Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-08-17

theater-going public over the air,
radio today extends welcoming arms.
1t is crying for girls and men worth
$500 q performance This does not mean traS
America lacks gifted singers. Their numbers
are legion, but among them are few who can
rufie the emotions of millions of hearers on
a Nationwide hook-up.
There is, am convinced, great future for
studios training vocalists and actors for the
xnicrophone In some aspects their methods
win be quite different from those Of instructors
of stage concert and oper- performers. They
will for one thing, insist on voices low In
volume, to escape the blasting that accom-
panies too much input into the microphone
Then, as now, it will be realized that In radio
production, as in moral guidance, the small
voice NAV be a distinct asset They will teach,
too in the words of one of radios most famous
stars that "the microphone loves beautiful and
gentle toneS-a maximum OF quality with
minimum of quantity" And, finally, they Will
teach diction, realizing that no agency re-
veals carelessness IN speech as cruelty as does
radio.
Diction, incidentally, introduces host OF
new problems to be solved by the broadcasting
novice. If, for example, the feminine artist
uses the deep, round tones so popular with
American actresses, she may sound like man,
or at least like a woman of so or more. II
she pitches her voice too high, she may sound
like little Eva. II she uses stage technique IN
a part which calls for an expression OF mild
petulance or annoyance, she may sound III
tempered shrewish or violently angry, partac-
ularly when the tempo is fast. She must learn
to COMPROMISING sacrifice what the stage calls
realism, II necessary, for the sake OF effective
results.
she must learn, further with the public
epeaker), to exercise the most careful control
of explosives and sibilants. The explosives
%, b, t, d, k, 81 will blast in the microphone
If uttered with the forcefulness customary on
the stage or platform. The sibilants must be
SOFT yet sharp and clear. Unless guarded.
they win produce a lisp. Repression, clarity
and slow tempo are demanded in the use OF
both
ONE Of the most difficult of all lessons at
tending the transformation from stage
star 10 radio star consists in learning to ignore
the audience in the studio while the perform
ance is being broadcast. To the artist there
is an almost irresistible urge to act for those
actually before her eyes rather than Tor the
unseen and unseeing millions at the other end
of the hook-up. The temptation u.s. OF course
natural; it is what the stage-trained actress
has been educated to do. Yet If she yields
the effect can be disastrous. She reverts
to stage technique She must try to forget the
studio audience completely, to concentrate on
her radio public.
Even the newcomer TO radio production
quickly realizes this. When Jeritza sang her
first solo into the microphone, she not only di-
rected that the studio be cleared OF all but
the announcer and the musicians accompany
ing her. but insisted that curtains be drawn
across soundproof windows in the rear of the
room through which spectators might look.
The man at the control board was advised 70
try to keep out Of the range Of her vision.
Other artists while dreading a studio audi
ence appear to gain confidence from the pres
ence in the room of persons very close and
dear to them. When Cali Curci was on the
air, she kept her eyes constantly on Homer
Samuel, her husband and accompanist. Fokina,
the dancer held the hand of her husband
Fokine, through her spoken broadcast.
Tamaki Miura, the japanese prima donna,
was accompanied through her appearance in
q National Grand Opera Company broadcast by
an orchestra led by her husband, Aldo Fran
chett, composer of "Namiko San" During
her songs her eyes rested constantly on him.
1t was apparent that Franchetti In turn de-
voted almost as much attention to directing
his wife in her part as he did to directing the
orchestra.
Although so many stage stars making their
hrst radio broadcasts object to studio audiences,
It is paradoxically, the absence of an audience
the type to which they are accustomed--that
makes the effort so great an ordeal. Some
times actors or actresses accustomed to ap-
pearing nightly before crowded houses stand
mute and terror-stxicken before the micro
phone. When Wilda Bennett OF 1.-THE Only
Girls" company first sang over the air, her
hand shook % that q director steadied her
wrist 80 she could read the music. Her per-
Torrance, nevertheless was as charming and
perfect % Il always Is on the stage BertTam