The Washington herald., 1916-04-28
By PHILIP GOODMAN.
Keith.


on the ffth OF July. In the Vesr
ssss, at ten O'Clock n tbe 1,or5,,,..
IN the city or Boston. Berss min Frank.
iin Keith invented tie Continuous per
Keith started this m, with N.
heaviest name in American History on
his shoulders
Z And he bore Il well,
| He possessed the same keen. uncon1-
mon mon sense as the man his mother named
MIN after-and had a deal more hurnauif,
than Franklin. the First
Also Keith was an Artist which 81
BENJAMIN was not
he was the FIRST citizen" Of Vs,5e-
Fiiia, that Elysium which strefrbes
rom the Atlantic 70 the PaciHc. ana
mere are not three other names fu
sne s annals Of the American STAGE that
, haNe mad as benehcent an influence ~
Franklin Keith.
! can remember the time 6and SO can
YOU when children. especially girls
Z NsIt not permitted to go 20 theaters
gA0elt l with their parents or a grown
The Inc Va. variety house particularly was an
But Keith changed an this
From the FIRST dHy be cDs,s5 ,,,
doors Of the old Gaiety 49, II -
luI' ne never tolerated an ..,5pssl5,r,,
&c, 70 Dc AFFILIATED with his name
And the part like about Ecif, a,
snat Ls never attempted 20 make can
l lIsl or decency-hc didn't adva-ffs. -
.l-ne Just adhered to the principle sUietI,.
sIlo snosooh soon the country was focIing 10 bis
Keith was the man who mad. ,b.,t.--
going a habit ''eoS ~
| And later. when the s,r,vp,, -,,,.- ,-.-
50 much innocent fun in Keith sbou
IL was but step 10 sending the .bITrs,,
around I'm the afternoons
helh purthed the variety show. he
uia inore-he 'tnsututionalized" it,
r-L',Ia9y ay We see Young girls going 90
NS,lH sti siohe, or with other young girls
And II they are chaperoned. ID Is moi
by the old maid aunt as in other d.
but by a young fellow.
Surely Keith put the chap in chan
And there's another condition which
Keith brought about
Formerly when things were going hard
WIN Honstus Hamphat and he had 10
90 into the tWO-a-dav or stsrva tr-
theater-going public said il was an ove-
4 with Horstus-and bis poBuIa rity wsDes .
IN other words. vaudeville was q solar
p'eHus 70 his legitimate career
i He could never come back
hut Keith audiences were Frs6rer,.
transforming themselves.
There was no smoking. splitting on
the floors, or feet Up on the railing
You must conduct yourself In r1,. Tho
sters as you should in your own par
lor." said Keith
1 And they did.
| Keith audiences were cultured. refined
and educated-they dems nded elevated
acts"
soon you saw these names on kcffr,s
bll!s. Goodwin, billiard. DiTey. Hacketf
Bernhardt Barrymore. Miller. Ecber-
and even HOratiUs Hamphat for Doyr
Horatius could take a flyer al the end
OF his regular season and do no harm
to his rep.
Back in the nineties the public would
shake its head doubtfully when a fallen
star appeared at Keith's
, To think that he has sunken 70 this %
was the soliiouuy.
But now its step forward in a career
to be able 20 play at keith's
| ! expect TO see HoIbrook BIiDu- JobD
! Drew, Maude Adams, F. II. Sofherr
julia Marlowe and others doing United
lime regularly each season and get
ting their share OF that half million nav
Iroil which Mr. Keith looked sgua-eIy IN
the eye each week for 50 many years.