“Therefore the second act after intermission—­number seven—­must be stronger than the first.  It is usually a full-stage act and again must be another big name.  Very likely it is a big playlet, if another sketch has not been presented earlier on the bill.  It may be a comedy playlet or even a serious dramatic playlet, if the star is a fine actor or actress and the name is well known.  Or it may be anything at all that builds up the interest and appreciation of the audience to welcome the ‘big’ act that follows.  “For here in number eight position—­next to closing, on a nine-act bill—­the comedy hit of the show is usually placed.  It is one of the acts for which the audience has been waiting.  Usually it is one of the famous ‘single’ man or ‘single’ women acts that vaudeville has made such favorites.

“And now we have come to the act that closes the show.  We count on the fact that some of the audience will be going out.  Many have only waited to see the chief attraction of the evening, before hurrying off to their after-theatre supper and dance.  So we spring a big ‘flash.’  It must be an act that does not depend for its success upon being heard perfectly.  Therefore a ‘sight’ act is chosen, an animal act maybe, to please the children, or a Japanese troupe with their gorgeous kimonos and vividly harmonizing stage draperies, or a troupe of white-clad trapeze artists flying against a background of black.  Whatever the act is, it must be a showy act, for it closes the performance and sends the audience home pleased with the program to the very last minute.

“Now all the time a booking-manager is laying out his show, he has not only had these many artistic problems on his mind, but also the mechanical working of the show.  For instance, he must consider the actual physical demands of his stage and not place next each other two full-stage acts.  If he did, how would the stage hands change the scenery without causing a long and tedious wait?  In vaudeville there must be no waits.  Everything must run with unbroken stride.  One act must follow another as though it were especially made for the position.  And the entire show must be dovetailed to the split seconds of a stop-watch.

“Therefore it is customary to follow an ‘act in One’ (See below) with an act requiring Full Stage.  Then after the curtain has fallen on this act, an act comes on to play in One again.  A show can, of course, start with a full-stage act, and the alternation process remains the same.  Or there may be an act that can open in One and then go into Full Stage—­after having given the stage hands time to set their scenery—­or vice versa, close in One.  Briefly, the whole problem is simply this—­acts must be arranged not only in the order of their interest value, but also according to their physical demands.