Spirit of the age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1845-1913, 1899-10-14
STAGE FRIGHTFATAL
MANY CASES WHERE lT BROUGHT
DEATH TO THE VICTIM.


ginncrs E-for. the FuOtii; dts. but
Hnx Been II uOwn to attack Players
OF Experience.
"Of all tn nany Ills to which the
utrica Tesh is heh," said an "ld
Dlysi,ian who Las u large cli.nral. ct
actors "thc worst j. stage fright. This
Is not ming lc,a than q species Of hear,
disease. induced ny the Nor, on~ dread
that ones performance may uGt l." s'lc'
cassfrl. This naturally attacks begin.
uerS more often than old s;ag"rS. aud
yet instances are by no means isoln,ed
whrrr death hi been brought nhnu,
through its evils. even in the case OF
old timers.
"l'crhaps. however, the NEST peculiar
instance Of all was tina, of tn" veteran
performer who Lad gone through 80
years Of stage work without "Xperienc,
Ing this malndy. One night. however,
he ronlih"L ro n fellow player thar
quite understandable ucryousness had
suddenly taken hold Of him and that
he did no; think he could ever act
again.
His conna,ir laughed at the notion
and urged bin to go on. rs usual hut
his astoni';hmcMt may well be con
"evcd when the poor old player went
On the stage and. after making several
vain efforts TO speak, fell back and eX
pircd. Tn" doctor who made the posi-
n.nr,rnl cX&m;nn,lon stated that death
was due t" failure of the hearts action,
evidently Induced by the presence Of
an attncI ri stage fright.
death Z Ivy no means an infreQurnt
end to the trouble. and InOre than one
ease In E,y own practice has ended IA
tally. II is n, always the person who's"
heart is alrcndy affected! VIII" suffers
thu, most. either. for recall one ease
some years a:,o where a yo,ing womnn
Who's. hear, | knew 20 b.. perfectly
normal made her professional drha, in
this city. Willie standing in he wings
awaiting her first cue she was seized
with IN attack Of stage fright and
trembled violently.
"NOt till she heard the line spoken
which was her signal for entrance did
she make any effort NJ recovery, ANA
then, to the surprise of those who
were trying to get her In shape, Sln
braced UP and went OH the stage as
though she had been OH the boards
for years. She went through her par1
mechanically and without apparent
consciousness Of her actions, but she
played the scene better than she had
done at rehearsal.
"At the close of her scene she CAME
Off the stage. staggered to her dressing
room and sank unconscious to the
floor. She never recovered from her
coma, and an autopsy developed the
fact that she had died of heart disease.
though had examined her shortly
before and could find no trace Of
cardiac affection.
Several standard authorities quote
the case of q young English aspirnnt
who came to The theater on the night
of his debut In state bordering On
nervous prostration. He was brnced
ment by those on the stage with him.
but no snnuer had lie stepped upon the
stage than he clarpch his hand upon
his heart AMIR fell dead The excite.
mnnt had rur,urrd the valves of his
heart, and hc had ended his career as
lIo was abUl, to begin II.
zone curious case was told me not
long ago by one Of the physicians at
Bloonlingtlnle. 4 young man, u mem
her OF college dramatic club, was
brought there for treatment. He had
been cast FOR q part in the spring
production. and this extra study, add
ed to the regular studies imposed by
the collegiate course, caused some
thing to give way. On the occasion
Of the dress rehearsal it was found
that lie could not remember n line of
his part, and this so worried him thar
he broke down and was brought here.
"FOr several weeks he could not
speak an intelligent sentence and
then suddenly his part came back TO
him, and he could go through 1t. cues
and all, without break. For another
full week hc kept going through the
lines of his part, and then developed a
severe attack Of brain fever, from
which he came ont perfectly rational.
but, oddly enough. with absolutely M
memory Of the lines Of the play IN
question.
'The excitement caused by stage
fright Is most curious thing, and did
the opportunity present. l should like
to write Il trentise on the subject, for
1t Is q fascinating one, but I am kept
too busy patching up the troubles that
exist to write Of the troubles which
have existed New York Tel, graph.