The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1906-08-19

handful Of pei aspiration from his brow
TO the floor.
Give 1t to me- says the man on the
chair, and the first number is hurled Off
by the piano player.
'Rotteni" means the man on the chair.
Get some character in that entrance.
/ Wake up! Use your heads. You can
do this with your feet. Use your heads!
Now give 1t to me again." and once
again the first number Is given him.
/ Worse!s cries the manager. Now go
back! Go backli Go backili"
| Here a show girl makes dive for a
chair where she has left her street
clothes. Yes, it's there She didn't know
where she had left her pooketbook.
Now says the manager, IF all the
prima donnas have their pocketbooks
Wen have that number again"
A young woman who has had some ex-
perienee is reminded about her pocket
book
Laura" she screams to a friend rest
ing on plush sofa which is built all
around the wall of the hall, have you
got my purse?'
Yes, Name" answers Laura, and with
another whack of his palms the manager
again launches the first number.
Hours are consumed in going back,
as the manager calls the reiteraton. Time
some thick headed girl and tries to show
her. Then he does the number all alone.
They follow him and at the next whack
of the managers hand they all do it
little better
well, now" he says, you're dom
fine" and the faces that are ready to
cry try to smile. A word from the man
ager means much, and the girls are all in
very nervous state. They are trying
hard but what would be an easy thing
for a girl of higher mental caliber to
learn quickly Is a terribly hard and dis
turblng thing to them.
When they are finally dismissed to al
low the chorus men a chance they prac-
tically collapse in the chairs and on the
sofas around the wall
Here and there you see one with her
head buried in another girls lap, crying
HISTORICALLY for no reason. She mag
ines she is going to get It, as they ex-
press dsmissals. But as matter OF
fact the manager may never have seen
her during the entire rehearsal or paid
the least attention to her individual
work.
So soon as the rest comes they all
plunge for their pocketbooks. The small
est chorus girl always goes to rehearsal
with a pocketbook the size of dress SUIT
case. Mother, sister or her best friend
nurses It and cares for it tenderly while
she is busy. Then she holds 1t like
doll and fondles with the make up
1t contains. There Is never anything
but a powder rag in 1t, at least until
after the first week out
If she is a good girl and has contract
the manager may advance her little
money, because she always has a baby
brother in the hospital who needs matted
milk three times a day, until after the
show opens. Car fare also counts up
during rehearsal and invariably there is
a doctor needed to give her something
for her nervous Indigestion. The poor
manager with all his other troubles gets
all of the family troubles, and they are
many.
For six and sometimes eight weeks
prior to every opening here or on the road
these rehearsals go on In their ceaseless
grind. Although the chorus girl has great
w improved as to her mentality during
the last decade, she is still thing OF
puttv to start with, and has to be
"arround in, from the crudest material.
Quite frequently a girl with considerable
experience is no quicker to learn new
show than a novice who has never been
behind the scenes.
Army Engaged.
While there is a great preponderanee or
these musical shows, there are hundreds
of dramatic shows in process of produce
ton every year at this time. Those of
the dramatic managers, are rehearsed III
the closed theatres.
The shows which are shaped in halls
are not put on regular stages until a
week before they open If all the re-
hearsing could be done on regular
stage much faster progress could be
made, but of course, this Is impossible
in all cases, even though the managers
may control a local theatre.
A rehearsal of any dramatic show par
ticularly one of the better sort, is far
less spirited in its action and less inter-
esting to the casual observer than re-
hearsal of a musical comedy or bur-
lesaue Neither Is the work so hard for
the producer of drama.
The intelligence of the average per-
former is higher than in the spectacular
and musical shows. To each performer
Is given a book two or three days fol-
lowing the reading of the play to the
entire company, to become letter per-
feet, Even from the first word of the
stage manager of dramatic production
to begin" the rehearsal moves on
smoothly compared to musical re-
hearsal. While the principals in must
the producer must work therein with the
chorus in order to famliarize the
latter with the situations. If
chorus were rehearsed without the prin-
cipals when the latter were introduced
for the first time the chorus would go up
in the air and the producers labor OF
weeks would be all for naught.
He must begin with the dancing girls
the "ponies" as they are called, and in
troduce them to the principals lie must
do the same with the mediums" which
are of a, size between the ponies and
the "show girls" aud also with the
"nales.r the chorus men.
AS he lays In the dances and evolu-
tions he must remember them. There
is no way of recording them, A producer
may be rehearsng at this busy time
several shows a day for one manager.
He must LAY in everything except the
words from the music, bit by bit, scene
by scene act by act, as 1t is played
through by the umsical director, and he
must remember from day TO day and
week 20 week everything previously laid
in and be careful not to change even one
turn or step lest he mix the chorus up
and spoil all he has done before.
Is a Great Strain.
The outside can imagine from this what
n strain a producer who is grinding in
half a dozen shows In such hot weather
es has prevailed this month must be I'M
der.
No matter what may be said about a
musical show or the people In 1t after
they get on the road, they can earn Their
..,.,,o,, l,afo-e they start ten times over,