The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1879-04-08
The Actors Sp0Oks.
IN. Y. SUM-

IN. Y. SUM-
Stage performers of every degree have q
superstitious horror of rehearsals on Sunday,
although they have regular performances every
night in the week when their engagements car
ry them to New Orleans. During the three
weeks rehearssls Of jarrett & Palmsr's specta-
Gle, "Eeo and LOTUS" at Niblo's, thers were
two Sunday night rehesrsals aud at each it
was found necessary to lock the door at IL D.
M, to keep the dancing girls from running
away. Evdn then some of them got out of the
sreen-room windows on Crosby street, climbed
over the railings and escaped
1t is superstition that salaries will not be
paid regularly during the run Of a piece that is
rehearsed on Sundays, or else the piece itself
will be failure, or death will occur In the
company This was predicted at the Sunday
rehearsals of the "Crook', and the croakings
of the ballet girls were verified by the sudden
death of Miss Milf Cavendish, the soubrette
Of the spectacle after it had run but one month.
At the Grand Opera House during Jim
Fisk's management, tina Sunday night re-
hearsals were enforced in spite of all the pro-
tests of the dramatic and show people. When
the great spectacle. "Lallah Rookh", was
preparing, there were three Sunday represen.
tatous, and the birds of i'll omen were loud in
their predictions of disaster. Fisk was shot
and killed before the fourth Sunday night reyel
to justify this prediction, and the piece, though
money for its manager
When "Baba', was In preparation at Niblo's
during August, 1876, there were frequently
Sunday rehearsals, and the carpenters and cos
tuners were kept at work every day in the
week. 1t was predicted In conseq uence that
the spectacle would be failure. Ii made mon
ey, but there was crash in the end, and the
trouble about the piece was endless.
At the last rehearsal Of the spectacle all the
scenery wasr esdy and 'set'' for the first time.
m ia fra nafo atin INN oil 1a1
cage, filled with white doves, was to be used.
These throughout the first act were kept sus-
pended far up in the flies out of sight of the
audience. Miss Eliza Weathersby who played
the cage until the Sunday night full-dress re:
hearsal had progressed, very smoothly, TO the
second act, and she stood ready to 60 on at the
second entrance, left Happening to cast her
eyes upward, she esped it aud its contents.
Rushing off to the first entrance, sne caught
George Devere, the stage manager, by the arm
and led him to her former standpoint, and,
pointing to the cage, asked 10 great excitement:
"Mr. Devere, tell me-what is that up
there?''
"Why, it's very large bird.csge, Miss
Weathersby," he replied in great astonishment.
"And what are they going to do with it?"
'It's to be useful In the final transformation
scene."
'But they must take it down. I'll not have
it there"
"Why, what objection can you have?"
"What objection? Do you suppose 1 am GO
ing to play with cage of white doves over my
head%
"Why not?''
Because it's unlucky. The piece will be a
failure, or l, or some Of US, will die, or some
| tn ing awful will happen.'
"You don't believe that, Miss Weathersby?"
"Oh, you don't know! I'm astonshed that
| thing"
"Pshawl Why, this is foolish" laughed
Devere. There. that's you. There's the cue
20, you to go on. Don't think any more about
"But won't 60 on" pouted the beautiful
and wayward actress, $50 long. as those doves
are on the STAGE"
And she didn't. There was pause-a long
pause-in the play; there was an argument,
and long argument; bat It all ended in sur
render to the superstition of the actress The
piece was stopped until the carpenters could
haul down the ponderous cage and remove the
obnoxious doves, aud at the regular perform
ance a flock of canary birds was substituted for
the birds of evil omen.
During the run of the spectacle ''Sardanapa-
lus' at Booths, the stage manager, l. j. VIM
hot water owing to the superstition of the girls
of the Italian ballet One night before the
curtain rose one of the coryphees rushed from
her dressing-room to find Vincent
.'Mr. Vincent" she cried, 'thst girl Leila"
"Well, what the devil is il now?' exclaimed
the manager, out of all patience with the
wrangllng set
"She whistle! She blow her mouth SOP
"Well, let her whistlel Let her blow her
mouth What's that to you?"
"To me? Much to mel She whistle me ont
Of the theatre" exclaimed the girl between
her sobs.
1t took ths frantic Vincent some time to dis.
cover that It Is superstition of ballet girls
that If one OF their number whistle while in
her dresslng-room, the party who is whistlsd at
will Lore her situation in the theatre within the
fortnight The utter impossibility of the stage
manager preventing the vicious or envious
girls from whistlng at their enemies makes
the stage place Of torture for that official
during the run Of any spectacle.
The same fatality accompanies Locke's in-
cidentisl music in "Mscbeth," especially the
witches refrain. Around, around, around"
The writer was, couple of seasons ago, watt
| ing on the stage of the Union Square
| Theatre for fiiend to finish his duties az a re-
hearsal, and at tue close Of the reception, after
| brief Chat with Tlssiugton, the orchestra
| leader, he turned about to walk up the stage to
| rejoln his friend, hummins the air, "We fly by
| night" Charles Thorne and the late Claude
Burroughs FASTENED toward him with looks of
| horror in their faces.
Hush" they cried together. "Don't sing
| that, Macbeth's music"
"Why not?"
"Ips bad luck! Do you want the new piece
to fail, or the theatre to burn down?'
This was said so earnestly that there was no
! arguing or laughing it of
Poor Harry Murdoch, tradition has it,
| whistled Inadvertently few strains of this
| fatal Macbeth" music 10 his dressing room in
| the Brooklyn Theatre two nights before IL was
bnrned down, and Claude Burroughs told sew
| eral OF his friends about Union Square the
next day how he had stopped Harry's omin-
| ous music.
Another bad sign which is quoted in regard
to Broolyn Theatre Is the fact thar dog took
. great fancy to the stage doorkeper, and final-
ly got 80 familiar that it ranged the house. driv-
all the cats out. This was bad sign, for In
In all the theatres the entrance Of q cat is q
sign OF good luck, and dog always typifes
| disaster. 10 every theatre in this city cats
| roam at will, and dogs are outlawed. Two of
| Jerrett 50 Palmer's best dancers in the ''Sar-
danapslus" spectacle broke their contracts az
ter they had been in this country only two
| days, and took the next steamer back to Eu-
rope, because on visiting the dressing room as
| signed them at B01th's. at q rehearsal, they
found vsgrant black cur ensconced In one
corner, having made its way ther unseen from
/ the street.