Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1890-08-10
MUSIC AND THE DRAMA.


WHAT HENRY IRVING SAYS ABOUT
ACTOR MANAGERS.
George Hollands Practical Joking-Ed-
ward strauss Great Orchestra in
New York-Stage Notes.
Henry Irving, in the Nineteenth Century
says l entirely agree with those whose
anxiety for the welfare of the stage would
| relieve actors from the cares of manage
ment, for have often wondered how act
ors have ever been able to retain, as man
ayers, the popularity which they may
have won as artists, or why, experiencing
the troubles of management, they have
ever continued to hold the reins. In the
exercise of their art they are in some ways
desperately handicapped, for a large por
ton of the time and labor which would
almost insure artistic success is required
by the needs of the purely business aspect
of the undertaking. None can know, ex
cept by personal experience, the worries tc
which nervous or excitable manager car
be subject; and when to this is added the
fact that frequently actors have sacrificed
in the vortex of management whatever
fortune they may have achieved in the
practice of their art, the surprise is not
diminished. The small competence with
which some of our greatest actors have re.
tired was generally made after they had
relinquished management. Thus. regret.
fully as Macready retired from the direc-
ton of Drury Lane-and his regret was
almost equal to that of the public whom
he had so well and faithfully served-he
was compelled to play engagements
throughout the country in order to realize
some provision for his later years. Such,
also. is the record of Charles Kean, Charles
Matthews, Webster, Blackstone, Phelps and
others. 1t would certainly have been bet
ter for them if they had resisted the blan.
dishments of management, and relied for
their fortunes on their individual powers
as actors. That the public would have
been the losers / believe, for none know
better than actors the value of well-cast
play, or are more willing to give to the
public the full excellence which they car
command They, as artists, are generally
more fastidious than others, and therefore
more anxious for that thoroughness and
completen sss that they so we'll appreciate
| The fitness of artists to deal with artist.
ought never to be called in question.
The charge Of jealousy among actors Ii
nothing-they simply share this quality
| with the rest of mankind. A somewha
similar allegation is equally made agains
lay directors, who are now and agar
charged with favoritism.
1t will be asked why actors should de
sire at all to be managers if the benefit o
such labors is not mainly to themselves
| The answer may be given that there ar,
sometimes other and higher aims than the
mere accumulation of money. Fortune
may follow enterprise, but every arts
does not make it the chief end or aim o
his effort. He loves his work. Wha
pleasure, for instance, can be greater thar
| that of guiding the talent of younger peo
Pile? Any effort in this direction is pub
| lie good. In country where there is NJ
academy the only professors of acting arr
| the actors, and the only true school fol-
acting is a well-conducted play house. Fol
| the first three years of my early stage life
| | had engagements at theaters then under
the management of actors-Mr. Davis O
| Newcastle, Mr. Wyndham of Edinburgh
and Mr. Glover of Glasgow-and each o
them took pleasure in imparting to th'
Younger members of their companies, a.
we'll as circumstances permitted, some 0
their own stage knowledge and the rudi
ments of their art. | then spent some
years in another theater under the man
agement of proprietor not an actor. Dur
ing the whole of these later years l missed
grievously the sympathy and advice
ol my old actor-managers, and | had tt
grope nv way as we'll as | could withou
counselor or friend | make no attempt tt
! argue the question as to the right ant
| proper people to become the managers o
theaters. This is a matter which thu
public decide for themselves. | speak from
an experience of over thirty years, and o
this country only; and can say, withou
hesitation, that the managements which
have benefited and advanced our callins
and added vastly to the intellectual re
creation of the people have been those o
actors.
GEORGE HOLLANDS JOKE.
From "The Autobiography of JOSEPH
Jefferson" in the Century, we quote as fol
lows: "George Holland was distinctly al
actor of the old school, invariably in
| PRODUCING even into modern character
its traditions and conventionalities; hi
effect were broadly given, and his person
ality was essentially comic. He was quite
an old man when / first knew him, and
had serious doubts as to whether our ac
| quaintance in the theater would be al
| agreeable one; for by the terms of my en-
gagement / was to hold a leading part a.
the comedian of the company, and he
who had always occupied that station, wa:
placed as second to me. | naturally
thought that feeling himself comparatively
subordinate, and that |, younger man
! was to outrank him, he would, by his man
ner at least, resent my intrusion upon his
| former ground. was, however, agreeably
| mistaken; for found him too generous a
man to harbor any jealous feelings, and to
my qualification we were friends from oul
first meeting. 1t is pleasant also to know
that this relation existed over many years
and up to the day of his death.
"The useful career and unblemished
character of George Holland will be re.
called by all who knew him. He lived,
bright and cheerful spirit, in this world
for eighty years, for time could not age his
youthful heart. He was the merriest man
| l ever knew. Practical joking was pas
sion with him, and though his pranks
were numerous, by some good fortune they
always ended innocently and with harm
less mirth. remember that on one occa.
sion, when some goldfish had been placed
in the ornamental fountain in Union
Square, Holland dressed himself in full
sporting suit, and with fish basket
strapped upon his shoulder, broad,
brimmed hat upon his head, and rod in
his hand, he unfolded camp stool, and
quietly seating himself in front of the
fountain began to fish, with such patient
and earnest look in his face that no one
could have supposed that it was practi
| cal joke. This strange spectacle soon at.
tracted a curious crowd about the sports.
man, who, with vacant and idiotic smile
sat there quietly awaiting nibble. A
policeman soon forced his way through
the crowd and arrested Holland, who ex
planned with a. bewildered look that he
was fishing in his own private grounds
| The policeman naturally concluded that