The copper country evening news. [volume] (Calumet, Mich.) 18??-1907, 1897-07-02

- Stand up and let me look at you
The young fellow arose with some slight
embarrassment His two years experience
had not placed him in just this position
many times before, SO he flushed a little
as be got up. But he remem bered well
enough what was just then necessary-to
throw back his shoulders and stand as
high as his straight, slender legs would
allow him.
you'll do" the manager said with
some reservation in his tone, "and you re
one of the cases in which the photograph
did not lie entirely. But if l give you a
part can you dress it?'
"What is the part?" the young man
asked, determined to say he could dress it
whether able 10 or not, whether 10 took q
frock coat and a dress suit or a Roman
toga.
"Oh, it's very pretty part" the man
ager said. Its the leading one, and the
only costumes you need are two colonial
uniforms, one fatigue and the other full
dress. You ought 10 be able 20 do it for
$3.50. The part 5 that of young captain,
and it's very good one"
"What are YOU payings' asked the
young man, with as much decision in his
mind If not in his tone as there had been
when he inquired about the costumes he
would have 20 wear. 1t was a reputable
firm Of managers, and there was the pros.
pect of makinga contract Immediately so
10 seemed 10 him that whatever the amount
might be he would accept il.
We are paying S35 for season of 30
weeks" answered the manager "You
are certain OF employment through all
that time, and you know our reputa-
ton here lie smiled grimly-"and you
are not likely 70 lose your time in working
for Us. 4"
Thirty-hve seemed small sum even TO
that eager applicant, ard he was busy with
mental mathematics the moment he heard
the amount For his young wife and c.l.d
IL would take at the least $40 a week in
New York or wherever they decided TO
live permanently. IL was out of the qucs-
ton for them 10 travel. On the road ne
could not live for less than SO a week.
There was So week 90 be paid for cos
TUNES, 10 make up the cost of $3.50 for the
80 weeks. That left So week for period
OF % weeks during which he would be un-
employed. 1t seemed a desperate enough
outlook, but 10 was sure. There were the
wife and the baby, and there was living
for them out of that sum. Other offers
might not come, and they might be no
better when they did come. These reflec-
lions passed rapidly through his mind, and
be decided quickly.
Come in tomorrow to sign the con-
tract" said the manager, land I'll be
able TO tell you then about the rehearsals.
We II probably have four weeks of it here"
The actor thought of this with pang,
but it disappeared in the satisfaction of |
having settled his plans for the winter. |
1t was true that the result had not been |
hrf1l IN
endowments TO get the place, and his abil. |
ity in his profession had been established '
else he would never have been asked to !
come to that managers office and talk |
business.
This case was one used 70 illustrate the |
claim that the salaries of actors are not so
large as they were several years ago. in |
spite of the stories frequently heard of |
popular leading men who receive such |
sums as $500 week, popular comedians
who get equally large rewards, and other /
favorite performers who are paid in the |
same proportion. That these stories are
exaggerated has often been believed, but
IL was never thought that there had been
any such diminution in pay as recent
cases indicate.
When Laura Keene paid william Blake,
a popular actor of old mems parts, 500 a
week, and George Jordan called the hand
soonest man on the stage at that time Sl20 |
a week, the newspapers spoke of those fig
ures as very high. They were indeed for
that time, " said an old actor to a Sun re-
porter. 1.-THE salaries generally ranged
from $40 60 500 for the best of the actors
of that period, but these figures were larger
for that time than the high salaries of to.
day are. The cost of living was very much
,f.v,f- |
longer. Al the most a months holiday
was given to the actors, and sometimes
they were not idle for more than two
weeks. Now the longest period of work
that an actor can get under any circum.
stances is q season of "a weeks During
the other is he is compelled 20 live on
what he can save In the season The sal.
aries paid do not afford much surplus for
that. The average actor s salary today is
not so much a $40 a week 1t is, in fact
considerably under that sum. In the past
actors would live with their families in
the town in which they were acting. Now
they must pay the expenses of their fami
lies as well as their own when travelling
Years ago got 500 a week in Chicago and
was able to save money besides support.
ing my wife and child, but if | bad been
TO travel as we'll as pay the ad.
vanced prices of living of today never
could have done so
The actors pay has not advanced in
TO the compensation paid 20
other employees In many cases it has de.
clined The sums paid to leading men.
say il years ago were larger than any
paid today. Charles Thorne received be.
tween sl75 and $500 during his greatest
al the old Union Square thea
ter, and Montague got 5000 at Wallack's
Now, one Of the best known leading actors
got last season 1925, another receives SIS.
and third gets 500, net they are in ex.
actly the places occupied by the men who ,
In the past received salaries nearly twice
hs large. The same change has taken
place all the way down the line. and,
while the salaries paid to young men may
not actually be smaller IN amount, they
ire in result, for prices are everywhere
much higher. l know from my own ex.
Derience that two-ffths of the actors on
he stage today are dependent for their
support during the summer on relatives or
riends. This is not the result Of improvl.