New-York tribune., 1920-01-18
By Silas B. Fishkind


An actor Of both the old and new
schools Of the theater, W. ]. Ferguson
sees commendable things in each. By
no means has he the pessimistic and
traditional opinion Of the modern stage
that the average veteran of the theater
has. Rather does he see many signs
Of improvement over the theater Of
Lester Wallack and Edwin Booth, in
which he received his earliest training.
During fifty years on the stage Mr..
Ferguson has kept pace with the chang
ing standards of the profession and,
in his own words, che is q link be-
tween the old and the new" At the
Casino Thcater, where he is giving an
admirable characterization Of Oliver
Butts, sentimental butler, in "The
Little Whopper," he talked enthusias-
tically Of the stage of the last few
years and called motion pictures tart"
the bow-wows. There are higher stand
ards now and many improvements over
the theater of my youth. The old
actors were more versatile than those
of to-day, but the latter pay more at
tention to detail and are more special
lied. All the old-tmers were not the
extreme melodramatic type the present
day theatergoers have been led to- be-
lieve. Often l look back and wonder
how 1t was possible for the audiences
OF forty years ago to stand that type OF
actor"
Just then his cue came, and with
the agility Of schoolboy he bounded
to the stage and capered about in
dance with a young French maid. to
the delight Of the audience. He bounced
Oft the stage into the wings again with
a smile on his expressive face, and
continued on the advance Of the
theater. AS much progress has been
made In the lighting effects of the
stage, Mr.. Ferguson said, as in any
other department..
I'm the '7os, at the old Wallack
Ineater, there were no colored foot
lights and borders. no calciums. no
hoods or spotlights. In those days we
used gas or kerosene lamps, and as a
result had minimum Of light and a
grease paint would streak down our
faces in warm weather.
Joseph Jefferson knew the value Of
tacIal expression and the assistance that
sharp light would lend. He carried
with MN, while on tour, several lengths
OF gas pipe with dozen burners on
each He would hang these on either
SIDE or the proscenium arch near the
first entrance, and the lights were an
important innovation. One day, how
ever, the dog Jefferson used in his per
formance of RIP Van Winkle' chewed
the rubber hose connecting the gas
pipes and put the lighting plant out of
commission"
IN Montreal, when Mr.. Ferguson was
playing "Jack Sheppard" with Ben De
Bar, every light in the theater suddenly
went out and the house was in complete
darkness. From the property room
each actor came on the stage with a
lighted candle in each hand, one candle
being used as footlight. One by one
the candles fiickered and went out. and
alter the hnal curtain the audience had
to lind the exits in darkness.
Mr.. Ferguson sees no hone for +ba
return OF stock companies of the Wal
rack, Union Square or Abbey type.
we will never come back to such
companies as we had, because tha
managers couldn't afford to pay the ac-
tors the salaries they demand. Besides.
the old stock companies played standard
plays and did not make many new
productions. Now there are SO manv
plays written each year, each requiring
the special hiring Of actors for special
parts, that a return of real stock Is out
OF the question. Stock, such as it is
now. is drudgery. The actors have no
time at all to perfect their art"
walking gentleman" was tho line
for which Mr. Ferguson was selected
when ne was a member Of the stock
company ut the old Wallack Theater
at Thirteenth Street and Broadway.
Among the actors at Wallack's were
Lester Wallack, John Gilbert, William
X. Floyd, Harry Beckett, Nine. Ponisi
ana Mrs. Seton. The company had
thirty old comedies ready to produce
at moments notice and had a thirty
hve week season, during which about
twelve comedies wero put on.
"Ihe actors were we'll trained and
had the traditions Of the theator which
had como through Ave generations Of
the Wallack family. They knew their
Shakespeare SO we'll that when Shake
spear4 play was announced they well
coined the rest"
Starting A. call boy in Washington.