Arizona republican., 1910-03-13
AND NOT A PAIR OF TIGHTS.
NO DEMAND NOW FOR THE LEG
 SHOWS, SAYS LEW FIELDS.
The Weekly Earnings of the Manager Comedians Attraetions-Mostly Girls-Prove Absence of Flsshines Doesn't Hurt
 Business.

Tights. that essential commodity of the musical comedy of long ago. are on the tOboggan. Patrons of musical | shows no longer demand them. The world is getting better. So says Lew Fields the star in "Old Dutcn.' at the 1 Shubert theater this week. MT. Fields was taking the rest to which he Is en- titled between the acts. On a table 1 beside him were telegrams giving the 1 gross business done by his several mu- sical attractions last week.
 Here's the business of The Mid night sons. in Boston," said MT. Fields. The gross for the week. $22.5C0. And not d pair uf tights in the show. Heres the business of The Jolly 1 Bachelors at the Broadway theater in New York Gross. sl6,00O on the week. Ninety-five people, mostly girls. in The Jolly Bachelors and not a pair of tights to hang on the line Marie Doesn't Wear 'Em. Mir. Fields picked up another tele- gram. It was from Pittsburg. This gives s14.0OO as the gross for 1 last week of 'Tilly's Nightmare the
 
 tights in that show( either. Even Ma rie doesn't have to wear 'em.
 There are no tights in old Dutch either. as you can see if you stay for the finish, and we are doing enough business to keep several energetic. hun gry wolves from the door.
 Producers of musical comedy used to have an idea that to make show go you had to drag in a lot of girls garbed only in fleshings. IL was the thing. If you remember. many years ago. when the extravaganza vogue started. it was the pallets and choruses in tights that made people talk. They were called leg shows in those days and lots of good people wouldn't go near them. Finally the prejudice wore away and there scarcely was anyone who wouldn't go to a musical show or an extravaganza, especially if q good assortment of tights were offered. But the taste of people changes. It's bound to. The taste in regard to musical shows has changed. Nowadays the people seem to like musical farces, but htre is no demand for scantily y-attired maidens. and certainly. l might say most positively. there is no demand for vulgarity. There once was.
 How Joe and Lew Started.
 In the show business. as in every other walk of life. it is hard to get out of established ruts. That's why so many men fail. They refuse io change their methods Tn accordance with the change in the public taste.
 When I was years old Joe Weber and did q song and dance turn in cheap theater and made good As we grew older We continued our speciality in cheap theaters and made good. In the old style burlesque We were pros porous: but I saw the handwriting on the wall saw that progress depend ed upon the faculty of keeping up to date: of not fearing to change our tactics.
 Tn the old music hall days in New York we offered straight burlesoue. It had it's vogue, but the vogue began to shake. When Joe and 1 separated and started out on my own hook( de- termined to make d radical departure. No one knew what 1 was up to and was glad of it. I wanted to surprise them. My first individual production was It Happened in Nordland.' It was straight musical comedy. not bur lesque. and when my friends saw me come on the stage they saw a young German boy. not the traditionally old grotesque German that l had form erly been. l got entirely away from the old channel. There were no tights in 'Nordland,' either. There was no slapstick comedy. There were no sug gestive lines. We just offered them d brand new cargo of entertainment in keeping with the demands of the time"
 Economy for the Girls, Too.
 A man remarked last night on the beauty and apparent intelligence of the Lew Fields chorus. Hows does he get them? position in the Fields chorus is and has been for a long time an envied place for the ambitious begin ner. Fields urges his chorus girls to do the best that is in them and it is traditional that promotion always has been the reward. More high salaried soubrettes and musical comedy prima donnas have been turned out of Fields chorus, perhaps. than any other single organization in the country. To make good in the Lew Fields chorus means the gold medal of excellence.
 And another thing, most import ant thing" said Fields, they don't have to pay for tights"
 Tights. you know, are expensive. and when a production demands the wear ing of them the wearers must foot the bill. It's custom of the business that no generous hearted producers has ev- CT seen fit to abolish.