ENORMOUS SALARIES.

Waikato Times, Volume 102, Issue 17219, 30 September 1927, Page 6

ENORMOUS SALARIES.

STAGE ARTISTS’ DEMANDS. LONDON CxANNOT AFFORD THEM. BETTER MARKET IN AMERICA. (Australian and N.Z. Cable Assn.) (Rec. September 30, 12.55 p.m.) LONDON, September 29. ' The enormouse salaries demanded by theatrical stars are the centre of controversy. The managers, Messrs J. L. Sachs and Herbert Clayton, say it is entirely disproportionate to the prices of seats and the theatres’ capacity to pay £3OO to £4OO a week. To. shorten runs would upset the financial balance of artists, authors and managers. The public suffer as the admission must remain high. They had no objection to £l5O weekly. Beyond that is impossible. Miss Evelyn Laye, one of the highest paid artists, says: “You si’ll your goods at the highest possible price. Mr Sachs offered me £350 a week for a new play, but I am considering an offer from America. In reply to this, Mr Sachs said: “ I told Evelyn that if she can get £GOO a week from America to take it. London can’t afford it. Whenever I consider an unknown star from America the first thing is to cable a thousand dollars a, week. It’s rendering the running of a theatre impossible.”