Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1892-07-27
MANY WRITE OPERAS.
MUSICAL STARS ARE BORED WITH
PEOPLE WHO COMPOSE
Successful Stage Singers Tell How Am
bilious Writers Flood Them with un-
written Music and Stale Ideas-They
Must BE Queer People.

Must BE Queer People.
There are comparatively few man
Rgers who produce opera, and for that
reason they are flooded with an amount
of manuscript that would appall the or
binary theatrical manager.
Mr.. Barton, of the Casino, receives as
many scores of opera i'll all stages of in.
completeness as any one man in America.
Chatting ON the subject. he said: "We
have about three operas offered us every
week, which is probably the total output
of the country, for they all come to us
first. Only last week lank, tall young
man came in with an original opera he
wished produced Immediately, and in
sisted that l read it. This declined tc
do, as the manuscript appeared to be
endless, but treated him politely, and
asked him to tell me he plot, which he
did.
''What about the musicY | asked the
young man.
'Oh, l have written that he replied.
"'You understand music. them?
'Oh, no; but whistled the tunes to
Iuc OISdIllSt VI our CuurCu anu lie WfOte
them out
Does he understand orchestration?
'Oh, yes; he has been our organist
for twenty-five years.
"He came from small town on Cape
Cod. 1t has a population of some 2,0OC
people, whose chief industry is shipping
sand from which glass lampshades are
made. The young man informed me
that he had come all the way to New
York to have his opera produced, and
seemed offended because I would not
promise to produce it at once.
''It is q strange fact that nine -tenths
of the operas we receive have their
scenes laid in some South Sea island,
while we eproduce only modern American
opera now.
Sometimes women come in, and then
there is trouble. When Poor Jonathan
was running, lady came in with an
opera, which by force of will power she
induced me to glance through. 1t was
a modern dress suit opera of today, and
when l asked her if l had not seen
something of the kind before she fired
up and departed. A few months later,
when Apollo, an ancient Grecian opera,
was running at the Casino. back came
the lady with new opera. Have not
seen something of this kind beforeY
again remarked. No, sir she said, and
left it with me. 1t was the identical
libretto she had presented before as a
modern opera, with the names of the
characters ruled out with blue ink and
Grecian names written in with red. She
had put the time back 1000 years.
Digby Bell said: every few days
some one comes to me with new opera,
but always tell him that my contract
forbids my reading any manuscript
whatever for the next three years, but
if this doesn't get rid of him and he still
insists that his opera is great, l offer to
produce it for three nights if he will put
up the money for the scenery and the
costumes, and if it isthe success he says
it will be, will keep it on and refund
his expenses. AS the expense of a pro.
duction amounts to about $4,000 the
man with the hbretto usually goes"
every week." said De Wolf Hopper,
81 receive 600 additional verses to my
songs, 'An Elephant on His Hands and
the Man in the Moon Some of them
are good, but if / used one of them il
would involve lawsuit with the com
posers of Wang
ga few nights ago received eighty
one sheets of closely written foolscap.
1t was letter giving the scenario of an
opera, and winding up with request
for two passes. OF course did nothing
to encourage the composer to enter the
theater.
'Once l tried to be polite to woman
who came well recommended, and in
sisted on reading her hbretto to me and
playing the music on my piano. 1t was
the worst three hours ever spent.
''One opera offered me contained
seventy-six speaking parts, and the
gentleman who wrote it had probably
never seen stage in his life. One side
of the stage was supposed to be bathed
in sunlight while the other was buried
in snow. Every few minutes there was
climatic change. The scene was laid
in mining camp, and the book told the
story of labor agitation. About fifty
Indians would rush on the stage, then
as many miners, then squaws innumer-
able. A cyclone was featured, confa-
grafton, one or two floods, rainbow
and an earthquake followed each other
in quick succession"
Francis Wilson was loath to abuse
those who submitted their work for his
approval, yet he could find no words in
their praise. "Yes," he said, IL receive
a great many scores of operas, but the
people who write the lines and verses
never think of supplying the music, they
consider that mere detail which any
orchestra leader can add in at the last
moment.
''Nine out of ten operas offered me
have their scenes laid in the west.
don't know why, but every one seems to
think that the Indian is the most poet
ical creature in modern literature
have never found him so. Sometimes
come one does send in a manuscript with
the music written in, but the songs are
all familiar. The composer visits The
Lion Tamer,' few of the airs catch his
ear, he goes home and unconsciously
composes a variation of the tunes he
has heard.
''Some day some one will bring in il
great opera, but it will have TO be built
up with catchy music, new Jokes and
pretty girls. Comic opera is not born
all at once, it is developed: and the
manager who knows just what parts to
develop in accordance with the peculiar
tastes of the different cities the Gem
pany visits is the man who will laid
up the reputation Of the composer.
Give me an opera with twenty pretty
girls in the chorus and half dozen
catchy airs, and l have several hundred
hbrettos from which to select my dia-
logue. New York World.
Gave Fair Warming.
A keen sense of humor had a certain
convict at DortmOor who c,rtod do,,-,,