St. Paul daily globe., 1892-06-07
KISSING BY R0TE.
How the Art of Oscillation Is
Practieed on the
Z -ss~n Stage.
Every Prominent Actor Has
!sy Ideas of How It Should
Be Done.
-ssIis- ~
Actresses, Too, Seem to Have
Strong Views on the
Subject.
Spmetimss They Don't Agree,
and Then There Is Fun
% for an Audience.

sweetness long drawnaout," neither is
it itnnreal. Harriet Martiaeau says. "A
kiss of the mouth often toaeheth not the
Heart" A definition that tits the whole
category of stage ktsseS.sb Every play
has its kisses and every player his idea
sof best0wing them, modified in many
instances to suit the ACTRESS or song
stress. Kissing. like therest of the stage
. business. is carefully Tehearsed. and
great artists have 40 hesitancy in tell
Ing leading man. or atenor, where and
how they wish, TO be9kissed. Almost
any actor can kiss the heroine to whom
he is making love. but ittakes an artist
to put the reyerent affection Ill the kiss
imprinted on the br0wsand cheek of the
lady playing the role Of mother or sis
ter.
>. There is not a more kissable woman
on, the American stage than Miss Selma
. Fetter. She has very pretty mouth,
uneonmoniY fine teeth. and the beauty
and charm of health and refinement.
Her share of stage kisses as we'll as her
good taste enables her TO speak intelli-
sgentiy on the subject.
"A kiss to be artistic must be imper-
sonal," she says, "OtherwiSe it is apt to
be quite as disgusting to the audience
as a company kiss to a third party
There was considerable kissing in the
Henrietta during its long run. but it
would have been impossible to make it
more delicate. played the part of the
widow. and when | tainted in the
Brokers' arms be. kissed ne, but SO
lightly that the touch of his lips was
scarcely perceptible. Mr.. Crane is too
good an artist to do an inartistIc thing.
t'When Mr.. Robson. as BERTHE the
Lamb. kissed Agnes. he charmed his
audience. He told her he was going to
kiss her; she hung her head. biushed
and yielded. Then he pecked at her
pretty face, first at her forehead, then
her cheek and again at her lips: They
were in perfect keeping with the char
acter, and. while the audience always
roared with amusement, the sentiment
was there. and it was appreciated. All
winter | played in Don Caesar Alex
ander SalVini made love to me and
kissed me at every performance. He
used makeup to strengthen his mus
tache, and, as areSult, imprinted small
circle or a large-siZed period in the
center of my cheek. In Friends Mr..
Lewis Henderson and | dre cast for
lovers. One scene calls for very strong
portrayal and very DELICATE work. 1t is
the actor who beStowS the first kiss
upon the lips of his sweetheart, and it is
the actress who is influenced by the pas
sion that sweetenS it, but neither the
man nor the WOMAN has any feeling in
the matter. Ii they had the audience
would be placed in an embarrassing po-
sitiOn and the play would suffer"
j. Glendinning played leading parts
with Mrs. Rental ea the other side. He
had many nice things to say of her and
her devotion tofaft.
, 81 remember the first time | played
with her in'The White Lie She wanted
a good deal of realism in it, and. to tell
tle truth l was little itimid about
making the advance. the party called
for. She saw at once my diff1dence
and graciously came to my rescue.
Now, Mr.. Gleldinning,' she said, L
want you to feel as uhconStrained to-
wards me as you do towards your wife.
You are to show me just as much af-
fectionate attention. Don't hesitate in
the least to smooth my HAIR or caress
me- This at once put me at MY ease,and
| kissed her face and her hair and
her fingers, and when my kisses were
not definite enough she told me so and
l modified them. This is what every
true artist does. There is absolutely
no more feeling in the matter than there
is in offering the leading lady chair or
returning her fam"
When Miss Emma Vaders PLAYED
with Mr.. Booth she always began to get
uncomfortable about kissing him ami to
face away from the house. In "Kath-
crime of Petruchio" MIR. Booth depend
ed ON Egyptian black for his whlSkerS,
Il W Of hi nnptndU fn lea
mustache OIL the Shrew's face where
evee he happened to kiss her.
Jean de keZke lad tender way of
taking the sopranos face between his
hands, bending down and kissing the
part in her blonde wig that was very
effective. Mr. Bell. Maud Harrison's
husband. is always the chival-
rous, high-minded lover, and de-
poSits his caresses on the SOU
brette's front hair. In his whole
stage career he has never been known
to get nearer her lips than her bang.
Mr.. Edwin Royle, on the other hand,
believes in ideal realism. He has kissed
the leading lady on her DOmpadour roll
> bot never without protest.
Dixey has always been recognized as
a tickle kisser; one night he will kiss
the leading lady with vigor and finish,
and the next omit it altogether. De
Wolfe .Hopper's kisses are among his
funniest attractions; when Nine.
Cotrelly was in the company he could
bring down the house by kissing his
hand and pressing it to her lips; Lily
Post frequently submitted her beautiful
arm to be kissed from wrist to shoulder
by the comedian. NDigby Bell is too
dyspeptic to give much attenten to the
practice. Henry Hallam, the tenor.
never could kiss the Casino star
without giving her chill. Ed. Henley's 8
'tGloriana" kisses are anything but Icy.
and sparks have also been a feature OF
Robert billiards kisses. 1t was Harry
billiards explosive kisses in the opera
"Polly." when Miss Russell was airy
fairy Lillian, that made kindling of the
wood mantel over the domestic hearth.
LeSdy Solomon stopped In the middle
Of the dress rehearsal and refused to
lead the orchestra.
In the pearl of Pekin" Joseph Rer-
beEtz lavished his kisses on the: Pearls
arms His makeup was laid on with
! brush and knife, and contact was any
thing but agreeable. Miss Della Th0rne
being the recipient, has had positive
aversion to all sorts and conditions oil
kisses ever since.
Aunt Louisa EluIlugo HAS ODSeIFco
Ethae women kiss one another more rap
Huronsly than men. and that they are
Egenerally less neat about the work. She
E6onfessed that in the role Of an old lady
/ al he would rather be kissed by the pros
| pective son-in-law than by her daughter
! fh the play.
No such ardent and magical kisses a!
CLARA Morris received in Camille,
when Charlie Thorns played the lover
have been seen on the stage since hi
| death. Robert MantelPS work is per
haps the nearest approach to it.
Otis Skinner is noted as an electrica
| kisser, and owes his training to Marga
ret Mather. who advocates a warm de
votion to art.
The most extraordinary kissing Is &C
complished by Marie Tempest, of tn
Casino company, when occasion re
ouires. She has trick of placing he
thumbnails to her lips and kissing tn
space between them, making distinctl.
audible sound. To all appearances sh
has the tenor's face between her hand
and her lips pressed to his, wherea
y Il = = AAS~ ~