Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1894-06-03
THE PAY OF ACTORS.
FIGURES SHOWING WHAT SOME OF
THE NOTED ONES MAKE.
The Dramatic Outlook In Richmond
New Plays and Facts About Well
Known Artists.

ambition, and the next time the torch Is
applied to the footlights OF the Richmond
Theatre-whlch viii be in the middle OF
August-lt viii be the Inauguration OF
season 1915.
In local theatrical circles there Is
vast amount Of Interest and speculation
over the recent auction Of the Academy
az 10 whether the court will ratify the
sale. II is understood that the bondhoid-
ers went prepared TO bid up to slIyD the
amount OF their mortgage being NsV"'
and had the bidding reached that sum
there would have been no further oppose
ton.
The list Of first-class attractions that
are being booked to appear here In 'h'
autumn Is being daily augmented. and al
the beginning Of next week Manager
Leath leaves for New York to fill the re-
naming open dates.
Are actors overpaid, or are they not
| The agitatlng question VIII, perhdpS'
never be set at rest, but the mes earn
| inzs 70 which Madame Bernhardt lately
nlg10e1
| tribution 10 the controversy. Something
over a mllllon--to be precise, Sl,5j0,oOO-
are the admitted receipts Of the great
actress during her thirty years Of cease
| less work. Assuming the correctness OF
these hgures-and the supreme mistress
OF advertisement is hardly likely to have
understated the sum-they do not favor
| the argument o. ovcrpayment
Admittedly the most successful player
| Of the time, exploited with a cleverness
that approa ches genius, Madame Bern
| hardts income drawn from every quar-
| ter Of me ftase averages only $500 a
year TLis{frskes but feeble show,
| compared Nh the fortunes yearly earned
| by leading advocates, artists, and dra-
matlsts. hDO when 1t is remembered
| that her labor Is OF a most eXhausting
nature and that to keep herself promi-
nently before the public she is forced
| TO remain on the rack morning. noon.
and night. and undergo the awful strain
| OF constant travel, II cannot surely be
| avcrred that the rewards are too great.
| They may seem enormous set beside the
| humble 81 a week received by Better
| ton. the $50 paid to Charles Kemble. or
| even the 500 enjoyed by Macready and
| l<ean. but when the prncely style OF
| living expected Of a popular player and
| the increased drain upon the strength
| are taken into account the balance does
not incline towards the stars of our day.
| In this connection IL is interesting and
| instructive 10 learn the incomes derived
| from il1ywritng. To be a successful
| playwright nowadays is to enjoy the
| income. WELD the power. and dispense
| patronage like a President. IL was not
always thus. Short runs meant shallow
| purses for the hard-WOTked dramatists
| ana empty pockets were synonymous with
| snubs and impotence, much IS they are
| to-day. Had Shakespeare been a writer
| only, and not "A manager to boot. there
| would have been no comfortable leisure
| down at Stratford, no JOvial chats with
| ElZabethan. Tom. Dick. and Harry. IN
| the mellow twilight Of lazy summer days.
| Even when the stage prOspered greatly
| authors saw but sCant reward for nota
| bic successes. Goldsmith got but $500
| all told from "She Stops TO Conquer" q
| farce which drew the town as "Oul
| Boys" did century later Lord Lyttor
| was luckicr. His Lady Of Lyons" with
| the exception on Hamlet" the mos
| popular play ever written. his "Richelieu,'
| and Money" brought a fortune-but q
| fortune which, compared with that OF
modern men. must be accounted small.
After Bulwer Lyttons times the dr1 ma
| fell on evil days Madison Morton.
| farces sold for S9J. BuCksone wrot'
| dramas for $50. \ prize Of floO offcreo
| in England for the copyright OF play
on popular nautical lines was sufIlcien
| to induce scores Of capable writer's Il
| compete. Tom Taylor. with some forty ol
| fifty plays to his credit. and many o
| them highly popular ones. Ticket Of
| Leave Man." "TWiXt Axe and Crown
"To Parents and Guardians" among Tho
| number. left no such fortune behind hin
| rs Anthony TrOllopc. with his 100000 h.
| had delVcd from the iron-bound soil Of
| literature proper. Nor was it until com
| parativcy recent days that the author
| began to squeeze from the manager hi:
! pecuniary and artistic dues.
| To. Mr.. w S. Gilbert is given the Gre
! dit for insisting Oh the authors para
| mount importance. Five and twenty years
| ago he began 10 preach the doctrine o
| permanent rights in brain property. NJ
| longer was play 10 BE- bought outright
| for some paltry or dazzling sum. Tit
| play was 10 be regarded as the thing.
| and the author was 10 receive payment II
| direct proportion TO its drawing capacity
| In other words, he was TO get a royalty
| on the gross receipts. From modest be
| ginnings terms soon rose to and 10 II
| cent. for an adaptation. and 10 and Il pc
| cent fer original work. And in accord
| ance with poetic justice tho man VIII,
| chiefly engin cred this resolution reape,
the richest harvest. and Mr.. Gilbert il
| by far the richest playwright Of the day
| His annual income from the Savoy Thea
ire alone during the period OF the famous
| triumvirate as disclosed I'm the lega
| dispute between Mr. DOyly Carte AM
| himself was SG0Oo, and even that wa
but "A fraction of his earnng~. When Mis-
| Mary Anderson was acting in "Tragcd'
| and Comedy" and "Pygmalion and Gala
| tea in London no less than four Of hi
| plays were running simultaneously in tina
| city TO an estimated aggregate Of 800
| Il night. Upon these receipts n, II pc
| cent royalty yields 500 81 night for III,
lucky author ana the programmes hell
the various bill FOR many months "Pyg
malion and Galatta" is reckOned. indeed
the most valuable dramatic property /,
the world. its estimated earnings exceed
ing 100000
Can it be that the day Of realism /
closing in. and that the dawn Of anothe
era OF romance is at hand? Darkest be
fore dawn the saying goes, and TO IN
| romanclstS no gloom could be profounde
than that Of the drama OF despair. n
the work of Ibsen and his school has
not altogether inaptly or unjustly-beel
called. But a negative argument OF thi
| kind, though IL may be that IT'S use
weighs but little against the evidence O
staring and glaring signs OF the time
which all who run may read. Now O
these no fewer than six announcement
confront us, and TO many they will ap
pear the handwriting on the wall for IN
BelshazZas of that kingdom Of art. whicl
may perhaps be termed the Catastrophe
| Babylon.
on every side the bright flowers o
romance are being sown. Already il
many places they are almost abov
ground The "Foresters' of Lord Tenny
son and bold robin Hood" crackint
Shakespearean jokes and hagons. and nov
and then a head-at quarterstaff-in tn
glades of Sherwood: Mr.. Galmours Ear
of Essex" giving US a peep at the Eng
land of Good Queen Bess A notable re
Vival of Henry, the Fifth" a new yer
sion of "Launcelot of the Lake" and NJ,
Hall Gaines long-deferred "Mahomet" ar
notable instances of the above fact. Ii
addition to all this romance-no luke
| warm mixture of ancient and modern