The Billboard 1909-06-12: Vol 21 Iss 24 (1909-06-12)

12 The Bi JUNE 12, 1909. llboard W. H. DONALDSON, Managing Editor. PUBLISHED WEEKLY AT 416 Elm Street, Cincinnati, Ohio, U. S. A, eng Distance Telephone, Main 2769, Cable Address (registered) ““Billyboy ” NEW YORK. D. Holland Building, 1440 Broadway. Telephone Central 1630 Bryant. CHICAGO. Su7T-K0W Schiller Bldg., 103-109 Randolph St. Telephone Central 5934. SAN FRANCISCO, CAL. Room 2, 1439 Fillmore St. LONDON, ENGLAND. 179 Temple Chambers, E. C. PARIS, FRANCE. 121 Rue Montmartre. MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA. Caledonian Bldg., Office 264, Post Office Place. Suite Address all communica.ions for the editorial or business departments to The Billboard Publishing Company. Subscription, $4 a year; 6 months, $2; 3 months, $!. Payable in advance. No extra charge to foreign subscribers. ADVERTISING RATES—Tweaty cents per line, agate measurement. Whole page, $140; halfpage. $70; quarter-page. $35. 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ALL COMPLAINTS of non-receipt of The Billboard, or changes of address should be made direct to the publication office, 416 Elm Street, Cincinnati, Ohio, where they will receive prompt attention—and not to 7 kee office or agent. When notifying us of changes of . idress, give old as well as new addre No adverisement ~= cae less than five lines accepted. NOTICE TO ADERTISERS.—The Billboard's advertising patrons will greatly oblige by sending in the copy for their advertisements as early as convenient, instead of waiting until the last moment. ads received early in the week will receive tomate in position and display. The LONDON ERA is on sale at The Billboard office, Cincinnati Ohio. Price, ten cents per copy. The Billboard may be had in London at the cifice of Saturday, June 12, 1909. The European traveler often lugubriously deplores the general deficiency of American art and culture. He maintains that our pursuit of commercial takes paramount form, eclipsing our appreciation of the things that are of the mind and heart only. Moreover, his premise is correct. We may, however, have, under all the crudeness of our national intellectual garb, some of the elements that our European neighbors lack, and which, all other things being equal, serve to balance the scale. That Art and Music may be carried too far is evidenced by the sanitary condition of Naples, which, boasting the finest collection of art in the world and possessor of one of the greatest and grandest of opera houses, where the most technical of productions are patronized by high and low, may still! be called an invidious rival of the ancient Thebes, in that it is the city of a hundred “smells.” In America we take our art, as we take our amusements, Perhaps, after all, we are neither to be pitied nor censured. European Art Versus American Dollars. sanely. It is probable that in no single enterprise in which the talents of any profession or community have been centered will yield the resultant benefits on a par with those which shall illumine the wake of the Lambs’ tour. Nor even in high, intrinsic merit, has Moral Benefits there been so remarkable a contribution to theatrical of The history. The wide exclusiveness of the cast, the great Lambs’ Gambol. variety of histrionic temperament involved, the effectiveness of the ensemble, and the frictionless consum mation of all the plans with resultant financial fruits, its place secure. its example urges an intermingling pride that we, of the profession. This fleeting pilgrimage arouses a devouter appreciation of the form virtues with which actor-folk are clothed. attainment leads so surely to harmony among contemporaneous none exemplifies the absence of narrowness of mind more profoundly. integral part, seeking for himself in his chosen field a _ position supremacy in which all ends might be justifiable, of a solidified aggregation, at once all harmony, all all imbued only with the purposes of the organization. without the faintest breath of professional jealousy, the to its happy termination. To the great public it has served as a mutual consideration Without concentrated all combine to make But of these the press has dealt with deserved lavishness. From the deductive lessons of the tour, however, we shall profit long, and too, may lay claim to be multiNo other field of professional! interests, The of becomes a component part friction. tour went on and on, stimulus! FE. in theatricals as an institution; it has made the playgoer mo to its interest familiar with individuals; brought under his closer observation an aggrag; tion of big stars, the opportunity for which will perhaps not present its; again in a decade It will serve in inviting a greater patronage to the attra tions with which the individuals may be identified. It has been a er: lesson that will have for its permanent result the strengthening of a loft) opinion of people theatrical. It has aroused lethargic interest in the subt art of mimicry. It kindled anew, by the very magnificence of its collabors tion, the love for amusement of higher order. Scattering laughter and mus! like masters of magic, they transformed the every-day, matter-of-fact ejtj into municipalities of pleasure and joy Oh, Boston! Boston!! The home of the Blue Law and of the Bly Monday. The city where only the guests of hotels can buy liquid refres) ments Sundays, and where the process for qualifying as such consists simp!y in registering at the desk. Boston, you have