Telegram-herald., 1889-04-15


hls. There isn't any such amount ot insnir-
alton in acting, or iupressibiliiy IN an audi
ence. Besides. tho matter recitsd was ex-
trcmcly familiar % the party, especially 10
the ministers. ani that fact would make the
task II stirring them with II all tho more
difficult II "a recitation is 80 make any body
weep IL must present a picture of woe or tell
a moving story The I.ords Prayer, recitcd
a. an elocutionlst'9 exploit, could not possibly
serve that purpose. aud should bc inclined
- think that "A sen>e OF sacrilege Hight easily
b.. tho feeling that IL would excite in pi0us
minds. At all events were The Greatest ac-
tor on earth 1 should not care 10 undertake
tho feat"
II is saic that Edwin Booth was once play
in Petruchio with an actress considerably
larger than himself, and that he thought she
let 20 the whip too readily when, fetru-
chio. hc wrost.sl II from the hand ~ Katherine
81, after ths play was over, ho s2id. You
must hold on 10 the whip with more hrmness
tomorrow night; grasp 1t as hard a. you
can; III set it away from you, never fear'
The next performance of Shakespcare's
Tanning Of the Shrew' came, and the mel
anchOly eyed tragcdlan who, for the ronce.
was essaying comedy. attempted 10 tho
instrument Of 1sgellatiOn from ale
support" II was no 20. She 10 II
with "A grasp OF iron, and the aud soon
began 10 sec the joke and ,pplauded the act
rcss to the echo. Finally, out Of pure good
nature, shc unloosed her hold and the play
proceeded When the curtain fell the actor
had no advice 10 give.
Ia a conversation with Mr. Booth Ia Janu-
airy. 1864, in answer TO the question Is TO
whether or not he liked his calling, Mr. Booth
answered. rather hcsitatingly, Yes" Then
be added, after a pause, Il was born 20 the
stage. you know. / was familiar with It's ira
ditions, its pleasures and It's hardshils FROM
my earliest boyh0od. ] was relieved from all
the pains and d,sappOintmentS of those who
are stage stru1 > But my familiarity with
the business &c 10 saved me from the mis-
takes which noviccs make, deprived me Of the
buoyancy ana h0pefuness which. fancy. are
experienced by those who approach the pro
fesAion from the outside. strangers 10 It's hard
ships, and filled only WIKI an enthusiastic idea
of It's possible successes
Booth was very successful in Vienna, but
glance at tho audiences suiliced 20 show that
the naiority had not come 10 see, but rather
10 be seen and tha. many were there with
tho solo purpose u making their acquaint-
anccs believe that they knew English. 4
comic paper Of Vienna illustrated this obyi-
ous fact IN the following manner. TWO stoat
ladies' are attcutively wal = Lear, who is
tearing bis hair One q. tacia ass, Ia an
audible whisper, what is the old rlan cry
ing about, do you known "Oh. no wonder
he's desperate. he can't understand a word
his own flesh and blood says to him, answers
the other
Ono Of Edwin Booths marked character
istics l. entire forgetfulncSs ~ sli-in other
words. abscucc Of mind ta~c .ir.lc of tho
theatre he can think 81 re,...- OUTSIDE the
part be i - play. Occaa.n- r.JhGrs are
tho natural sequence Mr. Eoafh knows his
wcakness. and % protect Eimsef keeps
dresser, whose sole duty is 90 look after the
tragcdians theatTical wardrobe Every night
after the closoof tho performance tAis Gree9o-
carefully puts away the costume worn hy
Mr Booth that night and then lays out the
ore required f0r the next night
When Mr Booth enters las dressing room
be dons this costume without once giving it
a thought. having fuu conflenoo IN his
dresser One night ia Chicago several years
ago this dresser mnie a lnmontnblo mistake
concerning the programme q th, week. with
tho result that Ir Epoth wc.It on tho stage
tic following uigat 90 ploy Romeo IA "a liam
let costume The audience was 50 disturbed
that Mr Booth had 70 stop ard make
speech explaining tho mistake. lie then con
tuucd bis Performance. bet changed bis oos-
tune at the first opportunity.