DEATH OF AMERICA'S VAUDEVILLE KING

Evening Star, Issue 15513, 8 June 1914, Page 1

DEATH OF AMERICA'S VAUDEVILLE KING

Mr Benjamin Franklin Keith, Amenea -a pioneer vaudeville producer and owner of the biggest theatre circuit in the world, died" suddenly on March 27 at Palm Beach, Florida, of disease of the __ heart. By a pathetic coincidence, the famous theatrical man's death occurred simultaneously with the celebration of the 30th anniversary of the opening of his first playhouse in Boston, Massachusetts. With Mr Keith at the time of his passing away were his young bride of six months and Mr Paul Keith, hie son by his first marriage. Mr Keith, who was known, as "the father of vaudeville," was the first j man to introduce the continuous variety performance, and at tho time of his death he was the owner of 75 theatres, scattered in every big city of the United States. Simultaneous with the announcement of Mr Keith's death came a report from Kansas City that Air Marcus Loew, the well-known New York producer, bad bought out the theatrical syndicate of Sullivan and Considine Fox for a sum ranging from £600,000 to £800,000—th« actual price being unknown. Thei control of about 30 theatres in the Middle West and the Pacific Coast is involved, and oy the purchase it is said that Mr _ Loew becomes by far the largest figure in the American vaudeville field, with 80 theatres owned or leased, and as many more, "affiliated with the string." The late Mr Keith, who was a native of Hillborough Bridge, New Hampshire (U.S.), left home at ithe age of seven % and tried fanning pursuits in the West. There he remained till 18, acquiring what education he might at the district school. It j was about this time that he made his first acquaintance with a public entertainment—a circus, as it happened, run by the famous lion trainer Van Ambrugu. Subsequently Keith was connected with Bunnell's Museum, New York, and later with Barn urn's. . To fill in his leisure he took, on three consecutive occasions, small shows on the road, returning in each in- j stance, as he himself was wont to admit, "dead broke." In 1882, in a so.nrwhat aimless sort of way, he migrated to Boston. Wandering along Washington £ti<et one dav his eye fell upon a confectionery store, of which one half was advertised to be let. There it was that in January, LBB3, he began his career as a showman in partnership with Colonel William Austin. Their first attraction, it may not be amiss to recall, was an infant nanod Babv Alice, who, although three morths old." weighed but Ulb. Ten cents was the price" charged to view this small pi?ce of humanity, whose growing powers happily proved to be in inverse ratio to her size. Within two weeks Mr Keitn had broken with his first associate :.nd taken to himself a second. Further, he had acquired the whole store, Jiis a t >t*>tite growing by what it fed on, he secured, a twelvemonth afterwards, an upstairs room, where- he was able to seat an audience of exactly 123, tho precise number of chairs which by a good deal of manoeuvring could be placed in the limited area. Among his leading attractions was Mrs General Tom Thumb. With all its drawbacks, Mr Keith declared in later days, this early playhouse of his was never surpassed in essentia! qualities by anything built by him tub eequently. ■—" Continuous Performa'ac ?s."- -

Now lie began to realise tli.tt if he was ever to become; a prominent figure in the world of entertainment it was requisite he should discard stereotyped methods and carve out a now way for himself. The idea had already occurred to him of the continuous performance, starting at a stated hour and going on throughout the entire day and evening until the moment came for" closing. The date upon which he gave effect to that idea, a momentous one. as it proved for him, was July 6, 1885. Punctually the curtain rose at 10.50 a.m., not to fall until 10.30 p.m. One can easily imagine how eagerly the result was awaited. Fortunately the success of the experiment was never in doubt, although, curiously enough, it has had few imitators in America, and when tried at the London Coliseum failed utterly. There were other reasons, however. " for the prosperity attending Mr Keith's ventures. Among the principal were his determination to give the public an entertainment absolutely devoid of anything even savoring of bad taste, and his constant endeavor to provide hu> patrons with theatres conspicuously bright, cheerful, and clean. In this direction his efforts went even further, for. as his ideas expanded with the growth of hifi business, the theatres under his direction became veritable "lordly pleasure - houses/' probably the must luxuriously furnished and tastefully appointed in th" world. His next move, in coiijiincihin with George G. Batchellar. his new pa.uner, was to the Bijou Theatre in Boston, where, two performances of popular plays we.ro given at cheap prices. This combination wfl.s dissolved in 1887, fc-t-ill firm in his belief that the "continuous performance" was a. trump card to play, he became associated with K. F. Albee (his stage manager), who from this time onward was to be. a commanding figure in all future enterprises. It has been declared of Mr Albee by comjitdont judgethat he is one ofj the cleverest operatic producers .America has ever known, and that his genius for vaudeville is ahim>t without parallel in the United States. lie was largely responsible for the construct)' >a and decorative scheme of Keith's Boston Theatre, generally recognised to be tic most beautiful and graceful of its kind. In rapid succession Mr Keith added to the number of his acquisitions. In 1889 came the Bijou, Philadelphia, and in 1893 he converted the old Union .Square Thea;r\ Now York, to his purposes. At the time of his death bis international circuit comprised five theatres in New York, the same, number in Brooklyn, three in Boston, two in Cleveland, and one in, respectively, Philadelphia, Indianapolis, Louisville, Jersey City, Providence, and many other big cities. In 1906 he combined forces with F. F. Proctor, bis most influential competitor, subsequently Jinking up all his theatres, and forming what is known as the United Booking Office, which in turn be connected with the Orpheum circuit, thus establishing a line <,;' vaudeville houses that stretches from New York to the Pacific Coast and to the F;uWest. This constitutes, what is undoubtedly

