Cottonwood report. [volume] (Cottonwood, Idaho) 1893-1901, 1894-04-06

at the Initial Performance.
"That play can never sl,cceed," said an
old time manager in an up town cafe sew
eral nights ago. 1T is pity, too, for II, a
good play and a good company. wish
that had not seen the dress rehearsal"
YOU'RE getting old, colonel, and you
only see success in the past" said leading
man.
THAT is where you are wrong" replied
the manager Il know good thing when
j see it. and this play is good thing, but
it began with hoodoo, and it will surely
fail"
"Hoodoos are tommyroti There is no
such thing as hoodoo that can harm any
play"
Around the table were half a dozen actors
and men interested in theatrical affairs.
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 t. play gather
ing of actors.
Nov colonel" said the leading man when
the glasses had been filled, you were talk
ing about hoodoos on the stage. l don't
believe in them. When play is a failure,
1t is easy to explain it by saying it had
hoodoo."
WELL" 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 was young. don't like to accept
them now, but l am forced to by expert
ence.
Have you ever known the yellow flageo-
let to fail in wrecking a play? Now, you
laugh at that. think that, as rule there
is no harm in a yellow fiageolet in itself,
but there is a peculiar fatality in the cir
cumstances that bring it into a theater Or
chestra at dress rehearsal or on an open
ing night. There was a yellow fageolet
in the orchestra today, 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 think am sane man.
Any old manager in this country will tell
you that yellow fiageolet is sure to wreck
any company. Circus men won't have them
in their bands. l could tell you many in
cidents to illustrate what l say. Perhaps
you remember that when The Junior Part
ner' was put on, every one said it was 60
ing to be big success. Everything point
ed that way, but it opened with a yellow
fageolet 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 refuse to ring
up the curtain until the yellow fageolet
was driven out of the orchestra"
THAT is just as absurd" said the light
comedy man, las the cheese that the Ital-
ian ballet girls in the Crystal Slipper kept
in their dressing rooms. l know the effect
of that mascot, for 1 was in the company.
Every time l went on the stage or near the
dressing rooms thought of Hunters Point
and the gashouse district. Couldn't per-
suade those girls to throw away 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
rotect 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 protection they took it to their dressing
rooms. Eddie Foy nearly choked because
of the smell of that cheese. Eddie never
did like comic opera, and that cheese set
tied him. 4 could only show them what l
could do in Days company he would saw,
and escape from this horrible Italian
cheese. Pm too delicate for this work any
way. Just wait until get into the "legit"
and wear swallow tails and smoke ciga-
rettes on the stage and pull my cuffs
Now, colonel, speaking about the hoodoos,
that is my experience with a mascot"
For some reason" said the leading man,
factors are naturally superstitious. Per
IN IL 10 haooTca thair 1;fa &c =
ventures, and sometimes the most insig-
nificant thing may lead to failure or sue
cess. Probably good deal of the SUPER
stition is assumed. Most people have a
dash of that in them, whether they will ad-
NIT it or not. Do you remember when
Rose Coghlan made her hit at Wallack's in
Diplomacy as the Countess Zicka9 As
you remember, the plot of this play hangs
on the perfume that the countess uses.
Rose Coghlan used certain perfume on
that night, and she made "a big hit. have
heard that she always uses this perfume
now, no matter what the play may be. Of
course 1t Is only woman's fancy, and yet
l have heard that Miss Coghlan would
rather lose her wardrobe than her per-
tune. Patti also has similar fad. When
she made her first great hit, she wore a
pair OF shoes of peculiar pattern. Patti
wears in her concerts now shoes made on
this identical last and of the same pattern.
She believes they bring her luck, and an
parently they have done SO. Yes, stage
folk are bit superstitious. You probably
have all seen would be funny men thrown
off the stage at rehearsal for quoting some
OF the hoodoo passages in Macbeth"
There is very little or no connection"
said the colonel, between these little fol-
bles and spiritualism, but the conversation
suggests it. You would all probably be
surprised to know the number of well
known actors who believe in spiritualism,
Billy Florence was a spiritualist, although
few people knew it. l knew him as init
mately as any one, and he has often talked
about his belief to me. BARLEY Campbell
was another, and so is McVicker of Chi
cago Ada 1saacs Menken is now simply
name to you youngsters. She was a clever
woman, as well as very beautiful woman.
The elder Dumas and many other men of
letters were among her friends. She wrote
Two volumes of verse, which, she claims
were inspired by the spirits. These verses
consisted of musical lines of varying length.
and they attracted some attention. Pm not
splritualist, but 1 am a firm believer in
hoodoos and occasionally in mascots. Let's
have nightcap. New York Sun.
A Well Balanced Head.
Jacob Myers delights in scaling dizzv
heights and performing all kinds of fool