Newark evening star and Newark advertiser. [volume] (Newark, N.J.) 1909-1916, 1912-09-30

ways do the thing that is natural.
You are bound to remember the arti-
fetal conditions and to remember also
that YOU have lured each member OF
that audience into the theatre. nailed
him to his seat, taken 81 from him
and dared him to move. Now, if You
don't let that poor creature see and
hear all that is going on / consider
1t nothing short Of Broadway robbery.
Ultra Natural Not Desirable.
ITO disregard the necessary con-
yentionaiities merely for the sake of
being natural is ridiculous and UNI
intelligent. / have witnessed a per-
Torrance 50 arranged by the man
aeor OF the 'natura school that the
speaker In "a long, intimate scene was
seated with his back to the audience
There was no reason for this beyond
the fact that it was supposed to ooh
natural. In reality 1t looked ugly
and was exceedingly irritating. O.:
course there arc continually instances
when some advantage Is gained by
speaking with the back to the audi
ence for instance, when the effect of
he scene is governed by the facial
expression of the person addressed
rather than of the speaker, but |
maintain that an actor should face
his audience while speaking when
ever 1t Is possible to do so without
Its appearing false or forced, and that
the back should not be used as a
medium OF expression without the
g~ravest consideration
Mr.. Arliss claims that no actor or
n ~ rose m - 90, 4hA 6a.sI ga roll
that leads to success.
AN actor may work for years, four,
five. six. even ten ears; work hard,
give the best that is in him and still
find himself unacknowledged. He will
look at the dozen names of prominent
stars and say, Why is 1t, why can't
l arrive there? What is 1t keeps me
back?' and he will despair and possi-
bly, declare that it Is only influence
that gets people on in the world, in
luence and money. But during all
those struggling years nothing is
keeping him back. He is going for
ward the whole time, but he does not
realize 1t because of his very gradual
rate of progress. That first hill is
terribly steep. 1t is a hard, hard
struggle to get up, but when he once
gets to the top the atmosphere begins
to clear in an amazingly short time.
Perhaps the worst thing that car
happen to an actor Is to get a lift up
that first hill. Even an old one-horse
cab is dangerous, a taxi seldom makes
it, and a 60-horsepower touring car
will inevitably hurl him to destrue-
ton. In other words he must have
the backbone of experience gained by
tn Sc first years before he can sue
cessfully portray Important parts.
Built Up DisraeIi Bit by Bit.
1t is interesting to learn from MIR.
Arliss how he has built the creation
of Disraeli bit by bit. AT the pres
ent time it can safely be said that
there Is no one in the world so inti-
mate with his historical figure as the
who who represents him. Behind the
salient features which he brings out
so strongly in his Interpretation of
The character, Mr.. Arliss has a back
ground of countless details that have
revealed to him the inner nature of
the master politician.
Not only has he familiarized him
self with everything hat has been
written about Disraeli, but he a
talked with the older members of tho
British government, who knew that
statesman in his later years, and
heard endless anecdotes and bits of
gossip that altogether are more IL
Eliminating Than tones of history and
biography.
And then during his vacation the
actor roamed through London Curl
osity shops picking up here and there
little personal possessions and me-
mentoes of the former premier.
He spent days in the British
museum and art galleries looking
over sketches, photographs and por-
traits. making studies of them with
a view to his future representations,
and finally travelled over to Paris to
consult with several famous wig
makers in the hope of getting the
exact effect from his hirsute g%arnisl-
ment that Disraeli obtained from his
bizarre tuft of hair beneath his chin
and the careful disposition of the
Struggling lock that dangled over his
brow.
Learned Even TO Walk Like Him.
Since / began playing the part,
said Mr.. Arliss, 81 have met many
people who saw Disraeli and can give
me some definite suggestion as to his
characteristics. And before | had
even rehearsed I made inquiries in
every possible quarter 10 learn how
he moved about, for with all the
pictures and portraits of Disraeli in
repose ! was still uncertain just how
he might walk and how his voice
might sound. My w physical ap-
p~earance resembles his. and it proved
that my natural swinging gait was
much like his, with a slight exag-
geration added, but il was much more
difficult to hit on an approximation
of D~israeli's voice. The memory of
tones and mannerisms of enunciatlon
are more elusive, and, though ! am
persuaded that have i'll a measure
echoed the metallic timbre Of the
great prcmler's penetrating voice,
cannot hope TO really approximate il.
when | think of the hours have
snent trying to get a little intelligent
information on this point ] feel moro
Kindly toward the photograph. In
DAYS to come people will only have
10 go to the government museums to
hear the man who took hold Of the
Panama canal, for instance, say Il
did it,
And when you see the play at the
Newark Theatre this week yon will
have some conception of the amount