OCR Text |
Show I IgslBl gHra Ibbbbbbbbb nggggggggg 'k TJie TLmw Pejlovr Before Tlie Legit' wlvo lna.s TKe Lessors The Classic Act Tke 5tx-cmMaa A Harvard ttjJeiat Ki J TiinS01- Gone MoA4eville CoaoLes t-Le Country Kid Kow a Coxit ortaomst 5 3 Looking on ike Sunny Side of Life Jp I OS The Sad Lot of the Players in Vaudeville Who Actually Have to Work One Minute for Every Qne of the 24 Hours of the Day Ctfijrf Bf Hot! BY BERT LEVY. T iCbWflct,:. I'"-' 1 ' "" N' V . k II e. -a I J Co a:i H rlcln. re,crv,-d.i CALLED on all the sn ( ') types who ! 3re "-' !l ' 1 "'Seville) to make un 'B American holiday, and in each ense I I WaS UD'' 3 s,"''e gj The tramp comedian had forsaken 'l broadcloth and the gospel for tattered agi. red nose and stubbly board, ami ! he njiicb pitied contortionist was an ex larvard man who bad turned from tj lomer urn Pinto to tom b bis nose with Is left toe while he held ou to a piece tits f gns pipe with his teeth The hardships (?) of the vaudeville i nor have always excited my sincere B pnpathy. " Most acts work mi an average twelve gj linutes at each performance, and there-is" there-is" f performers are mercilessly compelled J I appear before a yearning and friendly S Idleocc (twice a dayi foi twenty-fmir hutes. Just think of it! A minute for tch hour of the whole day Yes. and at ml II ie point of i he pistol he is forced to ae M Ipt ''iiiMiilieii-iuiy exorbitant" salary Dieluncs as low as S.(ni a week. Jontrast tbLs brutal tatc nf iffairs wi h MBe ideal condition of the happy street , icanois who during the winter work ght or nine bonis a dav in the open air hovelling snow; or in the glaring surn- ler removing dead bom Id i lie near future Ibo performer will lie his place in (be Labor Day parade Jrhllo t "m- linn! : iikt will march proudly in tent holding a'oft i silken banner gor-a gor-a Icou-dy ini iit-l "We demand more jours of labor and n -s pay." I In ihe gooo. old days the performer Trailed wearily on the manager's doormat' ijjkow- he o" she lias an exquisite apart-KWtDt, apart-KWtDt, a telephone, a maid and an ajent I The agent phones and bogs the majd to jSbtify Miss So-and-So ("The Bird Voiced iordiea of Vaudeville," vide billing), or Hr. What's-Iis-Name ("The Inimitable Comedian with the Funny Slide') is "needed to strengthen the bill" at Philadelphia Phila-delphia cx Keek. If the inducement (the slie of the Wiling, the location of the dressing room, Be ipot on the programme, apart ironi the salary) is strong enough, the artist may consent to appear, but only on condition con-dition Unit un one else on the Ll he permitted per-mitted to sing ' Alexander's Ragtime Band" 0 to u-ll ihat i..ry (the exclusive roperty of th sought oue) about the .Chicken eroding the street. Then, too. the preliminary press notices ttust din, in, mi illustrated article describing de-scribing the great oue's Long Island home, lis or be; ste; m jnebt, nuto and olht. huaginary posessioiis, tailing which the fcrtist will not appear on account of a Blight attack of laryngitis." which can Dly be allayed by ihe promise of n full page layout iL "next Sunday's paper." Should the- uewspapers critic sms of the firei oerfiu ma , i.nl i., p j .. satisfaction to the perform, r, lie or .he mil remain out f ;li..- bill ;oi .1; u .i.st four performances J I pnile the local manager has the extremi I pleasure uf making a mat speech twice a ' d,'-v ap p,, the regrettable ill-' 1 6--V tu fjnc-ii, ihi ibsent one re-j re-j ntnei work oolj ui..u thi !n( mnliou be- o; gjvet hi 01 or tier that ihe substituted ,t ; lak.i..- .. ... jt ea 1 pi l . .. f tau you ;icturc ihe hardships of the Plnperi-d one reading Uoberi (Jluiinhera' l f!411 'aD u" ' " "" s'"'" " '' .$ D ibi- luxurious slltiug room of the best r In.tft. . biii- ('.:,. arrogant manager 14 Iflbiig j m mpal In-nc audience of his I trious indispusltionV Tan you Imagine V ,l"' ja,,!" ' un, ii;. ,rr ill,- h. u hi eauae lh.-d lh.-d fln:..r I j . x a I,. , kuii ol clothes, or K tb cook failing i roast the Jo.ni I. BU 1 '"aid had u ua out? If you cau. then i"u kuou i t,i. J(J de manager feels hIiu in "r fiot!' 1 bLtl Oeuae the local critic .'ails to discover that charm of mnn-i mnn-i ner. the i xciuisite beauty or undoubted Senilis which thr three sheets has promised .Many years ago the downtrodden entertainer en-tertainer was allowed to travel as he pleased in " idedoor" Pullmans. Now hi' is compelled to travrl in roil Pullmans and he or she hires the drawing draw-ing room. While en route the artit Is compelled to eat and drink the choicest food aud in mis and to lounge after meals in a luxurious library car. whore only the haudsomely bound books aud magaslnes are handed to him as be sits in an ess chair. Once upon u time he was loft in peace in the day coach and was able, without