The Brunswick times. [volume] (Brunswick, Ga.) 188?-1900, 1897-04-11


for him. He seemed to grasp the re-
quirements of the role which he was to
interpret by intuition.
My recollections of and connection
with Edwin Booth date from ahe time
when he played with Charlotte Cush-
man, for the benefit of the American
Dramatic association, at the Academy
of Music, toward the close of 1859.
Macbeth" was the play which it was
desired to put on. Miss Cushman asked
me if Booth was a good Macbeth did
not know, and she was, am inclined
to think, trifie nervous about his abil-
ity to "body forth" the difficult charac-
ter.
AS these two great artists had never
before performed together, the rehearsal
was extremely interesting. Miss Cush-
man was always considerate of her fell
low players whims and caprices, and q
little thing which occurred at this re-
hearsal also served to illustrate the al
most startling modesty of Edwin Booth,
which was one of the most charming
traits of his generally lovable nature
In referring to the Cuisines" of the
piece, which is seldom the same with
any two actors, Miss Cushman, at GER
tain point, inquired, "What do you do
here, Mr.. Booth?"
.,'Do as I am told," he replied in the
most ingenious manner.
To drop into stage parlance, this
made the biggest sort Of a hit'' with
Miss Cushman, who afterward expressed
herself as astounded with the merit of
his performance of Macbeth, and up to
the day of her death she was one of the
most loyal admirers that Edwin Booth
had in this country.
Profitable Rehearsal.
There was an incident in connection
with this same rehearsal which, / think,
has never been paralleled in this coun-
try, where two such renowned perform
ers were concerned. A number of ladies,
knowing that a rehearsal would be nee
essary, had contrived to learn the hour
at which it would occur, and the stage
door was besieged by many of the fair
sex who were anxious to obtain a
glimpse of the great players without the
intervention of footlights. They became
a nuisance long before the rehearsal had
commenced and thought of plan to
get rid of them. requested the permits
sion of Miss Cushman and Mr., Booth to
admit such of the ladies as We're willing
to pay 81 for the privilege to the re-
hearsal. They both laughingly consent
ed, and the cause of charity was bene-
fitted to the extent of something less
than 800, which 1 personally took in
at the stage door.
AS we were leaving the theater that
day Mr.. Booth observed to me: "That's
the last you'll ever see of those people,
Vincent. I don't believe any of them
will come to the regular performance.
The gilt is off the gingerbread. " But as
was often the case with the great actors
business predictions he was mistaken,
for not only did they come, but re-
ceived letters from more than score of
the ladies, thanking me for having en-
abled them to enjoy an exceptionally
novel experience.
Most actors like the longest roles and
those in which there is the hardest
work. They are almost invariably jeal-
Gus of any other whose part is nearly so
long. Mr.. Booth was very different
The easier the work for him the better
he liked it.
He Would Have the Genuine.
/ shall never forget the production Of
Orchard H." which we made at
Booths theater after the great actor had
lost the house which still bore his name.
The piece was arranged by William
Winter, the accomplished dramatic critic
of the New York Tribune. AS neither
Mr.. Booth nor I had seen the play, it
may lie readily understood that we had
no end of trouble with this gloomy seven
act Shakespearean drama. 1t was a
failure in spite of the improvements
from the standpoint of modern stage
management which had been made by
Mr.. Winter, and was soon abandoned.
An enormous sum of money was spent
ON it, and, of course, most of it was
dead loss At the final rehearsal Mr..
Booth refused to eat the candy straw
berries which had provided instead OF