The theatre of science; a volume of progress and achievement in the motion picture industry (1914)

legitimate players and singers for a greatly increased honorarium) are v/holly box-office attractions, and invariably the man who books them ignores their very existence — arranging the rest of the program as if the "headiiner" was an "extra." The day is approaching when men like E. F. Albee and Martin Beck will realize that the public is wiser than it once was, and I am sure it is time that the facts were revealed ; for it is certain that the very announcement of a certain type of star (especially if it be a ViToman of uncertain age) as a vaudeville attraction starts a retrograde movement in her career. Here we have an illustrative instance: A world-famous operatic star was offered $2,500 a week for a long season in vaudeville, starting in September, 1913. By the time he reached the negotiating point the contract was tendered at $2,000, and, instead of a season's engagement, three weeks were granted. The singer was now helpless and involved, hence he signed ; and, opening almost unheralded, scored a sensational success. His contract was extended for seven more weeks. But at the end of ten weeks there cam.e a quietus — a desire to "cut" the salary in half, in fact. The singer was astonished, but when he tried to procure a route for concerts, as was his wont in previous years, the response was not encouraging; so the singer accepted a long tour at JUST HALF what he was granted a few weeks before, and the managers who secured his signature at $1,000 instead of $2,000 a week admitted they had the cities where the singer was best known to the public. Is this not a lesson for stage and film stars alike? Perhaps conditions are and will be different as a result of the general affiliation of the stage and screen work