The Saint Paul globe., 1896-09-21
SAIN T Paul.
oBJEUTED TO HIS SUIT.
Dighy BeII Nearly MObbed I'm n
Theater In Malta.


Theater In Malta.
Digby Bell has had many expert
SehCes, both comical and serious, dur
which he has often been induced to
.~regale his friends with He has fire.
quently cited his first appearance be-
'Tfure any audience, which occurred in
kthe island of Malta. as being un-
questionabiy the most trying of any
That have ever succeeded it.
My original debut or trial in Italian
eopeEa,e previous to my appearance at
the Scala theater in Milan, Italy, oc-
CURED at the Royal opera house in
the island of Malta, in the year
1878" said Mr. Bell TT was during
the Turko- Russian war. The entire
Mediterranean feet of the British
navyt'Were stationed off Malta at this
period; also the Forty-second and
Seventy-second Highland regiments. L
Was to make my appearance as the
count in ''Somnambula" under the nom
de theatre of Valentino Campana.
During the rehearsals the wardrobe
master had delivered to me the cos
tune for the part. 1t was the old
regulation Square-cut Dolly Warden
suit that all the baritones wore who
had ever assumed this role, and it
was intensely unbecoming to my style
tween a Texas cowboy, a Corsican
hrigand and an italian barber in
fat. and miserable fit at that. In
my dilemma | appealed to my friend
peVassini, the leading tenor of the
company, an artist whom had stud
led with in Naples and who had be-
come my fast friend. He advised. my
dressing for the part as the famous
French baritones. Maurel and Faure,
did. He described their costumes to
me as consisting of Prince Albert
coats, with white lace falls at the
neck. With Jewels. riding trousers rid
ing boots, white vests, tall silk hats,
riding gloves and whips I imme-
diately, at my own expense. without
consulting anyone, ordered a similar
outfit.
The fatal night arrived: the opera
house was packed with a brilliant rep
reSentatiVe audience. All of the Off
GERS of the British feet and the off,
GERS of the Scottish regiments occu-
pied the orchestra stalls with their
ladies, and in the royal box was the
Duke OF Edinburgh and his wife; he,
a that time, being governor of the
Island, and his guests in the same
box were the crown prince of Prussia
and his wife, the mother and father
of the present emperor, and Gen.
Grant. who was making his famous
tour of the world, also occupied box
EeXt to the Duke Of Edinburgh. 1t
was probably the most distinguished
gathering ever. in the walls of that
thea ter.
When the supreme moment arrived
for me to sing my first notes as a pro-
fessional, 1 made my entrance on re-
,,ceipt of cue thoroughly imbued with
the terrific Importance of my under
taking, singing In a foreign tongue
before such remarkably brilliant au-
dience. L fairly trembled with appre-
henSion and nervousness, and my
mouth and lips were as dry as the
proYerbial lime kiln
To my amazement and horror my
p. entrance upon the stage was the sig
nal for one of the greatest demonstra-
tions of disapproVal that any one can
possibly imagine. Screams, yells and
hootings saluted my ears. Cries Of
Get off the stage, you dog! Give us
back. our money? Lower the curtain!'
Robber! Thief etc, etc.
Not having sung a note 1 realized
that this riot was not precipitated by
any inartistic effort on my part. and
was in maze to understand the rea-
son for it. The clamor kept up for
at least five minutes. which gave me
time to feel that l was being tried and
condemned before I had even opened
my mouth. I had glanced at my cos
tune and found that it was all right,
no diSarrangement Of dress and event
ualiy my nervousness disappeared and
anger took its place. l had time to
realize that l did not know a soul
IN the audience; that my mother had
spent $4,000 on my musical education
and that If [ failed in this effort my
tasco would ruin me forever, and L
dld not propose to accept defeat with
out being heard. Eventually the tu-
mutt ceased and the English contin-
gent in the audience started to ap-
plaud, and I advanced and sang my
opening aria with all the intensity of
my composition, maddened by their
tauntS and insults. On the conclusion
Of my effort, the Duke of Edinburgh and
his party, Gen. Grant and his party,
and the English speaking part of the
audience applauded me most literally.
Then came a counter demonstration
from the Maltese. and the English
arose outnumbering the natives upon
this occasion, and by their emphatic
ana continued applause turned what
appeared to be a hopeless defeat into
an apparent victory.
AS soon as left the stage the man.
ager rushed up to me and informed
me that l was guilty of gross unpro-
teSsional conduct; that without his
consent 1 had made a glaring innova-
ton as to my costume, which was an
intolerable impertinence. emanating
IIOH DSSlnH6f, WnIch the Maltese
had very justly, in his opinion, re-
sented. He further informed me that
1t was as giaring a departure as If
some debutant had played Hamlet In
linen duster He notified me that I
would have to reetify my transgres-
sion by wearing the costume that
much greater artists than / was had
worn for many years previous The
next representation of the opera I
did so and was received with great
applause by the Maltese, to whose will
had bowed. This incident gave me
more prominence in the island than if
! had simply gone through my part
IN nervous commonplace way The
English officers put me up at their
clubs and invited me to their homes.
admiring nay pluck as they were
klnd enough to term it, and the NAL
tese patted me on the back for bow
Ing to what they termed their artistic
taste. l have experienced many first
nights since this occurrence. but 1
shall always regard my debut in NAL
ia as the most eventful of my entire