Evening capital. (Annapolis, Md.) 1884-1910, 1895-06-11

Actors Are the Harshesf Sort Of Critics of
Members Of Their Own Profession-Thc
Have Beens and Those Who win re
Smile NJ she Efforts of the star.
The soubrette came clinging to the
arm of the villain She was glorious in
a yellow silk waist and he was glorious
in a high hat and patent leather shoes
Thus armed they felt quite sure of con-
quering the world, which means that
they expected to ''star" together some
day.
Nine ont of ten persons in every audi
ence which consists entirely of players
have like expectations, and right here
lies thestructural weakness of the act
ors' matinee Your future star begins
criticising the performance as soon as
the curtain is lifted for the first act In
every movement of the star, in every
word spoken by the star. he sees how
mnch better he could have done the
part il he had had the chance. AS 1t is
not half satisfying to haveehalf of the
house whispering when one is In the
midst of his loftiest fight in the third
act, the stars first actors matinee is
usually his last.
There ave three reasons for giving
professional matinee, {" said an old man
ager. First, for the self qualification
of the actor, who wants LIS colleagues
TO know what fine work he +. doing:
second, out of courtesy TO the profession.
and third, to get a little advertising.
Sc ln
manager of every production which has
long run gets many requests from act
ors who say they want very much to seq
it, but can't, because they're engaged.
1.-The first thing manager does when
he determines upon professional matt
nee is to ask the different managers Of
attractions playing in town how many
seats they can use. Usually every per-
son in every company wants two or
three seats. Their extra seats are gener-
ally occupied by some stanch admirer
of theirs who will believe that every
criticism they utter upon the perform
ance is true. This person is called the
sympathetic ear.
Ticket sellers complain about fin
iclzy people, who always insist upon
such and such a seat. But an actor,
when the seats are given to him, viii
come and raise terrible hullabaloo I'M
less they are in certain, exact spot in
the house. I've even known a manager
to send back dozen seats because he
couldn't get them six instead of twelve
rows back. There's line Of would be
actors waiting outside your door all day
long, who want anywhere from one to
twenty seats apiece, and you don't get
a moments peace until the things over.
You don't get much peace even then.
After all of their trouble to get seats
to please them, many of the actors who
have engaged seats do not come. If
they are merely enemies of the actor
who gives the matinee they present the
tickets to q boarding house keeper; If
they hold an actual grudge, they give
them to bootblack. Consequently the
well dressed leading man doesn t always
find the persons at his elbows exactly
the sort of company he would choose.
The most important figure at the pro-
fessional matinee is by all odds the mid
die aged lady who is a relative of
soubrette. The more distant the relation
the more important she is. If she is an
eighth cousin she expects the great doors
to swing open when she is within a
block of the theater, and eight ushers
come out to meet her. She is fat and
comfortable looking, and she always
has temper
The old time actor, who has barn
stormed it in the legitimate as long rs
he could, comes to see how low the
stage has fallen. Maybe one of these fat
and comfortable boarding house keepers
is his sympathetic ear. He tells her that
things were far different when he and
Booth were starring it; these young
actors don't know much, and the stage
has gone to the bowwows.
Between the acts the corridors swarm.
Acquaintance meet, and then they be-
gin to talk in this way:
How did it happenT'
Don't ask me, dear boy. Bullhead
lucki"
and, do you know. he really thinks
he can act. +"
eyes. suppose that he thought he
was going to astonish the natives. Cad
Did you notice that entrance?"
Horrible. Conception is all wrong
Now, If r.
"And if r.
But they break right there-each be-
ing Immediately convinced that the
other does not know anything about it.
But there are exceptions. They are
usually the most prominent actors
Sometimes the hand of the star is
grasped warmly between the acts, and
he feels the thrill of triumph with the
words: "It's immense. old man. You
are a revelation.
The reporter had on his right side the
soubrette and the villain, and ON his
left a very nice old lady with white
curls, who had come with her son. The
young man was very critical He picked
out flaw after flaw, and RECALLED his
mother with them. The old lady was
an actress herself--a very good actress,
apparently And finally she said 10 this
boy in a gentle aside:
Willie. you may think that You can
play the part better, but we do not see
ourselves as others see us. And don't
you think, Willie, that it would be bet
ter to say that your opinion Of the part
differs from that of the gentleman?
And, Willie. do you think il exactly
riUht m talk ahouf vour hest ,vbiIa no