New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1913-02-16

~ II after the show as a sedativc" Then he
Fl tipped his mineral water and gazed alb
~ .,raCtcdly across the cafe table
~ Yes, he repeated, taking up the con-
w. ~ ,crsation of a minute before 1--WE actor
Ve|'|1 folk are a hapleSS lot. Ours is the only
.,.oh;or , whirling mud ball that does not permit
,,rL.rtY, . his product Think Of it-no actor sees
t:o,.,r .c.' We work in the dark, and our ntutons
anil irlcir a must be brought to a high class of
@5fo,r1rn. a consequence.
MIX a1. GEES his product-rubs out fills in. gets
h. want The writer scans his words changes
Ia Ind 81, .u through all the varied crafts and pro-
-. TIL. actor alone is haplcSS. He cannot see
A.. vbirh 4 creates. And some of us" he added
;,,, @arc unate in this respect.
S'aic,;oq" went on, acting in the abstract, is as
lri IN def as 1t Is 10 define what makes a great
tor So e things must enter into the premises
- craft,. o,hlp. understanding, sympathy, SIM
ot;tv De- htv. And OF these the last must be
ft. forr .ysallization, after al, of temperament
nj m tcnpcramcntal
Irwin ed. Booth, Jefferson all were con
.;5arcd - u.s. But were they Irving was a
Won, -.' .-. .anagcr and profound intellectual
act1. r. t- hts. ColorS, and the gradationS Of
iii. Cd. s. gree meant as much as interpreted
tom Mansfield ID a tremendous repertoire; but he
IA r.- mach heart. But Booth had only to lit
tba.'. y.r.. eyes Of his-and he had YOU Joe
I4e-.., .. had TO speak one hnc-and he had
yy,a.j.t ...- .,otlghtS and had Your heart in his
-Isi ,andablc thing or isn't it? Is it per
s,,,l,.,, isn't. then what is the term that IL
l,,rira,... * you-wc'vc had HamlctS without
nrr,bc~ rations' Each Hamlet has the same
text Oh. .ustumeS. scene sets traditions. He
know, .3 q certain thing here "a certain thing
there .eo Hamets are alikc-and hardly one
H,,ri.- ..ueration Is worth the seeing and the
hearing makes great Hamlet The answer
i Tho -.e that makes great actor. Well then
what N great actor, And the answer is He
paused his head to side. wrinklcd his fore
head his shoulders cngmatl,ally and took
a siDof water.
5ase slc 4e@ e2bc '2g 2f 4 ,5s in
hobby .h and Jefferson on the other hand, were
nar,r,- YOU will, respecting scenery. They
aimed .phity And all the truly great, the gen
irscs a- lplc 70 the verge Of the primitive. Why,
when I-, and Booth played together in England,
Irving rehearsal. said 10 Booth Shall We put the
King - 20 the right and the carpet To the left or
vice ve-- And the StepS-shall We have them IN the
center tl the side, '- DO anything YOU please, an
swcrcd Is .h If We act as we know how 10, the audi
ence w.r.' look al the scenery.
Va smiled. He has the Sowm moving smile that
starts II. .c eyes then is followed by the pursuing OF
the lip, breaks al over the face in rada,ng good
nature And Wartcld smiled as he said ~ friend of
mine OF -.i me that the public made an actor great
tod hin h was wrong: that the actor was great. and
then th r-ti. became cognizant OF the fact and
cco,ci - Blu, the public had nothing % do with the
making
i'susi night. Its always right-one hundred times
ont Of ,-. tundrcd-in It's Judgment Of plays. Bar
mum ,..r-m that the public like TO be fooled be-
longs q. trgonc age. You can't fool the public on
PLAYS "a. tier what YOU DO or how hard YOU try. i
Two h, .-e better than one, then FIVE hundred
better % tUO heads, and a tirSt-nght audience Is
usually .. thousand or over. That Irst-night audi
ence vii T YOU if the play is worth while or not. Il
rnakos - ference what the critics may say in the
paper mes. sv. that first night auiicncc-that public
n-,he-. will decide. All the critics in Chrsten-
dom r .-. bad play 10 the skies for this that or
the o'r.- ..,1n-but the public knows Blllboaris
3 i.,s --f1t.rt lott tr- ten