Daily globe. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1878-1884, 1883-11-10
THE PROMPTER's DUTY.
a Character Which Is in Every Cast
and Vet rs Not Permitted to strut

and Vet rs Not Permitted to Strut
His Brief Hour Upon the Stage.
[Chicago Herald
''W hat do have to dor said an old stare
prompter, who is now enjoying his vacation,
to reporter who inquired of him something
about the duties of that theatrical parsonage.
"Well / commence with the rehearsal of the
piece by distributing the parts to the various
people While the stage manager is direct
ing at rehearsals the prompter is kept busy
writing out the parts for the changes of
scene to guide the stage carpenter, list of
properties required for the property man,
schedules of the furniture and tapestries to be
borrowed, and of the wardrobe required for
the supers."
''Do you find the work harda"
81 should say I did. If any one fancies
they are easy let him try once, and he vii
soon be convinced to the contrary. 1t is &
great deal more difficult to stand in the wings
with piay-book in your hands, and follow
what is being said, than it is to do it from the
front of the house. The prompter must fol
low the piece line for line. IF an actor falters
in his speech for a moment the prompteI
must throw him the word he is cropping for;
If AN actress looks appealingly at an audience
the prompter knows she is stuck and inlme.
diately gives her the needed cue. Some
players boast that they never stick. No mat
ter if they had totally forgotten their lines
they say something, and [ have never seen
the difference noticed by the audience YETI
DO you remember any instances Of thai
kind!n
"Once; when I was making the rounds Of
the Pacific slope went to see a performance
OF Macbeth by the company of friend of
mine at San Francisco The players were a
band Of regulation old-tilne ranters, and the
fellow who played the part of the wicked
Macbeth was so far gone in his cups that he
gagged the part more than once in the first
scene. In the middle Of the second scene he
was entirely lost for his lines, but he hesi.
tated only for N oment, when he threw MS
arms around Lady Macbeth's waist, and
drawing her up to him coolly said: Let us
retire, dearest chuck, and con this matter
over in a most sequestered spot, far from the
busy haunts of men. Here the walls and
doors are spies, and our every word is echoed
far and near. Come, then, let's away! False
heart must hide, you know, what the heart
dare not show They made their exit amidst
roar of applause, and I thought that man
had no use for a prompter, sure enough
J
difficultvs
Amateurs or raw actors are my horror
The debutante is another She will forget
her lines the moment she goes on, and be-
come so nervous that she can scarcely re-
peat these the prompter reads to herr
do you remember any particular in
stances Of that kindgn
eyes; remember one young lady who set
herself up for a Juliet. She appeared, sup
ported by a lot of country people, and lost
every line, as usual succeeded in putting
her through the first scene, but when the
famous balcony scene was on, her mother, an
old lady, stood on the ladder behind her read
ing the speeches word for word, which she
, repeated after her. But mamma was g
heavy weight, and the ladder, weak inven
! ton, gave way in the middle of the farewell
The old lady tumbled forward against the
| rickety staging Of the balcony and it fel
| against the set-piece that screened it from thu
| audience, Juliet, mother, balcony and al
| topping down on the gushing Romeo, who
~ the time he was extricated from The
| wreck, was as mournful a lover as the play
represents him to hen