The Birmingham age-herald., 1924-03-09
A MANSFIELD NIGHT

It is a gala night in the theatre, the. su- preme event of the season for many of us who wait impatiently for the curtain to go up. A hum of voices fills the air. Late corners scurry to the few seats not yet occu- pied. There is. a flutter ins the boxes, sure to be filled on this occasion with an array of the towns, wealth, fashion and beauty. Amid the noise, the confusion, the restless shifting of bodies, the moving of heads to and fro, the ripples of laughter, the rustic of innumerable programs, making a sound that reminds one of breeze stirring dead leaves in autumn, suspense and expectancy predominate. Even those patrons who have sat here for many nights, and have witnessed performances good bad and indifferent, on the stage before them are moved by the cur rent excitement. It runs through the bal comics, scars up even to the sparkling chan delier at the top of the auditorium, courses hither and yon and seems to beat with pull sations like those of the sea against the cur tain that hides the movements of stage hands working swiftly on the "set" for the opening act. The stars name is on every tongue Richard Mansfield! And the play is "Old Heidelberg"
 Why was a Mansfield night different from all other nights in the theatre? When Mans field was at the height of his fame and had won his greatest success, there were other men and women, too, on the American stage who were his peers. Yet, none of these cast a spell over an audience as Mans- field did, While he was still alive the Mans field tradition had become a part of stage history. His reputed irascibility, his egotism, his aloofness-these and other traits formed the basis of many anecdotes and were, no doubt, much exaggerated. Few were his friends in private life, and even fewer his intimates. William Winter, the greatest dra- matic critic this country has ever produced, knew Mansfield understood him and wrote with rare sympathy and charm of man whose intense devotion to his art was often mistaken for mere vanity and a supercil- ious dislike of his fellows. There was, never theless, something of this trait in Mansfield's character.
 On one occasion, .when Mansfield was making an entrance or an exit-the direc- tion in which he was going does not matter a stage hand got in his way and was i'm ,periously thrust aside. Such treatment was not to the stagehand's liking, so he retaliated by striking the actor with his fist, and, but for the interference of others, Mansfield might have received a sound thrashing, then and there At another time, wrought to high pitch of enthusiasm by Mansfield's su- perb acting and the beauty and faithfulness to detail with which he staged his produc- tiohs, an audience was laundering it's ap- plause and so demanding that he respond to a curtain call. The applause was pro- longed and insistent; still the curtain re- mained down and no one appeared. When it looked as if the audience would never leave off it's handcIapping, grave person stepped before the curtain-Mr. Mansfield's secretary-made a stiff bow and announced that MT. Mansfield begged to be excused!
 Such incidents as the foregoing, often re- peated, built up the Mansfield tradition and, it must be confessed, made him more unpopu- lar than he deserved. However, it did not lessen his drawing power in the theatre. When he was on the stage, he could be, and was, forgiven for any rudeness he may have committed or any show of that egotism most actors possess, disguise it as they may. Thus it was that those who saw him in his masterpieces never forgot him, or his plays. Such a play was "Old Heidelberg We thought better of the Germans in those days than we do now, but the charm of "Old Hei- delberg' fingers still, and is a fragrant mem- Ory to thousands of playgoers who saw Rich ard Mansfield personate Prince Heinrlch. Assuredly, he was lovable then-the gracious and boyish prince, who had his taste of life at the old university and. when duty called him back to his little realm, took his leave of low-borrf Katy and his classmates, with wistfulness in his face and look in his eyes that told, more eloquently than words, of the tragedy of saying farewell forever.
 This was Mansfield at his best, and as we like to recall him. an actor who lived only for his art and whether as Karl, as Ivan the Terrible" Brutus, Cyrano de Bergerac, Richard the Third, Monsieur Beaucaire. Ba- ron Chevrial, Beau Brummel or Dr. Jekyll and MT. Hyde, dual role in which he first won fame, he was ever the consummate player.
 LET THE PRESIDENT ACT
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