The St. Louis Republic. [volume] (St. Louis, Mo.) 1888-1919, 1904-10-23
Creator of Svengali, and Jadwin
of 1.-The Pit" Sarcastically
Theories on Stage
Work.
uNREALIzED HOPES TRAGIC.
Individual Pleasure in Success
Decreases in the Same Ratio
as Perfection in Art
Is Approached.

The conclusion of Mr.. Wilton Lackaye,
master-actor. is that the higher in the
theatrical profession the player rises and
the more artistic and thorough he en-
deavors to make his work the less per-
sonal satisfaction there is, and from the
viewpoint of the man himself the harder
the burden of life.
| characterized by sharp and brilliant
shafts of sarcastic and biting references
to those phases of life of the stage which
seldom reach the eye or ear of the pub
lie. the Curtis Jadwin OF The Pit" talked
of unrealized hopes of the actor, who was
a. player for the sake of art. Talking as
strongly n as emphatically with his
eyes, in which Svengali was ever present,
as with his epigrammatic and terse
tongue. Mr.. Lackaye presented a personal
ity thoroughly pleasing, but absolutely
foreign to the performed conception of the
man as he appears across the footlights.
Perspirinsly scraping OF the black and
gray and the blue. which join in n sue
cessful effort to. transform the pleasant
lines Of the Lackaye co%untenance. into the
hard Chicagoese features of the typical
Board Of Trade operator. Mr.. Lackaye
AO1AAA " o1AS ~ IL hAAAAC ~ - -
sharp sentence or two of his opinion Of
the life of the player and. after clothing
himself with the aid of his valet. touch
ing of a cigarette and once more of the
world about him. he launched forth into
a brilliant discussion of the pitiful reward
that awaits the successful artist.
SNAGS TO ARTISTIC SUCCESS.
"Of all the artists who are artists for
arts sake. 1t Is the painter OF pictures
who reaches the true pinnacle of living.
He takes his canvas, his brushes and !
few tubes OF colors, goes into 4 Gingy
back room and comes back with q pic
ture. beautiful. immortal. The actor. at
heart as anxious as the painter TO pre-
sent a beautiful scene which thrills the
spectator and glorifies his life. goes TO
his theater. From the moment he enters
until the curtain rings down at the finale
every possible obstacle crosses his path
way in reaching the end he at heart
desires. From. the ticket taker at the
front door to the man who watches the
stage entrance at the rear, al necessary
impedimenta, everybody. everything. is
in his own estimation a more necessary
adjunct to the play than is the player
himself.
THE fat man with the fiddle. who d.
reefs the orchestra, whose sole duty is
to furnish a little incidental music i'm
AGNES that the play is produced lust TO
give him a han to show himself. and
between the audience. and the finished
picture obtrudes his personality. The
stage hand. whose highest ambition is to
set a new scene every five minutes. hur-
ries the principals from pillar to post IN
order to give him a chance to get at
his lifework. There is never a second
from curtain to curtain which does not
hurl some little snas into the path to
artistic success. and the presentation of
the picture which is the climax of the
production.
Even with circumstances propitious in
the immediate vicinity of the stage, there
is every chance that just at the critical
moment in Il still scene some im5ecile
in che gallery will let forth a Euffaw. It