New Ulm weekly review. [volume] (New Ulm, Minn.) 1878-1892, 1885-10-28

go the ordeal Of a public appearance.
Finally my chance came, l was al
lowed my selection of part, and
chose Othello."
"When did you come to American"
meditating in a cloud of smoke. cit
was in 1849. In that year Charlotte
Cushman visited England. went to
call upon her, and shall never forget
how she impressed me. The power of
determination written upon her face
was wonderful. And l may say here
that l have seen no photographs or
paintings which did her justice. Asan
outcome to our interview she engaged
me for her leading support. She pos
sessed will OF iron. and the course of
rehearsals through which we went pre-
vious to her English debut were both
exhaustive and instructive. In Oc-
tober of the same year she returnedto
America. I accompanied her, and
opened at the old Broadway Theater.
The play was The Stranger, Cushman
appearing, OF course, as Mrs. Haller.
When she returned to London in 1850
l declined to make the trip with her.
America had taken so complete hold
on me that I decided to remain here
My first heightened engagement on this
side was for four years in the stock
company of the Walnut Street Thea
ter, Philadelphia
"What did you think of Cushman?'
"She was a genius-a woman pos
f, sessing the expressive force of a man.
Obstacles were unknown to her, or, at
least, so easily surmounted that they
might as we'll not have existed. Her
Meg Merrilies captured London by
storm, and an excited crowd packed
the theater whenever she appeared.
Her makeup was q marvellous study,
and from her first entrance she swayed
the audience as readily as if she had
been some shriveled old bag with a
fairy wand wt1o had infinite power
+, over them. At one moment they were
wildly applauding, the next they were
mopping the hears from their faces
She was g woman to inspire those who
were acting with her, believe me-"
II presume you appeared with all
you were IN England?'
eyes, 4 played with Macready,
Charles Kean, John Vandenhoff, Ellen
Tree, Helen Faucit, Nine. Vestris and
many Others"
Chow did Macready impress you9'
SHewas grand, and owned one OF
the MOST magnificent voices I ever
listened to. His power in strong dra-
matte passages was thrilling, and his
patlsps indescribable- / never wit
messed representation of the Lady
of Lyons equal to that which he and
Helen Faucit used to give. It was in
deed a rare treat. He looked every
inch a prince, and sine was an ideal
Pauline. Macready' Othello, Cassius,
Richard II. and Claude Melnotteprob-
ably presented him at his best, al
Though there were portions ofhis Mac
beth which fairly took your breath
| away. He was always conscientious,
! always sincere. They tell of ininn-al-
though do not know this to be a
faet-that in different portions of his
plays where he was obliged to appear
! suddenly on the stage in strongly
! excited condition, he would frequently
spend three or four minutes working
! himself up behind the scenes before he
i rushed into the presence of the aud
ience.''
1'How did you regard Helen Faucits2''
1 As almost every one else did as a
charming artist. ] previously re-
marked that her Pauline in The Lady
i OF Lyons was exquisite. It was not
! SO fine a portrsiture, however, as her
Rosalind in Mut b Ado. Her rendition
Of the latter role was one of the finest
/ creations ever given to thestage. She
understood the. secret OF being per-
ffectly natural without being common
place, and shen never missed one parti-
( Gle of the poetry OF Shakespeare"
."What are your fayorite parts, Mr..
iCouldock?"
| 1'They were, . was the answer, mean
slingly, "Iago, King Lear and two or
/ three others. Years have passed,
t though, since touched any Of them -
/ 'How many times did you play
! Dunstan, the miller, in Hazel Kirke?"
81 played that, should say, quite
| a little over a thousand times, and to
do that1 must have Travelled nearly
/ so, 200 miles. Somewhat of a stretch
of ground, isn't it? This travelling is
one OF the most tiresome and wearing
experiences an actor is obliged to en-
dure. If we could only play town af-
tier town in a straight line it would
not be SO bad. But frequently we
jump 200 miles to reach a city, and
the next day we are obliged to go back
LOO OF that number to town which
we passed through the day previous,
w h Cd 70 ha nj 4