Waterbury Democrat., 1901-03-26
WHEN ACTORS FORGET.
Embarrassing MomentssThat Come to
 Persons on the Stape

referring 10 mOmentafy lapSeS or mem- Ory on the stage.
 Some players,' he continued, 'are peculiarly liable to forget their words, and personally the longer I have been playing one character the more prone am l to run off the line.' You see, you. as it were, get to know the words too well; they are so familiar that they rail to claim your attention, and then, one night. before you are aware of it. memory fails and you find yourself staring at your audience speeches..
 A tragedian told me a rather pecu- lair story as to a breakdown that hap pened to himself In the middle of one of his speeches a lady dressed in bright red came into the stalls, and watching the patch of brilliant color, the actor forgot his words. The next evening a kind or terror seized upon him lest some one in red should again take a seat and he repeat his previous nights performance. So strong had his feeling become that, after three or four nights that man actually bought his wife q bright red dress and got her to sit in the stalls. so, that he might overcome his apprehen- sion.
 sical comedy. He never forgets the lines of his spoken parts. but often makes slip in song. He comes to the end of a line and can recall noth- ing but the beginning of the next verse. and he has to stop the orchestra and begin over again. Some singers, when in this predicament just sing on 'Lum-t ti-tum' to the tune till the words come back. Some have told me that having once been at sea with their words they are sure. out of nervous fo ,o1- S1;r> tl,n evening. They are so anxious to avoid another mistake that their minds can think of nothing but that they must remember their words. In singing, the tune. of course. assists you to remem- Der the lines.
 AS you know. the promoter usual ly comes to the rescue of the player so stranded. But occasionally that official is not at his post. and then the man on the stage has to wrestle with his brains. Sometimes one of the company will. perhaps. very audibly, supply the omission. While some play CTS when they break down resume as best they can and take no notice of the mishap. others gag or take the audience into their confidence. Said one over the footlights: Now, these are just the very words I thought should forget. The gas man called as was learning them.' Another on coming to one of these awkward full stops said: Pardon mo. please. l was thinking whether there was enough Of that cold chop to do for supper and quite forgot my worlds These things sound poor enough to relate, but at the same time they go well enough.
 "One singer who broke down said: Look here. We'll get over that diffi- culty by dropping the verse altogether. You'll still get your moneys worth. for I'll sing the last verse twice. There is one little trick that usually goes down well. The singer has failed and has had to appeal to the prompter. When he finishes his song he darts off and drags on the prompter-probably in his shirtsleeves-to share in the ap- plause, which is usually quite enthus- iastic An actress on one occasion broke down when the pronpter was not at his post. To her surprise a lady sitting in the front row of the stalls leaned forward and gave the desired cue She had herself played the part as an amateur.
 "Well. as most players keep their memories in hand as I may say. some peculiar things have happened in one play an actor doubled two parts. lie was an old man in the prologue. and a young one later on. and in each he had a longish speech to make. These speeches he was always attempting to transpose. and one night he got out some four or five lines of the wrong sDeech ere he realized what he was doing. Another man played in piece having a darkened scene. Stepping on to the gloom -shrouded stage he to no ones surprise more than his own. commenced a portion of a part that he had played in another drama hay ing a similar lights low episode.
 "There are some vocalists who can not trust themselves to sing single note in public without the printed or written words This is awkward if they obtain engagements-and most seek them-on the variety stage, for there. as you know. it is not the GUS tom to hold music in the hands. Some ballad singers and others write the words very small on a card and hold this in the palm of the hand. l heard one man who. singing three new and rather difficult songs, adopted this lit tie device. He got so used to having the words there that he was afraid to do without them. When he chang ed to other songs he attempted to dis pense with the pager, but he found that he had become so used to having it to look at now and again that he was i'll at ease and awkward before his audience without it.
 "In opera breakdOwns are not, l think, frequent. You see, opera is special work; the opera season is an event that eXcites great interest, and all renderings are inevitably contrast ed with those of other great singers. This puts the players on their mettle and keeps them excited about their work. They have no chance of play ing and singing mechanically, and so their memory does not often fail them Any slips that do occur are usually caused by nervousness l heard of one prima donna who in new opera had particularly fine song to sing So eager was she to get to this that by mistake she started it instead of one that should have pre- ceded it. The conductor luckily saw the slip and rousing his men. he clev- erly went with the singer. She falter- ed a little as the truth flashed upon her. but, having the music all correct, she sang the song out and earned great applause.