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Show MUSICAL COMEDY'S FUTURE AS SEEN BY COMPOSER "I am sirnplj" lying low, walllns; to see what they do want." It- was Gustave Kerker, composer, who made that Mlcawber-IIko remark, In connection with a discussion on tho musical comedy of today, and the likes and dislikes of the public. Everybody has noticed, of course, the remarkablo conditions that have prevailed In the theaters of New York In that respect. Houses that for years have been given up to drama, to farce, to comedy, have suddenly blossomed out as homes for musical comedy. Every other manager announces every other day that he Is about to make a new production, along those lines. And most of the things promised eventuate Into facts. It was rathei. surprising, therefore, when somebody or other, chatting on the Rialto a day or two ago, remarked that Gus Kerker had said that he had washed his hands clean of that sort of thing, and In the future would refuse to write any more music of the supposedly sup-posedly popular sort. It was surprising surpris-ing because Kerker has been one of the most persistent,, as he has been one of the most successful of. all men who have been doing just that sort of thins. "I wouldn't go quite as far as to say nil thaV'sald Mr. Kerker, when the alleged al-leged remark was repeated to him, "but I am qulto free to admlt that I don't think the public Is wildly interested In the sort of thing they have been having hav-ing poured into their, cars this season. Their ears have been deafened with clash and dazzle. It's ebsurd to think that It Is what tho. public wants In New York. If they want noise they can juBt walk out in the street and hear the rumble of the elevated, the clang of the trolleys, or they can take a trip to the Battery and listen to the steam whistles and the sirens' of the passing ferryboats and tugs. The little excursions will cost them Just 5 cents. If they want to see fine dresses they can take a little stroll down Fifth avenue av-enue or Broadway- any fine day, and what they don't see Oi the -wfcmen passers-by they can find in the shop windows. They won't have to pay a cent for the pleasure of satisfying their sartorial taste. But every time they go to the theater for that purpose they must put up two good dollars, jnaybo more. "Now, I don't believe the average theatergoer of today .wants elthen of those things. A few years ago the 'model dress from ParlB' idea was a new one on the stage, and like every other novelty It had its vogue. But the bottom has dropped out of the novelty. The same thing Is true of the big scenic productions. People have been so surfeited with elaborate scenery at the cost of everything else that they ai-e possibly yearning for a return to simpler- things. I don't assert that I know just what they do want. But I am pretty sure that what they have been getting this season Is not it. "I do believe, though, that there is a large enough class of people who like good music to make a return to the more legitimate forms of musical entertainment enter-tainment extremely desirable from the business point of view. We have men In tills country who can write good music If they are allowed to do so. But the trouble has been that the managers man-agers would not hac It. " 'The public wants Jingle.' That Is the manager'H constant cry. Write a decent ' concerted number, . turn out a piece of music that cannot be suns: within a range of five notes, and at -the first rehearsal out it must co. The managers won't have it, because the people In their companies can't sing such music "The man who writes for the musical musi-cal comedy stage today must always bear In mind the fact that he is not writing music for people who can sing. The managers won't have singers In their companies. They want pretty faces and comedians with comic 'mugs.' It loc3a't matter. siUcUice ft- taprnan can sing or not, so long as she la pert and winning. Again and again the manager emphasizes the fact that he wants stuff that anybody can whistle or sing after hearing It once. It's Jingle, Jingle, jingle all the time. "The same thing holds true of tho books. A constant, well-told story may be turned in by the librettist, but ho doesn't know his own work by the time the managers and the comedians get through with It. What do thpy care about" consistency? No. It's anything for a laugh. "No matter how Irrelevant the jokc if they think It will start a laugh, It is Introduced. Then, too, there Is a host of cheap sour: publishers who ilock about the managers and succeed by various va-rious Inducements in getting their wares exploited In connection with the composer's work. And the result Is Inconsistency In-consistency throujfhout. "The musical comedy as it has existed exist-ed for some time Is simply a thing of shreds and patches. It has become too expensive for the managers, for the cost of actor?, of scenery, and of costumes cos-tumes has reached a point where It Is possible for the producer to come out a little ahead only If he plays to phenomenal phe-nomenal business. The public Is certainly cer-tainly tired of it the successive failures fail-ures of the present season prove that beyond a doubt. "Tlie time Is ripe for some one to make productions of real comic opera or musical comedies call them what you will In which the parts shall be Intrusted to people who can sing. I think the public would patronize that sort of thing If St were provided. And I firmly believe that we have the men over here who can write good music If they are allowed and encouraged to do so." New York Times. |