Sacramento daily record-union., 1889-09-08
MUSIC AND DRAMA.
HOW EXPENSES FOOT UP IN PUTTING
ON A NEW PLAY.
Salvini's American Tour-SIargaret Ken
dal-WiIson Barrett in "CIte~
General Stage Notes.

| Very few people who witness the initia
production of piece realize the amour
of hard work and labor that has been ex
perienced by the performers IN preparin.
for the first night, and not one in hun
dred ever gives thought to the amount o
trouble, labor, worry and expense that tn,
author has been put to in putting his piec,
on the stage. met young dramatist il
the lobby of the Biiou Thester the othe,
day, says New York Star reporter, an6
put the question to him; "What does il
cost to produce play ?'
Well,' said he, rehectively, that de,
pends on the kind of play you prodace
a spectacular drama demands an enormous
outlay, and some melodramas require scenic
effects that drain fellows purse. The
ordinary farce-c comedy, however. can he
staged for $3, 900, unless it is necessary Ia
introduce mechanical and scenic effects ot
a grand and elaborate nature.
To show you how hard and persistent
some dramatists work, take, for instance =
young man who writes a good play. but has
no money to produce it. lie calls on a
| manager, who compliments him on his eff
fort and thinks the piece would be a 90 if
1t were well cast and properly staged. The
young man has no money, and, after per-
sistent argument, makes an arrangement
with the open-hearted manager by which
he bears all the expense of scenery and
rents him the theater, with the under
standing that his money is to be taken out
of the receipts before the young author
can claim penny.
"The manager having done this much.
the young author does not feel that he has
any right to ask him to be responsible for
the cast, so he hustles around until he finds
some capitalist who will advance him the
money. This is often where the young man
fails, but if he does succeed he at once re-
pairs to the agencies and gets his east.
Then he must have man to stage the
piece. An experienced man who studies
the manuscript and pictures the whole
play in his minds eve, so that when re-
hearsals are called he knows Just what he
wants each actor to do. This is another
expensive feature, but a necessary evil,
for the success of the play depends on his
conception.
"Then this evil genius suggests changes
in minor points in language and scenes.
The author, respecting the more expert
enced head, reluctantly looks on while the
language that he once thought so touching.
witty, droll or pathetic, is ruthlessly carved
out, and something else, to him less appli-
cable, substituted. This slaughtering Oper-
alton is continued at each rehearsal until
the author hardly knows his own piece,
and the actors who have attempted to
study their lines are in quandary, not
knowing which lines were given them last.
In the meantime expenses begin to
show themselves. He must have inciden-
tai music, and consequently musician is
added to the payroll; one VINO attends all
the rehearsals and scratches in musical
airs here and there. Now a song and
dance and a ballad, or some malarial
shakes, when the stage is supposed to be
dark. Then the time approaches when
the billboards should be covered with an
nouncemcnts of the coming event. The
printer is visited, then the billposter, and
this causes the young man to go down a
little deeper into his pocket
About this time the impecunious actor
strikes the young man for trife on ac-
count, and when he smilingly, but unwill-
ingly, shoves him a BILL the reimbursed
actor Immediately gives the tip to his
brothers in crime, who, one by one touch
the young for "a little in advance He
wants to keep their friendship for fear they
wouldn't act well, so he goes down into his
pocket again. The gasman has to be kept
in spending money, the propertyman draws
on the young mans fund, and the army of
supers if he needs them, come in for their
share of the spoiIs.
"The newspaper advertisements have to
be looked after, and this requires an ex-
perienced man. All these expenses soon
aggregate good, round sum, but the young
man feels certain that he is casting bread
upon the waters that will return to him
two-fold in few weeks.
"Then the night of the performance ar
rives. He sits in box with his friends or
loiters around the door to wait for some
inscriptions critic who mas his price. The
profession flock to the door en- masse, and,
out of courtesy to the band, he fills up
some good seats with these deadheadS The
young man is nervous. The orchestra
play, the curtain goes up and the play be-
gins. He is highly pleased, so is the au-
dience, who applaud to the echo. Now the
results vary. In some cases the piece is a
success and the young man reaps rich
reward; in others the managers share
swallows up the receipts, and the young
man is in hole His backer smiles at
his own loss and feels sorry for the young
man, who, at some future time, will per-
haps try it again"
sALvINI'S AMERICAN TOUR.
The American tour of Signor Salvini,
the Italian tragedian, will begin in New
York at Palmer's Theater on October 7th
The engagement at that house will con-
tinue for four weeks, and Salvini will play
four times week. On the opening night
"Othello" will be produced, and it will be
played twice week through the engage
ment. The other two evenings of the first
week will be devoted to "The Gladiator"
On October 14th Samson" will be pre-
sented, and these three plays will consti-
tute Salvini's repertoire for the entire tour
of twenty weeks.
''Samson" was originally produced at
what is now the Star Theater, during Sal
vini's first visit to this country, when he
was supported by an Italian company. The
coming production will be something of q
novelty, as the company will be made up
of English-speaking people, and the title
role is one of Salyini's best. 1t is thought
that the play will command nearly as much
attention as "Othello."
The company engaged to support Signor
Salvini, as far as completed, includes May
Brooklyn, Virginia Buchanan, Annie
O'Neill, Genevieve Beaman, John Malone,
Carl Ahrendt, L. F. Henderson, Fredrick
Corbett, Z. E. Delamater, A. Foster, E. L.
Snader, George c. Robinson and Edmund
Day. On the nights when Signor Salvini
does not play, his son, Alexander Salvini,
will be the star, but the plays in which he
| is to appear have not as yet been selected.
There is a possibility that Partners" will
be chosen. The historical play, "The Man
in Black" adapted by Horace Townsend
and Alexander Salvini, is also under con-
sideration.
The tragedian will start from his home
in Florence during the first week of Sep
tember, and, after short stay in Paris,
will arrive in New York two weeks prior
to the opening. Rehearsals under the di-
rection of Alexander Salvini will begin at
Palmer's Theater on September 9Th
Richard Marston arrived on the Alaska
last week, and Immediately began work