The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1899-04-09
COLLEGE BOYS AS "SUPES."
Ellen Terry Slashed the Scenery to
Let Them See Irving Act.

(New York Commercial Advertiser)
Il just told you about our dramatic
club. Well, we had another one that
the fellows called the 'Supe club You
see, when melodrama or even a grand
opera company comes into town it nee3s
anywhere from five to fifty people to
fill up. There are the citizens in Jul
Jus Caesar or the matadOres in Car
men These are called mutes or super
numeraries by the theatrical companies,
but we called them supes Well, l
happened to know the manager of the
theatre. and whenever there were any
supes wanted he would tell me the
number and kind needed. for, you
know, some pieces had to have big
men for soldiers or policemen, while
others would call for shorter men for
pages and messengers. AS soon as I
got word from the manager 1 would
collect my supes. This was easy
enough, for the fellows We're always
anxious to go, but to pick them out was
harder task, as some would feel
sighted if not chosen. 1 was known
as the King Of the Supes,' and my
word was law.
"One of our first experiences was with
a performance of .Lohengrin,' with
Ernss krauss as the tenor. We were
soldiers, ccurtiers and villagers, but in
the last act one man was needed to take
the part OF Ie4rarnund' 5 corpse, as It
would be beneath the dignity of an op-
cratic star to have himself carried out
| on bier without anything TO say. So
one of our fellows did the corpse. He
played the part with much dramatic
composure at first, but in the momen-
tary silence after Ortrud's song ne
quietly rolled over. After the perform
ance l took him to task for it, but he
said that he had been lying on his
haI nd he,
ne could stand.
We always preferred to take part in
melodramas, because then we had more
liberty and could do lots Of things which
wouldn't be allowed in a more preten-
tious company. On one occasion we per-
sonated Cuban soldiers and rushed out
to save the heroine from the clutches
of a Spanish captain, the heavy VIII
lain, while the battleship Maine was
blowing up in the distance. That was
our cue to give a shout of rage. but in
stead the followers started the college
yell, finishing up with 'Rahl Rahl Rahi
Fitzhugh Lee!' This brought down the
house, and at the request of the man
agement we repeated it at the next
performance.
I'VE were supefng once for Sir Henry
Irving and Ellen Terry and while off the
stage crowded around q little hole IN
the scenery to see Sir Henry act Miss
! Terry, who was waiting for her cue 10
go on, saw us and, with a majestic
gesture, asked one of US, Have you
knife?' Half a dozen knives were i'm
mediatesy offered her. She chose one
and deliberately cut a triangular hole in
the canvas. saying. Now you can see
better OF course. the property man
was furious, but he didn't dare say
anything.
Our last appearance was in THE
Prisoner of Zenda," and we played the
rabble. All we had to do was to stand
behind the scenes and yell, Long live
Black Michael 'Hochr Huzza, Some
of the fellows forgot themselves. or
were carried away with the enthusiasm
of the moment and yelled out things
to the discredit of a rival college. The
faculty heard of this, and. deciding
that supeing was derogatOry to the dig
nifty of the college. issued an edict put
ting an end to it."