Interference, to cat his meals from a paper bag or at tb" wayside sta-llOns, sta-llOns, ufter which he could buy the evening even-ing paper when be bad it from the candj boy. Ami afi&In once upon a tim. he was allowed to pay bis own Railroad faros like a man Now. In certain ten 1- has succumbed to managerial training and is warranted t- laugh, cry or applaud at any moment the actor "pauses" Thi- ..erformer is beln tided, stared at and petted. The local hotel clerk folk the same jrogs, the parlor maid sinrs the same ragtinlc, the local barber whistles beautifully beau-tifully and the theatre tailor "conjures' eveo bettor than the regular actor, but tbey are all scorned. Isn't it appalling io contrast tho v.ad life of the entertainer with the frlorious time that the average audience enjoys? Just fancy being privileged to sit in an audienCe nml listen (once, sometimes twlct a week) to four or five different renditions of 'Trovatore" on the xylophone or "Faust" played on beer bottles audiences audi-ences have these dainty dlshei served to I bom week after week till they are overjoyed over-joyed and overfed. Joking aside, the vaudeville rame m played by tin- performer is one of Ihe sunniest sun-niest professions in the world As 1 write hundreds of pleasant memories crowd my mind mem i.i nf many good, lovable men and women who strut their brief hour on the varietj stage memoi aes of every clinic and every lan.uage ncc of many' good qunlitict of tha. geuerous crowd who go mak? un Mondays bill the world over. This profession makes sirani dreaainj room mads, and ott on a Monday in main itiarters oi the globe I have discovered that tba man making up bis fac (op polite me in the dressiug ro,.m I war a human being sue. as 1 had never met before. Behind 'be mask of the musical clown, the animal trainer or the (dark fare ronudlnn one is apt to find the schola., the thinker or the philosopher. Ifor weeks while travelling 0-er n Western (American) circuit l UH8 ,j,c coutitaut companion of a Hebrew comedian. come-dian. In the theatre we would shriek ai his sfoteacjue make-up end inane joke against the race. He dropped his Inanity Inan-ity with his rjrtpe whiskers and many a pleasant hour I have spent in his dress-log dress-log room listening to his translations fr,,Qj ihe Tulmu l His wondrous knowledge u Jewish literature aud tradition aston ished and delighted me. Upon the stage this Classic scholar exaggerated the rn-clflj rn-clflj i haracteristlcs of bis old father in order to obtaiu money wherewith to keep bis parents m peace and comfort for the 'rest of their days. Before the son he- , came popular as a coniedia his aged par-enta par-enta refugees from Russia, stood by a pushcart under a bridge in v York city I now they live uptown and have a real telephone. The comedian at limes turns froai a dressing room discussion of classic clas-sic Judaism to tell a pathetically humorous humor-ous story of his dud. "Tb? old man sits ; aud admires that 'phone by the hour," be said. "He has uo friends or acquaintances acquaint-ances to connect up with, but he robu; ionsly rinss up each morning to ask the operator Ihe time though there are three or four clocks in the flat." i During our Western tour there was on the same bill an Englishman a tightrope performer who was an ardent student of Shakespeare. On the lid inside his dressing dress-ing room trunk was pasted all the half- , tone pictures of the Hard of Avon and photographs of Stratford that he could I collect. There wasn't an incident of his everyday life in the thentre or out of it that he could not meet with an apt quotation quo-tation from his favorite author. It was excruciatingly funny to hear the Shakespearian roundly admonishing his wife (who assislcd him in the act) with .notations from "Taming of the Shrew" for neglecting properly to resin the rope on which ho did his performance. Absurd are the many false ideus held by the "kindly disposed" among the audi once as to the private lives of favorite performers. Could the nvcruge layman look "behind ihe scenes" niauy a foolish idea would quickly vanish. The dainty little acrobat (she of the perfei t .shape and poise doing hair raising Stunts near the roof) is a married woman and curries her husband and two dt-ar little kiddies with her The husband packs the apparatus at the end of ihe week and sees to the transportation, Ac. Up to ten minutes before and a few minutes min-utes after her act she is sew iug. knitting, sewing, for she makes every stitch In the theatre that 6he and the little ones wear. And now the slstr r art those two dnsh-Ing dnsh-Ing nsile creatures that set the fecr of the whole audience patting to their music. What a merry, devil-may-care, thoughtless thought-less couple of croature. It is not easy (to picture them doing anything