The St. Louis Republic. [volume] (St. Louis, Mo.) 1888-1919, 1901-02-03

Tar as that, but you may depend upon IL
that IL a thing Is printed in the directions
IL has some reason for being there, and may
mean something to the author or audience
ways found 1t safer to follow directions ex-
actly.
In the matter Of makeup" we used only
powder and rouge in those days, and very
i.ttle OF them. only just enough to prevent
our faces kim a CHASTITY pallor from the
unnatural glare of the footlights. To this
day. much painting Of the face distresses
me.
No. I never acted with Charlotte Cush-
man. but / met her and talked with her
once in Glasgow. She and her sister su-
san. who did Juliet 10 her Romeo. and was
almost as good an actress as the more ia
nous sister. were playing there.
Charlotte Cushman told me Of her own
rendering of Meg Merrilies one of her
strongest parts. By the way, she always
refused to put on the first part of the
play. where Meg appears as a young wo-
man. for she maintained that two separate
women were needed to show the two
stages of Meg's life. II was in the earlier
stage that Miss Rehan was so charming.
when she did the part not so many years
ago. But the play was much modified
then. and Meg was more the Spanish gyp-
sy than the weird Scottish peasant. II
was In that production by Mr.. DAILY that
/ had my little dance as the Widow Nc
Candish, but in the old days / did Meg
herself. II was then that I remembered
how Charlotte Cushman told me she had
been used 20 chant the song in the part.
for she could not sing a note. and did not
like to have any one sing for her behind
the scenes. After all. that singing behind
the scenes is n very false sort of thing to
do. and the audience is never deceived.
SUCCESS IN
CUsHMAN'S PAST.
A certain Englishman. named Bliss. came
to star In this country. This was long be-
fore my New York days. you understand.
Bliss was a famous Dandie Dinmont. and I
had to support him as Meg. I could not
sing at all. and 1 was very ambitious to try
Miss C~ushman's plan of chanting the lines
TO the accompaniment of a few low chords
from the orchestra. Now ! am so made
that I cannot take a pitch from an orches-
ira, or from any single Instrument: the
only note / can copy is that of the human
voice. So I got a girl who had a musical
ear to coach me on the sly. for I knew that
my husband, who was stage mana ger then,
would not like the idea Of my challenging
comparison with Charlotte Cushman. But
/ was forever trying to do things that were
beyond my reach, and I suppose II
is that which has kept me going. II was
not until rehearsal that my husband sus-
pected what / had been plotting. I can
see his face now. as he stood on one side.
experimenting things: when the orchestra
down for me and he realized what
was coming. he turned on his heel and
went straight of out of sight. / heard
him say under his breath: MY God. she's
going to try IL" 1 suppose my nervousness
added the needed quaver to my voice, for
1t certainly sounded like that Of a very old
woman. When I was finished the fddlers |
in the orchestra beat softly on the backs
of their instruments with their bows-that
Is their form Of applause-and as for me. I I
went back up the stage. and had a good
cry.