Rocky Ford enterprise., 1911-04-28

in his stage life 10 to cultivate con-
versing and telling stories in dialect,
studying character parts, stories and
monologues. and fitting himself to
take the part of any peculiar charac-
ter that may be called for without
notice. He can easily anticipate what
he may be. called on to do. as he will
know the plays that are to be put on
by his company in the future. Char
acter men are paid about $40 week.
From this position your boy goes to
that of heavy man. the villain Of the
play. who. next to leading man. has
the most important place. He plays
opposite to the leading man. and
one cannot rise to the latter without
having, been q heavy man. Here his
pay will be about $50 . week.
Finally comes the leading man, who
gets about $50 q week. He IL paid
more than the heavy man on account
Of his greater necessary expenses for
clothing. A full outfit Of evening
suit. with Prince Albert and tuxedo.
walking suits. sack suits. ETC.. and all
the haberdashery and shoes that 60
with them required BY the average
stock leading man. costs about $500.
On account of their still heavier out
lay for clothes leading women are
paid more than leading men.
Certain conditions exist which bring
about q higher scale Of salaries than
that here given. In cities in which
there 10 lively competition between
two or more stock companies. sal
.L~. ,.sn ~ ~ 1>..< on~ shtrA hf0hor
Where actors have acquired . consid-
cradle reputation or are able. on &C
count Of their personality or for other
reasons, to add to the drawing popu.
larity Of their company. they may be
paid at least double the salaries men
toned Starr In stock companies who
have achieved . national reputation.
such as Nat Goodwin. James O'Neil
or James X. Hackett. receive any
where from $1,000 to $1,000 a week.
The salaries Of members of what are
known as legitimate companies will
average about 50 per cent above those
paid to members Of stock companies.
Your boy will probably flnd the
kind Of work for which be IL specially
qualified before he has been In the
business very long. and then he
should do everything possible to do
velop this, ~ the specialist on the
stage. like everywhere else. has . dis.
tinct and superior ability Of his own.
to the advantage Of his finances and
reputation. For instance. one man
has made such q reputation in tho
part Of Q waiter that he devotes him.
self to that exclusively. and IL con-
sidered . necessity BY managers
whenever they have . play requiring
. waiter. He 10 getting $500 . week
for his wonderful work In this com.
pafatively unimportant and inexpen-
sivo part. Ono OF the largest restaur-
ateurs in New York was 10 impressed
by the excellence Of his performance
that he told all his walters they
should 90 to the play and get point
ers.
when determining the best means
for your boy to make his theatrical
start. you should not fail to consider
the dramatic schools. and II you can
afford the expense Of SIS to 5000 for
the three months course. and cost Of
living II he has to leave home. It
would be well to send him to one Of
the best The training 10 good. and
furthermore managers are watching
the work Of the students. Out Of
every class graduated several get po-
sitions Immediately.
Copyright. 1910. BY the Associated Lit
erary Press.)