Evening star., 1914-01-25

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| Stage manager heard him sawin'
| through a knot one day and told him he
wasn't singin' his best out front; was
| savin' all his good singin' for back
! stage"
! Can property men act?" asked the
Observer. Il mean, of course, as a
| rule
! "As rule, repeated the property man
| scornfully. why they all have to pre-
,, tend they like their jobs, don't they?"
DO you mean to say that they don:
I like their jobs?'' asked the Observer.
Well. wouldn't go as far as to say
that" said the property man. ref1ectively.
Il guess / really do like my job guess
all OF EN- do. in way, but they always
beef when they get together. You see,
There amt nothing can give you the
knack Of being one If you haven't got 1t
in you. And there are SO many things to
do. especially when you're with a road
show. that kicking seems natural
The property man continued to cut at
the white paper.
/
There are in Washington ten property
| men, some Of whom nationally
| famous. These are the men who are con-
| tinually on guard behind the scenes of
drama and vaudeville, tragedy and COM
edy, recitation and opera. Upon them
falls the burden, as the property man
said. of doing anythins-and doing it
quick" Many and wild are the tales they
toll Of
tried the patience of a saint and the in
genuity of a statesman. The deans of
the corps are 'Morgy" Sherwood, reputed
to be one of the best workers in paper
props" along the Atlantic seaboard, and
George Hoffman, who is known as a
specialist in stage carpentry.
Both of these men have been all over
the country; have seen shows saved from
the fire of failure when it seemed GER
| tain that the flames would consume them
They have been the confidants of actors
and have learned their idiosyncrasies.
And now they are called upon less than
before to exercise their ingenuity, for
| the company's property man does most
of the hard work for travelling shows and
the local property man assists him.
There are three kinds of property men
in demand. First, the man who is en-
ployed by the frst-class theaters to as
sist in the staging. weekly, of stupendous
visiting productions; second. the man
panies and who must be prepared from
week to week to change things around
to suit the show; third, the property man
of the vaudeville house, whose work diff
fers from the stock property mans in
that he must be prepared to make the
houses supply of props fill in when visit
ing vaudevillians have failed to bring
scenery with them.
~
Thus the first named is chiefly called
upon to assist in the arrangement of
some very complicated stage settings
his value being chiefly his absolute ac-
curacy in stage arrangement. In Shakes
peare, for instance, many actors have
every step SO outlined in advance that
they can walk through the part auto
matically. 1t is always the same. And
table must. be three steps from a
chair, and couch must be six steps
from the right upper entrance. II
everything isn't arranged in this fashion
the actor VIII be thrown out $50
will the property man-but in an entirely
different and much rougher way.
The second Kind Of property man is
mostly Of service because of his in
genuity. A property man who can take
papfer mache rock and change it into
lawn ornament who can make vases
and turkeys and flowers on instant no.
tfce, is nothing less than celestial acqui-
sttion to stock company where things
must be changed constantly.
In the third class of property man
carefulness of sequence Is the most
necessary thing. He must not get out
the tumbler's mats when prfma donna
is about to burst into song. He must
see that his properties are arranged so
that the acts that play in one'-mean-
ing those that require the front of the
stage in front of the first drop-can go
on with their performance while the
scenery for the more elaborate enter
tainment Is being laid behind.
Big vaudeville houses have an endless
variety of props, and these are all
worked in by the property man.
@.""a Z
Then there is duty which all Of the
property men are called upon to per-
form. That is learning the ''cues to
business" When new show or vaude-
vile sketch is being played the property
man must learn the cues for exits and
entrances as though he were an actor.
eteran property men have minds SO
trained that they can, by reading over
a manuscript once, know exactly where
to be at certain time during the show.
Here Is an example of what is meant:
Assume that the fourth act Of a play
is on. The leading man comes on the
stage carrying revolver just before the
curtain drops. He goes to the telephone.
He calls number.
Police headquarters? he says. t'Come
to No. 3 Madison avenue. It's case
of-suicide."
The lights go out in an instant. There
is a revolver flash. In the darkness the
leading woman rushes toward the lights
and turns them on. When they are on
there comes the sharp ring OF the tele-
phone. The woman answers the phone
and screams.
TOO Iate"' she shrieks. you can't par
don him now. He's dead!''
That will do for the act. Now let's
watch the property man. When the
melancholy young man reaches the back
stage the property man must know In
advance just which entrance belongs to
him and he must be there. following
stage directions, with lone revolver load
Why two?" you ask.
Simply to prevent accidents There is
a story-but that will come later.
The property man hands the leading
| man the gun and the leading man, with
out looking at it. thrusts it into his
pocket and goes on stage. That Is his
trust in the property man.
| ::
The property man hurries around back
stage again. There is small arrange
nent, something like a tiny tool box
which has crank attached to it. He
walks to the SPOT behind the canvas