The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-06-10

|
 tain. It will make favorable impression
 and the patrons will come again next
 week. and the next week. The theatre
 has thus enlarged it's clientele and the high priced star has done the work an-
 ticipated and hoped for by the manage
 ment.
 l A short time ago I was talking to a | well known star who had been offered
 much larger sum per week for a flyer | in vaudeville than he had received in sal
 ary and percentage during the regular season. He had declined the offer and in
 speaking of 1t said that a legitimate actor one who had always been identified with 1 productions, ran a great risk in going into vaudeville. His theory was that a vaudevillian could go into the legitimate and make success, and then go back into the other line without prejudice to ! himself, but he contended that it was more or less ruinous for legitimate actor
 of the magnitude of a star to go into vau- | deville and then back into his regular
 work. He said people would not again pay
 s1.5o of s2 to see him, when few months
 before they had purchased the same priv
 ilege for a much smaller sum, and be-
 
 | of high class special acts.
 | Be that as it may the fact Is that
 many legitimate actors, stars even. are knocking at the doors of the vaudeville houses anxious for hearing. These peo- pie have their own ideas. ThRy say that a man or a woman who can succeed in vaudeville has the best engagement pos 1 sible. In the first place the actor becomes his own producer, he puts on his little : play as he thinks 1t should be put on, he plays a role as he thinks 1t ought to be played and he does pretty much as he | jolly we'll pleases.
 | He knows when he has to be ready to step on the stage, he knows that he must or must not do certain things, that he
 has to deliver the goods every minute he is on the stage, he is familiar with his
 bookings and the train schedules and there | his responsibility ends. He has no stage
 director or manager to please. there is little chance for jealousy in the com-
 pany. as the principal woman is more
 than likely the wife of the star, or the
 leading man the husband of the actress Juno, that buxom Roman goddess, who Is presumed to have direct charge of all that related in any wise to happy mar riages, must have smiled contentedly
 when vaudeville took upon itself a lease of life, for certainly it has been boon
 to the married player folk and has. in its way, lessened domestic discontent, un- happiness and even divorce. It Is the
 ideal place for the husband and wife | who are both professionals. They can be together play in the same bills, more | fl-1 I x,.i..
 tain that association that is practically
 impossible when each is hustlng for him. self.
 It is safe to assume that nine out of ten teams in vaudeville are husband and wife. The more capable one has the bulk of the work to do, but the other
 serves as foil for the verbal batter, does
 his or her walk in the dances or &C., robatic stunts and helps to extent of the ability possessed in making whatever is attempted go with vim and dash pleas ing to an audience.
 From the time the season opens until it closes the husband and wife are to- ,, gether, the pay envelope comes to both, the fact that they travel together cuts
 down the expenses and enables them to lay away each week tidy sum for the home, which nine out of ten are strug- glng to purchase The majority are happy and contented. They go into town for a week, the woman with that taste that Is hereditary. fixes up the room in the hotel with pictures, pillows and other trappings carried in ore of the big trunks and transforms the four cold walls into a cozy little home. temporary though it be. No one night stands stares them in the face. The hardships of tour are re- duced to minimum, and all through vaudeville Some of these teams ara parents, and the child or baIy is carried along, knitting the family circle mora closely, and while every day is not . holiday. still the players have much to
 be thankful for.