The New York herald., 1922-01-08
Miss Ferguson Has
Bad Case of Nerves
on Opening Night
Change in Her Entrance on
Stage in THE Varying Shore
Causes Stage Fright.

IT. VEN the most finished and
poised OF actresses with plenty
of theatrical background to
strengthen her histrionic backbone
will admit to having pad case of
nerves on the opening night of a new
play and a wild desire to thrust her
head before the curtain, ask the audi
ence kindly to excuse her at the last
moment and skip off to some cool
woodland retreat. OF such is Miss
Elsie Ferguson, for despite her admir-.
able control of herself on the stage she
confessed the other night at the Hud-
son Theater that she felt like giving
her part to the lowest bidder at the
initial performance of "The Varying
Shore"
II vowed then that I'd never go
through another first night again." she
said. in one of those dressing rooms
that line the wings Of the Hudson in
tiers like the staterooms of a steamer.
Wed been through rather trying
period on the road and I'd hoped that
our period of apprenticeship would be
longer, to make our roles sit more
easily on u.s.
For one thing, my entrance In the
second act had been changed until
almost had to think which entrance /
NV dAtv at
entered on an empty stage, just as In
the first act; but then they said that the
repetition Of an effect might lay us open
to the dire charge of monotony. So a
man was added when l came on-not
that he was necessary to the scene, but
Just to take the blight OF monotony off It.
But this act was set in a different mood
from the first. I was to look little
sad. little depressed, and the man on
the scene did not help me materially in
he was abolished and back we went to
our original operations
The day before the opening had been
rather trying for me and 1 was feeling
tired and upset. and whenever that hap
pens 1 can't play on my voice in the
usual way. which only makes things
worse. I felt muscle bound and mind
bound. But I had to go on and play
without a chance to give vent to my
feelings. That's the hard thing about
acting. couldn't step down to the foot
lights and say to the audience: Will
you please excuse the performance? I'm
not feeling very we'll and everything
seems so out of sorts. so perhaps we'd
better not go on playing
Actor Can't Give Up.
THE public doesn't realize how much
acting Is like rowing in a college she'll
nobody can give UP, you've all got to
go right on working-and for that mat
ter, an oarsman can jump out of his
boat, but an actor can't
Yet / suppose" said Miss Ferguson.
with a half Qufzzical, philosophical
smile, I'D go through the same thing
again. You always feel that way once
it's over"
Does an actress ever feel" inquired
the interviewer. that she's given a per-
formance that satisfies herself, that's as
near to perfection as she can ever get
on this planet?"
We'll" said Miss Ferguson. reflective
~, there were a couple Of performances
of 'Outcast' that suited me, when the
words just seemed to ripple out of me
and 1 went through all the different
scenes almost without thinking of what
1 was doing. But such occurrences are
a freak of nature. Everything so hap
pens by luck that nothing distracts you
and you feel perfectly tranquil, phys
tcally and mentally. whereupon acting
seems the easiest thing in the world
for an hour.
We've continued to experiment with
the play, as you know, running 1t back
ward at the beginning. then reversing 1t
SO that 1t ran frontward, and now re-
turning to the original inverted running
order. which seems to go best Though |
II is a good deal like the method of |
taking pictures In the movies. the transit |
tions do not bother me as much as they |
did at first In pictures. where they ac-