The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1878-05-19


hour before blackboard to a large and select
class of the most intelligent amateurs. and win
ming their respect by his learning. as he held
their attention by his enthusiasm and elo-
quencc
| met him one day Just after his school Of
expression, rs he called II. had been opened
and he told me with charming ndireie how
many mistakes he hnd made. He seemed to
understand now that. to reform anything, one
must not in our day commence Il crusade. nor
must he expect ut the mere announcement Of
reform to have tho sympathy and support Of
the class that needs reforming. 1" am going
! TO work now quietly to teach" said he. and
shall rest the claims Of my system and labors
on the examples that my school furnishes"
| | thought this was exceedingly judicious. /
| would watch the examples.
| 1t would be improper for me to name the
players who put themselves under the teacher
| with a system. On the whole. they prefer not to
have 1t known that they have system. Some
| OF them are conspicuous actors. and have i'm
! proved rapidly. There is one. however. whose
name feel justified In using. because he is the
most brilliant example of them all. and he has
taken occasion to speak publicly OF the services
rendered in that school.
| This is Mr.. John Mccullough. looked upon
| now as the coming man Of the American stage
in tragedy. When he played his last scason at
Booths Theatre everybody was amazed ut the
leap he had made in his art His Oihetlo and
Richelieu astonished me by being entirely I'M
like his former representations Of those charac-
tcrs The native vigOr. resonance. and fire
were there but they were disciplined and con-
trolled. nicer balance of faculty was APP
parent. The intelligbity Of the subtlcr emo
lions had been made sharper and clearer.
There were noble climaxes OF passion. Less
. IA
adaptation Of tone and gesture to the exigent
thought more repose. more dignity. more
grace.
The crickets suddenly discovered that John
Mccullough had genius. Genius being a thing
that suddenly descends upon "a man in the mid
die OF his career.
&" The fact is" said John to me. that teacher
has taught me moro in three months than
could have learned otherwise in twenty years.
and don't care who knows it,"
This was very frank of John.
Said the teacher. couldn't have taught him
II he hadn't been gifted in wonderful man
ner."
This was very Just Of the teacher.
After while we had play produced at Wal
lacks called won at Last" and then the
teacher seems to have merged into the drama
fist. Commercially Won at Last" was n sue
cess, l believe. Hstheticaly II was n most
worthy endeavor. with broad ethical purpose
and better style than any of the so-called
American plays that had preceded IL.
Its representation Mt Wallack's had the ad-
vantage Of the excellent actors always 10 be
| found there. But | did not think at the time
that they were brilliant or happy in their wres-
tie with the work. and | said so. / think they
interpreted the piece according TO the Wallack
| code. whatever that may be. Ii seemed to me
| that they did not catch. and consequently did
| not convey. the authors idea. That. on the
contrary. they believed IL to be their duty to
show the author what the proper Wallack idea
was.
/ mention this now because. after the piece
was withdrawn from that stage. the playwright
went to work quietly. and organizing a COM
pany OF such material as he could get. said;
g will show you how much discipline. re-
hearsal. subordinaton fthe individual intel-
gent study OF the idea. and careful drill in its
expression have to do with the success OF dra-
matte representation"
Weeks were spent in rehearsals. and finally
| the company set out through New England
Last week ! saw Won at Last" in Phladel-
| phia. ! scarcely knew the play. Not only its
complexion. but its spirit had changed. True.
certain integral defects In the composition were
there still. but the representation was new
departure" Some ofthe people were strangers
W me. NbUc pl lntln ndh inc lItSlkt lilut ut
taches to METROPOLITAN company. But no
metropolitan company could have played the
piece with q nicer discrimination or a better
adjustment Of its parts. | saw at once that an
organizing intelligence had been to work here.
| for much OF the material OF the company was
crude. Yet II did its work exactly. effectively.
inteligently. for it understood what its work
was and what its means OF execution were.
Perhaps the performance OF Miss Blanche
Media Ia pupil. who played the part of Grace
| Fleming. more clearly demonstrated her masters
| system than did any OF the others. because
had seen this young player many months be-
| fore attempt debut and fail. and was not IA
vorably impressed 10y her abilities during that
experiment. The second view convinced me
how easy it is TO confound the disasters and
dement's Of the play. the house. and the enter
| prise with the weaknesses OF the artist Miss
Media gave to the part OF Grace Fleming finer
significance than did the experienced and
justly popular actress who had originally
| played the part. And | saw that she was as
suminG the role throughout; or. in other words.
she had stepped out Of her individuality TO por-
tray il.
| This brings me to what wanted 10 say. and 1t
| isthis; The system" which originally looked
| like such a bugaboo. now that II is in running
order. is the simplest thing in tho world
nothing more. in fact. than the intelligent effort
| TO make players understand their business be-
| fore they enter into il.
just such system as that the stage is sadly
| in need OF. 1t doesn't create actors. but II de-
velops them. / find myself compelled to pay
Miss Blanche Media a compliment remember
that 1t is only little while ago she was laughed
at in this city for attempting to act. II she plays
Grace Fleming here nobodywill ieer her on the
contrary she will be recognized as an artist OF
great promise, and one OF many who have helped
to illustrate the pluck. the loyalty OF endeavor.
and the excellent method OF Steele Mackaye.
NYM CRINKLE.
Mr.. Ecclesine's Sentiments.
NJ mum Lp,rop ~, nYp 7 49,.