else but supping after the show at some rathskeller rath-skeller with the local sports No one could ever imagine that they wore crazy about photography and that one of them carries an exiensive graflex. The shelf of their wash basin in the dressing room is crowded with chemica's and between shows they are developing the morning's exposures Kvery now and again they will enthusiastically call all the bill into their room to see some new film that has just been put through Hundreds of neeatives, carefully indexed in two or three large volumes, testify to their industry with the camera the WOTldl over. Tliev bavo "snapped " everything, from the 'Frisco earthquake, the Cincin-' nati floods to the Whltecbapol slums in Ixindon and canals in Venice, and If yon !ask them which of the pictures they like best tbey will turn to a little page of "Snaps of the farm where Pop is." Just outside of Stamford, Conn. Por many week-s my route was theauie u.s ik certain populur animal act. the owner of the act appearing upon the stage with i several dangerous moukeyn- Tbey required re-quired much cure and WatchfutoOSS. In ; ibis bo was assisted off stage by hi. I wife, a frail, soft spoken littlu woman, and what .-he didn't know about monkey j wnen't worth kuowing. She would wash and dress the dangerous little beggars: before the show and undress and feed itlii-iii afterward, and between performances perform-ances she followed the profession of lantern slide colorist. She carried a rc- toucher's de-k which she fitted to the window of the dressing room, aud there, amid the gcreams and noisome odors of her husband's pets she would apply! the most dainty washes of color imug-j finable to her slides. Such was her repu-; Ration at tliis work that a bi Mew Vork; firm scut her tho whole of their orders to execute on the road. Of course, i. is a well known fact that many cartoonists who are appeariug in raudierillc execute i.i;.e9 for famous journals jour-nals in their dressidg rooms, and I can mention the DUmea of several performers perform-ers who have pntenied os.'ftil improvements improve-ments in machinery and handy articles i be ideas which were born and worked out 'tween shows at the theatre. Lifelong friendships are formed In vuudcvi.le, born of the many experiences on the road. A group of players wailing to make an e'.arly morning connection ou a remote wayside station hold an extemporaneous concert standiug knee deep in the snow. The quartet sings ragtime to cheer the little shivering crowd and some Instrumentalist Instru-mentalist unpacks Lis uitar and obliges 'with an obligate The ladies of the parly nit on their t-nnk, rhatting and laughing- I'y and by word reaches the station that the express' Is Snowed up and will lie many botirt late, the station crew gn home and oven the telegraph desk cloe down Every one is despondent but the Wyeif Hi rt j ffh 5 1 j Vsi-J lie. K ri.o"w-3 -no Colour X-j me- tory, he is compelled to aocept a yard and a hull of transportation stationery, which carries him and hi baggage at the expense of the manager fur many weeks. With a sigh Ik- thiuks of Ihe happy days when he made expensive jumps (by rail aud afoot) ami arrived iu a theatre of B distant ity only to find the -promised" . gag meal r,kJ uv a cheapo' niuu- Nowadnys the assistance of a well or-gaUiaed or-gaUiaed blBce Is forced upon him and a staff of clerks urr.anges his route, billing. I transportation, aVc. Special wagons meet 'and rouvey his bag-age to the theatre OD arrival at the theatre a stage doorkeeper door-keeper bands him mail and notifies him of the number of bis dressing room a clean, heated rational room in winter and equipped with an electric fau in summer. sum-mer. In nine cases out of ten he buds pro ,1,. r him a regular well trained audience rc-ady to gCCfipt the most antiquated anti-quated M.ng. gag or dauco. The audience, after years of suffering, raUdevilliana, Tliey hare this experience so often. There is not even a coffee, room or a healing stove, but the "bunch " from the show, as the commercial puts it, just warm up the waiting part with music, song ami story and gooo" fellowship until train arrival means a sad putting. Mouths afterward some of the same crowd meet far away on the bill of the Wintergarten, Berlin, perhaps, or at the Apollo, Vienna, the Urpheum, Budapest, Buda-pest, oi Tirol! Theatre, Sydney, Australia. Aus-tralia. You can guess how warmly they greet each other, until, after a month's happy reunion, tbeir routes separate them, i.uly l" reunite them again a year hence in some New England town, playing the Poll lime. Over lunch In Hartford New Haven or Springfield they roast Btfgland and the Continent, tolling each other that Berlin is all right, but "GgO, them foreigners m t make buckwheat cakes like we get in our home town." The Austrian performer pla.iiti;; Ds aXoinan Iowa, sighs for ins Wiener schnitzel and Pilsner; the English artist lfiBfcy playing Salt Iyake City longs for his after- ggfSe noon tea, but the American playing Buda- ggRsM' pest, Hungary, gets mad when he thinks Brl' j of buckwheat cakes and coffee. gW The sunny nature of vaudeville people BsSk, is never more in evidence than when in a Hfjfr.