Omaha daily bee., 1903-02-08

Cording to the vernaCular of the profession,
is practical That is the huge lily pods,
or leaves, used in the fern scene are of
sheet iron twelve times their natural size,
and made to hold one of the players. The
Mother Goose shoe holds twcnty-four chill
dren. Both are stoutly built, but careless
ness in their setting would result in dan
gerous falls to the players.
The property man. after checking of
every article consigned to his department,
and comparing these with the schedule fur
nished by the property man at the Lon
don tbeater, makes himself thoroughly IA
miliar with the props" in the order OF the
scenes in which they are to be employed.
He is responsible for everything carried
onto the stage from a rose for the premier
in the ballet to the elephant on whose back
Fatima makes her entrance.
His system consists OF accurately group
ing the props" and training his men in
such fashion that each employe knows
which article he is to carry and off the
stage. In the newest spectacle the prop
erty men handle 5000 articles OF various
sizes at each performance, and they would
consider II a personal disgrace to have
a chorus girl ask, where is my banner"
They are drilled as carefully as the men
who handle the scenery, and so deftly do
they manipulate the thousand and one
breakable trinkets that an accident is al %
most unknown.
In a production OF this sort, loss and
breakage are serious, because many OF the
props" cannot be replaced on this side
Of the water, and the artisans are at their
wits end when called upon to fake
limitations OF the originals. American
stage mechanics are masters Of trek
"props," such as animals automobiles and
flying machines, but trinl.ets like arms
fans banners, crowns and pottery pecu-
liar to certain countries are more accu-
rately reproduced by foreign manufac-
turers.
During the process of perfecting the
mechanism of the production the actors
have been selected and rehearsed. In
choosing principals for a spectacle the
honors must be divided between men who
will make merry and women who will
dress the stage. At least two well l-adver-
tised beauties are deemed essential, while
the number OF comedians is limited only
by the roles. The masculine members OF
the chorus are selected solely for theiI
vocal abilities, but the young women arc
divided into two classes-the workers and
the show girls. The latter may have little
or no ability as singers, but they must
dress the front row and feast the eye by
physical charms when arranged in groups
The workers are the singers and dancers
OF whom less pulchritude is demanded
The show girls try the soul OF the prac
tical stage manager, and he swears by the
little girl with sharp features who has tC
be padded to fill a costume, but who never
fails to lead her line whittier II should go
Rehearsals Of the 300 actors go on stimuli
taneously in as many halls as the manage
ment can command. The ballet master has
one large stage, the director of ensemble
specialties another, the director who makes
a speciality Of ragtir1e numbers a third, and
the principals have a smaller hall all tc
themselves. Each director has his assist.
ants, varying in number from three TO hve
and several pianists. The work is practi-
cally unceasing-for the director for %t 70
groups and rows are drilled separately, tine
director never rests. His assistants are
useful principally in keeping order aud in
drilling what might be termed the awkward
squad.
Rehearsals begin at 10 o'clock in the
morning, and, with an hours recess ct
noon last until $50 o'clock. Whenever a
hall can be secured for the evening" they
are resumed at Z o'clock the director max
ing his announcement in the afternoon
something after this fashion:
THE butterflies meet me at o'clock at