The semi-weekly miner. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1882-1886, 1883-12-19
Historical Society X
THE DUTY
A Character Which is in Every
Cast and Yet is not Permitted to
. Strut His Brief Hour
Upon the Stage.

what have I to do?" said an old
stage prompter, who is now enjoying
his vacation, to q reporter who in
CURED of him something of the duties
of that theatrical parsonage. 'sWell.
l commence with the rehearsal of the
piece by distributing the parts to the
various people. While the stage.
manager is directing at rehearsals
the prompter is kept busy writing out
the parts fer the changes of scene to
guide the stage carpenter, a 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 hard?"
II should say I did. If any one
fancies it is easy let him try it once,
and he will soon be convinced to the
contrary. It is a great deal more diff
ticult to stand in the wings with 4
play-book in your hands, and follow
what is being said, than to DO it from
the front of the house. The promp-
ter must follow the piece line for line.
Ii an actor falters for a moment the
prompter must throw him the word
he is cropping for. If an actress looks
appealingly at an audience the promp-
ter knows she is stuck and immedi-
ately gives her the needed clue.
Some players boast that they never
stick. Nc matter if they had totally
forgotten their lines they say some
thing, and l have never eel the diff
ference noticed by the audience yet"
do you remember any instances
of that kind ?"
"Once, when I was making the
rounds of the Pacific slope I went to
e a performance of Macbeth by
the company of q friend of mine in
San Francisco. The players were y
band of regulation old-time 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 part,
In the middle of the second scene no
was entirely lost for his lines, but he
hesitaIed only for q moment, when
he threw his arms around Lady Mac
beth's waist, and drawing her up to
him coolly said Let us retire, dear
est 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 oar
every word is echoed far and near.
then, let's away! False heart
must hide. you know, what the heart
dare not show" They made their
exit amidst a "a of applause, and
thought that man had no use for q
sure enough"
with whom do you experience
the most difficulty?"
at"AmateurS or raw actors are my
horror. The debutante is another.
She we'll forget her lines the moment
she goes on, and become so nervous
she can scarcely repeat those the
.rompter reads to her"
"Do you remember any instances
Of that kind!"
eyes, 1 remember one young lady
who set herself up for a Juliet. She
appeared, supported by a lot of coun-
try people, and lost every line as U.S.
lal. I succeeded in putting her
through the first scene, but when the
balcony scene was on, her
mother, an old lady, stood OH the lad
Ter behind her reading the speeches
word for word, which she repeated
lfter her. But mamma was Il heavy
weight, and the ladder. a weak in
7ent1on, gave way in the middle of
he farewell. The old lady tumbled
Onward against the rickety staging
II the balcony and it fell against the
'et-piece that screened it from the u
Juliet, balcony, mother and
I'll topping down on the gushing Ro-
neo, who by the time he was extri-
'ated from the wreck, was as mourn
ul a lover as the play represents him
be.'-Chicag0 Herad q.