Daily tobacco leaf-chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1890-1895, 1892-09-13
AMATEUR THESPIANS
MIDSUMMER 80 NIGHTS ENTsRTAlN-
snMENTs7 AT SUMMER RESORTS.
An ExpeFieneed .Corresnoadent Tells
~ HOY to Get Up Amusing and Profit
able How to Prepare q
Programme and Handle the Talent"

IL HOY to- Get aUp, Amusing and Profit
able INSTRUMENTATION to Prepare
Programme and Handle the "TaIent.
Especial Correspondence.l ,e.
SARATOGA, Aug. 4.--When people &c
4 away from Ra11e for the summer an
the fsst novelty Of the.snrroundings ha
worn off, the restless feeling of wanting
Il to be amused asserts itself, and some
u timesialso aIlaudable desire to do some
thing fog others fluids, place In thei
| minds, and as pfcnics and excursion
fhave palled their hearts, banker afte
d the feshpots OF music and drasne
| Then Is the time that entertainments 20
\ the benefit of the fresh air fund, th
i Ghildreb's country week, the iiitts
mothers, or the st. John's guild or som,
other worthy object are thought Of. "
| Butt the getting up Of an entertain
aaent that shall i be entertaining, Cd,
choosing Of talent 50 as to leave no Sit
terness or jealousy and the fbrtngfn,
II the whole9 thing through the maze O
difficulties to q financial success IL
I hard and difficult labor, and out Of tn
abundance of experience Iwrate dow1
these few directions, hoping they ma,
be of help to any one who thinks OF or
/ gafliEing an entertainments. 40 12HV
u, In the first place the organizer mus
consult with two or three of the mos
influential persons In the place, II {
small town, or guests II in hotel.
The person who wishes to get up al
entertainment should always arrange
matters so that he or she Is the power
without showing that fact, which re
quires good deal of tact, as will bt
discovered before the whole thing Il
finally settled. A firm but modest de
meanor is necessary in the matter, and
| all disagreements between the rest
should be referred to the manager TO:
arbitration.
There is in small towns usually pub.
lie hall, but never take church If pos.
sible to obtain any other place large
enough, even If it has to be somebody's
barn, nicely decorated for the occasion.
There is, as there should be, feeling
that makes a hearty laugh or genial
applause seem out of place, and the
sacredness of the church throws q pail
over the spirits OF audience and players.
Hotels have ballroom, or the dining
room can be utilized.
Having secured a place for the enter
tainment, the question of what it isto be
should be fully decided before the final
arrangement of the impromptu stage
should be made, as If little play is
given there will need to be some stage
setting, whereas, If only a concert,
nothing but the curtain is required. In
making out o programme there should
be as greata variety of talent as posi-
BILE, and IL in town local talent should
be employed as largely as possible, as it
will interest the people more. There
should be as many persons ON the pro-
gramme as can possibly be given parts,
for the reason that each person, no mat
ter who, is sure to have friends who will
come to see him succeed and enemies to
rejoice In shortcomings, and both classes
fill the fund, and money Is what the
manager Is after.
II 1t is possible to have q tableau or
two with little children In them, or to
have any clever children to sing, dance
or play upon any instrument, or to re-
cite, 1t is always well, as they look pretty
and appeal to every ones heart irresist-
ably, and their very mistakes and fail.
ures are attractive, and every one has
lot Of cousins, sisters and aunts, and as
the affair is for charity ii should be
firmly insisted upon that there be NO
complimentary tickets.
II In small place the price should
be low, as the inhabitants cannoAaffoad
to pay high prices; If in large hotel, On
place like Narragansett, Newport, Sara
toga or Long Branch, higher prices con
be charged, and there are always enough
clever young ladies and amateurs of
considerable talent and pretty children
to make show far better than the
scrubby theatrical performances often
inflicted upon the suffering visitors by
poor travelling companies, which the
summer visitors gladly patronize out of
sheer ennui.
If, then, the manager wishes to Or
ganize such a performance he must first
inquire about cautiously for few days
until he gets an idea Of what available
talent there is at hand, and then make
sure that he can get place. Next be-
gin openly by trying to get the leading
people," as aforesaid, interested then
let 1t simmer a few days more until
everybody Is talking about 1t. When it
has reached this period 1t is we'll to see
the talent" and find out just who you
can get and what they can do. If there
are any fairly good amateurs try to
plan for q good little one act comedy.
There arc numbers of them requiring
from two to half a dozen characters.
That Is good thing to have first on the
programme.
Next try and find quartet, pianist,
a violin and flute soloist and some
one who plays the banjo. Singers Of
more or less ability are plentiful, and In
these days 1t is very easy to find some
young society lady who can do genteel
and graceful serpentine orshawl dance.
If possible to avoid it, do not infict an
elocutionist upon your public. II you
can get few pretty children to do a
try it by all means, and get all
the children you can on your programme
on general principles. Not SO much is
expected of them, and they always
please and everything they do Is pro.
'just too cunning for any
thing" and their voices, which sound 80 |
thready and thin ina theater, are quite |
strong enough for the hall, ballroom OF
barn.