Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1903-01-10
DRAMA


chain. A man would take piece or chaik
and mark line where the log was to be
sawed. Then this elephant would take the
log to the end Of the saw adjust 1t TO the
chalk line and push it with his trunk and
tusks. When 1t was within foot or so OF
the saw he would drop his trunk and tusks
the log with his toe nail beyond the saw,
and was told he was never known to have
suffered the slightest cut"
James Richmond Glenroy claims there Is
| strong reason for believing the title ''The
| Girl with the Green Eyes was suggested
| to Clyde Fitch by the formers famous So
| briquet, 1.-The Man with the Green Gloves.
! In the spirit Of Yuletide, peace on earth to
men, ETC., James Richmond Glenroy a cou-
| pie of weeks ago announced his priority OF
| title, and added that he Is glad that Mr..
| Fitch appropriated the Idea. In order to
show that he has no hard feeling toward
| the rapid-fire playwright. he submitted
| number of titles all Of which were pho
netic likeness to the name of the piece In
| which Miss Blcodgood appears at the Savoy
Theater. Said Mr.. Glenroy:
''It would be a good idea to follow The
! Girl with the Green Eyes by The Man
with the Mashed Potatoes. The Tiger With
| the Tin Tonsil,' The Lady with the Lum,
| bago,' The Fly with the Four Fingers.
| The Pie with the Putty Pastry and The
Female with the False Face.
You see," said Mr.. Glenroy, these titles
are not as difficult as they appear. With
| little musical meter In your mind you can
reel them off forever without difficulty. Inc
| plot, though, Is the hard end of the game.
| But most Of the titles are SO suggestive
| that a plot should suggest ITSELF
In "Way Down East" there are two or
three occasions when behind the scenes
laughter and talk are necessary to the Incl
dents in which they occur and it was only
hx,f he nOcd rehearsal that they
approached the ideal set by the director.
The first Of these bits of business comes in
the first act, when all the people OF the
play, excepting Anna and David. have gone
in to supper. The girl is about to leave the
place she has just found because of
chance meeting with the man who has
wronged her. and while David Is trying to
persuade her to remain loud burst Of mer-
rlment from the kitchen breaks In on the
dialogue and determines her to go. To get
this laughter the stage manager resorts to
all sorts Of tricks. Sometimes he screams
into the ear of one Of the women, and
again he engages IN free fight with the
men, securing the desired result of nat
| ural laugh from that effort, and now and
then he tries other subterfuges. This keeps
the actors In expectation OF something new.
and they have an interest In the business.
The next time the outside conversation
Is used is in the second act, when the
professor, Kate and Anna are coming down.
stairs with the wraps and hats OF the
crowd, who are going to the party. MISS
Davies, Miss Shirley and Mr.. Currier save
up jokes to tell one another for this scene.
and to stand In the wings and watch them
is as good as seeing bit OF farce. They
look at one another, laugh, tell their jokes
and say all sorts of foolish things.
X X X
Uric B. Collins, the good-looking young
fellow who has been playing David Bart
lett In way Down East" a couple Of years,
began his career as a comedian. He had
won some degree Of popularity when sud
denly he decided upon and adopted his pres
ent line of work. William A. Brady said to
him one day shortly after, Mr. Collins.
what possessed you to change your occupa-
ton at a time when you still had several
years before you In which to devote your
self to impersonations Of a humorous or
der?"
WELL" replied Mr.. Collins. II was
afraid to let theatergoers associate me too
firmly with ugh-provokine Did you ever
hear the story Of Charlie Hoyt ard the
Burlington Hawkeye MANI"
Mr.. brady answered in the negati, nd
the anecdote was forthcoming Immediately
1t seems that in Hoyt's early days he
assumed the responsibility OF managing a
ness was very bad, and the young man was
In considerable danger Of losing all his saw
ings On the venture. Uncle Toms Cabin,
Ten Nights in a Bar Room and other
classics dear to the rustic heart failed to
appeal to the population. and finally the
author-to-be decided upon risking his all on
lecture by a newspaper humorist, then at
the height Of his fame. The services of the
hum orist were secured accordingly, and the
village was so thoroughly aroused to the
Importance Of the occasion that Hoyt's
temple. the Thespis. was crowded to the
doors on the night set aside for the enter
tainment.
Everything looked promising when the
humorist was handed a telegram which
Hoyts limited experience as a manager
had not taught him to keep until after the
performance. The lecturer glanced at the
yellow sheet and then, with evident dis
tress, said, "Oid chap, I'll have to disap-
point you. My wife's mother who was as
dear to me as my own, who reared me al
most from infancy, has died"
Hoyt remarked that all the money he pos
sessed in the world was reposing in the box
office. and begged the humorist to master
his emotions for couple of hours. That
gentleman replied that, glad as he would
be to rescue Hoyt from bankruptcy, he
could not think of appearing that night
My God, man., he said, with tears in his
voice, you don't know what she was to
me. I can't go on to tell funny stories
with the knowledge that the old lady is ly-
ing dead at my home"
Hoyt resigned himself to the newt HE
He merely asked that. as a special favor.
the Burlington Hawkeye man would ex-
plain to the audience himself so that the
management might not be accused of bad
faith To this the lecturer consented With
!. streaming eyes and nervous working fin
gers he stepped upon the platform He was
picture of grief and anguish.
ladies and gentlemen" he said In fune-
| real tones, Il regret that 1 must disappoint
you tonight. But 1t Is impossible for me to
entertain you. My mother in-law has lust
died" 's
There was moment OF semi-perplexed
silence. 1t was followed by shrek after
shrek of uprorieus laughter The Burling-
ton Hawkeye man had justified his reputa-
ton at the very start; No better Joke ever
had been heard in New Hampshire. The
expectant and thoroughly amused audience
shouted Its merriment until the humorfst
had recovered from his surprise sur1.sient-
ly to walk Indignantly from the stage. Not
until months afterward did he realize that
no affront had been intended, but that to
the multitude funny man was ALWAYS trv-
ing to be funny.
And that" quoth Mr.. Collins. ".s u,hv
thought / had better get into serio,,e
work while yet there was time
Christie Macdonald. whose winsome per-
! formance of Nancy Staunton created SO
y, I.-,s>.