National Republican. (Washington City (D.C.)) 1872-1888, 1874-09-24
BEHIND THE FoOTLIGHTs.
THE BUSINESS OF THE STAGE MAN
AGER

THE BUSINESS OF THE STAGE NAN
AGER.
The business Of the stage manager Of theatre
is not exactly what person in quest Of an easy
berth, with no care or responsibility, would Seek
On the contrary, the stage manager is gentle
man Of many cares and very Few pleasures IN MS
business for it seldom happens that everything
goes right on the stage, any more than in ordi-
nary lile and when it does not he is held respon-
sjbIe for 1t. In addition to the general SUPER
vision he is supposed to exercise over every de-
partment of the theatre behind the curtain, he
ASSIGNS THE DIFFERENT PARTS
to the company, selecting for role the artist in
his opinion best qualified for 1t. In this he is
guided, and frequently misguided, by the con-
tracts of the actors themselves. II man is en-
gagged for "leading business" he must have the
leading part. If an inferior part is given him he
sends it back refuses to play it, and insists that
1t is not in his agreement He prefers Mr..
ROughandready's part, which out to have been
given to him in the first place. The stage man
ager is compelled either to topple Mr.. Roughand-
ready's ambition by taking the part away from
him, and giving him that which Mr.. ToosWeetto-
live has promptly declined, or let the latter gen.
tleman cherish the insult he has received in the
front Of the theatre, or Of some other theatre,
voWing immediate vengeance in law suit, or
lingering his ringlets with contemptuous ease
admirers. This is a stage managers business,
and
ONE OF HIS TRIBULATIoNs.
But fit is a lady who refuses her part, then the
But it is Just as we'll to end the chapter of mis-
cry where it began. 1t does not do to let every
body in behind the scenes, or anybody at all
times and seasons. There are some stage secrets
which should be told in lower tones than stage
whispers, and kept with more fidelity than by
stage detectives. Besides, think how it would
mar the artistic elegance of Miss Virginia Word
mincer, and ruin the spell Of fancy which she
weaves nightly to crowded houses, to learn that
she supped heartily after the theatre was out on
picked Digs feet and bottled porter Of which deli
cacies she is passionately fond. Who would
throw bouquets for the benefit of nose that will
alternate its attentions between the feet and
flowers, or worship divinity whose ethereal ma
ture while it needed adulation, preferred ale?
Where ignorance is bliss correct information
might be destructive to happiness. Hence the
reluctance of a journalist to carry strangers
round to the stage managers room, and there
induct them into the mysteries Of the place unso-
licited. The stage managers busiest time is
THE INTERVAL BETWEEN THE ACTS,
when the gentlemen in the audience are sallying
out to drink. The short interval is used to clear
away the debris Of the act previous, and make
room for the splendors of the next. 1t is the Gus
tom among managers nowadays to adapt their
pieces when possible to the necessities Of uphol-
sterer and stage-earpenter, making each scene
into an act, or COMPRISING each act into a scene
This is the consequence Of the new system Of
elaborate mounting introduced comparatively re-
Gently on the stage. When such interiors Of
drawing rooms and gardens as are nowadays de-
manded come to be finished It is found that there
is a tremendous Job on hand to remove and reset
them. So cumbrous is it that the interval Of q
brief shifted scene will not admit of rearrange-
ment. The whole entr'Gcte is necessary for the
change. This must exert an effect upon the con-
struction Of dramas so long as it is adhered to,
and may possibly prolOng the life of the "modern
society" school, so-caled, by the very habit it is
encouraging.
HOW PARLoRs ARE ARRANGED.
The manner in which parlOrs are arranged IN
dicates at once the amount Of cultivation and
good taste possessed by the manager. Uphol-
stery which does not match with the wall paper;
tables and chairs ranged in stiff group like raw
recruits suddenly summoned to parade, and exc
cuted before uttering q word Of protest; impossi-
BILE articles Of vertu; glassware palpably Of the
blown variety, and too heavy to raise more than
once every half hour without exhaustion; oddi-
ties inconsistencies, glaring crimes against good
breeding-these all stamp a bad stage manager,
and the audience is not slow to realize that a
bungling hand and ignorant, boorish taste had
provided that mass OF incongruities as the own
er's idea Of the interior Of gentleman's house.
1t soon becomes evident that the manager does
not know what the interior Of an educated gen.
tleman's house is, and to draw his own conclu-
sions is the inalienable right Of every man. OuI.
tiYated people do not care to pay fee to criti-
else the ignorance of a clod-hopper displayed in
public. No wonder they keep away from a
thaatrp uhara guph a m q
The man who sets the stage Of modern thea.
tire
MUST BE AN ARTIST
himself He must possess the feelings of re.
fined gentleman IN order to throw an air OF refine.
ment and ease over the apartments he represents,
just as the actor must be q man Of sincerity and
spontaneous goodness to enact faithfully and
powerfully the part of q hero. One can tell the
DRIFT of a managers reading by the cut Of his
table-cloth, or gauge the depth Of his sentiment
by the position Of q What-not, the number Of his
chairs, or the color and material Of his uphol.
stery. As in everyday life, really good artistic
taste goes far beyond dollars in identifying an
apartment; so, on the stage, elegance is not opu.
lenee, nor does gOld-leaf cover q multitude Of
deformities from the refined eye.
There have been such mOnstrous parlors upon
our stage that audiences must have felt uneasy
in being entrapped into them. There have been
bedrooms into which nobody not actually suffer-
ing from poverty would enter without questioning
the landlady sharply on the subject Of intruding
insects; and as for the gardens and grounds, we
have had very deserts and chicken-yards exhib-
tied on the stage, with here and there plaster
statue, always the same, and an inevitable cluml
Of highly impossible trees interlacing their arti
fetal bOuGhs, and supporting each other intrep
idly in the fraud they were practicing upon the
imagination Of the audience. These we have had
and are tired Of them.
An intruder would be astonished to see the
FUSS AND scURRYINs ROUND
which occurs when the curtain is down. A dozen
men are at work covering chairs with different
material, hanging curtains, laying down carpets
and putting up pictures with here q mirror, there
a painting, arranging the ingenious gas fire
place, and suspendng the chandelier, with all the
upholstering and other details. The stage man
ager gives his directions rapidly, and arranges
the score Of minor matters, which in themselTe!
are trifes, but which sometimes add q thousand
fold to the strength Of q situation. An open boob
is left lying in particular spot, two chairs are
suggestiyely close together, where the young
lovers may have left them; the piano is open, and
from the disordered condition of the music some
body has bsen practicIng. There are
THOUSAND LITTLE DETAILS
Of this kind which an ingenious manager will
foresee. Then, again, there are some necessary
pSAAbo NAASSNCA ouSAOAs aAu AAo5O must Be
attended to. And the whole outfit must be made
before the curtain goes up, for one cannot snug
gle in a writing-desk while the play is going on
or pick up the necessary eigar-case from the man
tie, when that valuable article has been mislaid
and is nesting in the stage managers breas
pocket. The actors are not the only people who
need to rehearse before the opening night nor fl
it their fault that piece runs half an hour late
on that trying occasion. It is the fault Of the
idiot who has put yellow satin covers on chairs t
match blue rep lounges, and turned the piano
round so that the instrument will be between the
player and the audience, or has done something
equally provoking and dIlatory. Firstnights arr
trying affairs TO everybody, but If there is one
difGulty more tiresome than another it is setting
| the stage.
THE COURTS.