New-York tribune., 1901-04-26
THE PASSING THRONG.

W. A Stellwagon. of st. Louis in speaking at
the Waldorf-Astoria yesterday of contretemps upon
the stage said:
ALNARf "A beautiful scene may be utterly
rINISHED ruined by trihing mistake
ihE MISS and of seemingly infini-
tesinal dimensions throw out an
ehtre company. Oftentimes. however, the ready
VIII and presence of mind of an actor or actress
may save the day and turn what might otherwise
eut Of ali into % triumph m One Of The most
tba IN me opera of 'Segfried You will remember
sleep with kiss Wagner has so arransed il thai
era re KISS seems as long to the audience the i'm
Toost neosty seconds but il seems unending 1t is
enee is extremely likely to grow restless. si Some
Tomis T%s ago at a performance of Siegfried' in 81.
Nine Ha hsd Eol aSou 4
gaery began hS snghy " oscula1ion when The
bITreasng bit In volume. 1t was a critical moment
Avqgys Al 1s ALREADY large wreath Of auTels Slowly @
turned ea foud MS ma @magnaeently handsome head and
Siati ieIeS INTO silence In ten seconds he had com
pin Pin drop in the great house Then he dropped his
10 its On ppo1tsa aa1 OF sng and that kiss
amer am hheefruptlon from the audience. II fine
exercise over an audience have ever Witnessed
g De mortuis nil nis bonum' For that reason
the maine of the hero of this anecdote shall not
give you. for he has long since
SINGING been gathered to his fathers Let
UNDER 1T suffice that in his heydey he
plffl- was of the greatest tenors
CuLIlES- who ever sang a breathless and
enthusiastic audience. e had a
penchant, however for the red, red wine which i'm
the end proved his undoing, and ultimately pro-
vided pathetic ending for an otherwise great
career career In his prime his drinking seemed only to
aHect his legs but never his head or voice He
could always sing, and sing true but at times no
had no more ability to guide his wandering foot
steps than mas a sufferer in the last stages of
| ing tauSt to Emma Abbotts Marguerite he an
! peared at the Opera House an apparently hone
Tess cohultion The management wild but
there was no one 10 take his place and SO they
| had TO chance il with him as Faust All went
| well until they came to that scene where Faust
| In leaving Marguerite. the stage and then
giving way to an impulse, ruSheS back aud kisses
marguerite yet once again ere taking his de-
side of the stage all right but trouble arose when
ne tried to get back. Marguerite sits in the win
DOW or her cottage and Faust comes back and
| Kisses her through the window. Faust measured
the distance with a wobbling eye. but made a
| start when his cue given. Then he seemed to
! lose control of himself. One-quarter way across
| he was trottins; One-half way the a run.
and three-quarters of the way it had become a
! ground bravely, but that rapidly approaching
| flgure awed her and with frightened scream she
! Ned. 'aust, poor Faust. charged He reached
the place he had last seen Marguerite, and
esSayed 10 clasp the atmosphere in outstretched
arms. Then his impetus carried him through the
| window, and all that the astounded audience looked
! upon were his waving legs. Somebody pushed him
back. and, absolutely undisturbed. he finished the
| opera, singing in an unusually superb manner.
! Not with the unfortunate Marguerite, however,
for from then she suffering from of
| rattles, which, in simple justice should have been
| the property of Faust"