gone yourse|! Boston one better The much abused mother-in-law is to come Stage under your protecting wing—Jjust so far as such wings eve: Censorship. are effective for protecting The edict has gone forth that all references in any way directly or indirectly, deprecatory of the mother-in-law as an institution are henceforth to come under the ban of the Hub City’s official play censo; as are similar references to love and marriage, and sundry other propositions of life. This is certainly a step farther than any other city or organization, or federal, has ever in censoring the things of the stage. But what does it all signify? What is the cause or the effect? Has the refinement of the Boston community progressed to the stage where insinuations and inuendo directed against the serious things in life offend beyond further endurance? Why has the stage been made the brunt of the influences against which the movement for reform is directed? civic gone But seriously: Boston can not herself be serious. Neither Cupid no the mother-in-law can consistently complain of libel in this day and age. when a reference to either of the aforementioned institutions, lacking the keenest kind of originality in humor, would be met by the surfeited theatr: goer with catcalls and hisses. It is probable that at no time in the history of the country has very the stock company taken such high rank, nor has the summer season ever seen so many stellar lights of the American stage engaged in stock work In many of the less than metropolitan cities the The roster of casts now occupying parks and lesser theatres Advantages of reads like a list of Broadway attractions. Take, for exStock. ample, the city of St. Louis. At the parks are now playing. with superb support, Mrs. Leslie Carter, Amelia Bingham, Edna Wallace Hopper, and other prominent, but perhaps lesser, lights In many other cities of importance, stock engagements are being played by the higher-priced artists, who seem to realize that the public is ready and willing to financially support meritorious mid-season productions It is quite probable that the impetus given stock work by so general a resort to it, will tell in the future of theatricals. Though there has been much talk in the past of the expediency of resorting to old-time methods of producing stock repertoire, the present state of the drama seems to justify it beyond common experience of this season shows the cordial recep question and the tion it is almost certain to receive. Besides all that, the actor would be, in many respects, better off than under the system which has prevailed in later years. The fixed and permanent employment of a large number of artists who otherwise might be walking the rialto in search of positions with untried plays, or possibly, worse still, attaching themselves to illy backed productions, can not but favorably contrast with the uncertainties of road life. Should there a general reversion to stock, it is believed result would be of untold benefit to the rank and file of professionals be of Mrs. Augusta Evans Wilson mentioned the peculiar fact that, although for 50 years the favorite authoress of the South. none of her numerous novels have heretofore been dramatized. Tnis was not due to lack of dramatic merit or widespread populari') Few obituary notices Her since her “St. Elmo,” for instance, has not only been transPrejudice lated into almost every language of the civilized world, bu! Overcome. is still numbered among the perennial “best sellers.” On the other hand, Mrs. Wilson purposely avoided the fate which overtakes most popular novelists, not from any prejudice against the stage, but because she objected to seeing the creations of her fancy “butchered to make a melodrama,” even with the prospect of greatly increased royalties. Accordingly, she carefully guarded her works, and dealing. as she did, with one old-established firm of publishers throughout her long career as a writer, she was able to protect her stories from piratical playcarpenters. Finally, however, Mrs. Wilson authorized a dramatization of “St. Fimo.” which she copyrighted as a play founded upon her original story. This was submitted to only one producing manager, who suggested changes in (the script, which Mrs. Wilson would not accept. For instance, the scenes of “St. Elmo” being laid in the South, he proposed to introduce some “pick4ninnies” and a colored quartet. This Mrs. Wilson promptly vetoed, saying that she had seen enough negroes during her long life without putting ‘hem on the stage in her own play. Willard Holcomb, a journalist with practical skill as a playw: succeeded in making an acting version which suited Mrs. Wilson as w: the stage, and quite recently arrangements were completed for its produ: by Vaughan Glaser, a stock star well known on the Northern cir “St. Elmo” was to be produced In Cleveland, and at the conclusion of !)'* engagement there Mr. Glaser planned to take his company direct to Moh! Ala., in order to give a special performance for Mrs. Wilson, whose adve years and precarious health forbade her going far to see her story pres for the first time in life-sized types and with complete scenic flustratio Mrs. Wilson's sudden death disarranged this plan, but the dramatizeto” of her most popular novel will be tried out this summer, and If it proves % popular as anticipated, several companies will be sent out next season er direction of Mr. Glaser, who will use “St. Elmo” as a atellar vehicl D. Stair t nte nd