—The Greatest Aggregation of Halls—to be found anywhere in the world. The following description of tho building in New York, in which the Booking Union conduct their operations, will give some alight indication of the vastness of the business conducted therein :

On Broadway, New York, stands the great clearing-house for vaudeville, where every first class act on the native and European stage is represented and traded trola a weekly salary list of well over half a million dollars. The presiding in as an amusement staple. To the men and women of variety this clearing-house for entertainers of all kinds, from intelligent animals to Sarah Bernhardt, is known as the United Booking Offices. It • ccn-o-enius and general manager, who has made big business" out of an amusement, is E. P. Alhee. Half a dozen floors arc given over to the executive offices and headquarters of the magnates of vaudeville and their alJie*. agents and managers. This is the heme of "Big Time" in tinargot- of ' tv.-i-a-day" artists, and evoiy first class vaudeville theatre in America is an integral part of the great organisation which has linked up :i once disorganised and inchoate business into a wondei - fully co-ordinated and efficient institution.

The halk and elevators of tie Putnam Building are crowded all day long witb vaudeville performers seeking audience with the booking powers who determine the weekly programmes in Portland (Me.) and Portland (Ore.), and every city and major town between. Presently tfaa United will remove to the marble B.F. Keith Palace Theatre Buildings, where a dozen floors have been arranged for th* special needs of vaudeville. In the new offices only solid mahongany is used for fittings and furniture, and the United'a new home will be finer than any bank.

—Bumping up Salaries.— Of the marvellous changes that have taken place in the American vaudeville business during the 30 years oi Mr Keith's career, none, perhaps, is more startling than the manner in which salaries hare progressed upwards. It is related by Mr Robert Grau that the first well-knowa artist to appear at Keith's; formerly the Union Square Theatre, in New York, was Alice J. Shaw,. famous as a " Eiffleuse," who received £SO a week. This was in 1893, and such terms were then regarded as quite extraordinary. Three years later £l2O had been reached as the highest point, but this was speedily topped in tha case of several popular musical comedy actresses, such as Pauline Hall, Camille D'Arville, Marie Taveray, and Lotus* Beaudet. Even they, however, were out* distanced by Jessie Bartlett Davis, to whom a salary of £2OO a week was conceded. Charles Hawtrey, according to Mr Grau, was the first star from the legitimate stage to out-distance her. "He found £250 in his pay envelope every Saturday night while in vaudeville. M* Hawtrey was followed by Jessie "Millward, who received £2OO a week. Bat even then the limit was not reached, Albert Chevalier and Vesta Tilley bringing the maximum up to £350." But these figures paled their ineffectual fires, however, before the conditions exacted by Lilian Russell, who obtained £SOO weekly j Mrs Langtry, on the other hand, being contented with a modest £SOO a week. It is also recorded that when David Warfield, less distinguished as an actor then than he is now, appeared at Keith's in 1894, his remuneration was only £ls for each seven days, and he had to appear thrice daily, in recent years he has been repeatedly offered no less than 60 times as much by,the same management. For some considerable time past Mr Keith took no active part in the business which he originated. He is reputed to have amassed a fortune of something like four millions sterling, his plan having been to buy the land upon which he erected his various theatres, the value of which has, practically in every instance, increased enormously. As recently as January last the announcement was made of his marriage about a month previously to a Miss Chase, of Washington.