The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1888-02-19

different characters are like whether light
or heavy After this | touch up the per
ormance, making the movement rapid and
ess Stilted. Often | take into account the
manGeriSms of the players and change the
character somewhat to suit Often man
nerism of an amateur is good i'll part II 1t
is not too pronounced. | know of an III
stance where a New York amateur-a gen
tleman-made a big hit by mannorlsm.
"How many rehearSals do YOU insist on.'
THE average is five, and in that number
they can do nearly rs much as if they had
So AT the first they carry their books in
their hands and read the part while famil-
iarizing themselves with the entrances and
the exits. AT the second rehearsal they are
supposed to he able to get along without
thoir books, but this l do not insist upon.
AT the third rehearsal, however, the parts
should be thoroughly committed
AT what age do you find the best anna
teur actingl"
"Between 20 and % amateurs of both
sexes do the best This is because they have
some idea of life by this time. The great
est trouble find with them is that they do
not know what to do with their hands and
are too hasty with their lines. In these re-
spects there is not much difference between
the women and the men. But after re-
hearsing few times common sense over
comes these and other defects. | notice
one thing particularly of late in the anna
teur stage, and that Is a greater willingness
to sacrifice personal adornment on the part
of the women to suit the character. For
instance, if young lady of wealth is as
signed the part of a servant she is perfectly
willing to lay aside her diamond earrings,
pin and bracelets in order to appear true to
the part. | think the amateur stage is adj
vancing, and it is certain great deal more
attention is paid to detail by the amateurs.
Take the performances here now as a rule
and they are far ahead OF a few years ago.
The great objection to crlticislng amateur
performances is that they are always, or
nearly SO, first night performances, and so
slight errors or faults cannot be remedied,
as is the case of regular companies who play
more than once IL the amateurs of this
city and Brooklyn had the opportunity to
repeat their plays they would do better than
a great many professional companies that
are travelling about the country. Let them
play one piece a week and they will COM
pare favorably with most any professional
company. The great point with the anna
teurs is that their acting iSa labor of love
and they go at the work with all their
heart "
''What about entering the profession from
the amateur stagep
"After the beginner becomes known as
able to play a certain line well, promotion
is made to the regular dramatic corps of the
club. The step from that to the profess
sional stage is not great one. A young
woman or man who enters a club with a
view of going on the stage gets the practi-
cal training i'll such societies Us the ANA
ranth represents, because parties are taken
to mount and perform play Just as it
should be mounted and performed But
not many join with this idea, though
know of quite anumber now in the profess
sion who began as amateurs here"
"What part have you found amateurs to
do the best inI'
Eccentric comedy. The reason is that
characters of eccentric comedy are, as rule,
so out of the run of natural life and the
make up is 50 elaborate that in them the
amateur loses his or her identity and thus
has increased confidence. In such a char
acter, too, anything out of the way may be
taken as stage business, whereas, III a nat
ural part, any mistake causes embarrass-
ment.n
Mr.. Bellows rarely calls for dress rehear-
sails. He said he found that they could be
done away with by the substitution of COM
plete diagrams of the stage at rehearsals.
He also has a property book, giving in
minute detail each act and naming the
properties not on the stage but to be brought
on by the characters and known as hand
propsn Here is a specimen page of the
Act LIST of Sealed Instructions"
Workbasket containing mans glove, for
Susanna at Il. 2 E.
Mailbag containing letters, for Benton, ct
L.3E
Papers for Guy, Guy, r. 2 f.
Papers for Katharine at G. r.
Wishbone and pin to fasten, for Ada, R.
2E
Ledger, for Gerald, R. C.
Large doll, dresses, etc, covered with nap
kin, for Susanne, r. 2 Z.
Bandbox containing two hats, one new and
one old, for Susanna, R E.
Mirror Oh piano.
Newspapers, pens, ink, paper.
Books on ottoman. cd ,of =,
Bracelet in box, for LionoI.1L,$E.
One red bouquet, one white bouquet, con-
tanning two cards III envelopes, for ser
want l.. +.
Sealed package and letters, for Earl, at L.
BE.
Unless all signs fail tremendous wave of
amateur theatricals is about to sweep over
the country. FOSTER COATES.