-, fOfi Ign land Rival acts who are cold to gfSvw I each other in Boston, Mass , send each HBjfc'1; I Other flowers and a telegrnm for their gg' "opening" in Glasgov, Scotland, and pro- Ef"4 fes8idnal Jealousy has no place "nt the flH:5 corner table" i the cafe after the show, Mjg'f'' when the aets from the different shows KgjlC meet and talk "home." ggggggssi I shall never forget a little incident in R?-' Paris' (France), when the American act WW?? playing there discovered a couple of Call- I fornia girls "down and out." Kif'' '' The girls were induced to cross the A'gM'"J, I pond by a foreign agent -but arriving ,K?f '- in l'arls lh discovered that the "theatre" mW.. they were engage-, to play was worse -Bu than well, they wouldn't play it. When Bfc v ' their fellou p rf...rmers heard of the plight iBBfiV' ' -' of these two girls, It didn't take long to BSw: raise mooey enough to ship them back WRi- ' to their native State in comfort At the r I I depOt thi little band of men and women Wi' d performers just pelted the departing Br ones v HI Mowers and miniature American flas it v.as a touching scene but just m' the thing expected of vaudeville people by llP- Tandevillians. Much lias been written of the pathetic & side 'gudetilte. I Jsed to Imagine it was full of sorrow, but now know better. The aterage vaudeville performer who Is temporarily laid off is never despondent H His first thought is to show a brave front i and to inform the world in large type '(per medium of the sdrer. sing columns I of Ihe thentnea press) that h is "pack- H iug the houses out est." ggH j Stranded in auy city of the world he H patiently wait, word from his agent as to .where he plays "next 'eek." To him "next L week" is only a few hours off always, and I as he never grows older, "what's the dif- g As a lass, vttudevlllians of to-day are g far more Intelligent and refined than in H the old variety days. Then there was no (organization and performers wandered the t country obtaining engagements when and where they could. Trxlaj vast circuits are managed from central offices and it is possible for standard nets to km w their I routes sixty weeks ahead. F ilillions o. dollars are investcu in vaude- t I Tills to-day aud the men at the head the business iLsist upon influencing the moral standard of their performers and ' tie moral standard of their programmes. i: W Keith, Percj fVilllams and .Martin Beck, three of the greatest managers in mM this lie-Id to-day, post conspicuously iu the dressing rooms of their theatres a notice to the following effect. : H "We cuter mostly to women and chil- H 'dren and hrve mvested much money to do g so. I'lease eliminate from your perform- , auce all vulgar words and actions. The j use of the words damn, slob, son-of-a-gun ior any refereni to questionable localities or an action with a double DO soiling means I absolute dismissal." H Born in the atmosphere of vaudeville ,'i are many stars whom the theatregoing jit; puidie hold dear. Ke-e Stahl. wilh her M- little sketch, paved the way for "The 4sb!sbbbbb1 Chorus Lady and fame In two couti- fgsssl u. uts. Robert Billiatd, though originally I from ihn legitimate, created his great fol- t lowing in vuudeville aud the following f which makes him the powerful drawing 4 card ho is to-day in the two-dollar bouses. Hlliiard is the pioneer of the refined I land beautifully mounted one-act play in MWMM "tho bulls." it was he who educated H tba vaudeville patrons to expect quiet and elegaut art when the curtain rose j jH 00 his always well lighted and hand 1 mM souiely furnished interior setting He WMWM exacted from his cast perfect dressing .WmwmM aud for years he demonstrated that it MWMWMm ' was possible to "put over" 11 dramatic literary gem between a monkey act and H a blackface oi course everybody knows that David H War be Id graduated from vaudeville to H i become America's most loved actor. iH Watching this artist's charming perform- B nuet- in "The Keturu of Peter Grimm" 'I it Is hard to realise that he once wore the absurd hat aud the crepe whiskert 0f the burloqm Del. row. Hilliaid War- held. Boae Stahl ami Victor Moore are 'H some of the very few vaudeville urtists H who have become legitimate stars, and 1 H now many legitimate actors are becoming j H , l0devillc stars, as witness lbs latest ad- gl . . to "two a day" rank-Mc- EEra llx Arbiiakls uud WiUo Uekajra, Ms |