New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1917-04-29
THE INNER WHEELS OF VAUDEVILLE

business-that of the performers and
their representatives. Just as not
every person can build a vaudeville
theatre and Immediately acquire acts
from the L. B. o., so not every person
can dispose Of his acts through the
L. B. O. The selling OF acts must be
done by a recognized agent, who must
possess L. b. O. franchise There
are about 100 Of these franchises, and
il is needless to add that they are eX-
tremely valuable. Their sale must on
all occasions be vised by the L. b. O.,
which can revoke them at any time
Occasionally, as mark Of courtesy,
the L. B. o. will deal directly with a
recognized dramatic producer who de-
sires to offer something for vaudeville,
but the average person who wishes to
dispose Of vaudeville offering must
employ an agent.
A narrow pathway surrounds the
main offices of the L. b. O., on the
sixth floor Of their building, and this
space is known merely as the floor. The
desks Of the booking representatives
adjoin this pathway, and here come
agents who have acts to sell. General
ly the act is one known TO the booking
men. and the transaction is quickly
concluded. The price for that partic-
ular act is standard, and either the
booking representative takes it or he
does not. Having made his attempt.
the agent passes on to the next man,
who controls a few more theatres, and
so on until he has booked as long
route as he desires
In the cases of new acts arrange
ments are generally made for try-out
performances at houses in or near Nov
York. At present the favorite houses
for these performances are Proctor's.
on Twenty-third Street; the Harlem
Opera House, the Greenpoint Theatre
and the houses in Jersey City and Yon-
kers. The booking men then attend
the try-out and decide whether they
want the act For these performances
the act receives only its expenses, and
in this manner these houses frequently
have the benefit OF acts which subsc-
quently receive several thousand dol
lars a week at New York's best vaudc-
Vile theatres. Not infrequently, also,
they arc compelled TO endure acts
which arc worth considerably less than
nothing.
Many acts in the formative period
prefer to show themselves at a private
view. and hardly morning passes
when ono or more acts are not eXhib-
tied to the booking men at the Palace.
An act once accepted, there is quite
certain to be considerable argument
over the amount to be paid for it. Not
infrequcntly the gulf between agent
and booking representative is un-
brdgable. in which case matters sim
ply 60 no further.
A vaudeville performers salary is
paid to him by the theatre manager
at the end Of his weeks work, and is
subject to two commissions. The L. b.
o. receives per cent and the agent
receives per cent. These commissions
are deducted at the source by the the
atre managers and forwarded to the
L. b. O.. which, in turn, pays the agent
The latter, as a matter Of fact, receives
only 2l2 per cent, the other 2i9 per cent
being the cost of his franchise and con-
tributing TO the maintenance of the
major organization. Inasmuch as an
agent not infrequently has fifty or sew
enty-fve or one hundred acts playing
and that he receives 2ls per cent Of the
weekly salary Of each it will be seen
that the agents post is an extremely
lucrative one. The performer, it might
be added is required to pay his own
railway fare and all other expenses.
Booking may be done several years
in advance. and IL may be done only