Smyrna times., 1896-08-26
WHOLE NO. 2.l6l.
MAYO AT REHEARSAL
HOW THE FAMOUS ACTOR TRAINED
THE MEMBERS OF HIS COMPANY.


profession, was one of the most severe
ana at the same time most just man
ayers that 1t has ever been my pleasure
to act UNDER" said Henry Davenport.
son OF Z. L. Davenport, the traVediau.
and one Of the managers Of the Girard
Avenue theater Of this city. "He knew
how part should be played and in
sisted On the actor playing it in that
way If 1t took 80 rehearsals to perfect
the role according to Mr.. Mayo ideas"
Mr.. Davenport created the role of
Judge Driscoll in "Pudd 'nhead VIII
son" MayO's last success, and played it
during the New York run of the pro-
ductlon. During the rehearsals previ-
GUS to the first production Of 'Pudd'n-
head Wilson, continued Mr.. Daven-
port, Mr. Mayo acted every role in the
play for the purpose of showing the
members Of the company how he wanted
it played. He took infinite pains to
see that every line was perfectly read,
every accent properly placed and every
bit Of business brought out clearly, ef-
fectively and naturally. 1 would not
have it understood that in this matter
Mr.. Mayo was a martinez or one who
assumed to know it all. No one admired
originality more than he. He liked to
see an actor give his own conception Of
part, but when this was done he de-
manded a reason for everything.
This was one Of his peculiar traits.
If member Of the company made
gesture or pause or emphasized
word in new or original manner Mr..
Mayo would say, Now, why do you do
that? He would get to the bottom Of
the idea, and, if a good reason was ad-
vanced for it, it found ready acceptance.
He was this way in everything. 1 re-
member that he taught me fencing
when was a mere boy, and in return
l taught him what / knew about box
ing. l usually boxed about one minute
and explained 10. would make a lead
or counter or a guard, and Mr.. Mayo
would say: Stop, now. Why do you do
thatP And when he was teaching me
fencing he would make q thrust or
parry and then stop to say, Now, you
see, do this because, etc.
''But to come back to 'Pudd'nhead
/ W A4oOus MI. MAY y 4ONGu lIldJ Dldy hB
/ he loved his children. remember some
timo before the play was produced he
became convinced that it needed prun-
ing. Something had to be cut out, but
he hadn't the heart to do it. SO he
went to my brother-in-law and saidI
Here is this play Of mine. l know it
needs cutting down, but 1 can't do it
I IG n q fn ay Of
my children. l have gone over line aft
er line and said: I can't cut this out,
nor this, nor this. 1 can't cut anything
out. So l want some disinterested per-
son to do it for me. And when the play
was produced, though he alone was re-
sponsible for the dramatizatiOn, he gave
all the credit for the success to Mark
Twain in an address he made before the
curtain the first night. That was his
nature.
Its great success was very crafty
ing to Mr.. Mayo, and he deserved it.
He wasted several fortunes in the effort
to give the public first class produc
tions of the classical drama, which they
would not receive. Mayo's famous
Forty was one of the best equipped
companies for the production Of Shakes
peare and other standard plays that
ever left New York. We carried every
thing, even suppers, but the people
would have none Of us. The same treat
ment was accorded Mr.. Mayo's Nor
deck, his adaptation of The Three
Guardsmen' and several other classical
efforts. But he rose superior to all these
setbacks. 1t was hard that his life
should end just as he was once more on
the road to fortune
'Mr. Mayo's county seat at Canton,
Pa, adjoined that Of my father. 1t
was at his home that the noble man was
seen at his best-and his worst His
worst consisted Of a penchant for argu-
ing. Mr.. Mayo loved to argue, and he
would never let up until you acknowl-
edged yourself convinced or fell into 81
lence in admiration of his earnestness,
his sincerity and his marvellous COM
mand of language and voice. Mr.. Mayo
had on the grounds Of his estate little
French chalet, which he bought at the
Centennial exposition in this city. Ho
used it for a study, and there he would
sit until O'Clock at night, when he
would suddenly remember that he ought
to have supper and proceed slowly to
the house. Most always he would find
Mrs. Mayo, my mother, his daughter,
now Mrs. Elverson, and myself engaged
in a game of whist. Mr.. Mayo would
= enter the room slowly and take posi-
ton behind his daughter chair. Final
" she would make a play which her
father didn't think was good, ard he
would break i'll with, Now, Nellie,
} why did you play that card?' The game
would end soon after that, for Mr.. Mayo
would insist upon arguing the point
with Nellie and kill the interest in the
game at once.
''Mr. Mayo once told me that he had
discovered the secret Of true elocution.
You must emphasize only those words
which could be left out of sentence
without destroying the sense, he argued.
Thus, in the sentence, Get thee. behind
me, satan, he maintained that thee
and me were the words that stress
should be laid upon. Manifestly that
was wrong though up to a certain point
his theory was correct. But didn't at
tempt to argue the point with him.
When acting, he was always trying new
t readings of lines, and we never knew
9 when he was going to spring new en-
phasis upon us. He was a lovable friend,
an efficient manager and brilliant
actor. To work with him was pleas
ure. "-Philadelphia North American.