The Roanoke daily times. (Roanoke, Va.) 1895-1897, 1896-04-28

there were several elements conspiring to
the Same result. First and foremost, 1t
must be confessed, Is the dieinolinatfon Of
the artists themselves TO change their acts
and thereby make themselves Of new value
each year. Then, again, there Is also. of
course, the natural tendency OF tho nmuse-
ment loving public 30 demand moro for It's
money with each succeeding season. The
manager who docs not meet this desire
when IL becomes too manifest to he ignor-
ed Is very foolish and In tho end must
pay for bis stubbornnoes In the way OF de-
creased attendance at bis performances,
for IL Ia as impossible In the show business
as In any other to foruo upon the people
that which they do not want. Give them
something which they like, and they will
pay well for 1t, but try to compel them 10
attend an entertainment which does not
suit them, and you Will speedily find that
you arc on the wrong tack, even though
you should go to the length OF Offering
them admission FREQ of charge. 1t is hui
man Misunderstanding more.
Up to very short time ago the usual
variety show consisted Of a lot Of turns
following each other indisoriminately. II
the audiences had not seen these people be-
fore, all we'll and good, but II they had, as
was more than likely, there was dissatis-
faction. A great many shows, it Is true,
opened with first part" in which On
effort was made go tumble lot of sense
less stuff together through the medium of
execrable rhyme, which was innocently
supposed to constitute the principal Gle
ment of burlcsque. The music was gen.
orally taken from wherever 1t happened to
suit the fancy of the builder Of the enter
tainment, and it was, of course, promptly
recognized as having been stolen by every
person who happened to hear it. That
would naturally not tend to increase the
pleasure of the auditor, either. But that
was not the worst of 1t, for at the end Of
this style Of vaudeville show there was
what Is called an afterpiecc, and 1t was
usually regarded by the regular patrons as
being Just what its name indioate1-a
thing which came after the show and was
not worth staying to hear and sec. Thus
at the end OF the olio there was mighty
exodus, and the performance was finished
before an audience at least 80 per cent
smaller than 1t was at the rise of the cur
tain.
am not criticising brother managers
or performers, because until tho present
season 1 was doing all of those things
which l have Just pointed out as tending
toward the undoing Of tho vaudeville
branch OF the amusement profession.
j,
that 1t had cost me q good many thousands
OF dollars to learn what later experience
has warranted mo in assuming to be a
fact Last season, toward the close, I
made up my mind that II intended to
continue In the vaudevillos 1t would be
necessary to improve vastly upon what
had gone before. Not wishing or. in fact.
daring to be too radical mt the start con-
cluded to make qualified departure,
keeping the main old lines In view con-
stantly-in other words to build I'D the
original stylc of entertainment to the ex
treme limit OF its possibilities. This I did
by having written really funny and
bright first part, which is a burletta. and
also put together burlesque OF the then
popular Trilby." I confess that I felt an
almost uncomfortable dosire to omit the
olio altogether and to introduce tho spe-
cialties by means of appropriate sliusions
In tho burlesques, but redooted upon the
well known fate of reformers and refrain
ed. The result of the departure which I
did make, however, with my "Twentieth
Century Maids" company has boon emf
nently satisfactory, and shall stick to
these limos in my Offering for next season,
only shall then do Napoleon instead of
Svengali. shall leave 1t to others to go
still farther along the paths which l have
blazed out.
That there Will be those who will do
this do not doubt, and 1 believe that IL
the ventures are properly managed from
the business end they arc practically cor
tain to succeed. / mn gratifled with the
pare y have played in bringing about this
TefefsnsoS2sza, because without something