Gloucester County Democrat. (Woodbury, N.J.) 1878-1932, 1895-09-12


of the other Players and Counts So a
to Tell When to Speak.
Perhaps tha most important detail for
al actor to Liasler in stage technlcaliries
is the trick If picking up his cue quick
ly.
Every stage rl@lagcr Knows how i'm
portMt il is that that should be done.
The slightest hesitanty i'll 4 quick con
versation between the lines spoken By
different people viii surely spoil the
scene
The regulation way for actors and ac-
tresses to learn their parts il To also
learn the cue, as well as their own lines.
Perhaps it is well to tell the uninitiated
that the cue consists of the last few
words Oh the last sentence spoken by the
other actor. Every part not only con
tains what the actor is to speak, but
also the cue. Most stagefolk will tell
you that it is more difficult to learn the
cues than it j. the lines, Us they often
convey no meaning to the mind
Everybody III New York who goes to
the theaters knows or has seen Joe Hol-
land, as he is famiGarly called No one
would suspect, To scc Mr. Hollands rem
dition Of the parts he plays, that he does
not hear the cues
However. that is fact Mr. Holland
inherited deafness. His father was deaf,
and his brother, Mr. George Holland,
the Philadelphia manager, il also slight
ly affected that way
1t would seem to the average thinker
that Mr. Holland would have found his
infrmity a serious handicap i'll the dra-
matte profession On the contrary, 50
cleyerly has he managed it that it has
been almost an advantage to him. Triv-
ial noises do not disturb him, and in
consequence he j. able to give bis whole
mind, unaffected by amy interruptions, to
the work IN hand
Of course Mr.. Holland is not absolute
ly stone deaf, = as the saying goes. He
is what il generally termed hard Of
hearing.
Now as to how he picks up his cues
when he doesn't hear them.
He studies not only his own part, but
also the entire lines spoken by other Eco
pie when he il on the stage. He com
mits these to memory perfectly. Sowell
does lie learn them that he knows Just
how long it takes for them to bespoken.
When he is facing the actor Of whom he
is 20 get his cue, Of course he can readily
tell when bis turn comes by the move
ment of tie others lips or the expires
sion of the face. He says, though, that
the expression Of the face il what he re-
lies on most. He pays very little atten-
tiOn to the lips, because most people
have a habit Of moving the lips involun-
tarily even when they are not speaking,
a trick that would easily lead him
astray. The expression Of the face, how
ever, is sure cue. 1t never fails him
and always is the same.
His main reliance, however, is on a
system Of counting IT. knows just how
long it viii taEe for each speech To be
said He tiIaes that speech by a certain
number Of counts. When he has counted
theright number Of times for the speech,
he knows thlt it il his turn to speak
This is Absolutely necessary when his
back is turned toward the other actor.
As, for instance, Mr.. Holland comes
on the stage, Lis line is:
We'll I've returned. N
He then turns around to lay down his
hat, and the other person says:
But you We're very late in getting
back n
As soon w LIE Holland turns he be-
gins to count When be has reached
eight, he says in nonchalant way, no
matter what is happening:
Well, aren't you glad to zee me
back?'
Long experience has shown him that
in this way he picks up his cue just as
promptly and perhaps more 50 than
though lie had heard it,
MI Hollands adroitness in this line
has been the wonder Of New York man
ayers Probably no one else knows Of it,
for, as is natural, Mr. Holland is a trifie
sensitive on the subject
The only drawback that he ever finds
to his system arises from other faults
than his own He has never yet been
caught mapping except when some stage
hand made blunder or some unforeseen
accident occurred. This would only hap
pen when some noise was to be made,
as the ringing of bell or the firing of "a
gun In such cases Mr. Holland sup
poses, Of course, that the property man
OF the stage hand j. doing his duty If,
however, the property man Or tile stage
hand does not do his duty promptly, Mr..
Holland is left III an embarrassing stu
alton
Suppose, for instance, that in the busi
ness Of a piece bell is to be rung. 1t
doesn t ring when it should. However,
that's none Of Mr. Hollands business.
He naturally supposes that it has rung,
and 30 he calmly says.
"Ah. there goes the bell GO to the
door. Maryl And just after he has said
it the bell rings
Or if some one il To fire q pistol and
Mr. Holland il supposed to be listening
for the report with rapt attention, and
when it should go off says, AT last he
has fired, and no one has fired as far as
the audience CAN discOver-well. id such
cases the stage manager swoars and
somebody gets fined. New York Her