theatrical season Mr Mulvey transferred his staff and his properties t o the Grand and has given the institution Insti-tution his close personal supervision since that time On the eve of theN the-N w Year however another turnover turn-over occurs In tho management of the house and It Is both hopod and expected ex-pected that the new managers who are trained In theatrical needs will establish I and stick to one policy Too frequent changes have been the bane of the Grand Messrs Hammer and Jonea t who have stepped Into the harness har-ness are young men who know the Ins and outs of amusements well They have yet to prove whether the new undertaking is within their scope or not but their past work recommends thorn to favor Mr Hammer was the right hand man of Manager Charles Burton during tho latters management manage-ment of the Salt Lake Theater There was never a manager In Salt Lake who so happily established himself with all elements as Mr Burton To this day managers of traveling companies com-panies and the various stars who appeared ap-peared at his house have an Inquiring word when they reach Salt Lake for Mr Burton and the profession Isnt given to wasting endearments on a man who Is no longer In a position to help them On the other hand his relations rela-tions to the public were like that of a friend trying to please rather than a manager seeking to make what he could out of them Mr Hammer grow up In this atmosphere and acquired likewise Mr Burtons habit of looking minutely after the little odds and ends Hammer is about the best posted man there Is In Salt Lake today on the subject of players and managers a very encyclopedia for local dramatic writers Naturally a cheapprice house presents certain neW problems It gots Its money from and purveys to a class of patrons who enjoy the plainer less delicate and refined quality qual-ity of artistic accomplishment Mr Jones the bther partner is an advertising adver-tising man per se and ought to be able to draw attention to the Grand by other ways than the notoriety which has been Its chief claim In days gone by A host of wellwishers will follow the boys In their new career The Salt Lake Theater Is the old tollable I the standby of the town Years have not made the house less pleasant to the man or lady who enjoys en-joys a roomy easy comfortable way of absorbing stage entertainment Built on the did lines when managers thought of something besides packing all the people possible into a given space the Theater Is known far and wide as a place where performances can be given to the best possible advantage ad-vantage Salt Lake audiences have the reputation of Individuality of passing opinion according to their own Ideas find not having 1 them formed for them by runs In other cities This Independent Judgment Is liked by some dreaded by others When Salt Lake likes a thing it likes It all over and no city under the sun can call for more encores within the same given space time than Salt Lake We goon go-on the principle here that we cant have too much of a good thing even If the good thing Insists on the right I to breathe and drop out after a hundred hun-dred or so curtain calls Salt Lalce audiences likewise have an affection for old faces A player who has once established himself here will find that the mind of his old friends in Zion Is not fickle The chronology of the years plays Is neither Interesting nor Instructive A list of postgone attractions may serve as an occasional reference to the dramatic dra-matic writer in search of comparisons but is like a last years almanac to readers generally Amusements are the diversion of the moment tho relief from the routine of business and professional pro-fessional cares Tho best attractions of tho past year were the James and Kidder company In January Se brook in The Rounders Al G Fields mln strels their first visit tp the West and Leslie Carter in Zaza in February Febru-ary Charles Frohmans Little Minister Minis-ter Modjoska and Odette Tyler InKing In-King John and Way Down East in March < NathanHale In April and Henry Miller In repertoire in May and after the hot senton Daniel Frohmana company In Lady Iluntwonths Experiment Ex-periment and Annie Russell In A Royal Family In September Sarah Le M9yne In Tho First Duchess of Marlborough In November the Daniel Dan-iel Frawlcy company Primrose and Docksladers minstrels Mary Man fleeing In Janice Meredith < and Modjqska and James In Henry VIII during tho present month Jt the Tabernacle there have been aIm a-Im or of splendid concerts but for seine rcnsPIl they hl1e called to draw tIme audiences expected A structure that Is not a permanent placo of amusement or entertainment finds It hard work In drawing like a house established es-tablished for amusement purposes Churches hero and elsewhere have never proven popular for entertainments entertain-ments of any character and those In charge of such tiffalrs must reckon with this drawback when they take at traoiJpns there The Royal Italian band was the last organization to essay es-say tho task of getting a large attendance attend-ance within tho Tabernacle and It proved a lamentable < failure It would not be fair however lo close a summary sum-mary of the year in entertainment In Salt Lake without making reference to the organ recItals at tho Tabernacle by Prof McClellan The reconstruction of the farnoun organ of this edifice awakened a now Interest In the remarkably re-markably Instrument Prof McClellan 0 young organist but one who has taken a place among tho foremost of his profession this country has without any sort of return given semiweekly semi-weekly r cltJli on the instrument These have conc to be a popular feature fea-ture of the towns diversions They have boon attended > not only by visiting tourists but by home lovers of fine music who have formed time majority of audiences Mr McClellan Is also the director of tho Salt Lake Opera company com-pany which has becomo such an important im-portant local institution A forecast of tho coming year ID easily madp Salt Lake In good times and bad hap j been n generous theater patron ind wlU continue to ho such At times the cry has gone up that the town was running riot In the money It squandered on amusements Thp alarm is not needed Amusements areas are-as necessary as sugar or bread They tire the safety valve In times of prosperity pros-perity und limesof adversity A wholesome whole-some condition of the mind requires diversion entertainment relaxation Money spont ontheaters is money well spent |