Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1889-08-04
MUSIC AND DRAMA.
COMEDIAN POWERS TELLS HOW TO
FALL WITHOUT INJURY.

Flashes from the Footlishts of MANY
Theaters-S Stage News and
Notes.-The.
Tell me how you manage to fall with
out getting hurt" said reporter to James
I. Powers, of the Casino, the other day.
They had been speaking of his "Nadiy"
dance at the beuefto of the give AS and
of the comical forward somersault with
which it ended. "Why, it's simple
enough" he said. ''You can fall without
injury if you avoid trying to save your
self from falling. See here"
Powers was standing in front of the desk
in an uptown hotel. He straightened up
and then went over backward as stiff as a
log of wood and struck the floor at full
length. The conclusion almost shook the
house, but Jimmie got on his feet, smiling.
81 give you my word," he said, that
that fall did not hurt me in the least. II
you want to fall backward, lust straighten
yourself up rigidly and tip over. Don't
bend joint, but throw your head for
ward tritie, so that it will not strike the
! floor, and you will not suffer. The trick
Of all sorts of stage falls is simply to re-
| fraln from attempts to save yourself from
falling.
'Some years ago did a number of gro
! tesque falls. In one l would spring into 4
! horizontal position about three feet from
the floor, and then drop so that | would
! strike at full length. never suffered anv
Injury, but | found that in any fall in
which my heels struck the floor first there
was disagreeable shock. At length | hit
upon the idea of having the solid leather
| heels of my shoes extended backward about
a quarter of an inch, Just enough to clear
! the ball of the heel from the floor. After
that | never had any trouble in that sort
! of fall
"In some falls it is necessary to receive
! the first shock upon the palms of the
| hands. Of course they will smart a little
| for second or two, as they will if you
| strike table with the open hand, but that
! is nothing"
One of the most effective falls ever seen
on the stage is that with which Sarah
| Bernhardt ends the death scene of
! Camille" She stands with her back to
the audience, and with one hand on the
! shoulder of Armand, whom she is facing.
! Then her body swings forward and down
! ward, with that hand and her foot at fixed
| points, turns toward the audience, and
| then, as her hand releases its hold, she
! drops at full length on one side.
This fall was discovered by accident at
rehearsal. It's effectiveness was evident at
once, and Benhardt dismissed the COM
pany Immediately, rehearsed the fall for
an hour with Armand. and has made use
| of it in Camille" for a number of wears.
SELFISH WOMEN AND TNrID MANAGERS.
The remedy of the evil of permitting
| women to wear their hats at the play lies
entirely with the managers of the theaters.
| 1t MIR. Palmer cares to compel his patrons
! to do what they would have to do at the
| Vienna Grand Opera and in many other
houses in Europe or England, he has the
| absolute prerogatiye at hand Mr.. Daly is
| likewise. supplied, and so is every other
managef IL the werld They are sfraid
to institute the rule. 1t might keep some
| women out of the the theater who are too
! lazy to arrange their hair neatly, or who
think they look their best in a mountain
| Gus hat. But, as has been said, the way
out of the unpleasantness is as straight as
! an arrow. 4 manager would not allow a
man 10 keep bis hat on in theater for
| five minutes. If the women are COM
| manded TO remove theirs and hold them on
i their laps or tuck them under the seats,
| everything Is then clear and lovely But
| the managers might lose as much as $40
| during the first week Of reform like this.
And never, never expect a manager to lose
| $40.
HERR wOLFF's VIOLIN.
| Herr Wolff, the violinist, recently told
| how he obtained the instrument on which
he plays. sit was present from the Due
! de CampoSelice. | was introduced to the
| Duke at his house in Paris one evening,
and was asked to play. / told the Duke
that, unfortunately, l had not my instru-
| ment with me. Never mind he replied.
choose one of mine,' the Duke having a
| remarkably fine collection. | chose what
| l thought to be one of the best instru
ments and played several pieces. When /
had finished, the Duke rose and said.
| Monsieur Wolff, allow me to present you
with the instrument on which you have
| played The Duke, afterward learned,
valued the instrument at 1000 guineas,
but l, added NJ. Wolf, lovingly handling
the violin, ''value it almost as much as my
life. 1t has the famous Cremona varnIsh,
although its maker Is unknown"
GREATER PUNISHMENT.
When Charles Barron was the leading
man at the Boston Museum he was little
king among the members of the company.
| The only actor in the lot who dared TO
chaff him was Alfred Hudson, a very use
ful, hut by no means "utility" member,
who played second parts, old mems roles
and the like. Barron was forever de-
nouncing the fate which made him an
actor instead of a tradesman, or a me-
chanic, or lawyer, and his remarks were
usually received in silence. One evening
Barron had benefit, and he pretended to
be very much out of harmony with the
affair, although there was big audience
in the house.
There, just listen to that" he ex-
| claimed in the greenroom, as 9 round of
| applause followed his exit from the stage.
What farce this profession is, to be
sure. Why wasn't l brought up green
grocer, or something of that sort? +? l
couluH De any worse OH lnan L am In De-
ing compelled to play here tonight"
"Oh, yes, you might" retorted Hudson.
You might be sitting in front, Witnessing
the performance of the leading man."
MR.. GREENE's NEW PLAY.
Mr.. Clay NJ Greene is now finishing
four-aet comedy drama entitled "Chonita,'
which will be produced in six or eight
weeks by Miss Hattie Harvey and Mr.. E.
D. Lyons, for whom the play is being
| written. The scene of the first two acts Of
the play will be laid in Mexico, the char
| acters being people of the better class :;
that of the third act will be in the ever
glades of Florida, and that of the fourth
act will be in the ST. Charles Hotel, New
Orleans. Miss Harvey will play the part
of a girl born in Mexico of an English
father and Spanish mother, Mr.. Lyons
playing the part of the father, who, in
quarrel, wounds man whom he believes
he has killed, and fees to the everglades
for security. Mr.. Lyons thinks the play
II