story will appear at greater disadvantage: because of the very
beauty of its surroundings. The writer should make his story so
fine that it will sparkle brilliantly in any setting.

The only thought that successful vaudeville writers give to scenery
is to indicate in their manuscripts the surroundings that "relate
the characters closely to their environment."

It requires no ability to imagine startling and beautiful scenic
effects that cost a lot of money to produce--that is no "trick."
The vaudeville scenery magic lies in making use of simple scenes
that can be carried at little cost--or, better still for the new
writer, in twisting the combinations of drops and sets to be found
in every vaudeville house to new uses.



CHAPTER IV

THE SCENERY COMMONLY FOUND IN VAUDEVILLE THEATRES


1. The Olio

In every vaudeville theatre there is an Olio and, although the
scene which it is designed to represent may be different in each
house, the street Olio is common enough to be counted as universally
used. Usually there are two drops in "One," either of which may
be the Olio, and one of them is likely to represent a street, while
the other is pretty sure to be a palace scene.