The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1891-09-20

| noticed at once by Chronegh. After the
| performance one of the officials gave me a
! message from Mr.. Cronegh, which was as
/ follows: You will be discharged if it hap
/ pens againl" That's the way with uss
| added the official with a quiet smile. It
| was through this extreme exactness that
the Meiningens succeeded as they did.
| When L came to study under ChroueCb
/ they were in the prime of their fame
| They had travelled through various Euro
| pean countries and had reaped laurels and
| gold wherever they went. The repertoire
| contained many of the leading PLAYS of
| Shakespeare, Calderon, Moliere, Goethe.
| Schiller and other German writer's. Nor
were the modern dramatists forgotten.
Now and then the Duke of Meininreu
| gave performances to invited audiences
| consisting of authors, artists and the no.
| bllity. They were generally new PLAYS
| that had created good deal of sensation
! but had not, as yet, found truly artistic
| representation. During my stay he pro-
/ duced within one week the dramas "Gos-
| sap" by the Spaniard Ehlegray. "Ghosts"
| by Isben, and ''fhescandia" by Yoss,
| The Berlin critic, Paul Lindsu, the trans,
lator of Ehlegray's drama, and Richard
| Voss were guests of the duke.
also had the pleasure Of being intro
| duced TO the duke.
| One morning lackey, in a gorgeous
uniform, appeared in my room and said,
His exceHency requests your presence To-
uiOiIOh Il QOUncu my DeSE
| garb and entered with trembling into the
audience room. / have often thought
over this meeting, but have never found
| out Yet why / was summoned to George
H., Duke of Meiningen.
He condescended to shake hands with
me and asked me how I liked Meiningen.
| stammered ''very WE'LL" and this was
the beginning and end of our converse
ton. | was also introduced to his wife,
Freifrau Won Heldburg. The duke, point
ing to me, said: This is young man,
introduced to US by =" The Freifrau
| Won Heldburg nodded with q smile. I
| thought her rather homely and could
| scarcely believe she was the same person,
once entitled the charming Ellen Franz"
| Before she married the duke she played
soubrettes as well as heroic and senti-
mental parts. She e1ceiled in parts, old
theater-goers tell me, like Elmire in "Tar-
| tuffe''
| So my acquaintance with the duke was
| very limited. However, / shall always re-
member his refined taste in all art matters.
| His whole life has been devoted 10 the
dramatic art and his private fortune has
| allowed hlm to accomplish all his aims.
The company has never produced a
| great genius like Salvini, but it has
| brought forth u large number of intelli-
| gent and versatile actors, and among them
| two who have gained wide reputation
| Bjorn BiornSon, the son of the Norwegian
| novelist, and Ludwig Barnay, the unsur-
| passed Marc Antony of the German
| stage. Prominent among the actors, dur
| ing my temporary stay, was Max Gruber
| the ''star" (if such a word is allowed with
the Saxon Meiningen company; Karl
| Goerner, the leading juvenile and comedi-
an; handsome Alexander Barthel and the
classic beauty, Anna Haverland, the hero
and the heroine; old Wilhelm Arndt snip
pish Miss Sedlmayr, little Miss Trasch,
the soubrette, and others.
One of the chief aims of the manage
ment was that every part should be well
played. Very often several parts were
played by young actors who had starred
in the provincial towns. Particular at
tention was given to the training of the
supers. They were so well paid that they
could live on the money and devote all
their time to their work. Among them
were many students of the dramatic art,
intelligent young men. The continual re.
hearsals were good schooling for young
talents
To many supers part was assigned,
| for instance, the role of a beggar, a coun-
| try lawyer, fool or poet, etc, which re-
| quired good deal of dumb play. They
| had to devote the same care to their cos
tune, makeup and appropriate gestioula-
ton as the leading actor to his part.
| Dresses were never allowed to look brand
new, but always little used. as they are
in reality. And how they were drilled,
until they moved naturally in the COS
| tunes of the different periodsl
The rehearsals often lasted from seven
| to nine hours. Sometimes they took place
| directly after the performance, sometimes
| in the morning, when the tired Thespians
| are supposed to rest on their laurels, and
! at all other times of the day.
Whenever Messenger Shafer appeared in
our quarters, we knew that there was an
other unexpected rehearsal. How often
did he disturb my sleep!
There ALWAYS crowd in the Inhhv
when one of the stage managers made
notes on the large blackboard.
They assembled there with q great deal
of noise, and it may he of interest to
know what the actors said on such ocoa-
sions.
Grube-"D-i it'll Another rehearsal at
midnight"
Arndt-'I suppose / must invest in q
lantern to find my way to the theaterp
Miss Sedlmayr-"A Another part in tights
| for me! I'll catch cold, I'm sure"
Barthel (sarcastically(-"A part Of ten
| lines for me! Beautiful 1 must sayi
Soon | will be advanced to the role Of q
| super"
Anna Haverland-"Oh my Godl How
| will | look disguised like an old woman 20
ETC., etc. The ladies also had TO bow TO
| the stern rules; they were obliged TO look
| old, wear no corsets, ETC., If the parts de-
| manded it.
| Then the comedian burst into some top
! ical song that fitted the occasion, jokes
| flew from one to another and all left the
| theater laughing.
We did good deal of travelling, gener-
| ally staying about four weeks in one city.
| We always took the same train and nearly
always stayed at the same hotels. We
resernbed a large family. None were
| allowed To put on airs.
How well l remember them--the negli-
| gent style of Barthels conversation, who
| was decidedly conceited, but otherwise an
| amiabIe fellow; little Trasch, with her
! travelling cap on one ear, who kept up
| continual chatter; Goerner, in his eccentric
! costume, az comical of the stage as on,
and Papa CRUDE, as we called him, was a
father 10 Us all.
The Meiningens had the honor Of intro
ducing "naturalism" into the dramatic
art. With them everything had to be his
torically correct. For historical scenery
studies on the spot itself They were sens
10 the castle of Elsinore C"Hamlet'') ID
Fotheringay castle ("Mary Stuart") %
Danremy ("Joan Of Arc'D. TO the ravine 20
Kusnacht ("William Tell'D, and 70 Yer.
ona ("Romeo and Juliet"l
In "Walienstein" the soldiers were
dressed in genuine arInory OF the '|1hir-
teen Years war. Often special artists
were sent 20 various European museums
TO be able 10 make copy OF certain dag
ger, helmet or costume, and If there vac
any doubt Of the original being authentic,
the best authorities were asked for advice.
They are satisfactory to the most minute
details in representing a thunderstorm or
a twilight scene. r battlefield in old Nor.
wav or an idylic landscape in France thu