would fill more space than is possible here. E. F. Albee, Oscar
Hammerstein, S. Z. Poli, William Morris, Mike Shea, James E. Moore,
Percy G. Williams, Harry Davis, Morris Meyerfeld, Martin Beck,
John J. Murdock, Daniel F. Hennessy, Sullivan and Considine,
Alexander Pantages, Marcus Loew, Charles E. Kohl, Max Anderson,
Henry Zeigler, and George Castle, are but a few of the many men
living and dead who have helped to make vaudeville what it is.

From the old variety show, made up of a singer of topical songs,
an acrobatic couple, a tight-rope walker, a sidewalk "patter" pair,
and perhaps a very rough comedy sketch, there has developed a
performance that sometimes includes as many as ten or twelve acts,
each one presented by an artist whose name is known around the
world. One of the laments of the old vaudeville performers is
that they have a place in vaudeville no more. The most famous
grand opera singers and the greatest actors and actresses appear
in their room. The most renowned dramatists write some of its
playlets. The finest composers cut down their best-known works
to fit its stage, and little operas requiring forty people and
three or four sets of scenery are the result. To the legitimate
[1] stage vaudeville has given some of its successful plays and
at least one grand opera has been expanded from a playlet. To-day
a vaudeville performance is the best thought of the world condensed
to fit the flying hour.

[1] _Legitimate_ is a word used in the theatrical business to
distinguish the full-evening drama, its actors, producers, and its
mechanical stage from those of burlesque and vaudeville. Originally
coined as a word of reproach against vaudeville, it has lost its
sting and is used by vaudevillians as well as legitimate actors