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Page 51
'The academy was formally accepted by the City Council, Feb. 6, 1893,
after it had secured the necessary authority from the General Court
of Massachusetts. The deed of gift, which was executed Nov. 4, 1892,
contained the following provisions:
'"1. Said granted premises shall be devoted and used solely and
exclusively for the delivery of lectures, the production of concerts
and operas, and the representation and delineation of the drama of the
better character, as shall be approved by the unanimous vote of the
committee or board of management hereinafter named.
'"2. The management is vested solely in a board composed of the
following five trustees, serving without other compensation than three
free seats at every performance: (a) the donor, (b) the town mayor
of Northampton, _ex-officio_, (c) the President of Smith College,
_ex-officio_, (d) Mr. C.H. Pierce, (e) Mr. T.G. Spaulding."
'These last two are citizens of Northampton. Vacancies, other than among
the two _ex-officio_ members, are filled by election by the remaining
members of the board. This board met and organized April 5, 1893. There
have been but two changes in its personnel, aside from the changes in
the office of mayor, Mr. Lyman being succeeded by his son, Mr. Frank
Lyman, and President Seelye by President Burton.
'It will be observed that the institution is kept out of politics by
placing the control of it in what is virtually a close corporation,
and yet through the mayor the citizens are directly represented in the
management.
'Other conditions provide that if in any year there shall be an excess
of receipts over disbursements such excess shall be paid into the city
treasury of Northampton, with the annual account. If in any year the
disbursements shall exceed the receipts, the treasurer of the city of
Northampton shall appropriate and pay to said board or committee or to
the person who shall be acting as treasurer for it such sum as may be
needed to balance the accounts for such year.
'When the gift was made there was much discussion among the citizens as
to the advisability of accepting it as well as to the propriety of the
city's ownership of a theater. This latter doubt was set at rest when
people realized that the city had already a hall for kindred purposes in
the city hall. As to the first question, it soon came to be recognized
that such a theater could not but be of advantage to the city, though
many felt it would involve too heavy a drain on the city's financial
resources, a fear which has never yet been realized. Discussion was
again started when a bill was before the state legislature, providing
for the incorporation of the trustees, but the necessity for such a step
was so evident that opposition died away. For many years the academy has
been taken as a matter of course and ranks as an important and desirable
municipal institution. No one now ever thinks of the objections formerly
urged against it.
'Financially, the academy has about held its own. Practically, it
has done much better, for the City Council has insisted that all
licenses--fees for shows, amounting on the average to some $400 per
annum--be paid directly into the city treasury. Still the academy is not
run as a money-making institution, for the trustees strive to provide a
liberal variety of entertainment and to have everything the best of its
kind. Occasionally they have brought to town some high-class attraction
that was not likely even to pay expenses--a venture in which few
theaters can afford to engage. At one time large profits were made from
so-called "10, 20, 30-cent stock companies" that spent a week in town
and gave two performances daily, but the class of patronage attracted by
such shows is now supporting the new vaudeville theater and the moving
picture houses. So the academy is becoming more and more a purely
first-class theater.
'One great difficulty with which the trustees have had to contend is how
to steer a course between the Syndicate and the Shuberts. The Syndicate
refuses to book in a house open to other agencies, and the Shuberts can
offer few but musical shows. In fact, neither side seems prepared to
supply enough attractions. So altogether this matter seems at present
almost hopeless of solution as long as the prevailing dearth of plays
and actors and surfeit of theaters make it well-nigh impossible for
one-night stands to fare well. In practice both sides to the controversy
have been tried and found wanting.'
This Northampton fact of the possession of a town theater tells us at
once that the measure of financial support of a civic theater involved
in the ownership of a theater building is the least vital and efficient
step toward the end in view. It is an effort that looks out for the mere
shell. It puts the town in the position of a benevolent landlord toward
a real estate investment that happens to fall in the artistic class. And
such a class of investment requires further equipment to cope with the
equipment of less benevolent foreign landlords holding similar property.
Unless civic responsibility develops beyond this comparatively helpless
position, no such improvement of the situation as may lead to dramatic
growth may result from this foundation. At the same time, even this
meager measure of civic control of the dramatic situation has bettered
Northampton's chances in the matter of drama. It has shielded the town
from utter helplessness against dramatic deterioration through receiving
whatever outside commercial managements may choose to offer. It has
enabled the town to choose for itself to some degree and most notably to
gain access to a higher class of independent dramatic entertainment than
would otherwise be open to it.
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