GOING ON THE STAGE.—No.III

Press, Volume XI, Issue 1327, 7 February 1867, Page 2

GOING ON THE STAGE.—No.III

One morning I received a telegram from a leading London manager offer- [ ing mc an engagement to join him in <■ a provincial tour he was going to maka' with some of the members of his com. ' pany. I accepted ; and thereupon a [ great deal of worry awaited mc in,' learning new parts, making newdresscs,' and packing to start on the new venture all in about four days. We $iet on the platform of the railway station one fine morning at the end of May, Our company consisted of six people- " leading man," our manager; "leading heavy lady," a clever experienced actress ; " walking ladies," two young and pretty girls, favorites on tlie Lop don boards, and myself, as " leadi; ; light comedy and singing chamber- !- maid ;" " leading old man," one oi \ the most popular old actors of tho day,' who by his good-humour contributed' greatly to the happiness of the party; " light and low comedy man," m actor who will, I feel sure, malcea name for himself some day. The parly filled a second-class carriage; and weld j not left the station five minutes before L all took out their manuscript parts and i began to gabble away at them. Tlien.| they rehearsed together, speaking a! { the top of their voices to mako them-1' selves heard. I joined them; and to a f stranger looking into the carriage i window we must have appeared a com- <:■ pany of lunatics. The face of ray; maid, who sat opposite to mc, waa & perfect study. There was a puzzH, , half-amused, half-frightened look on it that was irresistibly comic. It was t ■ long and weary journey, and after out arrival at our destination a great te . of discomfort had to be gone through \ before I found myself lodged and re- / freshed by tea and a bath, I soon joined the others at the theatre, td' saw a French actreses play very well i« . a piece called " Hearts and Hands." \ have been a good deal in Franco, ana have always noticed how superior their actresses aro to our own in finish w dress. On the English fltnga W toilette is sadly neglected. This »J great pity,as a woman's appearance m dress, although they cannot atone is . lack of talent, add considerably to W chances of success. She played w night after our arrival, and ihe pecs went off well, but the house mf\ very full. The weather was unwutff' fine, and people preferred visiting t» •• celebrated gardens near the jffM' taking evening walks in the field ß . \' • simmering in a theatre; hot weawjf l t not favorable to the drama. Ono tJ% I noticed in this theatre, and more less in all I have known, and W» : the bad drainage, the bad supply J *> water, and the wretched in the ladies' dressing-rooms-, ' ■ going up to take my place fl * , morning 1 was horrified to seci - dirty state in which everything w ' yet no one seemed to care. ■ Dus i ■ thickly everywhere; the floor?j ... destitute of carpet or matting; *- was full of evil odours; all m were shamefully maltreated, and * as sorry for them as if they W sense of suffering like myself Our first piece had a very P.\; Bceno in it, representing » " e , r , cave; and I never think of it • remembering a story told mc about • very scene. When it was , London, the monk who occU cave happened to be a very J* and, by some accident or ot carpenters had made the eJ y n Jfi 5 ; E !. the cavo far too small to After administering some advico to a young couple, ta< L ( j sE i turns to retire to his cell. An at t enters, and inquires for him,• answer is, pointing towards y , " The holy father is engogeo « devotions.'" To the confusion t tho holy father had stuck » "W # way. He dared not move Iff"

