The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1901-11-03

If there is one subject I avoid more
than another it is this giving advice
to stage aspirants, because it is so Of
ten requested by young people who
have more hopes than prospects.
However, this America is such a big
country. and there being so many
clever young people seeking stage hon
ors, l feel compelled to comply with
the request made me that say some
! thing to them that will be Of assist
ance.
One of the great faults of stage as
pirants is that they overestimate their
ability. A lot of them are not good
| enough for the stage, although they
consider themselves too good.
1 have seen very clever young people
perform splendidly in a drawing room
who would have failed utterly on the
stage.
| OF course this not a rule, but there
are a lot of young persons doing piet-
ty things in drawing rooms who believe
themselves to be really too good for
! the stage.
The first thing necessary for atten-
ton on the stage is presence; not nee
essarily supreme beauty, but "a pres
| ence that is at once magnetic and au-
| thoritative.
Temperament, nervous energy, mag
! ination, emotions discreetly governed
and tremendous physical strength are
primary qualities for stage work.
| A good voice, a dramatic sense of
| situation on and off the stage, some
| familiarity with the poets, and, above
all, quick, warm impulses.
AS / have intimated before, these
| qualities cannot be acquired. Actors
and actresses are born by nature 10
their work, as painters and writers
| and even mechanics are born to their
trades.
The discovery of talent is as accurate
in knowledge to any intelligent mind
as the discovery that we have two
arms and two hands.
do not believe that any real talent
is ever lost for want of discovery; the
, world is only too quick to harvest any
| talent, no matter where it may be
found.
There may be exceptional cases
where circumstances delay the fruition
of a natural gift, but I am quite sure
it will be only a temporary delay.
Everything that is natural is appre-
ciated, and the people who fail are
those who affect that which they do
not possess.
If you really have dramatic talent
nothing will keep you off the stage;
in fact, you will very quickly have to
leave it if you are found wanting by
the public-the true judges of acting
though it may take you long while to
reach the top.
Beginners on the stage have their
individuality to consider, and they
should adapt their personalities to a
special line or part.
| Personally, / cannot conceive how
lessons in acting can teach people how
10 act any more than a pen and ink
can teach a man how to write.
In all trades young people are APP
prenticed and they learn their business
from the bottom.
The engineer begins in machine
shop and the actor should begin in the
theater. All his or her faults are glar-
ingly apparent on the stage in the pres
ence of an unprejudiced audience, while
they are frequently hidden in the stu
dio or classroom.
In saying this do not by any means
wish to criticise the great amount OF
good that is done for the young people
by intelligent teachers.
We are not all born with natura
grace or power of representation, anc
there are certain technical condition:
on the stage which may be taught, bu
eventual success depends entirely upoI
the gift that is natural and not as
sumed.
The stage represents what we see G
feel in real life; as we are never consist
entity tragic or consistently conf
through our entire lifetime it is vel
10 have a little of both. Neither tag
edy nor comedy can stand alone with
out the other.
An oculist points out a simple bu
very common error that works a stead,
injury to the eye, says the New Yorl
Post. Persons writing at a desk o.
working by a window, who use tn
right hand, should be careful that thu
light falls upon their work from th'
left side sufficiently direct to remove
any chance of casting shadow on the
work by the movement of the hand
A woman sewing will often seat hersel1
by the window or lamp in such way
that the shadow of her hand falls con
stantly upon the point in her work al
which she is using the needle. A left
handed person should be equally care
full from the other side. The same
authority says that the wearing oil
plain black clothes is a strain on the
sight. Persons with weak eyesight
quickly feel this strain and should be
relieved from it. A plain black sur
face offers no focus to the eye, and
therefore tires it very quickly. Figur-
ed cloth, though it may be all black
is preferable.
Can you pack a trunk? Because II
you can, says the Philadelphia North
American, you are possessed of an &C
complishment that will stand you ir
good stead for your own use and en-
dear you a thousand fold to your
friends in distress. For this is fem.
mime gift and bestowed but sparingly
at that.
Few women and no men can do the
thing, that is, do it successfully. In all
of the large cities there are women
who have this gift and who are turn
ing it to financial account.
The vast majority, however, cannot
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