The evening world., 1910-12-02
IN AND OUT
OF THE
THEATRES
SDARNTON.

YOVELTIES are as scarce In vaude- |
Vile as they are numerous in the
Christmas goods shops. No mat
ter how long a bill may be Il Is tho ex-
pected that usually happens In the
variety houses. The same old acts ga
on for year after year with little more
b a change OF costume. Necessity
10 not the mother OF invention with tho
vaudeville entertainer generally, for tho
reason. no doubt, that he can SEQ no
necessity for doing something new 50
long as he can draw a good fat salary
for doing the same old thing. Then,
too, a large proportion of the steady
patrons of vaudeville seem to like
acts" that they have known from in
fancy.
But the manage is constantly on the
lookout for novelties" with which to
create new interest. Even though they
may not be worth much In themselves
they are valuable Tor advertising pur-
poses. Competition is unusually lively
lust now in the vaudeville world. where
bills are growing bigger week by week
and quality Is considered quite as Inn
portant as quantity. And then there's
the moving picture place which has
added vaudeville numbers TO It's pro-
gramme. Some idea OF the Importance
Of this element ma be gained from
the fact hat a moving picture inagnate
land magnate is by no means a poor
word to use in this connection-recontly
offered oscar Hammerstein $500, 900 sor
the Manhattan opera House, which has
Just gone into the vaudeville business
on a big scale.
Curiously enough, audiences in the
vaudeville theatres usually walk out
when the moving pictures come on,
while at the same time people flock 70
the picture houses day and night. All
this keeps the vaudeville manager
guessing. but he is reasonably sure OF
n ~thing-that he must have novel
ties in order to attract the public.
I'll confess II was THE Silhouette
Girl" that atracted me to Hammer
= STEMS Victoria Theatre yesterday
afternoon. Here was something from
Paris that promised to be out o: the or
binary. But even Paris has its disap-
pointments-in New York. The Sill
houette Glrl' cast little more thaa a
shadow on the more or less brlgh: hort
zon OF American vaudeville. The white
screen did not hide the fact thas the
artists mod was not in the alto
gether' when the bearded gentleman
rose from his easel and plucked of her
o~ne-piece suit. She appeared TO be YEAR
Ing . swimming suit. after the fashion
Of Annette kellerman. Anyway. II
wrinkled in the back. And a silhouette
girl" who wrinkles in the blackwell.
she isn't convincing. Moreover. this par
ticular girl presented a picture that no
artist would paint unless he happened
to b terribly hard UT for a model.
z VAUDEVILLE performers ought to
W be sratena to Manager Percy
Williams OR the stand he ha,
taken against the tipping evil as prac-
ticed by stage hands in vaudeville the
atres. lie has entered into an agree
ment with the Theatrical Protective
Union whereby ne will increase the SAL
aries OF his stage employees on con-
dition that they refrain from exacting
tips from performers playing his cir
ovtt.
THE system OF tipping stage hands
has been the source of much discrim!-
nation and criticism" said Mr.. WILL
Jams, "as high salaried artists able 20
give generous Ups received CouEbts4eS
which the smaller salaried actors were
denied because they could not afford to
give large tips. This custom became
so hxed that a stage employee looked
Upon the tip as his Legitimate per-
quisite. I wanted to nip 1t before IL
reached the stage that | understand ii
has In other circuits. where artists
claim that a secret system OF marking
Is used upon baggage whereby heads
81 stage departments would know
whether or not the act tipped. with the
result that the nO-tip act frequently
found Itself handicapped by the antag-
onism of stage crews. ! prefer 20 do
the tipping myself IL my own theatres.
I want the smallest act 10 receive the
same attention and the same treatment
as my headilners."
THE part to he played by the Rus
Sian symphony Orchestra, under
the leadership OF Modes: Altschu-
Ter IN connection with Liebler & Co.'S