The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1898-01-03
STAGE FACT AND OPINION.
u1N1sER's CONDEMNATION OF
uo~r ICTORs, EL0CUTION.

U0unA AOfeO D. Nho
.one OF tho best things which the dramatic
,ohools can accomplish said a stage manager
who has had many years OF tho best new YORK
cxperience, would be to train their pupils tnor-
sarhiy IN e,ooution. Not long ago there arose
sranng actors a rebellion against tho study OF
slocution. There were various explanations
tor mis- Ono was that II made them stilted in
.nooch another that IL was unsuited to the mod.
,rn rlnvs. and there were enough excuses to
mako IL appear that clocution was In reality q
.rcat disadvantage to the actor. AS n matter
nj fact. there Is no one accomplishment so I'M
por,ant, 1t died out on our stage partly DO
cause tho plays Of the old tragcdians were less
tr.ouently seen. In the days Of Forrest and his
contemporaries there were younger mon who
one day hoped to ill their places, and they knew
how important u part Of their art clocution was.
90 they studied 1t, and the result was such an
actor as Edwin Booth, who represented tho very
host Of that last generation OF classical actors.
Tho men OF that period knew elocution possibly
ms we'll as he did, although they were not
blessed with such voices to exhibit It with. But
they knew how to use such voices as they had.
and elocution survived as an important elo.
ment OF tho actors art down TO Booths genera
ton. 1t Is possessed to-day only by the old 90
tors on the stage who were contemporaries Of
his. Tho actors Of the day have grown not
only to neglect IL. but to depreciato its advan-
taRes. It must ROMAN for tho dramatic schools
TO impress upon the coming generations Of play
crs how necessary 1t really is. The actors who
come to me to-day are rarely able to modulato
their voices to the expressions that ! try to
mako them use. 1t is impossible for them to do
IL, because the voice lie not trained. They have
never learned to control 1t. But more siSDih..
cant than all the action or gesture in tho world
Is tho expression OF the voice. That denotes. n
feeling more potentiy than any other ! means n IN IN
power Is the loss OF ono OF his most effective
aids. 1t is easy enough to see why the actors do
not care to study, clocution. It Is difficult and
mono,onous. and 1t takes time. II Is very
much easier to invent business which is pos.
siblc TO any player with the average amount Of
intelligence. But to speak a sentence in such a
way that every word Is delivered with just the
shade Of color or lncnning that ne situation
nm art. and an art which is not to be picked up
In the casual work OF Il few months.
rcct1yy rcCardea as the model Of its kind, the
students during n term of three years devote
most OF their time 10 tho training of the VOICE.
There arc other important branches of study,
but IL Is elocution which occupies them most.
1t is as valuable TO them in the modern plays
as II is in the classical drama. Careful niodu-
dramas Of the day ne in the most inspired verse
ever written. There was never u drama that
did not require the expression OF tenderness,
hate, or anger in some Of it's speeches. and in
the realistic plays. where tho action Is most re-
Of a control of tho voice, which can express
readily the slightest shade of meaning. Elocu-
tion is indeed more important % actors to-day
than 1t ever was, and their indulgence to It's
advantages was never greater. The dramatic
schools can do no greater service to their own
students, as well as TO the stage. to-day, than
to put that art back into the foremost place
among tho actors accomplishments"
Gabriel d'Annunzio has finished a play called
"Gioconda." and according to the reports
printed in Europe, he must DO devoting him
self to dramatic composition with unprcco-
denied enthusiasm. He went to Milan when
Eleonora Duse acted In his play there, and told
some more details of tho theatre which is to DO
built for him on the shores of Lake Albanus. He
will have entire charge of the theatre, and
only tragedies will be acted there at first,
and they will have to be Of a character that
would have made them acceptable to tho
Athenian public in the bcst days, of tho Crock
ments of the best possible character for the per:
style may be acted iat,r. Works by writer's
conform to the classical standards, and Sarah
Bernhardt as well as Duse will. take part in
some of the representations. The money for tho
support OF the new theatre has SO far come ell
tireIy from countries outside Of Italy, although
shares Of 300 each are shortly to- be issued In
amounts may contribute to the enterprise. Tho
theatre will be opened one year from next
will continue until tho middle Of May: That
will be the period yearly devoted to the festival
Pr ss.sH esFS, s 5s.d p, ann! Nn,,S said nd, that I. sot his
in Italy until Eleonora Duse was ready to play
In 1t. The theatre. which D'Annunzio says
large number Of dancers trained In the classical
poses, as well as an orchestra which will be tho
finest that can be gathered together.
The theatre at Broadway and Twenty eighth
street, lately called the Jonah. will from to-
morrow be known as Sam Jacks Theatre, tax.
ing the latest Of its many names from that Of
its new manager. Mr.. Jack says that his en-
tertainment will run on women's legs" Ho
Is not In the business of elevating the stage.
He has grown rich with bold and brazen bur.
lesque companies and is frank in his avowal
that the show which he is bringing into Broad
way is immodest with living pictures" and
Paris ~follies.'
The fact has been proven again that New
York does not like an old Fashioned, one-ring
circus well enough to pay n profit to it. John
b. Doris made the latest experiment, In an ell
gible place close to upper Broadway. and gave o
show which would have been regarded thirty
years ago as excellent, but 1t was not supported
by the public, and now 1t is given up.
A change in tho weeks plan at the Irving
Place provides for the production on Thursday
of Hans Huckebein" In the original German
Of Blumenthal and Kadelber . This is tho
i xsrs1oI that ca ,j tsils sa,, at bDalyEr H. IN !. 3 NV weak Il English !,
'uAacS NNAhSt u Al ~
The forthcoming, burlesque at Weber g.
Fleldss music hall has been set down for
Thursday night. 1t Is called "The High Low
Man., and makes its fun out of "The Highway
man. the comic opera.
One leg came off an imitation baby used with
serious intent In Caste" as performed in BAL
timore, and the mimic mother of the infant had
TO get along with uproarious laughter instead
OF the usual tears in her most pathetic scene.
Is Boston more artistic than New York in her
taste at the theatre, or lessf Hope Booth posed
here In q semblance of utter nudity and was
routed as, merely an exhibit of indecency, but
there she has had q continuous engagement of
nearly six months, and is taken into sober con-
sideration for her fesh-tinted copies of statu-
airy.
Louise Thorndyke Boucicault played the char
acter OF the sinful Countess in 1.-The Royal Box"
on a tour. but resigned when the piece was
Drought to this city, She says she liked the
part well enough. and did not object to the i'm.
morality OF the woman portrayed. but she re-
garded the scene In, which she sat In n prosceni-
uni oo3 as inartistic, and would not thus ex-
hiDlt herself in u Broadway theatre. 1t is like
y ma she feared ridicule, as that sort of thing
haa pech zone In many farces and burlesques,
ouI me audiences here have taken 1t seriouily
enough, though not much impressed by 1t. Tho
authoritative manner Of Charles Coghlan's act
Ing mas carried tho play, where in different
hhnua IL would have fallen.
comedian Joseph Hart was quoted In the