The Broadway Anthology

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Title: The Broadway Anthology
Author: Edward L. Bernays, Samuel Hoffenstein, Walter J. Kingsley, Murdock Pemberton
Release Date: February 21, 2005 [EBook #15120]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
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The?Broadway Anthology
BY
EDWARD L. BERNAYS?SAMUEL HOFFENSTEIN?WALTER J. KINGSLEY?MURDOCK PEMBERTON
NEW YORK?DUFFIELD & COMPANY?1917
Copyright, 1917?BY DUFFIELD & COMPANY
VAIL-BALLOU COMPANY?BINGHAMTON AND NEW YORK
Acknowledgment is due to the _New York Evening?Post_, Sun_, _Times_, _Tribune_, the _Boston Transcript?and the Wilmarth Publishing Company for their kind?permission to reprint some of the matter in this volume.
CONTENTS
EDWARD L. BERNAYS
ACCIDENTS WILL HAPPEN?THE BARITONE?PATRIOTISM?THE PILLOW CASES?BETTER INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS?THE PRIMA DONNA?PRESS STORIES?THE DISTRIBUTION OF CREDIT?TEARS?PHOTOGRAPHS
SAMUEL HOFFENSTEIN
THE THEATRE SCRUBWOMAN DREAMS A DREAM?THE STRANGE CASE OF THE MUSICAL COMEDY STAR?THE STAR IS WAITING TO SEE THE MANAGER?THE JESTER?IN A CAFE?TO A CABARET SINGER?IN THE THEATRE
WALTER J. KINGSLEY
LO, THE PRESS AGENT?FIRST NIGHTS?THE DRAMATIST?TYPES?GEORGE M. COHAN?DAVID BELASCO?LO, THE HEADLINER
MURDOCK PEMBERTON
THE SCREEN?BROADWAY--NIGHT?MATINEE?PAVLOWA?THE OLD CHORUS MAN?BLUCH LANDOLF'S TALE?PRE-EMINENCE
EDWARD L. BERNAYS
ACCIDENTS WILL HAPPEN
He was a burly Dutch tenor,?And I patiently trailed him in his waking and sleeping hours That I might not lose a story,--?But his life was commonplace and unimaginative--?Air raids and abdications kept his activities,?(A game of bridge yesterday, a ride to Tarrytown),?Out of the papers.?I watchfully waited,?Yearning a coup that would place him on the?Musical map.?A coup, such as kissing a Marshal Joffre,?Aeroplaning over the bay,?Diving with Annette Kellerman.?Then for three days I quit the city?To get a simple contralto into the western papers.?Returning I entered my office; the phone jangled.?The burly tenor was tearfully sobbing and moaning over the wire; Tremor and emotion choked his throat.?This was his ominous message:?A taxicab accident almost had killed him two and one half days ago; He had escaped with his body and orchid-lined voice--?And not a line in the mornings or evenings!?What could I do about it??Accidents will happen.
THE BARITONE
He was a wonderful Metropolitan singer.?His name had been blazoned over these United States,?And in Europe it was as well known.?Records of him could be bought in the smallest hamlet;?Nothing but praise had been shed upon the glory of his name. In May he was scheduled to sing in Chicago?At a festival where thousands were to foregather?To do praise to him and his voice.?Two days before he left, he came to his manager's office?With a sickly expression all over his rotund face?And a deathly gasp in his voice.?One thought he needed a doctor,?Or the first aid of some Red Cross nurses.?He was ushered into the private office?To find out his trouble.?This was his lament in short;?A friend, in the hurry of the moment,?Had procured tickets for him on the Twentieth Century?Which demanded an extra fare of six dollars,--?And he wanted to ride on the cheapest train.?So we got him tickets on another road?Which takes thirty six hours to Chicago and perhaps more,?And the great singer, whose name has been blazoned over these United States And was as well known in Europe,?Walked out contented and smiling like a young boy.
PATRIOTISM
The patriotic orchestra of eighty five men?Was keyed to an extraordinary patriotic pitch?For these were patriotic concerts,?Supported by the leading patriots of the town,?(Including a Bulgarian merchant, an Austrian physician and a German lawyer), And all the musicians were getting union wages--and in the summer at that. So they were patriotic too.?The Welsh conductor was also patriotic,?For his name on the program was larger than that of the date or the hall, But when the manager asked him to play a number?Designated as "Dixie,"?He disposed of it shortly with the words:?"It is too trivial--that music."?And, instead, he played a lullaby by an unknown Welsh composer,-- (Because he was a Welshman)....?The audience left after the concert was over?And complimented itself individually and collectively on "doing its bit" By attending and listening to these patriotic concerts.
THE PILLOW CASES
The train was due to arrive at eleven that night,?But owing to the usual delay it did not arrive until one.?The reporters of the leading dailies?Were still waiting grouchily on the station platform for the great star. For weeks his name had blotted out every bare wall,?And the date sheets of his coming had reddened the horizon. Now he steps off the train, tired and disgruntled.?What cares he for the praise of the public and their prophets Awaiting him impatiently at the station??It's a bed he wants--any bed will do;?The quicker he gets it, the better for the song on the morrow.