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BY HORACE BARNES THE music-halls of the world's great cities afford a study of human interests and characteristics to be had in no other way. This is not so true of New York, where so-called "vaudeville" is not more than an incident in civic life, and its standards are never fixed and dependable, as it is of Paris, and above all of London. In New York, the music-halls are by no means the foremost and most popular resort for amusement -seekers. In Paris, they are the French pulse. In London, they are the English heart itself. In New York, the vaudeville houses are very much of a makeshift. In Paris, they are a recognized diversion of a known standard of excellence. In London, they rise to the dignity of an institution. In New York, not one person in a thousand could tell you, off hand, the names of the head-liners at the vaudeville theaters--no, not even at one theater. In Paris, fully half the public can inform you where Fregoli is doing his wonderful protean turns; and any one, upon glancing at the nearest illuminated poster-pillar, can advise you what performers to see that evening, and why. In London, it seems as if every second person you meet can tell you not only who the stars are, but where they are playing-and that usually means from three to five appearances, in as many halls, each night--what new songs they are singing, and what the prices of the house are. As a rule, he can throw in choice scraps of gossip as to the "'all hartiste's" (sic) home life. In America, the vaudeville stage is at best a mongrel product--a cross between what is known by courtesy as "straight" Drama, on the one hand, and the circus and prize-ring on the other. It is without standard either of effort or of talent. It is always fluttering between being good musical comedy and bad hod-carrying. For every true music-hall entertainer like Marshall P. Wilder, we are treated to a score of ex-prize-fighters and barroom waiter-singers. And when a " big " name does appear on the American vaudeville posters--a name that stands for fifteen minutes or a half-hour of real artistry--whence has the wonder come? Either from the London halls-like Albert Chevalier, or Harry Lauder, or Vesta Victoria, or R. G. Knowles (once Anierican)--or from the American "legitimate " field. Do these waifs and strays from the legitimate " come over to the stage because they recognize it as a worthy avenue to earnest effort and permanent plaudits? Alas, No! They come because Lillian Russell, or Mrs. Langtrv, or somebody else, didn't have just the play they wanted for the minute, and were dragged " on the circuit " for a few weeks by a big cash offer. The minute a play comes along--good-by to the makeshift vaudeville! The one redeeming feature of vaudeville in New York, and throughout America, as contrasted with Paris and London, is its comparative freedom from Vulgarity. The Americans are careful to relegate downright indecency to the cheapest grade of touring burlesques, whereas in Paris the finest music-hall stars are not above employing it, |
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GLIMPSE AT THE LONDON MUSIC HALLS, THE TYPICAL AMUSEMENT RESORTS OF
THE BRITISH METROPOLIS