Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-10-21
THIS AND THAT
BY CHARLES y. TRAcEWELL.

| any ones mind about that, although the
Warner brothers were the first to stake
their financial regulations on this
opinion.
but the best we have-the stage, the
| theater. whatever one calls this old, old
thing, has real life in addition to the
real voice. It is life which the stage
attempts to reflect, which all drama
attempts to put into being; but only
the legitimate stage has the actual life
there before you.
The photograph had the voice, the
movies" had the motion, the ''talkies'
have the voice, the radio has the voice
but the actual personageS presented are
far, far away, sometimes thousands Of
miles.
The voice from the radio. from the
monograph, from the "talkieS," is
marvel of science, but it has been
strained, If we may use the word
miles of wires, through tubes, trans
formers significant word-through
radio sets and speakers.
X X X
AS the glory of the stage is the
human voice, SO the glory of the play
acted before one Ia that the voices
come to one unstrained, direct, actually
as one sees series Of dotted lines in
comic pictures, shooting from the eye'
OF one character to the eyes Of another
The voice We hear in the Legitimate
theater, which some tend to call the
old-fashioned theater, originates in
yonder throat and impinges upon these
our very visible, tangible ears
You know how 1t is with the mar
who Is chewing gum in the public
conveyance. You smell the flavor, but
do not like to think that what touche;
your senses is the actual moisture ema-
mating from the mouth of the chewer.
We smell tobacco smoke and seldom
stop to realize that every particle o.
the smoke comes from the very mouth
OF the smoker
Luckily, the human voice, except a.
close quarters, merely sets up sounC
waves. These waves, however, are the
direct result of the speaker and trave
from throat to ear.
The voice heard from the stage
therefore, has an authenticity which
none Of the clever limitations of science
or presentations of science, If you 81
prefer-can possess.
Just how much weight is to be placed
upon this authenticity must depend II
the last analysis upon the individual
reaction Of the person giving judg.
ment.
We know many persons who are al
well satisfied with a radio presentation
Of a symphony orchestra as with tn,
hearing of the actual orchestra itsel
in a concert hall Besides, they say
they do not have to dress, are more
comfortable, and do not have to 60 Out
in the cold night.
Others, however, insist that no radio
ever made brings in the human voice
or the sounds Of instruments with ex.
actly the same flavor of the real thing
close enough to send forth authentic
sound waves from voice or instrument
to ear.
The real stage, then, will never 81
out, because it Is real, and especially
because it presents the real voice (not
in speech making, it is worth while Il
note, but mostly in talking. And thu
world loves to talk and to hear talk.
The So-called legitimate theater may
have its ups and downs, 1t may give
| way to inventions, surrender part Of 1t:
/ prestige and box receipts, but we find
it impossible to believe that it viii
ever pass out of existence. Like love, il
has been in the world too long.