New-York tribune., 1918-10-13

\ ore day last week Samuel Rothapfel
~ "a MS: al. T., about two. years
,o con promised or threatened, to get
:, esrly some Sunday morning and
..-,e TO a rehearsal Of the show. How
.,out >" And we, being willy. said
anb Mr.. Rothapfel. may we come this
c,,day >" And so it was settled.
Now. every one knows that Sam
pothapfel works from Z a. m. to
NJ. and from s p. III. to a. IN. The
rsst OF the time he sleeps. SO being
at rehearsal at 4 o'clock on Sunday
morning is child's play FOR him. For
rs it meant pale martyrdom- alb
s.rsct devotion to the cause and con-
cre.e devotion to Mr. Rothapfel. 1t
neant o'clock call, hurried break
fast and ride on the Seventh Avenue
car while the world slept. (Taxis are
before-t thc-war extravagancc.) How
ever, we did it and we were rewarded
our bread actually returned to us in
he form of jelly cake.
AT we can say is We wish every one
who sees finished performance could
\ see it in the process. Mr.. Rothapfel
\ would be funny if he weren't so serious,
He directs everything at the same
tine; and yet every one assured US. in
\ whs. seemed almost an apologetic
I manner, that "the boss is very quiet
/ this morning 1t seemed as though
/ they wanted him to show off for us
and he wouldn't
\ Of course, everything is comparative,
\ and he didn't seem quiet to us. Does
\ this sound quictT NOW, men, try that
n over again The French horns, 'Ta,
h IA, ia, ia. ta' Hold it,," Mr. Roth
II APPEL sings Z sample Of everything he
II wants the orchestra to play. 1t is mar
II 7ellous He knows the name of every
II melody that ever was written and he
h he doesn't know one note from an
n other.
The rehearsal was under way when
III We arrived Hugo Riesenfeld had set
II the music TO the feature picture, for
H Inc rehearsal really begins on Friday
H and continues through the week end
n The picture was "The Forbidden City"
II and the music was mostly Chinese. 1t
sounded wonderful to US, and even Mr..
Rothapfel nodded approval Good
he said "Fine,' And then he caught
! sight Of an innocent, pid-looking
HI 9uddha and q storm gathered
II "Stopr he shouted They stopped
everybody stopped everything Pointing
70 the god, he said: Take it away
lake if away 1t isn't Chinese!"
"Oh, yes, il is, Mr. Rothapfel," said
/ mild voiced individual from back
stage.
"What?" shouted back the boss 81
say they don't have that kind. of gods
in China Eve been there"
"Yes, they do, said the second violin,
and I've been there"
"A Yes, they do said the bass VOL,
and I've been there"
Yes, they do" piped up the flute
And have you been there, too ?' This
from the boss
Sure he has, and I've been there,
too, and [ seen gods like that one, and
III furthermore they used it in the pict-
IRE 1t goes
That settled it 1t was the voice Of
the property man The Buddha re-
NAMED
Here. then, give me blue back and
red side and amber tops and red
ronts." AT least it sounded like that
although if we gave this order it is
probable that nothing at all would hap
i pen
/ "Now take that lamp away; hang it
back; it Spols everythingl7
But began the property man, with
I The Triumph of Buddha Chat sounds so
much like a movie title that we uncon-
sciously wrote it in capitals) fresh in
his mind
But nothing" came back S. l.. r.
lake it away,n
~ We we're so glad when it went, for
10 our mind, with its lowbrow tenden-
cies, 1t had made the home of Buddha
COX like the window of Main Street
! drug store
II 4 baby-blue spotlight on Buddha's
ace finished the scene and made the
{ Dnsion complete Even Mr. Rothapfel
was pleased.
"Ah right Take it up now. Get
out your Lost Chord Theatre dark,
II axe up your blue foots-s slowly!
Il lewlyl All right; turn on your moon
ISL lshN Fine Curtain, and time for
Il Mr. Rapee to take his bow"
Il lhese words sounded innocent
+ '"0ugh' were gracious, but their utter
+ @uce stirred up a tempest in a tea