The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, August 12, 1900, Page 18

UNDAY OALL. SRDARRE FRQTS BY THE MAN WRO MRDE THE PART OF SVENGAL! IN “TRILRBY.” ous thing that while s are cons e foreign which is alleged t ce between s, the New o remember ity furnished tv s much se most of his irred e was not York critical EETEREREE EREND meore right to be called actors than Mrs. Langt y or the essified man. that T would exalt the “tricks” of ng above the magnetism ot , but I insist that, no mat- ow powerful be an actor's ‘“persua- slon to his audlence,” “magnetism” or whatever you please to call it, unless he conforms himself to the character he artist. [The Procrustean method g off the head of a part or stretching its feet to fit the fron inflexi- bility of an actor's “personality” is a brutality to art which is not condoned by the fact of its sometime commercial suc- cess o tr It is the contention of many who are concerned in the “busifiess” of the theater that an actor who ‘“conceals” his chare acter is harder to establish to the knowl- edge of the public than one who is always the same in different settings. Whether this be true or not, it has no bearing upon the accusation in which foreigners have put us on the defense. The question of commercial advantage has no more place in a discu of art than art in a con- vention of boilers, It 1s undoubted that many of our suc~ cessful stars are exhibitors rather than artists. But even In thelr case we will often discover that if we trace them back a little they have deserted their natural quality or versatility to prosecute a speclalty which has met with unusual public favor. I don’t think there is any such thing as a “straight” part. t there isn’t some salient point in a character, it isn’t worth playing. We are perhaps all alike in big things, but in “nonessentlals,” perhaps as to immediate ing be *to elong te us nt the form and Zive tangible treation of the r defined his art, the country ex- ed pair of legs ay written to elves have no Chinese Kite Flyers. € year when e would not object to becoming P se empire for just one day. T me is the ninth day of the nin r rding to the Chinese i On this day a kite-fiying fes- ted by a man alistic dream, in ed to him that some his house on a cer- . oid this unknown aster, he took his family s hilltop and amused the a kite. When he re- ght he found that his erally fallen to the ground, thus killing all the dogs and pigs that had been Jeft at home to keep house. That set t hion, and since then whenever the ai ¢ of that day comes around other families, remembering the providen- tial escape of thelr countryman, fiy thelr Jites from the hills in the belief that as he paper toys ascend they will carry off the evil spirits that might otherwise de. molish their own houses and bury them #r the ruins should they stay at home. effect, but very essential in formation of Gharacter or side lights upon it, we are as different as the marks on our thumbs. * And it Bertillon can find such power in ts detail not only for identifications but for scientific eriminclogy, how important us who have but the mus- i the seeming to express not only th cal characteristics of the man t very soul y in three a poet and I saw a weeks In N Romeo! They were all 18" parts—straight parts, in the language of the theater—and he played them all He entertained h was not *in the e, rudience, too; but he in” of his characters. ZELMA RAWLSToY N STREET URESS s HER FAMOVY ™ STER “THE TougH GIRY He had only stolen their clothes. <ne value of versatility In broadening one's art is incalculable. Any one can play Ro- meo better for having plafed a negro or an Irishman You will ind in nearly every case of a sudden hit of an unknown actor that he has been working for years in road com- pantes in some out-of-the-way place, stor- fag up a “bit of business” here, an idea of “make-up” there, a trick of elocution in another part, until he has a fund of ex perfence from which to draw when a met- ropolitan opportunity offers. Mind you, I am not underrating gentus. Some great general said that “Providence was usually on the side of the best equip- ped arm: I find that genius usually perches on the banner of the man who works hardest and most Intelligently and who gets up earlier and goes to bed a little later than anybody else. This was the case with Maud Adams, who “sud- denly” made a hit in New York after hav- Ing been on the stage with Western com- panies since early childhood. Ada Lewis sprang into fame In a single night, after having played in San Fran- cisco for years. Julia Arthtr made a sudden sensation one day In New York at a matinee, after having toured the world with Bandmann, playing every conceivable kiffd of a part. There are many other cases, but in al- most every instance the “sudden hit” in New York is somebody who has been playing for years somewhere else. ] In fact, but for the numerous cheap stock companies which have sprung up recently we might despair of actors for the coming decade. As it is now their tuition, though rather hard on the audi- ences of the present, bids fair promise for the audiences of the future, which will perhaps estimate its amusement at some thing over 10 cents in value. In answer to a question how to attack a part, I can only say: I,don’t know what plan of study other actors Fsve, but the keystone of any suc- cess T have had is work. and again work I cannot study from a “part.” I musf QHANGR N “QRARAQTER” REQUIRES MCORE THAN MERE PRINTING OF THE FAQE. know the whole play, the relation of the characters, not only in their bearing upon my part, but in their attit to each other. I then try to saturate myself with the form of expression of the man and to sur- round myself in imagination with his con- my eyes. I can see how he walks, how he dresses, how he ts down and gets up, and all of these physical manifestations are governed by the nature and feeling of the man. He is always befors me, an “eidolon,” a real character whom I am attempting to fmi y often at sarsal an actor says »wn conduct of a scene, “Not & bit & OF GUVSES Un THE DaAyaANS SIRLA Not a bit lke what? WhAT @ces the actor mean when he says this? He means that the intention of which he Is always constantly eluding for the moment that cannot reproduce Pim he says, that is my conce actors refer w ing of their own work. Of course, when they are criticizing some other actor, that, as Mr. Kipling “ts . another story. In my mind, the only excuse for being on the stage is to I it with a love ot be d heartbreaking, other arts always” to the & during arts—judgment the actor's fame is a stantial when it looks So that there is onl which an earnest work Remember the line £ “Buflding of the For his heart wa And the heart g s work, oth grace to svery art WILTON LACKAYE. Chinese National }ymn. It takes a day to sing the Chinese na- hymn. Sometimes people over there t's take a day off and enjoy the But they don’t say it often. It's bhard to keep up enthu: sm for a twelve hour stretch. Of course they start in cheering vociter ously, and then they sort of weaken a grow hoarse and look at the clocks, a lo! it’s only half an hour since the blam thing began! And there are places further ori where they ought to just get up And vell, and they haven't the strength to do it, and probably they fall asleep long be- fore the grand patriotic climax is res ! You can't expect to find much Fourth of July inspiration in a people with ditty of that sort. And think of the strain on the singers and the tomtommers! Think of putting in a dozen hours on steady ryn of “hi-yahs-ching-a-ring- vahs!"" £nd Bo let up for either br chopsticks! And whacking a tin pan all the time, too! Think of going to a little evening out and having the hostess say: “Miss Pekoo of the Shanghai conswuvatwah Will now favor us with the national bymm.” ~chi-