Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-10-07
JEROME HAS HIS FLING AT
WAGNERISTIC STAGE MANNERS

lot Of bullies" have wanted to cry, "are
you not ashamed of yourselves? A 40 Of
you against one, and that one q still beau
tiful and, comparatively speaking, youngish
lady. Be quiet for a moment, can't you,
and give the poor girl chance"
A lady Of my acquaintance says that sit
ting out a Wagnerian opera seems to her
like listening to a singer accompanied by
four orchestras playing different tunes at
the same time. AS 1 have said, there are
times when Wagner carries me along with
him, when I exult in the crash and whirl
Of his contending harmonles, but alas,
there are those other moods-those after
dinner moods-when my desire Is for some
thing distinctly resembling a tune! Still,
there are other composers OF grand opera
besides Wagner. I grant, with the late
Herr Wagner. that so far as music Is con-
cerned opera can supply us with all We
can need.
But 1t was also Wagner's argument that
grand opera could supply US with acting.
and there am compelled to disagree with
him. Wagner thought that the arts Of act
ing and singing could be combined. I have
seen artists the great man had trained him
self. AS singers they left nothing to be de-
sired. but the acting in grand opera has
never yet impressed me. Wagner never
succeeded in avoiding the operate conven-
ton. and nobody else ever will. When the
operate lover meets his sweetheart he puts
her in corner and. turning his back upon
her, comes down to the footlights and tells
the audience how he adores her. When he
has finished he, in his turn, retires into the
corner and she comes down and tells the
audience that she is simply mad about him.
Overcome with JOY at finding she really
ri nd
says that this Is the happiest moment Of
his left. and she stands left" twelve feet
away from him. and has the presentiment
that all this sort of thing Is much too good
to last They go OF together backward,
side by side. If there Is any lovemaking.
such as l understand by the term, 1t Is
done off"
This Is not my idea of acting, but do
not see how you are going to substitute for
1t anything more natural. When you are
singing at the top Of your voice you don't
want heavy woman hanging around your
neck. When you are killing a man and
warbling about 1t at the same time you
don't want him fooling around you defend
ing himself. You want him to have a little
reasonable patience and to wait in his
proper place till you have finished telling
him. or, rather. telling the crowd how
much you hate and despise him. When the
proper time comes-and If he Is where you
expect to find him while thinking of your
upper C-you will hit him lightly on the
shoulder with your sword, and then he can
die to his own particular tune. If you have
been severely wounded in battle or In any
sort of row and have got to sing a long
ballad before you finally expire. you don't
want to have to think how man would
really behave who knew he had only q few
minutes to live and was feeling bad about
IT. The chances are that he would not want
to sing at ALL The woman who really
loved him would not encourage him to sing
She would want him to keep quiet while she
was anything that could be done for him
II a bloodthirsty mob is climbing the stairs
after you. you do not want to stand up
right with your arms stretched out a good
eighteen inches from that door while you
go over at some length the varied Incl
dents leading up to the annoyance If your
desire were to act naturally you would push
against that door for all you were worth
and yell for somebody to bring you chest
OF drawers and bedStead-things like that,
to pile up against It,
If you were a king and were giving a
party you would not want your guests to
fix you up at the other end Of the room and
leave You there. with nobody to talk to but
your own wife. while they turned their
backs upon you and had q long and COM
plicated dance all to themselves. You
would want to be In 1t; you would want, to
let them know that you were king. In act
ing all these little points have to be con-
sidered. In opera everything is rightly sac
riiced to musical necessity. I have seen
the young, enthusiastic opera singer who
thought that he or she could act and sing
at the same time. The experienced artist
takes the center OF the stage and husbands