New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1911-07-02

writer for ,hom I had always felt and
expressed true admiration. This he
accepted. though not without a sugges-
ton that I ought to have known the lire
was his. So finally we shook hands
again and the sky cleared, and l am
glad now 10 remember that IL did. Not
once could it have occurred TO him that
while he was complaining Of my music
hall remark one-act piece Of his was at
that moment being played at the Coli
scum. in London, the music hall for
which IL was written
Once before he had been angry because
quoted in The Tribune an epigram of
his upon New York. He had just re-
turned from America, and his gibe at
Manhattan. bitter but quite Just at that
time, was flung broadcast about London.
heard IL, as others heard IL, not from
hi-l, yet he thought the repetition Of it
in print a violation Of confidence. and re-
sented IT, and il was long before his
feminine element in him, and the only
point Of view he could take was the per-
soral view. But he is gone, and l will
not again print what he then said. If
write with some freedom about him II is
because 1 think that not otherwise can
any right impression Of him be given,
and because l think he must on the
whole gain by a free account Of his
character md his NAV Of lfFe
His convictions OF stage discipline. and
even the maxims Of war on which some
Of this seemed 10 De founded, We're ap-
piled with equal rigor to the training
OF actresses in whom he perceived the
seeds OF art. One Of them was Miss
Lily Hamburg, who had natural gifts
which in Gilbert's hands became arti
fetal The other was no less person
than Miss Julia Nelson. At the house
OF a friend in South Kensington-Mr.
Heseltine, a lover of all art with many
beautiful possessions met now and
then both Miss Julia Nelson and Gill
bert and from both Miss Nelson and
Miss Hamburg l heard interesting ac-
counts Of the tuition he bestowed on
each. He was rot content to trust 10
nature or TO natural aptitudes He had
Procrustean rules of stage training to
which all natural gifts must be made to
bend. So many steps to a particular
spot; such a gesture to express such an
the arms TO be moved in accord
with a settled theory of plastic effect;
the tones Of the voice 10 be such as the
master thought most likely to come over
he footlights; and so on.
II in Miss Julia Nelson's mature meth
DDS there be a suspicion Of anything
forced or arbitrary. it may be traced TO
these ironbound laws laid down. for and
upon her by Gilbert in the days
of her girlhOod. She was then. I think.
not more than eighteen; with an original
beauty Of which the copy may now be
seen in her daughter, Miss Nelson Terry.
the newest and perhaps strongest Of debu-
tantes playing Viola in Twelfth Night"
at seventeen, with a brilliant sef-pos-
session and ease Of movement in her boy
costume. In her case there is no Gilbert
TO control her individual impulses. and
il is interesting to see how the daughter
wanders at Will in the Dukes Illyrian
palace, or as Rosalind in the Forest of
Arden. An unconquered freedom hers
II ever there were one. In his dealing
with the formed artists TO whom he
irtrusted his stage characters Gilbert
was not less absolute. For the first night
or the three-hundredth night his will was
law and there We're penalties for a de-
parture from IL, If ever any actor or
actress proved hardy enough to vary by
q hairs breadth the instructions he i'm
posed
Certainly Gilbert's influence on the
stage was, in respect OF morals. alto
gether good. He himself said he had
never cared 10 transgress the unwritten
law Of English life which would keep the
theatres open to the English girl: as the
French theatres are not to the French
girl He added that he had never found
the limitations a restriction upon his
dramatic work or aims. But he went
beyond that. A story will show you
how far
There was during the period Of his
best operas an English singer who both
as singer and actress was al least the
Savoy. Musical critics thought her voice
and training both Of a high order. /
asked Gilbert why she had never sung
for him. He answered
Because my companies consist Of
ladies and gentlemen. The singer you
name was for a short time with us. dur
ing rehearsals, but she was impossible"
And he explained why she was impos-
sible. The anecdote is not suitable for
print. but 20 Glbert's mind il was con-
elusive He drew a broad line between
The Savoy operas and musical comedy or
what was in those days known as bur-
esoue. He would tolerate no license on
r. off the stage. He was a more i'm
,Iacablc censor than the Lord Chamber
ain. and over the Lord Chamberlain Or
,is reader Mr. Bedford, he had this ad-
.antage: that whereas Mr.. Redford knew
,nlv what was in the manuscript submit
ed TO him, Gilbert was his own producer
II PLAYS and no look or gesture or In
,uendo escaped him. While he lived and
While his operas at the Savoy held the
own, and while his plays were an at
.ractIon to a more select public. his in
luence was a very potent one. There
vas period of a quarter Of a century
turing which it was vital. and was al