The Appeal. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn. ;) 1889-19??, 1900-03-24
H00D00S ON THE STAGE

successes. If this impression about him
mad not existed, he might have accumu-'
lated more money and might have had to
be less saving about it. Another comedian
who acts in comic opera now as often as
ne can get the opportunity, has for years
peen looked upon by managers as a. hoo
doo whose existence it is impossible to
counteract -
II knew what it would be when I en-
gagged WILL" said manager the other
day, land don't know that I would have
done 1t If could have put my hands
just at that moment on somebody else
LOT the part. He was the easiest man
sto~get and willing to take what wanted
TO pay, so I ran against my own iudg-
ment and hired him. I don't know whether
the snow was any good or not, and
whether it had any real chances Of suc-
cess. At all events 1t only took VIII to
Knock them sky-high and close I'D the
mouse In two weeks Business had been
bad before put him in the cast, but it
went down so per cent as soon as he
appeared"
This experience, of course, satisfied one
more manager that the unfortunate actor
was hoodoo, When, as a matter of fact
ne mad been called in to take the part of
a more expensive and popular performer,
VINO was the sole attraction of a weak
comic opera 1t could never have been
made a success under any circumstances,
and with the retirement of the one poDu-
lar feature in it, the end came quickly
1t is from such accidental experiences as
this that the actor may acquire a. reputa-
ton as a hoodoo, when he is nothing of
the kind, and might, under favorable cir
cumStanceS, prove a valuable member of
a company. Just now one of the most
popular actresses in New York is. a wom-
an who, few years ago, came within
an ace of being declared hoodoo. She
was disadvantageously placed in poor or
unattractive plays, and the public interest
In her was not commensurate to her great
talent She was charming personally and
the public liked her, but did not turn out
to see her in numbers sufficient to make
her success financially. Three or four
bad plays following one another, in which
her acting was praised without attracting
the public, gave grounds for the growing
theory that she, too, might develop into
a hoodoo. One successful, we'll written
play, in which her own work was no
better than it had been in half a dozen
others before, was enough to take a firm
hold on public taste, and there will never
in the future be any discussion of this
young woman as hoodoo.
Sun reporter asked manager the
other day how actors came to be hoodoes,
or at least. came to be thought, so by
members of their profession. 1T happens
in this way" he said. after an actor
or an actress has acquired certain
prominence and is able to demand GER
tain salary the manager who engages
them relies In a measure on their share
in making his enterprise success. If 1t
lails en- account Of the quality Of the play
itself, or for any other reason mot con-
nected with the abilities or personalities
of the actor, the manager, is likely to-
mark down the piece a. failure and look
upon everybody concerned In 1t as hav-
ing done their part in accomplishing that
raS111t a
identified for two or three years with I'M
successful plays it takes a mighty far
seeing, unbiased man to have confidence
in their abilities and to believe that the
failure would have come apart from
what they did. A manager is likely to
approach every new production with as
much uncertainty and nervousness as If
it were the most important he had ever
made. I have known men to control half
dozen important theatrical enterprises
at once; yet on the day preceding the
least important play they undertake their
nervousness and apprehension will be
just as great as if they had never been
through that experience before. If it
fails they may be good losers and take
the event philosophically; but before it's
production they will neglect no precau.
ton to insure success and be very re-
spectful of what may seem like mere su-
perstition.
Ing a man or woman who has been iden-
titled with failures, they are likely to
look everywhere else before settling on
them. Naturally, these people find it
harder to. get the best engagements. More
failures mean the strengthening of the
prejudice against them, and it takes con-
siderable strength Of character on the
part of man or woman to struggle
against this sort Of opinion when it be-
gins to exist If a man happens to be
star and continues to fall, he will drop
out of that position, unless he has the
money or manager who has confidence
enough in him to continue the effort un-
til luck has turned. 1t is not difficult
matter for star who has been failure
in that capacity to find employment in
less exacting positions The same thing
Is true of woman. 1t is the stock actor
or actress who has never emerged from
that sphere on whom the blight of the
hoodoo rests most heavily. It Is impos-
sible for him to drop back, because he has
never got out Of the ranks. So, gradually,
these actors find employment more diff
cult to obtain, have to work with smaller
companies, and find their professional
career Is to lie in very humble lines.
Mind you, I have no belief in the
theory that any man or woman ever acts
as a hoodoo so long as they are suff-
GENTLY competent and talented to play the
part that falls to them. Some persons
have more magnetism for the public than
others, and that quality Is valuable in an
actor; but no play that is good in every
particular, or, at all events, good enough
to make a moderate success, is going to
fail because this man or that woman
with a past full of failures happens to
play q leading or important role. At the
same time, / can't say that I would ever
engage, if could help it, anybody who
had come to be looked upon as a 1hoodoo.
I am not prejudiced against them and
I don't believe in their influence, on a
plays success or failure, but, at the same
time, would rather have somebody who
hasn't been called by that baleful name
when I pick out a company Of actors