whole structure about his bn g so he remained quite quiet elrt devotional attitude, his face j from the world. FortuSv this was near the end of the •for till it was over, the audience Cnfup one continued roar of laughter. 2 scene seemed to have some Sty hanging over it, for one even- • «nVn we were playing it, a very dog Lit ten Bravely walked in, aud, sit--in the middle of the stage close to tl!e footlights, began to mew dismally. The audience began to laugh the Se shifters at the side called Puss 8 ™i*s»" but the kitten went &g on - as if by clock-work At w the monk went up feigning that 1 x i • a it was part of the " business " f IfpfeclThe kitten slid from Lv his erasp, and it ended in the of the audience, who, when tbe culprit was caught, gave a hearty round of !pplause I made another success in S old woman's part during this tour. The "make-up" was more elaborate than that of my first old woman, and I was recommended to « go in " entirely for old women's parts. The actors and actresses that compose the " stock company " of a Lutry theatre are worth studying. They all affect contempt for London audiences, and declare that they remain in the country from pure choice T nuite understand their dislike of that are called " stars " and a " starring company." The stock companies are : then always severely worked, and . have to learn long thankless parts, 'sometimes at twelve hours' notice, with no chance of credit or of extra pay ■ for their extra labor. At X. there was ; a young effeminate man who played "utility" P art - The b allet "g irls chaffed him dreadfully, poor boy, for his Bmooth, womanish face, and meisted on calling him " Doubts." He knew there was no help tor it, and therefore submitted and answered to his name as regularly as if he had received it from his godfathers and godmothers at his baptism. Balletgirls B eem to have a talent for what is called chaff, and their jokes rarely fail for lack of pungency. Our next halt was at one ot the prettiest little towns in England. Its tranquillity was delightful after noisy X, but fine weather followed us, to the disturbance of our success. Here I became acquainted with a Jack-of-all-trades in the profession whom I have never since seen equalled. He was . well, it is impossible to say what he was not in the theatre. He was tall and well built, with gipsy features and imperturbable good temper. At our first rehearsal, I learned that he was the head carpenter. In the evening I found he was mucb besides; his change of occupation and costume was so frequent that he seemed to be fifty men at once. He would attend to the gas, help to set the scenes, start the orchestra, stand by to help the curtain up, and prompt the actors; meanwhile he would struggle into a gendarme's coat, go on, capture a prisoner, come off, shake the call-boy for being absent, i turn down the gas, and, while he | coolly undressed and put on a turnkey's costume, lower the light and begin a Btorm by shaking up the large sheet of zinc which made the thunder, and by tilting up the long narrow box of loose shot which gave a noise like falling rain. Having fijed on his beard and hat, armed himself with a hugh bunch of keys, and given his face a few magic touches, he would then go on again, examine a prison or prisoner, say a few lines, return, and immediately resume his duties as prompter. Then would come the ballet to plague him: many of them were dressed as pages. " Oh, please hook this for mc," "do pin my clock on, there's a dear," &c. &c. " Jack " helped all and any one as placidly as if he was at his own fireside. He was walking gentleman and guard of the palace; he joined in the Irisb jig in the farce, and acted as footman several times during the eveniug. Finally he put out the gas, and left the theatre safe : and I saw hitn from my window close by, going home in the lovely moonlight, at about one o'clock in the morn-, ing, whistling a lively air. This man was an inexhaustible source of amusement to mc. He was, I must think, a real philosopher; and so good and kind did he always seem to be that I heartily wish him happiness and success whenever I think of him. Our next halt was at X., a large and bustling town, but a clean one. The night before our arrival a sad accident had happened to a young girl when playing the "Colleen Bawn." The "Dummy Man," a strong and energetic actor, in throwing her off the rock into the water had been too violent, and the poor girl fell on her back. Her spine was severely injured, and she will doubtless be a cripple for life. Directly the accident took place another girl dressed for the part, and the piece proceeded, the poor girl to whom the accident had occurred lying, as I was informed, where she fell, quite insensible, to the end of the piece. There is an institution at K. which closely resembles the established "claqueurs" of Paris. A man there has attended the theatre nightly for thirty years, and now he rules the gallery like a little king. When he says " Lay on," all applaud, and keep up their clapping till he gives a sign to stop. Having witnessed thousands of performances, aud seen actors, his opinion is much valued: and he gives it freely. As a rale, he is impartial, but he is to be influenced by attention to his " particular vanity," which closely resembles Jhe shepherd's" particular vanity ie Pickwick." But, spito of that, ] nave known him say frankly, "I'll dc my best for you, but the play is a bad °ac, and the gallery know it, and mv reputation is at stake. Give us a gooc Play, and see how I'll make it go.' aiaraagers are more afraid of the pil and gallery than any other part of th< Jonse, for it is those who frequent them who make or damn a piece. " Business" was not very good al A-., nor at the fourth town -whicl ended our tour. The discomfort con sequent on frequent hurry and move

