Variety (December 1907)

42 VARIETY CRITICISM In whatever degree Variety ha* estab- lished itself in the confidence of its pro- fessional readers, it has in the same meas- ure vindicated the principle upon which its success was founded, directness and straightforward honesty of criticism. Perhaps theatrical criticism is nowhere more acutely felt than by the vaudeville artist when it is printed in a trade paper. The legitimate actor appears in a.new production, and his work is reviewed as subordinate to the piece itself, is passed by with the most casual comment or left altogether unnoticed. In rare instances the actor rises above the play and is given the distinction of the newspaper spot- But the artist is exquisitely sensitive to what a trade reviewer says about hi* of* fcring. These reviews come to the atten- tion of his brother-professionals and the managers, and may work to his injury or advantage. And the reviewer witnesses the act "from the front." No artist can gauge him.self as others see him. The trade- paper reviewer sits in front of hundreds of acts yearly. By intuition forced through experience, he perceives the faults or the improvements which suggest themselves as the act plays through, In time, per- haps he is enabled to "feel" the audience. And herein lies the value to the artist A WESTERN TROUPE OF PLAYERS. Harry Lakola llaiel Lakola Harry C. Van Fred Alrona Veda Mansfield Tbelma DeVerne Leo Zanfretta Tina Zanfretta Edward Zueller The above group picture contains .four vaudeville acta. They have played together in the Middle West for the past six weeks, and will so remain for about three months more In the same territory. It is a healthy country they are in. Judging from their looks. Thtlr names are listed above under each division, reading from the top down. Ah acta the troupe la composed of Mr. and Mrs. Harry Lako'.a. Jugglers; Zanfretta and Mansfield. "The Crazy Messenger"; DeVerne aud Van. Comedy Musical ami Singing, ami the Alroua-Zoeller Trio, European Comedy Acrobats. light, but with the New York reviewer "the play's the thing" to ttye extent of three-quarters of his allotted space usu- ally. But each vaudeville act occupies a unique position in the bill of which it is a part. For fifteen or twenty minutes the artist faces the issue of "making good" on his own merits and unaided. The vaudeville artist is more or less in- different to the lay opinion of a non- professional critic as expressed in a daily newspaper. The tatter's views are indi- vidual and local, and he has, as a rule, no technical knowledge of the subject with which he deals. His experience of vaude- ville is inconsiderable. Not alone is this true, but the reviewer in the next city played may totally re- verse the previous opinion, and the audi- ence do the same also. An act in receipt of a decided welcome in one house may be ignored in the next. This is a frequent occurrence, from the lowest to the highest grade of vaudeville offerings. of hone.st criticism. The artist himself is always convinced that he lias a good offering—usually it is "great." He is per- haps better qualified to describe its practi- cal value than is a reviewer, but he can- not personally do this to the manager. If a reviewer is sincere and not an adjunct to the business department of his publi- cation, he act»s as a disinterested third party, a middleman between artist, man- ager and agent, and if he exercises this? function properly he does both a service. In order to do this he must first win their confidence. He must show his printed opinions are honest and then establish his judgment as fairly accurate. He doe# not accomplish this by "boosting" advertisers and cheapening his paper by careful watching of the main chance. For if his printed opinion of an act is for sale at so much an agate line wherein is it better than an artist's own prejudiced opinion of himself? Inability to see this point has wrecked more than one theatri- cal paper. The reviewer may unintentionally err, and from time to time his judgment may go astray, but the reviewer who follows the fixed policy of "soft-soap and salve," either in an effort to hold up the business end of his paper or by express instruc- tions, will in the end fall into disrepute and uselessness. So thoroughly is Variety convinced of the wisdom of this theory that it has held .Jo it in the face of adverse criticism since its inception. Since the opening of the present season thousands of dollars have been lost to it,s business office, through its reviews of burlesque shows. Convinced that the burlesque managers were econo- mizing on their productions to the injury of the permanent well being of that form of entertainment, this publication has ex- pressed its opinion whenever occasion re- quired. This was taken in bad part by both managers and artists. The paper would rather have more agreeable relation^, but if that highly de- sirable condition can only be brought about by weak knees and spinelessness, things must remain as they are. It is important that the reviewer set up some fixed standard of judgment to guide his opinions. But there is no pat- tern by which he is able to measure up Valuta. Vaudeville is as unstable in its i.leals as shifting sands. There are no lit- erary canons to be observed in the con- struction of a comedy sketch, for example, and even if there were the author's labor would be lost upon an audience not in- cline;! to subtleties. The work of the rght enteriainer is/toot meant to be taken sericusly or subjected to critical scrutiny. To apply higl) literary standards to- a come.ly sketch of the usual frothy sort wculd be like arguing with the delightful BEN BEYER. The al>ove is a picture of Ben Beyer, extraor- dinary comedy trick cyclist. Until last year Mr. Beyer was a single act on the Keith & Proc- tor Circuit. Last season he was joined by Mr. Johnson, the two doing a double comedy bicycle act. working on the Western Vaudeville Associa- tion's time. Dissolving partnership with Johnson last season, Mr. Beyer was joined by his younger brother I>eo. who looks after the "straight" end of the act, doing fast trick riding and top mount- ing. The act now known as Ben Beyer and Brother is at present playing the largest Eastern house*, and (onceded to be one of the fastest acts of Irs kind performed by only two people, accomplish- ing the marvelous feat of jumping from the floor to a nltting position on the unicyele, climbing two-high, unassisted; no other rider has success- fully performed this wonderful feat. "Mr. Dooley" on the iniquity of the split infinitive. . A Variety has estubli^ied,ift^wn fifend- ard o£, criticism. It ha,sj£oight to^ indi- cate not *how good bV howiWul an act was, but rather wherein it pleased or missed the* mark, from the viewpoint of • one whose business it has been to study shows and audiences for this purpose. • ED. F. REYNARD And His 60-h. p. "Haynes." Mr. Reynard Is the famous ventriloquist, and enjoys himself Immensely In the machine while playing over the circuits. He finds added amusement through the wonderful control he has of his voice. Last week while playing at Poll's, Bridgeport, Mr. Reynard went for a spin, and was held up by a 'con-stable" for "spinning" too fast. A "con-sta-ble" la Mr. Reynard'a especial speciality. no while the verdant guardian of the peace insisted upon placing the 'blllst under arrest, he heard cries for help from the near-by river. As he left Mr. Reynard, searching for the source of the ven tritoqulst's voice, he also heard from up In the trees a voice saying, as the machine moved away, "(Jol darn yer, I'm a con-sta-ble, too. and I'll lock yer up."