VARIETY THEATRE

the history of the european variety theatre since 1911 is a regrettable chronicle of the gradual decline of an old and hitherto extremely popular form of entertainment, and its waning hold upon the imagination and support of the public at large. in the quarter of a century preceding the war the variety stage generally had evolved to a position of paramount importance in the entertain- ment world. it touched the zenith of its popularity in the first decade of the 20th century since when it has retreated from popular favour with markedly greater rapidity than it had previously advanced. the reasons for this decline are manifold. in the first place and to the most superficial observation, it is clear that the prin- cipal requisites of successful variety entertainment, that is, performers of exceptional ability endowed with magnetic person- alities, have not been produced during the present century in sufficient numbers to maintain the music hall as a whole in its former pre-eminence. in the case of the british industry, for example, the great artists of the earlier generation, who delighted the public from end to end of great britain and whose names were household words throughout the empire, have not been replaced in any sense by the younger generation. the death in the early years of this century of dan leno, the greatest, prob- ably, of all entertainers in this particular ficld was an irreparable loss and in its way marked the beginning of the end of the era of variety. leno possessed in the greatest measure that personal histrionic art which, while it inspired laughter, touched also often so nearly on tears, the art of personal exploitation —the art of the music hall is essentially the art of personal exploitation. it differs from its sister art of the theatre in that the varicty artist has to create his own mood almost without the aid of any intermediary. he is directly face to face with his audience and, broadly considered, his principal effects are those of personality accompanied, of course, by technique. but, primarily, it is the individuality of the performer rather than his choice of material which deter- mines his success or failure. leno, like all the finest artists of the music hall, such as the french clown grock, relied but little upon his material. but his self-exploitation was entertaining and apparently illimitable. leno stands, and will probably stand for all time, as the personification of the british music hall at its best and most successful. marie lloyd, who died in 1923, was another artist whose popularity was only equalled by her remarkable abilities. she, ike leno, was unsparing of her gifts and like him, too, she had at command that authoritative persuasion of an audience which is so rare a gift but which is always essential to the highest achievement of the histrion. another supreme product of the british music hall was albert chevalier whose cockney characterisations expressed the london of his time as directly, as intelligibly and as sympathetically as variety theatre yvette guilbert expressed the paris of the ’90’s. chevalier possessed a remarkable gift for assuming character as well as for exploiting his own characteristics. his art therefore partook, more than did that of many other leading music hall performers, of the “‘ legitimate ”’ drama. among the great impersonators one who has left the variety stage the loser for her retirement is vesta tilley, who, in her own ficld of male impersonation, stands unapproached. all these artists, with many others who have died or retired and others who still appear, were the direct product of a regime very different from that obtaining in the present world of vaudeville. to understand how such a great number of performers could have appeared in one genera- tion, it is necessary to glance back at the evolution and condi- tions of the theatre which produced them. origins of the british music hall—the british music hall, like its continental similars, derives primarily from the smoking concert or “‘ free-and-easy ” of early victorian times. to these informal concerts, usually associated in the first instance with licensed premises, came a number of amateurs or scmi-profes- sional entertainers who plied their trade of amusement in a more or less haphazard way. that is to say, the majority were not in the true sense of the word professionals at the outsct. those who merited popular appreciation naturally became assets of the managements concerned and gradually attained professional status owing to the continuous demands upon their services. from such humble beginnings was the great british music hall industry developed. the next phase followed naturally from the first. the “ free-and-easy ” established itself as the small music hall, giving regular nightly or twice-nightly performances, and by the middle of the roth century numerous music halls were carrying on a prosperous trade. the artists of this regime were in direct contact with their audience. they had to establish themselves as entertainers or step down to give place to others more capable. but the decen- tralised control of the early music halls (and this is true of the continental houses as well as the british) meant that cach pro- prietor sought for talent suited to his own particular public. it was therefore possible for an individual artist to familiarise himself with a more or less specialised audience. if he succeeded he might move on to wider conquests. but he had ampler opportunities than does the variety performer of to-day of testing his personality, his talent and his material and in winnowing the chaff from the grain. the managements, too, were in a more direct relationship to their immediate public than are the directorates of the big syndicates who nowadays control practically the