Wheeling Sunday register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1882-1934, 1900-07-22
THE ART Of STAGE
MANAGEMENT
DAVID BELASCO Explains THE
REASON WHY 1T is so DIFFI-
CULT TO PRODUCE A PLAY
SUCCESSFULLY.
BY David BeIasco.

OF all the people that have to do
with matters theatrical there are none
of whom less is known than the stage
manager, and | suppose that this is the
reason why his personality is such an
interesting one TO those who have no
knowledge of affairs in that fascnat-
ing reign back of the curtain.
When a successful play is produced,
the author and the actor divide such
honors as may chance to be available,
but the stage manager, to whose efforts
much OF the success of the piece has
been due, is fortunate if his name is
not entirely forgotten by those who
chronicle events of this nature through
the columns of the newspaper.
AS the result, the names of the au-
thor and the actor become household
words, while that of the stage manager
a man who is almost as great an artist.
is seldom mentioned except in theatri-
cal circles.
| have often been asked to describe
the science OF stage MANAGEMENT, to
tell just what it is that has made some
men so successful in this line of work.
To each and all these queries | have
made the same reply: The secret of the
whole thing is that there is no secret.
The great stage manager, like the great
poet and the great actor, is born. His
art is a special gift that cannot be ae-
CURED by any amount of training.
The Born Manager.
10 produce an elaborate play sue
cessfully stage manager must be pos
sessed OF combination of remarkable
qualities. He must be an actor. not a
commonplace actor, but good one. He
must be an artist, in order that there
may be perfect harmony in the color
ing lie must be musician that the
harmony OF the tune may not be MARI
ed. jeom red
At the same time he must BE thor
oughly posted upon all matters per-
! tanning 10 the mechanics of the stage
that the piece from the first to the last
act may De properly set up. In other
words he must know how to tell eyery-
Dody Just what 10 DO, and how they
ought to go TO work to accomplish the
desired results.
60 far as | am concerned, nearly nv
entire life has been spent on the stage.
AS an infant in arms | had my part in
the domestic dramas that were so pom
ular in those days, and l have been
closely associated with the stage ever
since. AS the result of this wide ex-
perience | feel justified in feeling that
l know something about the subject of
the stage and its management If |
should be- pressed, therefore, to give
reply to the question as to the secret
or successful stage management
should say: Perception, knowledge of
humanity, an intuitive understanding
of men and women, tact, and, more
than all else, personal magnetism"
One who has no actual knowledge of
the subject cannot imagine how diff
cult 1t is 10 preserve harmony among
these children of the stage. Each COM
pany may properly be called little
world in itself. and every actor and
, actress requires different treatment.
One must be ''iollied." to use a vulgar
ism; another must be patted on the
back: another demands iron-clad dis
cipline. In fact, each must be treated
according to his temperament: and lack
of tact on the part of the stage man.
ager can only be productive of dis
cord and disturbances that are fatal to
success.
| The possession of personal magnet
ism is quality that is just as import
ant Just what personal magetism
may be is a. question that would not
attempt to say. but its result. when err
| ercised through the medium OF stage
manager, b that the men and women