The evening world., 1911-05-13
Winged by Falling Wing,
he Still Didn't Believe
an Actors False Mus.
tache Had Brought
Calamity on Play.
II a Play Gets in the Air
Nothing Can Stop II,
He ~Says-Belasco the
Only Superstitious
Manager Now.
BY

BY DARNTON
Tire Charlie Riehmaa's mustachs!"
Tnsfs what the pale end quakine
sceosv Asd % the nisht q ~ spsnins
DsFsoswanos q tho iAsfts O London"
~ ~ I0sss TAasrs wnsu &c uln~
asSss ense4sr w0e wrsne. Thsy huAassd
eo0sehR esswsn setA VITA as one
woed 'Noo0oo" trembling a Their iipa
II was bad enough 10 havS the curtain
70 up on the Aii-star east q stags mr.
psnters bsSors they had nnishsd ssttinr
the scsns. but II was wevs b have q
wing 30 up with a aoquisttivs drop
Md then eraah down upon Manager W.
A. Brady. leaving him with only one
arm to wave At his small but select mob,
William CourtenAy caught himssH say.
Ing. IT'S . nil. Bill. rs Q AMI" Hoi-
brook Blinn hid behind his stage whis-
kers. Tom" Wise couldn't scare I'D q
ghost OF . smile. Then all three sud
denly sazed In horror at tho carefully
polished villain and IN one voice cried:
IT'S Charlie Richman's m~ustachei"
1t wa only . little thing, and false At
that-as false ~ the villains heart itself
but Il doomed large and terrible - q
hoodoo. There was no mistaking Il.
Calamity hung upon every hair. disaster
dansled n its ends. Since that awfui
night the terror-spreadins mustachs has
been neatly but firmly trimmed. and this
no doubt explains the great success of
the play. Once you trim n hoodoo. there
10 nothing 20 fear. The actors have re-
DntnAA AhAl. n A.
brave enough 20 say for publication on
this thirteenth day Of a month that is
by no means TO be depended upon:
Il don't believe in hoodoos."
He Isn't Superstitious.
Mr.. Brady said this with q steady
voice and without knocking on wood.
IF a play gets In the air, nothing
can stop IT," he asserted.
Nothing can hoodoo It. And any
way I'm not superstltious. When that
wing winged me on tho opening night
Of The Lights o. London and accidents
began piling up. I never for a moment
thought that the play was h~oodooed. It
was easy enough to find an explanation
for everything that happened. That
lamp In the murder scene. for example,
didn't go GU: for the simple reason that
the electrician wasn't at his post. Mod
ern methods were fighting ancient melo-
drama. that's all. Although every big
production of this sort twenty years ago
was marked by mishaps. the men In
charge OF the lights. the carpenters and
the stage hands were more capable than
those Of to-day because Of tho rapid
changes OF bill that were made. Man
tell still carries a lot of those old
timers with him, and that's why he
hasn't any mechanical troubles to
worry about. This plan Is as old
fashioned az the hoodoo idea. The only
difference W them Is that Il stlll
prevails while the hoodoo doesn't"
Theatrical managers are no longer
superstitious?"
Had a List Of Hoodoos.
NO. not as a rule" answered Mr..
Brady. Twenty years ago they had
a recognized list OF Manifestations who
were supposed to bring bad luck be-
cause the plays IN which they appeared
had happened to prove failures. On
this list were the names of a dozen ex-
WV b'ey U.s. iiNh Nlu ot1tn HUI
some of them are walking Broadway to-
day. j. b. Stubley was considered the
prize hoodoo. He couldn't approach a
manager without giving him a chill.
Sometimes II was the manager him.
self who became known as a hoodoo.
Frederick w. Bert, who dropped lead
as he was walking along Broadway
with me the other day. was considered a
hoodoo after his luck as a San Fran
cisco manage changed. But he came
to me and finally lived It down.. David
Belasco Is the only New York manage
who retains all the old superstitions of
the stage"
Ia believe this you have only to see
Mr.. Belasco walk around a pin. Hc will
not come to the point IL he sees It, but
steer a wide course and manage to get
on the safe side. HIS superstition car
ried him so far after the opening per-
formance Of one OF his plays tina when
ne found his supper party In celebra-
tion Of the occasion to number thirteen
he sent out for a messenger boy and
gave him a seat at the table. The boy
q q success, and so was the play.
Falt HIN First Impressions.
"charles Frohman Is not at all super
stitious." added Mr.. Brady. He be-
lieves In himself, not in ~hoodoos. and
has absolute falth IN his hrst impress
sions. Mr.. Belasco never allows the
tag OF a piece to be spoken by an actor
at rehearsals, but even this old supeSsu-
ton Is rapidly dying out among man
ayers. At one time nearly all Of them
believed an actor could hoodoo n play
by pulling aside the curtain on an open
ing night and peek!ng out at the audi
ence. This vas considered fatal. Edwin
Booth was always superstitious about
the way he dressed a part. and all the
famous actors and actresses OF his day
we're chock full OF superstittons. A cat
that strays into a theatre 10 always sup
posel TO bring good luck. Just before !