Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-12-08

eccentricity. He sings as though the house
were ready to burst into plaudits; sings until
his cheeks pun and grow purple.
But missing the costume which he will wear
In some later performance, he begins to tear
at bow tie. He tears at 1t until the tie is
undone and hangs in two loose ends. Prom q
quiet point OF vantage in q vast and deserted
amphitheater there is something quite funny
about his gesture. It would make good vaude-
vile skit.
Lucrezia Bori, slender and lovely, walks nom
chalantly on stage to look over the book Of an
opera. Soon she win begin q rehearsal Of
"Manon."
AS a matter of fact, most Of these artists
know their books" by heart But it is the rule
OF the Metropolitan that rehearSals must 20 on
just the same. No opera is presented, however
many times 1t may have been sung by the great
stars, without another try-out.
RACKSTAGE. all Of q sudden, several things
begin to happen The bored stage car
penter puts down his tools and props up q
stepladder. The orchestra stops and several Of
the musicians leave their pits. The conductor
leaves his stand and starts backstage
The time has come to pick up the "offstage"
music Few are the operas but require some
music offstage." And few are the audiences
that know how this is produced.
The disillusioning truth is that a director
happens to be perched upon a stepladder His
position Is precarious but necessary. For he
must peer through peephole to see what the
leader is doing in the orchestra beyond the
stage. 1t would be fatal If the offstage music
were started at the wrong moment
And so, with one eye fastened to the peep
mole, and his baton ready for action the con.
ductor nimbly shifts his eye from the score be-
fore him to the "look-See" opening Meanwhile
his well trained ear tells him that his moment
is near. Banked on a series of steps are his
few musicians
Just beyond and behind a doorway leads to
land OF intricate levers and switches This
Is the domain of the stage electrician quar-
Cet OF men sit tenSely upon high stools each
commanding q small army of intricate looking
levers. With these the stage is dimmed dark
ened or lighted; with these flood bursts sud-
denly upon certain corner of the stage or
1aoes away into a gloomy nocturne
1hey are guided by a series of master sig
nais Beyond the range of voices and opera
scores, the work becomes largely mechanical.
hanos are tuned to each switch, according to
the signal received
over all reignS the versatile Gatti-Casazza
VINO in rehearsal time knows all and sees all
without leaving the cluttered, snug Office in
another section of the building
AS major-domo Of the Metropolitan he ar
~-'~S ~~~AJ ~ PAOkSN anu PSYCHOLOGICAL mo-
mentS Otherwise he seems busy with a dozen
matters, while keeping in touch with the stage
by means OF a muted loudspeaker.
Peer1ng from an obscure backstage SPOT
toward the vast black mass where the audience
Will sit, it becomes difficult to repress chuckIe
For two canopied openings appear, like ships
tunnels. And in each of these tunnels is a face.
From any point in the audience they are OBJ
scured, but from the stage itself they are ALL
important and ever present. For here perch
the prompters, and the best stars that ever
sang note have moments when a prompter
comes in handy, particularly at the beginning
of a season.
The manner in which the faces of the
prompters are framed makes them appear ale
most ludicrous. Cut off as they are, it is as
though some strange pantomime were taking
place with two heads bobbing about at stage
level One of the faces is that of an elderly