whole world of variety. thus a more intimate personal relationship, so vital to successful showmanship, was a feature of the earlier variety world and thus were brought to fruition the talents of the great race of music hall performers. syndicates and the decline «of variety—-when once these artists had created a prosperous industry, however, a system of managerial exploitation very different from this personal direc- tion began to evolve. during the early years of this century vast syndicates ‘‘ cornered ” variety. the inevitable sequel to this amalgamation and centralisation of control was reckless speculation in the leading personalities. “ star ” salaries beyond the most avaricious dreams of the old performers began to be the order of the day. artists of any standing were given long- date contracts at long prices. the few big syndicates rivalled one another in luring under their management all established artists. but that very lack of personal management, so evident in the syndicate system, was destined to affect disastrously the prosperity of the industry which the syndicates monopolised. for syndicate control has notably failed to encourage and ad- vance the art of the emergent performer and in the course of a very few years the race of the giants was without succession. with a decreasing number of powerfully attractive personalities, the music hall began to languish. | the internationalisation, or rather denationalisation, of the music hall has further depreciated its attractiveness, especially in so far as european countries are concerned. america with 931 its cosmopolitan public and with its very considerable proportion of jewish theatrical patrons is in a somewhat dilferent position. in great britain, france, germany and austria, however, there is no doubt that the music hall since 1910 has suffered from the decrease in the embodiment of national character and charac- teristics on the various vaudeville stages. this is another aspect of the changed conditions of financial control which has led to a measure of international exchanges of talent comparatively unknown in former years. in the british music hall, for example, artists like sir harry lauder, j. w. rickaby, george robey, george formby, nwarry weldon, nellie wallace, lottie collins, loule freear and many others characterised or caricatured a person, a district or a race easily recognisable and intimately observable by the public. they made the art of the music hall as familiar almost as the very households of the public. the cosmopolitanisation of varicty has produced nothing to replace this attractive homeliness. revival of vandewlle in france—the character song is the backbone of the best and most successful of music hall enter- tainments and, while the dearth of this is perhaps more than anything else responsible for the waning attraction of present- day vaudeville, it is to be noted that in france a most significant revival of the typically national lyric, suitably set to music, has sponsored a very definite revival of popular esteem of variety. french vaudeville is indeed recovering rapidly its hold on the public. like the british “‘ free-and-easy ” the french cafe-con- cert was almost wiped out. fortunately, however, extinction was not complete and the recent success of the great dparisian music halls, olympia and the new empire, have profited by their encouragement of french music hall singers. the chanson has again become a part of french national life. this revival was in part assisted by the encouragement of several of the favourite artists of an earlier generation to reappear on the music hall stage. some of these chansonniers and the songs thus resurrected, renewed their former success in surprising fashion. mayol and yvette guilbert, returning once more to the scenes of their former triumphs, are outstanding examples of this. their per- formances have encouraged a number of new lyrists, composers and singers to develop their art to the advantage of the music hall industry as a whole. aristide bruant, the inimitable ballad singer of the montmartre of other days, not long before his death in 1925 returned to delight the parisian public and added a notable quota to the revival to neglected songs of the boulevard. the french press has been of great assistance to the new growth of interest in the music hall. whereas in england the music hall, although tolerated and occasionally patronised by distinguished theatrical journalists, has never been taken scri- ously as a department of theatrical art, in france informed criticism and helpful publicity have been a feature of modern parisian and provincial journalism. another factor which has undoubtedly furthered the cause of french vaudeville has been the establishment in paris of permanent circuses. these have created a desire for, and developed the talent of “dumb acts. ” it is true that a tentative effort was made to re-introduce several of the once famous personalities of the music halls to the london public. arthur roberts, charles coborn and others were persuaded to appear in their former successes, being billed as “‘ veterans of varicty.” but the british impresarios concerned in this venture seemed more concerned to show these masters to the public as oddities or freaks of entertainment and to indi- cate to the audience the strange tastes of the preceding genera- tion than, following the example of their french colleagues. to revitalise the most important province of the art of the music hall, the characteristic song. syndicate control led also to great changes in the atmosphere of the entertainment houses. vast palaces replaced the simple halls of other days and thus decreased the intimacy of contact between the stage and the public, thus requiring a broadening of the illusional effects of individual artists, whose very audibility indeed became menaced by the increasing size of the halls in which they were called upon to perform. the material or ‘‘ num- bers ” used by artists have been disastrously “‘ commercialised ”’ 932 in like manner under the new system. formerly any artist had virtual monopoly of his “ business,” “‘ patter,” ‘‘ props ” or songs. now these are freely used by almost all comers who care to pay the fee for the performing rights. there is thus little encouragement to the individual artist to obtain or to the com- posers to provide first-rate exclusive material. syndication has indeed reacted throughout most unfavourably upon the artistic appeal of vaudeville. the bane of ‘ refinement.’