Philip Curtiss

“ In the show business the rule seems to be that a man who takes money for his work and does it with a keenly calculated stupidity can be rated as a professional. It is not even the point of view of the average orator, for example, who really thinks that his mouthings are very fine, but a deliberate, deadly earnest, almost pathetic cultivation of the very worst. The first sign of relaxed, moderated thought stamps a man as the amateur. ”

“ I've always wanted a basset horn in that orchestra. It sounds just like Mrs. Trip when she's trying to talk like Ellen Terry. A good player could burlesque her, note for note."
The effect of all this on the rank and file of the company was curiously hilarious. Never having the slightest hope of making money, they were never depressed in the least by the prospect of losing any. As the weeks wore on, the spirit of the tour became very much that of a college glee-club. With Bellsmith himself, the members of the company became more intimate. ”

“ It was rather a sore point with Israels and Charlie Barnes, that of those songs, for although only four of them were now used in the show, Fritz Melcher, the original "lyric" writer, must, under the terms of the contract, be mailed a check for three dollars out of every hundred dollars that came in at the window of the box-office and Charlie Barnes was very closely in touch with that window.
With a pile of songs on their laps, Bellsmith and Surdam were rapidly killing the words of still another "lyric" which, although dead, must still be paid for. ”