The Washington times., 1916-04-19
ACTING A BUSINESS,
LEW KELLY STATES
Burlesque Comedian Tells How
He Applies Efficiency Prlnol-
pies to Work.
Treating amusement as a business to

Treating amusement as a business TO
be carefully studied and analyzed.
That IL how Lew Kelly explains his
curious position In the buriesque reld,
and also why his managers have found
II not only convenient but entirely rea-
sonnble to supply him with a setting
OF the character Of Hello, New YORK."
the show which was given it's premiere
at the Gayety Monday night.
Kelly IL one OF the few legitimate
iealtimste methods n their i"% %orE, % x Rsi seri-
Gus chap personally. and very hard
worker, he bas evolved a peculiar
come famous In burlesque circles, ana
has attracted considerable attention
outside Of the burlesque field.
Result Of Careful Study.
dope 10 the result OF careful study
not only based upon comedy characters.
but upon purely business lines" Kelly
declares. For Ave years after going
on the stage I played the eccentric
comedian type that Charlie evans made
famous when he was playing with hoey
the quick, nervous, book agent type.
There were many people doing the same
class OF work. We all worked hard at
Il, but the public seemed to grow
1T occurred to me then to reverse
this and play with a seeming slowness
and assurance. found the character
wanted In a supposed dope hend. This
character states perfectly impossible
things In a matter OF fact way.
1t seemed TO please the public i'm
mediately. 1 confess that tried Il out
carefully and with many qualms. ! felt
my way very carefully Indeed, eliminat-
ing this or that feature and building
audience liked or dislilxed.
You see, l am In this business TO
make a living. want to make as good
a living out OF II as l. can. IL I had
chosen the law or medicine or any one
OF the many commercial branches /
woull have applied myself to that bust
ness. or profession. studied all Its de-
tails and would have endeavored to be
as well equipped as my competitors.
The Theater His Business.
II did exactly the same thing in the
theater. 1t is my business. I found
something that / could do ana which
others do not seem to have had the
success in doing that have had. i
couldn't, possible give you n reason
for it-uhless IL 10 this very fact. that
did study and did build on q solid
foundation.
The result is that I have in my
character of Professor Dope a paying
business. II is up to me to see that It
continues to pay. And that 10 why l
keep at 1t. taking II apart and putting
u together again. When I fnd some-
character. There are lots Of things the
public likes which I could not adapt
TO the character. These things let
severely alone.
Really. 1t is very simple. I have
Just applied modern. common-sense
Aa 70 III A.r
acter believe-I say II without feeling
a bit OF egotism in the saying-that Il
10 good character and that my work
10 good as the character. have got
to feel that am doing a legitimate
II hope that some time can take this
character out OF the burlesquo field
or some other character. But at the
present time 1t would be very bad busi-
ness policy for me to do Il. ] get guar
anteed returns for 1t here. I keep my
DOCKS by the year-not by the week.
and my credit and debit columna are
carefully audited every year TO see ex-
actly where ! stand and what the
prospects are for business. At present
the prospects are all with the buriesaue
held. and In the burlesque. therefore. /
intend to stay.
As ! said before. II is simply a busi-
ness proposition. after ALL"
Real Business Seen.
That there is real business In the
simple" methods OF Mr.. Kelly IL evil
denced by the rather unusual produc-
tion which his manager. Jack Singer,
mas given him to take into New York
for the summer.
Hello. New York; Is called a revue,
ana II is probably the mos: remarkable
ErodCctlon In q great many respects
mat mas ever been gwen in a purlesqus
Tne idea of the management was to
build a production that would run for
the entire summer at the Columbia
Iheater In New York. In Just the sense
that IL Is designed TO meet the pecuiisr
local needs Of New York. This means
That many OF the jokes and allusions by
New York.
But 10 every other sense, musically.
In general humor. and particularly In
scenic, costume display, and special
dances: the show IL popular Thero
which would be a credit TO the
Follies or one of the Winter Garden
productions. The costumes are unusual
In the variety shown. There are few
numbers with more than three or four
or the large chorus In the same sort of
costume, and In several numbers they
appear with each girl wearing a differ
ent sort OF a dress.
The scenes are all introduced by an
announcer. who dreaaad 1e..o.