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Show WRITERS OF PLAV3, They ila laaally I'abl a I'arranUs af lllnl Itrrelpto. Wonderful stories aro told ot the amounts paid to dramatic authors toys W J Henderson In Hrrluncr's If they were true they would prove that the qulckeat way to get rich was to write a aucreiuiful play It take two years howeier for a skilled dramatist, like Hronson Howard, to make a play and he cannot guarantee that It will be liked ty the unfathomable public I dn not know what Mr 1 Inward receives re-ceives but the typical pay of a drama tic nuthor l 6 per cent of th gross re. cclpts e-kl Hut there Is no flxid standard of ianients Home plny Wrights get a certain sum down nnd the imusl royally of 5 per cent Others Oth-ers are paid on n sliding scale One noted pair of collaborators recelieil for one of their productions 6 per rent of the gross receipt up to 1 0,000, and 1 per cent additional of each una thou sand mer that figure their work drew 110 000 a week for tho first six weeks their nmnngcr had tu pay them 1700 a week for the me of their work In the rase of purely theatrical back-work back-work smaller prices are pvld nnd the rato Is often fixed at so much n night, $25 being a good tec I'or adaptation royalties arc seldom paid In this country, coun-try, A manager usually hires a hnck dramatist and pnya blm a lump sum for hln work For operetta adaptations adapta-tions very small prices nre paid, that la why the adaptations arouisually such poor trash No man who rnn do good work can afford to nccept the terms. Original operettas, If successful, pay both managers nnd nuthor very well D'Oyly Carte offered Gilbert and Sullivan Sulli-van II0OOO down for tho exclutlva right to the "Pirate of Penzance" They declined the offer, accepted their customary royalties, and got I2,00. |
