VAUDEVILLE TRIUMPHANT

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 211, 30 May 1908, Page 9

VAUDEVILLE TRIUMPHANT

VIEWS OF A THEATRICAL MANAGER. " A SPLENDID DEMOCRACY." Mr. Allan Hamilton, tho well-known theatrical manager, has been interviewed in .tlio South on the trend of theatrical amusement, arid ho maintains that vaudeville is the niost popular form of entertainment. . " Yes, I paintain," said Mr. Hamilton, "that vaudeville is to-day the most popular of all forms of entertainment. In England its growth has been so marked that there is scarcely an actor or actress of repute who is now turning favouring ©yes towards Falsa Cdjnity. "Mr. Lawrence .Irving -recently said: ' The timo has gono by for actors to stand upon false dignity. They aro bound to work for money, and if vaudeville, offers greater, inducements than, tho dramatic stago, well, so much tho better for vaudeville.' Mr. Lionel Brough, Mr, Lewis Waller, and a Bcoromoro of noted actors havo recently joined tho ranks of vaudoville. And why not? Vaudeville, as wo know-it to-day, is'a.r'o--fined means of presenting talent, skill, dex- ■ terity, art, and even, genius in concentrated form.l Ten years ago it was known as .variety—probably because its methods.of entertainment were anything-but varied.. Atthat timo vaudeville was comprised mainly, ,of tlio'.ponderous humorist in burnt cork—' a. student of the ancient history of joking i' '—the Fluffcm sisters who Havo just,been down to Pareo faucli naughty sights to sea-ea; tho champion of tho clogs,, who stepped •1? ? , drearily in front-of a table covered with faded plush bearing two or three silver-, plated tokens of his greatness; the fulsomovoiced and generously-proportioned " dame who warbled motto songs; tho inevitable ■ knockabout comedians, whose general' appearance did not belio their vocation; and the never-varying string of' contortionists, acrobats, jugglers, etc., all the same, but each , tho world's champion and- gold medallist ot his particular line of business, and of such a class of entertainment tho publio wero asked to believe that it was tho greatest aggregation of geiiius ever gathered together in one congregated whole, or some ' other superlative rot. . • , Wo Limitations. " "j.?? 11 -k® won< l«red that vaudeville up to this period was limited to the'least intelligent classes, and was regarded as'thelowest form of . amusement- But nevortho" ■j s | vaudeville managers' are deserving ot the highest credit for having sown upon such soil the seeds'of what'has grown to be one of tho njost popular branches of the. theatre. For vaudeville to-day has no limitations. There is not 'an artist' of any description who would be ashamed to adopt it... A splendid democracy ■ has been evolved 1 in.its growth. The actor works sido'by side wit.i tho acrobat—the singer , follows ' the' trapezist.' •' s Tlio'Direct Appeal. :•'■ "It is, I think, the reality of vaudeville ' winch .makes it the most popular form of entertainment. Vaudeville appeals less to • tho imagination than to 1 the senses. ■ You see and ,hear, what actually exists; you aro not so often asked, as in tho case of the" drama,'.to imagine what might: bo. For,in-.' ; staricej. the- skill and daring of tho the strength and agility, acrobat, tho alertness of the' conjuror, the genius of tho musician, tho. inagnotism of the monoiognist ■T-all: these things ' aro real, and make a direct appeal. On tho other, hand, tho drama depends, entirely upon tho' estent to"'which it suirs' the "imagination of': the .audience'. ' If the themo of a play, strikes tho right chord ,tlie_ play succeeds, but if, as,in the V great majority of cases, 'it'does not grip 1 tho imagination of its hearers, it-Ms. I am speaking generally, for: in this country, of, course, theatre-goers' only' see tho tried successes. But in-. London and New York, when a new play is produced which finds-no responsivo chord in the hearts of tho audience, tho whole evening's entertainment is a dismal failure, whereas in a vaudeville w- r tertainment 'one overlooks what ono doeo not ; like because of all t-ho rest which amuses, excites, and entertains. • Big Dividends. s " And . so, while English theatrical managers havo gone; through two or three sea- ' ' sons of disastrous failures, some of them losing big fortunes, the, vaudoville man- ' agors have .been coining money. Tho Em- ' pire Theatre lias declared dividends of 30 r - per cent., tho Pavilion 16 per cent., ,the ' Palaeo (originally built by Carl Rossi for English opera) 25 per and as much as 40 per cent. Vaudeville'in London now includes Royalty and the peerage among v ite patrons. Likewise, in America it is the most widely-liked of all forms of amusement. The vaudeville theatres of tho United States are among tho finest, somo of tho recent structures costing-over a hiillion lollars. Vaudeville of the Future. / ■ ■ "As to the-future of vaudeville, thero :an be no doubt.. It must go on prosper- - ing, sinco it is the oidy branch of the , theatre which -exploits anything and everything. ■ Not . only can an actor who- has ' iailod to secure a successful play'resort to :t as a certain meaps of revealing his talents, 3ut anyono who can-do anything wit-hin the jompass of the stage; whether it be to sing irias from grand opera, paint- a picture, or '.' loiirish a . stockwhip, may—provided his ibility in his particular line-be sufficiently narked—find an equal place- upon it. More)ver,'the rewards aro unlimited. Talent in '. ill branches' is paid' for just as it attracts ;ho public attention. lii America a girl mder twenty is getting 3000 dollars a week loing-imitations of popular actors. The-, ivorage 'head-linor' thero is:paid from 1000 v lollars to 1500 dollars. In England also' ialari-cs are. enormous, and many performeru • ivo receiving-' £100 a week .and over who vould have little opportunity to exploit their ialents but for this splendid institution of vaudeville, Look at the case of that New '' - Jealand girl ■ Miss Violet Mount, whose ■ leautiful voice .might have gone long alegging had. she liot, as a- masked lady, loverly invaded the domain of vaudoville. . !o many functions does vaudoville perforin hat the day has gone by when'it was' con- Vlidered infra dig. to patroniso it; and to de:ry it is now an affectation which would ba ■' aughed at by any scnsiblo person's."