The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1893-09-15
OMEN OF THE FLAGEoLET.

Woe to the Play Whose First Night
Sees That Instrument in the orches-
tra-Actors' Faith in Hoodoos, Mas
cots, and Spirits,
From the New York Sun.
"That play can never succeed, " said an
old time manager, in an uptown cafe,
several nights ago 1T is pity, too, for
it's good play and good company. I
wish that l had not seen the dress re
hearsal"
you're getting old, colonel, aud you
only see success in the past, said lead
ing man.
THAT is where you are wrong" re-
piled the manager. 81 know a good
thing when ! see it. and this play is
good thing, but it began with hoOdoo,
and it will surely fail"
H oodoos are tommyrot! There is no
such thing as hOodoo that can harm any
! play"
Around the table were half a dozen
a ctOrs and men interested in theatrical
a fairs. Few men in New York know
more about the history of the American
| stage for the past few years than the
manager who spoke. Booth, Jefferson,
| Barrett and Irving have all claimed him
as their friend, and his "reminiscences of
the stage make him the center figure in
any after the-play gathering of actors.
| Nov, colOneln said the leading man
! when the glasses had been filed, you
were talking about hoodoos on the stage.
l don't believe in them. When a play is
| failure it is easy to explain it by saying it
| had a hOodoo."
"WelI," said, the colonel, factors, the
world over, are a superstitious lot. Even
| Henry Irving brought his horseshoe to this
| country when he first came here. didn't
! believe in hoodoos and that sort OF thing
when 1 was young. / don't like TO &C
! cept them now, but l am forced to by OK
! perience.
Have you ever known the yellow
| fageolet to fail in wrecking play? Now,
| YOU laugh at that. l think that, as
! rule, there is no harm in a yellow fiageolet
| in itself, but there is peculiar fatality
| in the circumstances that bring it into a
| theater orchestra at a dress rehearsal or
| on an opening night. There was yellow
hageolet in the orchestra to-day, and that
| is why l say that the piece is doomed.
! Yes, that's right; laugh If you will, but
my experience is long one, and l think
] am a sane man Any old manager in
this country will tell you that yellow
| fageOlet is sure to wreck any company.
| Circus men won't have them in their
| bands. l could tell you many incidents to
| illustrate what | say. Perhaps you re-
| member that when The Junior Partner
was put on, every one said it was going to
| be a big success. Everything pointed
that way, but it opened with yellow
| hageolet in the orchestra, and then Mrs.
Mckee Rankin's troubles began. That
is fact. l have known stage managers,
and sensible men, too, who would re
fuse to ring up the curtain until the yell
low tageOlet was driven out of the or
| Chestra.'
THAT is just as absurd. said the light
| Gp rhp hot nn
Italian ballet girls in the Crystal Slip
per- kept in their dressing rooms, l knew
| the effect of that mascot, for l was in the
| company. Every time l went on the stage
or near the dressing rooms | thought of
Hunters Point and the gas-hOuse district.
Couldn't persuade those girls to throw
aWOy this cheese. They believed that as
long as they kept it they would be sure of
an engagement. The cheese had been
given TO them in Italy to protect them
from harm Each girl had a small piece
of it, loud cheese it was too, rolled up in
paper in her trunk. To be sure of protec-
tion they took il to their dressing rooms
Eddie Fay nearly chOked because of the
smell of that cheese. Eddie never did
like comic opera, and that cheese settled
him. 1 could only show them what l
could do in Days company he would
say, and escape from this horrible
Italian cheese. I'm too delicate for this
/
the 'legit" and wear swallow-tdils and
smoke cigarettes on the stage and pull
my cuffs Now, conOnel, speaking about
hoodoOs, that is my eXperience'with armas-
cot.
well, D." replied the colonel, 1.-The Ital-
ians are naturally superstitious. 1 know
an opera house in Italy that was built
several years ago, and, of course, there
was in it a seat numbered ID. 1t was one
of the best seats in the house, and even
on crowded first nights il was always va
cant. IL was a dead loss. The manager
painted out the number ID and numbered
ii y A, and now the seat is popular"
For some reason said the leading
man, actors are naturally superstitiOus
Perhaps ii is because their life is one Of
many ventures, and sometimes the insig-
nihcant thing may lead to failure or sue
cess. Probably a good deal Of the super
stition is assumed. Most people have
dash of that in them, whether they will
admit it or not. Do you remember when
Rose COghlan made her hit at Wallack's
in Diplomacy as the Countess Zicka2 As
you remember the plot of this play
hangs on the perfume that the countess
uses. Rose COghlan used a certain per
fume that night, and she made bic hit
L have heard that she always uses this
perfume on an opening night now, no
matter what the play may be. OfCOurse,
it is only a woman's fancy, and yet l have
heard that Miss Coghlan would rather
lose her wardrobe than her perfume
Patti also has a similar fad When she
made her first great hit she wore pair
of shoes of a peculiar pattern. Patti
wears in her concerts now shoes made on
this identical last and of the same pat
tern. She believes that they bring her
luck, and apparently they have done so.
Yes, stage folks are a bit superstitious.
You pro badly have all seen would. be fun
ny men thrown of a stage at rehearsal