—in response to sundry puritanical attacks on popular entertainment the refinement of the music hall began with this century. artistically it may be said to have commenced with the appearance of albert chevalier. this great creator of cockney types was, however, in no way respon- sible for the development of the so-called refining influence which robbed the music hall of its happiest and healthiest attributes and led to the transplantation to its stage of the worst elements of the concert-room and drama-house. inferior musical turns, poor sketches performed by merely adequate “ legitimate ” artists were among the phenomena of attempted relinement, which actually only resulted in debasing the music hall as a whole. the introduction of eminent dramatic artists in feeble one- act plays has done nothing to reflect credit on either the artists or the managements concerned. for it must be noted that the advent of artists with great reputations from other spheres of the entertainment world, whether dramatic or musical, has almost invariably been considered an act of condescension. this is generally unfavourable to the efficiency of variety because the technique of the music hall is a technique of its own, requiring immediate rupport between audience and player and a much more direct liaison between stage and audience than does the ordinary or concert performance. this technique is difficult to acquire and the only theatrical artists who have continued to hold the interest of the music hall public have been those who, like chevalier, adapted, broadened and sharpened the dramatic technique to suit the needs of their new environment. the names of notable theatrical artists on the bills of the variety theatres have often proved a false promise, since the work which they have contributed has very seldom been up to the standard required. the introduction of big names unbacked by the *‘ goods ” has undoubtedly done definite harm to the industry. this is another aspect of the refinement of the music halls which must be in large measure ascribed to the introduction on the managerial side of amateur showmen, recruited from the ranks of accountants, lawyers and other professional men associated with the controlling syndicates, who have face the place of the individual proprietors of other days. thus the decline of the british music hall has been brought about, and whereas french cabaret is continually providing new blood to revivify the french music hall no such revival is noticeable in great britain. for british cabaret seems content to avail itself of cosmopolitan and mostly american artists whose material is largely negroid or semitic of inspiration and certainly reilects little or nothing of the characteristics of the various british folk-traditions. in germany and russia the divorce between the music hall and cabaret is almost complete, the middle european music hall comprising almost entirely “* dumb acts.” not only have theatrical illusion, strong character and robust comedy been driven out as a result of alleged respecta- bility, but the characteristic costumes of the acrobats have given place to shirt and trousers or to the even more incongruous evening dress, and in other respects the old prolessious glamour has been almost abolished. officious interference which, with the consent of ike syndi- cated directorship, thus made itself felt inside the music hall was also busy outside. the sale of intoxicating liquors, formerly an integral part of a variety entertainment, was soon limited to the bars and eventually the london county council, the most important licensing authority, whose example was naturally followed by similar bodies in other districts, prohibited the sale of intoxicating liquors in all variety houses. only towards the end of 1925 was this harassing, inconsistent and unfair regulation variety theatre removed after sustained agitation carried on during a number of years by the entertainment proprictors immediately affected and backed by a considerable body of public opinion. other adverse influences —the above must be considered the principal factors contributory to the decline in popularity of the music hall. but social changes have also had thcir effect. the world war provided a vast influx of prosperity to most types of entertainment. concentrations of troops near the large towns, the passage of innumerable colonial and foreign migrants and the general desire to escape for a few hours from the stern realities of existence by the aid of entertainment, led to the expend- iture at the box offices of a great deal of money which other- wise would never have found its way thither. but war-time vicissitudes undoubtedly reduced the artistic level of variety. a large number of entertainers were drawn to the colours, many gave their lives on the various european fronts and the careers of many more were harshly interrupted. the later post-war years, which have witnessed a continua- tion of the pre-war decline of varicty, have witnessed a very definite revival of the drama proper and of musical comedy. these have usurped to some extent not only the