The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1920-08-07
ARE YOU DECENT?
All Professional Slang of Vaude-
vile Not Easily Understood.
Every Actor Adheres Strictly to
Code of Etiquette.
FIGHT OVER DRESSING ROOMS
Headliners Often Outwitted by
Stage Managers AIibi.
Married Couples Easiest
Handled But Not Always.
FIGHT OVER DRESSING ROOMS
Are you decent. dear ?"

are you decent. dear ?"
The inquiry followed a rap on the
door A feminine voice answered.:
All decent now. come in
NO, gentle reader. the man on the
outside was not trying to insult the
fair one on whom he was calling. He
merely wanted to know if she had fin
ished dressing. before he entered to
talk over some fine points of their act
while she was putting on her make
up They were actors IN a team skit
at the Novelty theater and both were
OF course well versed in the slang of
their profession.
The dressing rooms al a vaudeville
theater. their atmosphere and the Ian
guage spoken there make the outsider
believe he has entered an entirely new
world or at least some foreign coun-
try. The dressing rooms in any the
alter are of more than usual interest to
the outsider, but the dressing rooms of
a vaudeville theater are not in the least
like those. in any other place. In the
road shows or stock company houses,
the actors are together for months
and It is more like a family affair. In
the vaudeville house, the different
teams seldom travel together for more
than a week or so, consequently all are
comparative strangers outside their
own acts and each preserves, to the
very limit. all the dictates of profess
sional etiquette
Adhere to the Code.
But the etiquette of the profession
does not cover some of the situations
that arise and, especially on the first
day in the new theater which is always
n period of adjustment and frequently
rife with squa bibles. These are chiefly
over the dressing rooms the members
of the different acts are to occupy.
The headliners in vaudeville, CORE
spond to the stars on the So-caHed |
legitimate stage and these headliners
always claim as their due the best the
house affords.
Chief of the preferences claimed by !
the headliners Is the Number One
dressing room. This at the Novelty is |
located a. the foot of the stairway |
leading to the stage and of course does |
not call on the actors to take SO much !
timeefn getting ION and off" 1t is the |
stage manager who is the arbiter of nj |
the dressing room disputes and the |
stage mana ger at the Novelty has one |
lovely little alibi in his favor. Num- /
one dressing room is the smallest |
the lot. When there is a dispute |
{ its possession he merely tells the |
he has applications for larger quarters. |
Not On Speaking Terms. |
Married teams present the least
trOuble-sOmetimes Last week /
gymnastic team arrived. 1t was COM |
l'6@ed of a man and a woman. The |
pair was at once assigned to a single |
ere Ssing room. Instantly both OBJ |
iccted and demanded separate rooms, |
insisting they were not married. A |
hasty Encouragement gave them their !
{ Sires but the extra room needed for /
the arrangement, called for a single" |
act to be accommodated in what is |
known as the property ROOM" not |
equipped as dressing room. The I'M
lucky actor was heard TO humble as |
he entered his incommodious quarters: |
What's the matter with them |
now? They were married all right in |
Kansas City"
Both members of the team in ques-
ton were foreigners and spoke very |
broken English. so much so that every |
one about the theater had trouble un- |
Outstanding them. When asked what |
was the matter with them and why !
they had split UP the man declared:
We not spiking now"
They were in an awful fix" de- |
clared the stage manager in telling of |
the incident. NO one else in the place /
was on speaking terms with them |
either"