The San Francisco call., 1905-02-26

1t was With the firm Intention or In
terviewing Mr.. Joseph Cawthorne. and
nothing but Mr.. Joseph Cawthorne in
spite of all temptations. that L went
behind scenes at the Grand Opera
house the other night And did in
terviev all of Mr.. Cawthorne that I
could find under a ponderous cold and
a bathrobe. But it was a long and
fascinating way to the comedian
Mother Goose" has so many other
joys. Behind scenes it was even more
hopelessly apparent that if Mr.. Caw-
thOrne's nose deserves a paragraph,
Miss Aymar's curls demand a
column. Neither was it easy to ignore
the allurement and sparkle of the trim
little person known as Corinne. Then
there were fairy folk innumerable.
glittering up out Of dim corners: de-
mons stalking redly by; strange beasts
with human faces peering out of the
thrOats grotesquely inviting interest;
palaces falling and building in a mo-
ment; scenes, fairies. demons, humans.
moving, wheeling with the swiftness
and precision Of magic.
Mr.. Grau's dragon may be a wonder
both must admit that he must give
way to Mr.. Cawthorne's horse. One
half Of him, the southern end. gray and
grotesque, was sitting on a barrel as
went in, looking respectful admiration
at a gOlden-locked fairy. I had mo-
ment of chivalry. 1 remembered the
poor player in 'Trelawney Of the
Wells" engaged to play the tail end
of no drocr
hinder support of MIR. Cawthorne's
horse was dying to play Hamlet"
Should I, should I, bring his violet-lke
aspirations TO the light. discover per
haps a hidden Romeo? But a bunch
Of slim. wide-eyed, laughing fairy folk
came along then and witched me out
Of my good resolutions-what was
that? With swift, quiet movement, the
corps Of stage hands had sprung up.
two to table, two to a throne. two
TO a wall of gold, and hey prestol
darkness, and the cottage scene in front
had changed to a palace.
I came within an inch Of decapitation
during the process, or so ii seemed. and
the manager laughed: They don't let
a little thing like a head stand in the
way when the call goes"
"A little over a minute" the manager
informed me, and then told me that for
this stage magic there were required
twelve carpenters on either side of the
stage, seventeen of them up in the
flies and yet five more down under
the stage; which does not include the
fourteen men that handle the aerial
ballet" he concluded.
Hat I said. in the most approved
Central fashion, "diskivered! I am to
know the secrets Of the ballet that all
my brethren Of the press have sought
in vain 10 find out?''
Almost ALL laughed the manager,
and then Mr.. Cawthorne, in green vel
Vet gown and ferocious red locks,
tripped off the stage with the fun
niest step I've seen for a while. He
tucked UP his train in most gentleman
ly fashion as he came to be introduced
and then made hotly for his dressing
room.
The comedian had &. comical Don't
I-lOok-better?" air about him when he
returned. Instead Of the green velvet
of Mother Goose he wore an aggres-
sively masculine Turkish bathrobe.
"One would imagine that you did not
like skirts, Mr.. Cawthorne," I began,
'and you a female impersonator."
They can't call me that, can they?''
He grinned, looking in his hooded robe
like an unusually jovial Friar Tuck.
But sure I don't know what I'll do
in trousers when I get back to them.
I've been four years in skirts now.
You see,' he said, as we seated our
selves in a tiny office off stage, Il
have been playing Dan Leno parts for
the last four years. He was the ne
plus ultra Of the comedy woman in
England"
And how do you like the parts?''
Fine, but I don't like the skirts,H
laughed the comedian. Lord, the
pocketsi I used to try to keep little
bits Of property in the pockets, but 1
never could find them. Our wardrobe
woman put nine pockets for me in one
skirt, but there never seemed to be any
of them round just the same. Then
you've got TO be very careful with