The copper country evening news. [volume] (Calumet, Mich.) 18??-1907, 1897-05-24
nav HE GETS HIS CUE
..,7 Hear THEM, BUT "Plcks
Ne p0. -ufm UP" PROMPTLY.

Ill
Tall when to SPEAK
,ho most important detail for
Periap master in stage technicalities
actor lick ~ Of picking mp his cue quick
~ u.rv stage manager knows how inn
Lsu Eve II Is that that should be done
por'uTontest hesitancy in quick con-
The sn ,er between the lines spoken by
versa'iO" neonle will surely spoil the
SCENE %so repulation way for actors and ac-
in 20 learn their parts Is TO also
uesS', tho enc. as well as their own lines.
learn ~,' II Is we'll to tell the uninitiated
fei'i" ,hs cue consists of the last few
'na' or the last sentence spoken by the
N .Sor actor Every part not only con-
o' i"s what the actor is to speak, but
'aln' ,h W" enc Most stagefolk will tell
alSO , I il is more difficult to learn the
yOu t than it is the lines, as they often
cue ussav no meaning to the mind.
O0I Fvcsrybody in New York who goes to
40 tbeaters knows or has seen Joe Hol-
~, una az he is Familiarity called. No one
i~l,~I suspect, to see Mr.. Hollands rem
Stion Of the parts he plays, that ne does
not hear the cues u uo,,.,a
~ However that is fact Mr.. Holland
..horited deafness. His father was deaf,
iu uS HE brother, Mr.. George Holland,
.ro PHILADELPHIA manager, is also slight
" affected that way.
II wonld seem to the average thinker
that Mr.. Holland would have found his
;nsrmitv a serious handicap in the dra-
.ot;c nrofession. On the contrary, so
oloverlv has he managed it that 1T has
Noon almost an advantage to him. Triv-
;ol noises do not disturb him, and In
consequence he is able to give his whole
mind. unaffected by any interruptions, to
the work in hand.
OF course Mr.. Holland is not absolute
" "stone deaf, " as the saying goes. He
{ what is generally termed "hard OF
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 peo-
nile when he is on the stage. He COM
mits these to memory perfectly. So we'll
does he learn them that he knows just
how long it takes for them to be spoken.
When he is facing the actor of whom he
is to get his cue, of course he can readily
tell when his turn comes by the move
ment of the others lips or the express
sion of the face. He says, though, that
the expression of the face is what he re-
lies on most. He pays very little atten-
ton to the lips, because most people
have 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 a sure cue. 1t never fails him
and always is the same.
His main reliance, however, Is on a
system of counting. He knows just how
long it will take for each speech to be
said He times that speech by certain
number of counts. When he has counted
theright number of times for the speech
he knows that it is his turn to speak
This is absolutely necessary when his
back is turned toward the other actor.
As, for instance, Mr.. Holland come!
on the stage, his line is:
"Well; I've returned. "
He then turns around to lay down his
hat, and the other person says:
But you were very late in getting
back. :"
As soon as Mr.. Holland turns he be
gins to count. When he has reached
eight, he says in q nonchalant way, n,
matter what is happening:
WELL aren't you glad to see =,
back?"
Long experience has shown him tina
in this way he picks up his cue just a
promptly and perhaps more so thai
though he had heard it.
Mr.. Hollands adroitness in this lin
has been the wonder of New York man
ayers. Probably no one else knows of il
ior, as is natural, Mr.. Holland is trifi
sensitive on the subject.
The only drawback that he ever find
S SyStShi dllStS lIOul OtuCI idui'
tnan his own. He has never yet bee
caught mapping except when some stag
hand made blunder or some unforsee
accident occurred This would only haI
pen when some noise was to be made
as The ringing of bell or the firing Of
gun. In such cases Mr.. Holland SUI
poses of course, that the property ma
OF the stage hand is doing his duty. i
however, the property man or the stag
nand does not do his duty promptly, MI
holland is left in an embarrassing sitr
alton
suppose, for instance, that in the bus
nesS OF piece bell is to be rung.
uoeSn ring when it should. Howeve
rnat none of Mr. Hollands business
lie naturally supposes that it has run,
ana SO he calmly says:
An, there goes the bell Go to Il
aoor' Maryl" And just after he has sal
1t the bell rings.
VT II some one is to fire a pistol an
Mr' Holland is supposed to be listenir
ior the report with rapt attention, an
wnen it should go off says, "At last
nas hred, and no one has fired as far
'ne audience can discover-well, in su,