New Ulm weekly review. [volume] (New Ulm, Minn.) 1878-1892, 1885-01-14

Sheldon, as he swung the shapely oaken
legs idly to and fro; ''then l shan't
have to carry water tank, as should
if i depended on steam-engine. =
NesO HAGEN Register.
AMATEUR THEATRICALS.
How They Can Be Conducted without
Furnishing an Audience.
Next to an afternoon tea there is no
more fashionable or interesting enter
tainment than an amateur theatrical
party. The first requisite is a suitable
hall. As the main object is to make
money, the luxury of public hall can
scarcely be INDUCED in unless it is Sc
cured in the way of donation. In the
failure to secure a small hall, church.
basement, lecture-room, or chapel, the
next best thing will be billiard or
dancing hall. If possible secure the
auditorium of the greatest length, as
the stage will be better for being deep
rather than wide. This is to keep the
actors in the background; otherwise
every woman on the stage will get the
idea that she is the favorite, and the
foot-lights will be surrounded all the
time.
In whatever room the affair is con-
Quoted remove all furniture and arrange
camp-chairs or benches in tiers. To
avoid confusion see that these seats are
secured in some way. Look we'll to
the ventilation of the room. The stage
built, not forgetting that most neccs-
sary adjunct, the prompter's crown,
| fC I0 70 fro,
extending from the ceiling to the foot
tain. The part of the frame visible to
the audience can be painted or covered
with paper or cheap print. Place
row of pulleys on the under side of the
crossbeam and on the outer edge tack
the drop-curtain, for which almost any
thing will do, as cretonne, canvas, ter
ry, canton flannel, or plaid wooden
cloth. A dado may be made of some
contrasting color, and as finish trim
! the bottom with thick fringe. This
can be prepared at small cost by GRO
chcting it of worsteds, twisting yarn,
or knotting bits of colored cloth that
have been cut in narrow strips ten
inches long. Now buy couple of
dozen Of brass rings some inch and
quarter in diameter and sew them on
the curtain fourteen inches apart. Put
double row down the edges of the
curtain and one row down each seam
and down the centre of each breadth,
making sure when they are attached
that they are in rows parallel to the
pulleys on the cross-pieces. Run strong
cord over the pulleys and thread it
through all the rings but the row on
the edge of the curtain. This outer
row is intended to keep the curtain
from running away from the rings and
through them and fastened at the top
and bottom of the curtain.
Ordinarily a background of some
neutral color will be required with such
furniture as an interior would need.
This will suffice for charades, panto-
mime, and literary and musical pro-
grams, but play or operetta will need
mounting, and that cannot be done
without scenery. Occasionally it is
possible to buy or rent scenes, but with
the aid of an artist or house decorator
and pot of paint scenes can be turn
ed out by the dozen. At the costum-
er's may be purchased colored models
for the work at from 13 to 80 cents
each, which will give the artist ideas
sufficient for the work.
| And now for the play, the success of
which will depend on the length and
number of characters represented The
great trouble with women is their un-
Improbable honor. They want to be
just, and in the endeavor to give the
people the worth of their money they
select long comedy which is put in
the hands of score of murderers, who
exhaust the patience and interest of the
lookers-on long before it is half through
with. The most successful plays are
brief and contain not more than three
acts and ten characters. At any OF the
stationery stores little comedies and
parlor dramas are sold. Shakspearean
plays in abbreviated forms are offered,
and, although largely in demand, it is
not certain that amateurs do not make
q great mistake in such selections
| There are plenty of fairy plays which
if well prepared will be favorably re-
ceived, and the number especially
adapted for the use of academies and
boarding-school girls is unlimited. In
deed, it is in this class that the most
successful parlor comedies have been
selected. The parts being learned
numerous rehearsals should be had,
and during this preparatory work it
would be advisable to take a few les
sons in stage etiquet. If an instructor
cannot be got, take the time to goto the
theatre and see how public actors and
actresses walk across the stage, sit
down, take attitudes, manage draper
les, and, above all, note what DISPOSE
ton they make of their hands. Such
department may seem very simple and
easily done, but it is colossal miscon-
ception, for to do these simple easy
things in a simple easy manner is the
very acme of dramatic art. If any
thing like a reasonable degree of sue
cess is expected it will be imperative
that the affair be put under the man
agement of some one familiar with the
profession.
Stage dressing should be done for eff
feet, and no color should be made up
until it has been well tested with artifi-
cial lights. Behind the footlights 80
cent sateen will make better looking
court dress than So satin; gorgeous
cretonne is as effective as brocade; SIS
worth of Rhine stones will make bet
ter showing than $500 worth of soil
taires, nor can any one discriminate be-
tween 15-cent Honiton lace flounce
and Portuguese point worth dollar
u square inch. Special study should be
given to drapery. In the manner of
making up as much good sense as art
will be necessary. The main thing to
have in mind is the effect of distance
and gaslight. The face will need al
rive prominence to o the features o Care 70
should be taken in the choice of cos
metics, as there is quite enough that is
pernicious on the green-room dressing
case to ruin the complexion if not seri-
Ously iniure the health. The simplest