popularity but even the premises which were formerly devoted to vaudeville entertainment. this is distinctly scen in london where the hippodrome is a more recent convert to the successful american type of musical comedy, which seems destined to oust the for- merly popular viennese type of operetta. the london pavilion is now most successfully devoted to spectacular revue of the more cultivated type and the palladium frequently houses revue pro- ductions of a more democratic style. the empire, formerly a famous and much frequented variety theatre, has recently been the home of film and musical productions, even of “ straight ” drama. innumerable provincial houses have likewise succumbed to the superior attraction of revue and cinema. a remarkable exception to the general enfeeblement of vaude- ville is the london coliseum which, under the direction of sir oswald stoll, has achieved a leading rele in the entertainment world of london. this house, however, cannot be considered as a typical modern music hall. it is indeed a law unto itself, the individual product of discerning and novel showmanship. while its performances consist largely of variety turns, these are fre- quently reinforced by novel features. the frequent appearance at this house of items from the repertory of the diaghilev ballet, comedie francaise, productions by specialised dramatic troupes (sumurun by a german company, the scottish national players, etc.) have added to the reputation of this unique and popular place of amusement. considerable developments of transport, excursion and holiday facilities both by rail and road, have naturally reacted upon theatrical entertainment. the great increase of athletic oppor- tunities has caused sport to draw its quota from indoor amuse- ments. the rapid growth of the cinema as a popular relaxation was probably the most serious rival of vaudeville in the years immediately preceding the war. but present-day tendencies seem to suggest that the cinema has touched the zenith of its popularity and the fact that many of the big film houses are interpolating variety acts into their programme (this is especially the case in amcrica) has led those interested in the welfare of the variety artists to claim that the future of vaudeville may well lie in the direction of a considcrable co-operation between this and the motion-picture industry. rise of revue—lin spite of the enormous developments of the cinema during the period which we are considering, it is probable that the most serious rival of the music hall at the present time is revue. attempts had been made before the war to promote entertainments in some way similar to the performances which have achieved conspicuous success on the continent, either in intimate form, as the capucines or palais royal (where scenes d@’aciualite were the principal items) or in spectacular style as at the larger music halls, folies bergere or casino de paris. revue had long been a favourite pastime of the continental theatre-goer. it was, however, not until rorg that revue as an art-form caught the imagination of the british public to any variety theatre considerable extent. with c. b. cochran’s production of odds and ends at the ambassadors’ theatre, revue may be said to have been launched on its successful career in this country. this entertainment and its immediate successors were in the nature of revues intimes, but the first experiments proved emphatically successful and so much to the liking of the public that numerous other inipresarios rapidly adopted this type of entertainment and proceeded to exploit it both in the london area and through- out the country. revue evolved from the intimate to the spectacular with astonishing celerity. it is probable that the emotions of war- time were in a measure responsible for the immediate and ready acceptance granted to this new type of entertainment. however this may be, revue certainly displaced both the legitimate drama and the older type of variety entertainment to a great extent in the various amusement resorts in great britain. unfortunately the apparent ease of production and the elasticity of the revue- form led to its abuse by a number of inexperienced or incompe- tent managers. but revue at its best as an intermediate form between drama and the typical music hall bill has certainly recommended itself to a large and discerning body of theatre- goers. the ideal revue is no mere haphazard collection of num- bers, no mere fot-pourri of music hall turns, dramatic sketches, dances and so on. its ingredients need the most careful mixing. it must develop in as orderly a manner as a symphony, and the laws of revue composition, although unwritten, are as exacting as those of a pictorial design. in the past few years some of the purest gems of theatrical art have been seen in revue productions. many scenic artists, actors, dancers and technicians of the theatre have developed their talents in this fiell and not a few others have found here a means for fuller self-expression than they have discovered in any other department of the theatre. (c.. bac) the variety theatre in the united states beginnings.