New-York tribune., 1902-04-22
STAGE STORIES.
THE REcoILEcTIoNs OF cHEvALIER'
THE SINGER OF CosTER SONGS

EEFoRE FORGET The Aut9oqgraSpbbs 5dq{ aSbssvaer ii
Octave pp. xvi 256 London: T tisher CH"Ii-
With delightful good humor and frankness'
ar .It.r+ ,-revalier has written not exactly
= ,,,+ob,opranhv but collection OF stories
ys~a,,,n from his experiences as an actor ana d
,,,.,sic hall comedian. He has been devoted 10
,he stage since his eighth year. when ne hiaue
his first appearance at penny readlhs IA i
rondon suburb. lie really cannot recaI a utile
-vten he was not stagestruck- he tells OF MS
Gradual introduction TO the rea- lie OF an acUol
through amateur performances, and hhaHy'
,,to, ne was sixteen years old. through Dion
Isoucicaut's influence, Of securing an engage
mont as a boy character in play of Tom Tay-
lor's Among his subsequent experiences was
one in an opera company, in which the future
suterprefer of coster life appeared, not only as
paul in ''The Grand Duchess" but as Masetto
sn Don Giovanni" In the light OF later develop
,neuts" saws Mr.. CheValier. 1T VIII astonlsh
INV readers TO learn that did not shine IN
grand OPERA" and he thinks that Mozart must
have squrmed in his grave when he dared
the intricacies Of his glorious music lie mas
always looked at his success in the halls as a
.-fule" he confesses from his heart OF hearts
1T came about after further experience in
legitimate acting when he found himself out
of a shop" and his first essay was in The
Casters serenade" the verses of which like
most of his later productions Of the kind, were
his own TO music of somebody else. once
launched in the music halls. he sometimes
worked as many as five a night:
7. was a wonderful experience-one from
which any actor would have derived benefit
The rapid change Of audiences-1O o'clock at
the Tivoli 1915 at the Middlesex. Having to
Eing the same songs at each hall, but under
conditions widely different as chalk is from
cheese. The night first sang My Old
fan
TO me although half an hour before, at the
Tfvoli you could have heard the proverbial pin
there are certain rounds of applause which l
Don't think actor ever forgets-
Mr.. Chevalier before submitting item
TO an audience. often turns it over in his mind
FOR months beforehand and the dread of failure
das often caused him to postpone at the last
moment something carefully rehearsed for
weeks. He confesses to being hopelessly bad
FIRST night performer. and. we imagine, repeats
The experience of most actors he thus de-
ecribes 1t:
I am so susceptible to the attitude-or what
& Imagine to be the attitude-of audience
that if-as il sometimes happens-1 am unfort-
hooking unsymoathetic face. i lose conscious
mess Of the smiling ones. 1 see only that moral
azet blanket and its influence is fatal
He appears to like America, though some of
IFS methods stagger hin-as when he found
bn the morning after his arrival here in
New-York. while he III his bath, that
There were two gentlemen busy in his
trarlor screwing together a Photographic
camera stand. AS he emerged they courteously
put him at his ease by informing him that they
represented a New-York newspaper, and were
come to photograph him in the depletion of three
eunotions-surprise, joy and disgust. He told
them that he could furnish the first and last
but not the second. But they were all taken.
II is pleasant to note Mr.. Chevaner's apprecia-
tion OF American hotels, which he finds less
expensive than English, and infinitely better
supplied with the means Of mnistering TO COM
fort, with variety Of Dishes a profusion Of
delcaces Travelling about much as do
tn Great Britain" he sums it up, Il only wish
L could get anything like the comfort, the clean
illness and the cooking at the price"
American audiences too, pleased him. On his
first night in New-York he was unnerved by
the warmth OF his welcome when he appeared,
(which, I had not yet commenced my song,
could only have been meant to assist TO en-
courage me-"
have never experienced anything like that
10 the majority of my hearers and yet they did
not miss point. To work for such an audience
was a real pleasure. I not ashamed
70 own that when ! came off the stage l was
80 elated. amazed and oyerpowered by the ex-