Madison times. (Tallulah, Madison Parish, La.) 1884-1???, 1885-06-20
ACTORS MEMORIES.
Prominent Players and How They
Commit Their Parts.
Irving, Booth and 0thers.-Very Little Study
Now as Compared With Days Gone BY.


Now as Compared With Days Gone BY.
zone of the most curious and incom
prehensible things to the public in gen.
eral in regard to theatrical people is the
manner in which they commit their
parts to memory" said q well-known
actor and manager last week. "Only the
other day prominent man said to me:
The act of studying and remembering
parts of plays. has always seemed to me
to be a most notable and lahorious ac-
complshment.' Well, it may not be so
verv notable, but it is undoubtedly in
many cases extremely labOrious. There
are, however, many exceptions. Some
people are able to learn their parts with
rapidity and ease. l have seen some
professional people take hold of a part,
when there was no especial need of
memorizing it in brief space of time,
and, after reading it over, learn it per-
fectly in marvelously short time. 1t
is not the best actor who can memOrize
the quickest. To some of the most
prominent people on the stage the task
Of committing their parts is hard one.
As manager | always preferred to have
around me people to whom this work
was difficult. felt surer with them. l
knew they had a well-disciplined men,
ory and when once they had learned
their parts they could be depended upon.
But there are exceptions to all rules. |
recall an instance ofa young actor who was
i'm a company had in Washington some
wears ago. He was bright fellow and
had a fine stage appearance, but he ha
the most unretentive memory ever
knew. When he had, after great labor,
learned a part he would often at the
critical tine forget some of it. AT last
he got discouraged and | got disguised
ana the sequel of the matter is that he
is now prosperous farmer in Michigan
HOW GREAT ACTORS STUDY.
81 can always tell an actors tempera
mant by the manner in which he studie:
his part. 1t is fine index to his char
acter. Anyone who has ever seen Irving
study can attest the truth of that asser
ton. He takes the utmost pains will
every line and word. He weighs ever.
SYLLABLE as though his life depended up
on it. He studies slowly, not because o
any difficulty in memorizipg, for he ha
no such difficulty, but because he pay
the same attention to the details of th'
lines of the play as he does to the detail
of the scenery.
Booth is another actor who was mos
careful in his study, but it has been s.
long since he learned a new part tina
the task would now be almost novelty +
him. Poor Ned Sothern was very in
teresting actor to be seen learning apart
There was nothing slovenly about M
=, | WORK. lie ledIllcu edsi'N, pu' hN ""' ">
customed to pace up and down the hoo
of his room, uttering line Overland owe
again until he had struck the correct eS
pression. But these efforts never create
! anything artificial in him. He was carr
s est and sincere always. Fred Warde ha
a notably quick and retentlve mem0r!.
I recall an instance illustrative OF thl
4 Theodore Hamilton was once engaged
New York to play Edmund In 'kin
Lear Edwin Booth was playing u
title role. Late in the afternoon HAM
ton got sick and sent word that he coul
not appear. The manager was IN mo
unpleasant dilemma, especially as IL ";
the opening performance OF the engag
ment. He looked about for some one
l. take Hamilton's place and selecte
f Warde. who had been assigned to an I
ferior part. Warde protested that
+ knew practically nothing of the part al
= said be had not sufficient time IN whlt
+ To study it. The manager, however, L
S sisted and Warde got down to wor
% That night his Edmund was warm
e greeted. He did not miss werd.
l. FROM HERALD TO A KING.
e az remember one night when Geor
l. Rignold was playing Henry Filth. aDo