—as in england and on the continent, variety was one of the very carly forms of theatrical entertainment in the new world. during the last decade of the 18th century, in most of the larger cities, resident theatrical companies pre- sented alternately legitimate production, generally farces and comedies, and variety programmes. company members and guest stars visited from one city to another, augmenting these local stock companies. in the last few years of the 18th century and the first of the 19th, variety became permanently dissoci- aled from dramatic and operatic production, of which until then it had been an interlude or added attraction, and there began the policy of assembling complete programmes of music hall turns and specialty artists of varied talents. at the beginning, variety was a theatrical stepchild. the halls in which variety had its birth in america were miserable enough, hardly better than stables. frequently they were on the second storey, over stores, in rooms originally intended for dance halls. such ‘theatres’? generally eventuated casually, instigated largely by dance hail patrons who conceived the notion that they could jig, or sing. a brisk trade in refreshments augmented the rather informal entertainment. ‘to facilitate this, patrons | sat at tables. sawdust or sand besprinkled the tloor. later variety theatres often had a museum adjoining, in which an exhibition of freaks, human and otherwise, served to amuse and attract the overtlow. the period of barnum and tony pastor —by 1830 variely was an established and flourishing theatrical enterprise. phineas t. barnum, the great circus man, was early attracted to this form of entertainment. in 1835 in a hall on chatham street, new york city, his variely endeavours began with the exhibition of joice heth, later supplemented with signor vivallia, juggler and equilibrist of the cinquevalli order. adding several other attractions, he took this show on tour the following year, play- ing in a tent around the cast and south, a forerunner of his circus activities. back again in 1841, he continued variety for a short time in vauxhalls gardens, new york city. following barnum there were numerous adventurers in vari- 933 ety. between the days of his initial show in 1835 and the opening of hoym’s theatre in 1858, the first playhouse built expressly for variety, every one of new york’s sixteen theatres was at one time or another given over to variety. but it was not until after the civil war that variety acquired any firm foothold among american theatricals. in 1866 tony pastor, famous new york showman, took over the hoym theatre which he held for nine years. the period was rich in personalities, in artists not excelled among stars of medern vaudeville. many who later made their mark in legitimate drama were seen singly and in pairs in “acts”? at tony pastor’s, at niblo’s gardens, at the eagle theatre. such supreme entertainers as [larrigan and hart; weber and fields, whose low buffoonery was infinite artistry; the four cohans; flo and may irwin; nat c. goodwin, jr.; the glorious blonde lillian russell; montgomery and stone; ifallen and wart; pat rooney; evans and hoey; maggie kline; and tony himself, were a few of the lights of those days. many of the prime successes in american varicty were teams. whereas the ballad and the popular song were the muinstay of european varicty, the comedy sketch, generally enacted by two or more, was the piece de resistance upon amcrican programmes. often whole families appeared in such acts, as the four cohans, the four mortons, the lauri family and the vokes family. vaudeville —just when the word “‘ vaudeville ” began to be used in this country is not recorded. a program for vauxhalls gardens for august 1 1842 uses the word, and tony pastor employcd it several times in £877. in following years other managers took it up. but until the ‘8o0’s it had no particular significance; it was merely a change from the overworked word “variety.”’ vaudeville as something to be distinguished from varicty, as a revised and refined edition of the latter, came into being in 1882, conceived by a boston showman, b. if. keith, whose name has gone down in american theatrical annals as the father of modern vaudeville. he was an ex-circus man who startcd on his own as proprictor of a small dime museum and varicty show in a meagre store building in the heart of boston. his emporium differed from other variety houses in one particu- lar feature—it was uniquely clean. in 1885 he was joined by jedward f. albee, his eventual partner and successor, and present head of the keith-albee vaudeville circuit. together they fought for keith’s dream of putting variety on a par with the legitimate theatre, a dream never quite attained but admirably approached. in 1887 messrs. keith and albee presented the first variety sketch with a legitimate star as principal. the star was [ran- cesca redding, a popular actress of the day. the success of that venture opened the way for a long parade of legitimate stars across the vaudeville stage. e. f. albce enticed such dramatic celebrities as maurice barrymore, david warfield, ezra kendall, eben plympton. an event of 1897 was the presentation of clara morris, then at the height of her legitimate career, in vaudeville at keith’s union square, new york. her appearance moved one new york critic to write: “ vaudeville just now seems to be the goal of dramatic aspiration. we may yet see the day when the divine sarah will take it. but i can’t help saying that i think not.” despite his thoughts, a few years later bernhardt became one of the highest salaried and most popular headliners to tour the keith circuit. edna goodrich, loie fuller, marie tempest, lily langtry, mrs. leslie carter and phyllis neilson terry were a few more of the celebrities to grace the spotlight of american vaudeville. con- cert and opera stars, legitimate actors and actresses no longer spurn vaudeville engagements; rather it has become the logical answer to a lull in their ordinary activities. public demands have made it necessary to augment motion pictures with vaudeville. this condition has resulted in several screen and variety mergers and a policy of presenting both forms of amusement at the majority of vaudeville houses. this idea seems destined, by force of popular demand, to rule, with exceptions only in the larger cities, in all variety houses, thereby combining two extremely popular theatrical factors on one programme. (mi, a. l.) 934