Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1911-07-23
SUNDAY MAGAZINE FOR JULY 49, 1911


successful start he has @fallen down in his
part He then tries for something else, or
in some cases gets out of the business or
leaves the profession.
A "ham" is a poor actor. He was for
merly called "ham-fatter," just as ham-fat
was formerly regarded as poor meat by
housewives.
We used to hear great deal about "think-
ing parts To the profession they are
"bits.' A three-side bit is a part that,
when typewriter in the regulation way,
covers three sides or parts of typewriter
paper; that is, three pieces of paper each
about four by eight inches, single spaced.
These are the bits you see actors studying
on trains.
OF course there are technical words of
stage mechanics: the borders, drops, flies,
fly galleries, footlights, lamps, wings, proper
ties. tOrnentOrS, teaSerS, and so on down
the line. The grips, fymen, clearers, props,
operators. and others take care of these
stage necessities. They have their terms,
too: They "hang' show, "set' the scene
or strike it, they "Clear" the stage, and
so on.
3The front of the house" have their terms.
They "take care of the professionals by
letting them in on their cards. When they
are specially profuse with complimentary
tickets they are "papering the house."
Paper is also "billing,' or display adj
vertisements that decorate the billboards.
A show has good or bad paper A town
is billed "heavy" or slight" with innocent
disregard for grammar.
When professionals talk shop their speech
bristles with these terms mixed up with free
lance slang. An actor who learns his lines
and cues easily is a good study" Some
words are "repeaters.' Sometimes Zines
mean kind of work an actor is doing, some
times the speech he delivers, and sometimes
wrinkles.
A "call~ can be scolding. The notice of
board; but the meaning dearest to the
heart of the actor is the curtain call.
A clever stage manager, by the way,
when working the curtain, can get sur
prising number of "callS," or more usually
Curtains from an audience only mildly
enthusiastic; for an audience never permits
a curtain to 60 up and down in dead silence.
And even when the curtain is Stolen
some in the audience will dutifully clap
their hands.
A burst of applause during a scene is al
ways a "hand.' A well known Shakes
pearean actor became jealous of the amount
of applause the Ghost got in Hamlet
when it made its exit; so, instead of waiting
with his lines and business. The other &C
tors would come in, and this would cut
down the Ghosts glory to almost nothing.
The Ghost grew tired of this; so one day
he met the man in the lead who had been
stealing his thunder and said, "Now, Gov
ernor, you re the Hamlet of this show, and
you know can't take anything from you;
SO l don't see why you should spoil my
hand. The Ghost got his hand every night
after that.
An actor does or does not "look the part"
A wig easily detected from the front part of
the house looks "wiggy." An actor @cuts'
line of his own and sometimes gets himself
into trouble; for it often does away with
the next persons cue. An actor who acts
as though he felt above the part is said
to be "up stage" Stage directions some
times sound curious: "He kisses the girl up
left"
A Broadway policeman moves on the
crowd of professionals who gather along the
Rialto by stage directions, "Up stage, Boys,
up stage!" Or sometimes, exit down left,
Boys
The greenroom and the official prompter
have gone. The official callboy lives only
in the vaudeville theater. The old stage
divisions made by the grooves in the floor
give the vaudeville terms: working in one,
working in two, or full stage. Vaudeville