Omaha daily bee., 1909-11-28

I wanted here once before when staging a
play and could not.
The silk that you desire must be of a
certain weight, softness and lustre, the vel
vet of a texture that will hang correctly,
every material, in short, must have the in
definable something that belongs to that
stuff and to nothing else.
You must know, too. where to get your
perfect imitation and the limitations of that
artifice so well that you will never require
OF 1t more than 1t can accomplish, any
more than the clever stage manager would
require of the understudy the nice shapings
OF expression which he would have a right
to expect from his star.
"Of course the director in art matters
has always one stumbling block that must
be considered, and no amount Of money,
leisure and information can avail to re-
move It. That is, in a word. the business
of the play. Above all the plays the
thing and is of paramount Importance.
and the table, the chair. the marriage
chest, and one picture or hanging that
would make an artistic completeness, must
be continually sacrificed so that Its position
will not interfere with the action.
Giving due credit to that, 1 am pleased
to say that criticism of the productions,
artistically considered, has been more than
lenient, it has even been appreciative-I
may state without undue egotism-for l
am speaking for all the staff-deservedly
so, and that appreciation is the reward for
honest effort.
Take the garden scene in The Cottage
in the Air Mr.. Plat Of the producing
staff suggested that we have with the
hollyhocks, which l was very keen for, an
apple tree in bloom. 1 was not quite sure
that such a combination was botanically
correct, although 1t sounded very pleasing.
So l wrote TO my brother. who has pub
lished several works on botany, and he re-
piled that l could only use the Towering
syringa with the hollyhocks, that one bios
soming early and the other late; a garden
having both would not be incorrectly por-
trayed, although 1t was unusual, while the
apple tree in bloom would be entirely out
Of the picture. l am simply citing this as
an instance of the care we have every
where displayed to have our work correct.
IF you study the Antony and Cleopatra
setting you will note that we nave no pri-
mary colors on the stage. that the tone Of
the pictures might be likened to that Of
the canvas Of an old master, which It seems
to me a setting OF that kind should emulate.
There is not one dead white, not one
bit Of tinsel. Some OF the old jewels had
to be painted over so that they would not
shine and glitter. and the directions sent
across the water were OF such a nature
that there was no room for mistakes to
creep in. And those people over there do
not make g~rievous mistakes.
There are learned professors whose life
work has been along the line OF archaeo-
logical and historical research who are EN-
ployed by Viennese and Partisan costumers
- -
that they are correct. Some of these men
hold positions in art schools, lecture to
universities. They nave none of the design
ing, none OF the actual task Of production,
but their research work Is without rivalry,
People of the class they represent could
not live over here on the amount Of money
! they receive for this work, and II is just
on that account that the European can
send us better work-it is practically a mat
ter OF the cost Of labor. which In turn at
fects the cost OF material.
"A few OF the directions we gave are as
follows, merely quoted TO show that We
nad always the certain ideal in mind which
Ne knew they would grasp and work out
for us.
Il make no water color sketches, as I
used to do In my younger days ana earlier.
attempts because l have found IL a waste
lf time. But every costume, every bit Of
cwelry, every piece Of armor, has its sep
lrate plate, pen and ink work, and with
it is sent a piece Of material OF the exact
Ncolor wanted to. the most delicate tint and
other directions as necessary. Dyeing is a
trade that has reached to perfection here,
and l know OF a number OF men on whom
/ can absolutely rely to get any shade 1
watn to a nicely.
In some Of the American theaters where
/ have played and where 1 have worked
as stage producer such a thing as domi-
mating the COSTUMES OF the players except
In regular costume plays was unheard Of.
Il would have been considered a great
piece OF presumption for the director to
order a certain color Of gown in a modern
comedy or drama and II he had ventured
for the leading lady I shudder 70 think Of
the consequence.
But Il Is easy TO see that the most per
feet stage setting may be spoiled BY one
dress. a hat. a cloak Of the wrong color.