The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1895-12-11

You will find that nine out OF every ten Of
them were once in the vaudeville and bur-
lesque, and, what Is more, they made their
impression whilo there, and IL was through
their individuality and originality that
they became celebrated. Then, of course,
the field Is easy once one becomes "a favor
lite, for, no matter what the line he Is in,
he at once finds n field whore tho returns
for his ability will be greater, In other
words. ho starts his own company and
plays the higher class theaters. In many
cases he is Successful, and of course rs sue
cess favors him ho becomes more and more
firmly installed rs favorite until at last
he is almost n byword for lovers of comedy.
Do those people who go nightly to SEQ him
think that his start was made either on
the Bowery In n cheap variety hall or as a
song and dance inan In an ordinary vari-
ETY. theator? Thsy condemn vaudeville
but forget that IL Is the backbone Of all
successful burlesque, operatio and farce
comedy organizations
Take. for instance, Harrigan and Hart
Nililgm 4laafy. tiiO -.,., --e,,A cay, or Wiz
liam HcSy. Charles Il. Evans, Joseph Hart,
Francis Wilson, James L. Powers, Peter
Daley, Jennie Yeamans-in fact, many
Others who today are among tho biggest
salarcd comedians In this country. Trace
back their career, and you will surely
find that they were first recognized as
vaudeville actors, and IL was there that
they made their "hit" Start those same
people In drama, and not ono half of them
will become paying stars.
Why, then, condemn vaudeville when IL
IA tho mother, as IL were, of all comic or
ganizations9 Take farce comedy, comic
opera or buriesque oxtravaganZa. What
is 1t composed Of? What does it purportY
1t is simply vehicle In which serios OF
vaudeville and burlcsquo acts can bc
shown. Take that away, and you have a
few threndbare, wornout lines that would
not please any one. Comic opera, again,
finds it necessary TO intermingle the va.
riety, and oven the dramatic shows OF tho
sensational order must fill In with variety
or bullesquo.
II you wcro TO ask FIRST nighter" who
frequents only the highest class thcaters IL
nc would like TO sec variety or buresque
performance, he would laugh at you. still
he will roar with laughter at the vaude-
VILE acts he secs in comic opera and other
entertainments. Why is it?
just analyze a variety pcrformeg's ALL.
ity--of course mean ono Of noto-and
you will SEQ that he Is pus5usscd of not
one but several phases OF morit. He
nlust' be original, able at all times to
change his jokes and dialogue, should be a
good singer and dancer and always writ.
ing or putting matter together that he
thinks will please. a new act will last
one season. but year I.'ter year, If tho pub
lie SEQ an artist with the same material,
they soon tire OF It,
On tho other hand, the dramatic actor
has each season new part In "a drama, his
lines arc all written for him, and he de-
pends solely upon his general ability rs an
actor for the success of his part. All the
large burlesquc companies arc a mixture
Of vaudeville and every FARGO comedy Is
dependent almost altogether upon the
speciality acts TO carry IL through. ! have
endeavorcd 10 show the many disadvan-
tages that speciality people labor under and
how hard Il is 10 obtain recognition, but
do not wish my meaning misconstrucd.
OF course | readily understand that tho
higher tho class of the work tho bottor the
artist must be, and &c Is much more Cifii-
cult for a speciality performer TO bo success
full I'm drama than e. Is for dramatic art
list to bc SUCCESS i'm buricsquc and vaudc.
VILE.
Dramas OF the sensational order have In
my opinion been on the decline, while, on
the other hand, vaudeville has been stead
lily working itself into universal favor