Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1868-07-21
Slips on the Stage.

/ bred or so miles Of our doors, Te have K
send to Europe for that of similsl
! quality.
Slips on the Stage.
Now and then slips have occurred n
which the pronunciation of word
has given 1t a meaning so incOngTuOus IS
70 cover the actor, who had been invOl-
UNFAIRLY guilty OF it, with confusion
Audiences, or rather portions Of audi
ences, not Overburdeued with refinement,
have generally hailed these awkward
slips with uprOaTiou3 hilaTity; the other
portion has remained disereetiy silent, SIS
If it lacked ears whereby to receive Of
tense, or tongues to resent it. Downes,
the old prompter of Charles HIS days,
has recorded one of these misfortunes.
1t occurred to g lady, Mistress Holden,
a kinswOman OF the great Bst-ertOn.
She was playing in Romeo and Juliet"
when a ,stsl word fell Uniulenti0Bally
from her lips; and as she happened at
the moment to giTs it vehement &C.
ton" says Downes, "it put the house
into such laughter that London bridge
at low water was silence TO it."
Charles kem0le once slipped 10 like
direction; but the most amusing instance
Of an error committed by him against
text and author, was when he was play
ing ShylOck, and instead of asking:
"Shail | lay perjury upon my soul p
overturned the text by eXciaimiug ::
" Shall l ley surgery upon my poll ?'
This is said to be-whst Miss Edge
worth used to emphatic2liy affirm of in
cidents in her stories" Facts
Less faith, we think, can be assigned
20 almost 4 better and better-hnOwn
story, which msde the soldier, who lev
els ms ha!bsrd to prevent Richard from
imposing the progress of HenTy's fune-
raj, with the remark MY lord, stand
back, and let the cstlil pass ~ eXcIain,
il has hurry and confusion: " My lord,
stand back, and let the pars0n cough ~
Such mistake, however, has many a
parallel. GA the French stage young
actor having to shout: "S0nuez, from
pettes - knocked ali the majesty out Of
the cOmmsud by his shout: from
PEI, sOnuett6s ~
And indeed, the French stage can
furnish parallel 70 the story Of the error
Of Mrs. Holden which made q full house
so hilarious. The story Is told in the
correspondence OF the Princess Palatine,
under date OF 17l9. she was then at
Dankifs, where the players acted in
the presence of the court. OIe of them
performing Mi!hridsCes, happened by
unlucky Change Of letter to address 10
MOnime q word that conveyed great
otfense in the utterance. The unlucky
actor, in his confusion, made matters
worse by turning 10 the royal box, in
which the D2uphiuCsS was the mos, con-
spicuous parsonage, and saying with
great cOntiuop:
Msdam, I most humbly ask your
pardon ray tongue unWitIingly tripped
me up!'
The Dauphin was so tickled by the in
cident that he not only fell into an uu-
Ii Of laughter, but fell back
ward from his seat. To save himself he
grasped st the cord which kept the cur
tain up, and tbs curtain coming down
by the run, struck against the lamps, and
caught fire. The flames were immedi-
ately extinguisbed, but the curtain could
not be raised, and the play was acted
out, the audience looking at the perform
ers through the gap caused by the fire.
One OF the pleSsantest incidents OF
the French court stage, however, oc-
CURED when the Emperor Napoleon
j1kingIy Kissed the Empires Josephine,
who was acting . little operate part IN
toe thester Ia the palace at S.. Cloud.
She demurely stepped forward aud re-
that any one of the suiienCe
who was dissatisfied with the periorm-
auce might retire, and have his money
him at the doors. The conse.
quent laughter was uprOarious.
There are other slips on the stage THAI
those made by words. At the beginning
Of the last centu Y, on the French stage,
the slipping of Bzron's garter led to a
traditional action observed in the part
by every succeeding player; and the
other night only, at the Varieties, the
slipping Of Mile ChsumonpS petticoat
produced an amusing unrehesrsed ef-
Iect. In the first case the great French
actor was performing the Earl OF Essex,
and his garter slipped below his knee in
The scene where only he aud the traitor
Cecil were on the stage. Such 3 person
age Essex might treat with indifference
Ir contempt; and accordingly he re-
placed the dropped band around his leg,
while he contiuued to address Cecil in 3
iisdsinful tone. The effect was so sue [
'essful that succeeding sectors adopted /
he incident OF affecting TO tighten the {
garter rs 8 good " bit OF business aUd F.
he tradition continued to be observed /.
Is long as lie CJmte d'Essex continued .
o be acted. Mile Chaumonrs slip Was
If another character. II taxed her readi- I
less in an emergency, and did not find .
Ter wanting. She Was playing a SOU /
,rette in d" Nos Gems" and was engaged .
'unning TO and fro to collect and burn 7.
he presents of various old lovers. In
he middle OF her action she was i'm /.
)eded by her petticOat suddenly f4lliug
bout her legs. OF course it was a very
)retty article of its sort, and che got out /.
Il it, and Of the embarrassment which I
lad come with il, by describing it as a .
ribute Of admiration from one Of her /
Id admirers, which must be sacrificed Z
ike the rest; aud she thrust it into the (
tage fire accordingly with a merry .
augh, and amid the general hilarlty OF I
le house.