New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1902-03-23

tho moment the coach begins TO work. STILL we
have pretty good time getting up plays. and
or course the boys let off steam once in a while
curing a specially prolonged or uninteresting re-
hearsal. But tho excellent control by Mr.. Short.
the coach. makes rehearsals serious affairs"
These remarks By Mr.. Johnston show exactly how
the undergraduate actors at Yale take their per-
formances. They are very serious over it. They
rush rehearsal hour through s fast they
can and tend strictly to business while the
stage. Mr.. Johnston. who has had more than the
usual undergraduate experience IN managing and
directing amateur dramatics. and who is now
coaching the Barnard College girls In their new
play. is OF the opinion that nowhere Is there so
much hard work done. and so little waste Of time
in side play. in the preparation for a college
dramatic performance Mr.. Johnston says:
Possibly it is the fact that only the best actors
parts in one Of the Yale plays that accounts best
fer Of amateur performances. our system
is one OF competition. and this makes II business
We had twenty one men left over from last years
cast and we needed nine more TO make full
OF these hfty-hve forty-siX had TO fail you can
5ave . ia GO about IN ntey deTent style from
the professional or even amateur, so each man was
an act of The Merchant of Venice" was put on;
ErastnS G42Img one Oi n.' az had
another trial, TILL we found the nine that suited
enced actors trying for parts. this preliminary trial
rehearsng is often very amusing All sorts ., and
with 30 pounds Of weight may get the heroines
The total ignorance OF stage mechanics shown by
the novices is most amusing. A good many OF
them have never been on stage before. They
rush TO their positions through imaginary rivers.
SIT down on lmaslnary SiaeboaTas and otnerwlst m
man quick to learn, and when they are told thing
it mover slips their mind. In this way It is
infinitely easier TO put on college production than
In the love scenes all sorts OF curious things
occur. We rehearsed a French play last fall and
persisted in standing with belligerently folded
while the lover was making lmpassoned love 10
her, and whispering soft phrases IN her ear In
that way it is hard to get men TO remem6er thar
IL was alIeult TO eti man Iahlns giIl cIar-
to- the great deIight Of the audience No. -
In college dramatics more than in the usual
teur sort, we have TO be careful as to just how
far 10 let the tender scenes go. Your average
Undergraduate audience is easily thrown from in
hundreds of actors must have experienced when
they have appeared local boards. Especially in
Easily MIS- the e ne
tire front OF the theatre and horses to his hearts
that come TO the Hyperion have some pretty rough
right but the minute it becomes noticeable or is
p r9Gnged na tPhG 100 much the entire under
then probably breaks out into smacks and whistles
at the Hyperion lately. where whole scene was
s sr up Fo TO 6ee46ng 1t Was done with great
had overloaded it, The undergraduates. who filed
and embraces and other things for a while and
then began to get FESTIVE. In spite the fact that
both actors were near the head of their profession
the boys began TO horse" them. AS the love
making continued the fellows "smacked" loudly re-
peated the words OF the hero in unison with him
ana In few minutes unnerved the actors that
1ney cut the scene short and escaped as gracefully
as they could 49,
IL professionals cannot transgress in this par
tGular. much less Undergraduate actors them
serves, because the girls parts are then taken bv
men which increases the difficulties In every nlay
!indI we nave put on our coach has cut down the
tIEe passages cut out the kisses and embraces and
allowed al only few words OF affection to remain.
very easy step from the sublime to the
LuIGulous IN student acting and on account OF this
ne HadHuHhg, or the love scenes has been one Of
S t hIst problems that faced coach But he
side OF the fence F'e VA ZIG 44sH1
naturally there is lot of fun in the preliminary
, tsiiIeal saIs Many of the are green To his.
a. nSthous, and keep the prompter and Goa IN
a state OF eXhilarated suspense ITntiI
".S framed not TO do 1t, these green men will
fhuM tne protoundest unmaginativeness in going
81 81 scene They enter boldly through inn
scenery sit down doorways (chaTsI and
aI use play havoc with the scene pot TbaSr
r. ,1aitSotCetnedly up stage their hack 70
f+Dtii TO- ana spout their lines the back dron
',ata tJy are taught not TO do an undsrSroS
oHiCe IKE any other will not stand SIN IL
ttIuSe's d9out, walks back and forth like % ~
anu rVes the stage director to the varga 1
80 n. NO matter how simple the words he bos
oVn "Lt ne VIII give them original twist ~ his
fbrnngb % Ine authors meaning. He will taar
~ a quiet scene like a halfback ana ~ -
49,, Snto!est ACTION the occasion for nj snrTs nc
tTLaS acuhg But this is of course oniv netnreI
Iersjtu are only very few real actors in a mn
on shy nights-that is when there "a n scaro,,,,
Tro-Ie lIoers or the troupe at rehearsaI ~
F-H'''et - the hardest worked man in the bo,'sl,