The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1918-07-17
TOPEKA STATE JOURNAL
INFORM A TON
BUREAU
GOVERNMENT IN SHOW BUSINESS
ERIC J. HASKIN. Director
Washington. D. c.

GOVERNMENT IN SHOW BUSINESS
Washington. D. c.. July 14.-The
non-flirting chorus girl is the most
recent triumph of military discipline
| in America.
The government now owns and
operates thirty theaters, and employs
| several hundred stage artistes to en-
terrain the men in training, in addi-
tion to those who give their services
gratis. Road shows, vaudeville
shows and musical stock companies
ment enterprises in the theatrical
field.
One of the rules governing the ac-
| tivities of these organizations is that
no chorus girl connected with them
| may speak to a soldier, and no soldier
may speak to a chorus girl. This rule
applies to the commanding general as
much as to any private, and its viola
ton by a member of any of the gov
eminent theatrical companies would
be sufficient ground for the breaking
of that company's engagement
Anot' r clause in the contracts be-
tween the government and the COM
panies provides that the government
may break the engagement at any
time that the show does not come up
to the moral and artistic standards set
by the commission on training camp
activities. This means, in the words
of one theatrical man engaged in gov
eminent work, that we have to put
longer skirts on EN-
1t should not be imagined. however.
that the government censorship has
taken the pep out of musical comedy
and the variety shows. A show to sue
coed at the environments must have
real melody and real girls, but It
must also be clean; and its members
of the fluffy sex when off stage must
1II 60 iva
for children in that they may be seen
but not heard.
The government theaters are now
an undoubted success, and no little
share of this success is due to the I'M
selfish cooperation which the gov
eminent has had from members of the
theatrical profession. The commission
on training camp activities is getting
daily letters from actors and actresses
offering their services gratis for a week
or more. and such distinguished ar
lists as Maude Adams, Elsie Janis,
Maude Powell and Nora Bayes are
now entertaining the soldiers for no
recompense except mileage and the
satisfaction of rendering a patriotic
service. In addition to these volun-
teers, the United Booking Office has
contributed gratis two complete vaude-
vile shows which are now doing the
cantonment circuit.
buI II ldh6S d lOl VI u Keep
an army of millions entertained, and
the government by no means relies
upon volunteers. Its theaterS are or
ganized on a business basis, and its
booking Office now has contracts with
some twenty odd companies, compris-
ing several hundred actors and ac-
tresses. Altho many Of these latter are
giving their services for less than
usual, most of the contracts are prof
table to both parties, as a good bust
ness deal should be. Thus a contract
which the government recently made
with a musical stock company which
will play thruout the summer at Camp
Taylor, near Louisville, KY, provides
that the management of the company
shall receive sixty per cent of the re-
cent. As the camp provides a theater-
going public of about forty thousand
men eager for diversion, there is every
prospect that both parties to the con-
tract will make money. 1t is true that
the government is undertaking to
show the soldiers the best Broadway
successes for admissions that range
from ten to thirty cents, instead of
from one to five dollars. But the gov
eminent has a number of advantag es
over the ordinary producer. Not only
are actors in government service ac-
cepting low salaries, but the stage
crews are detailed from among the
soldiers by the commanding officer;
the regimental band often furnishes
the music; no royalties are paid to
authors on most of the plays; and the
companies are reduced in size tho not
in quality. All of these things make
1t possible for the commission on train
ing camp activities to stage a really
| first class show at the ten-twenty-
thirty rates. The chief disadvantage
under which the commission labors is
| that the camps are very widely scat
tered, so that the mileage is a heavy
| item. Nevertheless the government
breaks even, after paying the upkeep
OF Its theaters, and the expenses of a
| booking office in New York and an
executive Office in Washington.
The enthusiasm with which the
| shows are received at the camps seems
to demonstrate that amusement of this
| as food and arms. The government
| has. recognized the theatrical profess
sion as an important If not an essen
tial one; and the profession appre-
| ciateS the compliment. This was strik-
| ingly illustrated when the Lambs club
gave performance of its annual
'.gambof at Camp Upton, New York.
The annual gambol of the Lambs
club is a very exclusive theatrical
event, given by the club for its mem
| bers. Hitherto, even guests of the
club have not been allowed to witness
|
corded the privilege which has never
before been extended to any segment
| of the general public. The members
| of tn cast journeyed to the camp in a
special car and were entertained by
the commanding general at the Off
| GERS club. The event was a sort of
| formal recognition of the entente cor
! dale which exists between the stage
folk and the government.
One is tempted to speculate as to
whether the fact that the president
himself seems to find the stage an in
dispense BILE relaxation from the cares
of war may not have something to
do with the extensive use which the
| government is making of America S
theatrical genius in its war program
Not only actors. but authors. mana
gers and musicians are offering their
services to the government. David
Belasco has presented to the commits
sion on training camD activities the
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