The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1901-11-03
Dramatic Hrt.
BY Mrs. lie M0yne.

- taAa - * isl0 I'VE
Mrs. I.eMoyne is essentially a read
eT. 1t is this in her art which imme-
diately attracts attention, rather than
her ability to act scenes, although the
two must, TO cause success, go hand
in hand. In view Of the recent en-
gagement OF Mrs. LeMoyne In Salt
Lake, the reproduction Of the follow
ing, from her pen, viii not be out OF
place. Il was written some timo ago
for Golfers Weekly, and appeared un-
der the title, Good English and ORA
matte Art" Mrs. LeMoyne says:
1t may be considered presumptuOus
for a player who has only recently
stepped upon the metropolitan stage to
attempt to discourse upon dramatic
art In its broadcast sense; but from
many years experience as a dramatic
reader / have gained a few ideas on
That foundation Of all stage represen-
naturalization. BY this I do not
mean the facial cOGCCrtiOns and exag-
gerated gestures which are popularity
supposed to fc he principal equip
ment 1f the onist; / mean the
/ II rare, art Of ra4ding lines naturally
the thong itts Of the speaker.
TO begin with voice culture, which Is
the foundation Of all: There are today
| thousands Of parents whose children
/ twenty years hence VIII reprOaCh them
/ for having neglected their voices. When
a child begins to speak, its voice edu-
cation should begin. And how is it
/ begun for many children whose oppor-
/ tunities might be Of the best? BY Civ
/ ing them over to the cOmpanionshiD
/ of nurses, whose speech Is ignorant
and coarse. Nasal notes and harsh
/ burTs. even IL after education succeeds.
/ give the baby the first Impressions Of
I the art Of speaking, and first impress
| sions are the strongest and most last
| ing. Many lovely children whom I
| know are saddled with the faulty
| speech Of their nurses. handicapped
| with bad talking habits, from which
/ they win never wholly recover.
Right here is where the development
| of the kindergarten viii. in time, work
| a great reform. I am certain that one
Of the outgrowths Of the recognition
( of the value Of infantile education
I viii be schools for the training Of in
/ fants' nurses. And may I be there to
insist that these coming guardians OF
| the babies take a preliminary course
I in voice culture. Furthermore, I am
an advocate Of the stage and platform
/ as educators. It is well to let children
; hear frequently what the human voice
1 is capable Of in the way of power and
/ expression. Only be careful in the
( choice of their models.
| The great faults Of readers and
! actors have been mannerisms and af-
/ fectatiOns; but both platform and stage
| are improving every year, and we have
/ now many cultivated voices from
/ which 20 learn. The polished player
| or speaker does not betray by tone OF
/ infection whether he was born and
/ bred in London or in New London:
1 there should be no nasal tWang or
/ slurTed RS TO tell whether one halls
/ from north or south Of the now hap
/ PLY obliterated Mason and DixOu's
I line. Well-bred Americans speak Just
/ as pure English as Well-bTed Britons:
/ but If we, as a nation. are to rid our
| selves of the imputation Of provincial
/ ism in speech, we must begin with the
| babies.
1 advocate taking the child voice and
/ moiding and training it. Vocalizfng in
/ reading and speaking does not entail
/ any such labor as vOCalizing in music:
| yet how few who employ singing mas
| ters consider the Importance Of a cul-
/ tivated speaking voice. Generally
/ when an adult goes to a voice In
! tructor he is in despair at the condl-
( ecn into which careless talking and
| slovenly habits of speech have brought
/ him. Habit of speech becomes fixed
/ with especial stUbbOTnness, and many
! a cultivated man or woman finds diff
] in MD
/ Elections and improper tone-productfOn
absorbed from companions of their
/ childhood.
/ You can put feeling into your voice
# you feel something, without sending
/ the sound through the nose. Pathos
| does not talk that way without ceas-
| ing to be pathOs and becoming mere
| sntvelling. It speaks in broken SEN
J fences, perhaps, and rich with feeling.
but it doesn't whine. A well trained
! voice follows the emotions Of the read
eT naturally; therefore, the preliminary
training having been accomplished, one
/ should completely forget the voice and
. absorb the sentiment of the lines
The basis Of a good voice is a good
stomach. Eat well, sleep well and walk
We'll It seems odd. perhaps, that
dropped shoulders and immOvable hips
! in walking should affect the voice, but
they do. Whatever adds to the breadth
| of lung keeps the voice full and strong,
and the full and strong voice is the
| voice that can be trained. 1t is pos
4 sible for every young person to i'm
prove his voice; it is almost possible to
[ make a good voice out of a poor voice.
Only you must be always watchfuli So
( many children-men and women, too
merely drop the jaw and let the words
come out as they will, without empha-
sis or expression, conveying only half
/ their meaning. You grow indignant a.
( such mumbling, just as you resent a
| shambling gait in a man or woman.
| For an actor or a public reader the
first requisites for winning the tOlera-
ton of metropolitan audiences are a
cultivated voice and pure accent. No
one can make Roadway with a twang
or a bad r-r-r. The province OF the
reader is not to act: it is to suggest the
dramatic picture by infection, simple
gesture and facial expression. Il
should never trench upon the stage,
which is pictorial And yet the art Of
reading is the foundation Of all dra-
matte work. "Suit the word to the
action. the action to the word, " but first
of all. the word must he well delivered,
Pierpont Morgsn's Joke.
Here is an extract from a letter writ