ment was beginning to tell upon mc very much. It was a tour of pleasure to the re«t of the party, but two pieces and three or four changes of dress during the evening were to mc terribly hard work, and by the time our last night had come I was in a very bad state of health. I went straight to a celebrated sanatorium, and after six weeks of the cold-water cure I recovered health and spirits, and with them my determination to go on with my project. The manager with whom I made the tour in the provinces which 1 have . already described expressed himself i well satisfied with my performances, i and gave mc an engagement in his ; London theatre. He first assigned s mc a leading part in a famous masque. < It was such a beautiful part to act < and sing, appealing so powerfully to | the imagination, that I scarcely felt ] a human being while I played it. i Our manager, who has an excellent I talent for " putting pieces on the ; stage," outdid himself on this occa- < sion. The dresses and Hcenery were ( extremely good, and the cast was per- 1 feet. Every assistance that good act- i ing and elocution could confer was i given, and special singers were engaged \ for the vocal parts. A well-known r basso, a good tenor, and our most t popular English ballad singer were a amongst the company. Ballet-girls of S more than average merit were engaged, c Stage manager, scene painter, actors t and actresses all did their best, no a expense was spared, and the result t was a success. I felt proud and de- j lighted to join such a company, and a contributed ray share of ability with t all my heart. c Owing to some misunderstanding I c made my " first appearance " without * any rehearsal at all. This was most i trying, and required great courage, as < I had some " business " to do that was * ; quite strange to mc — namely, to c ! appear on a "slote" and go down a 1 trap. The slote was a stand at the c extreme back of the stage, six or eight t feet high, about a foot square, aud f supported by an iron bar, which at a J distance is unseen ; accordingly, when t you stand on it you seem to stand in 1 mid-air. This slote was gently pushed 1 forward several feet to a pedestal of < the same height, which I stepped on ; 1 the pedestal then sank slowly through c the stage, and thus I descended upon < the earth as a spirit straight from < the starry threshold. Every one 1 knows what a trap is, but none 1 save those in the profession know j what it is to go down one. I looked 1 forward with much misgiving to this 1 trial of my nerve, which I should i have to endure for the first time in the 1 presence of thousands of spectators ; '• but I choked my fears, laughed at ; those of my friends, and made up my : mind to dare it. I knew the slightest < sign of nervousness or faint-hearted- : ness would be noticed by my friends, for I saw they were watching mc anxiously. I went down to the theatre in good time, and dressed, or rather dressing, when I was told that the body of my dress was nowhere to i be found ; all the dressers seemed in j great consternation, and thought it : impossible for mc to appear. Luckily I had with mc several yards of tarla- ' tan; this I folded round mc like > drapery, and it proved so light and ethereal-looking that I could not 5 have been more becomingly dressed. 1 The manager, on some pretence or > other, came up to .the dressing-room i door, for he was a little anxious about > mc, it beiug my first appearance in , such a trying character, but seeing ■ mc quite calm and ready dressed, he • became quite satisfied, and went back > to his sanctum in perfect tranquillity * of mind. The call-boy called, " All ' beginners, please," and down I went * to the stage, feeling very shiveryl shaky in my light dress. The •\ stage behind the curtain presented ; a most curious and almost alarming I spectacle: grotesque animals of every , kind were walking about, and I was » timidly gliding through them when I ; was positively startled by a familiar : voice proceeding from a wise-looking » rabbit close at my elbow, wishing mc ■ every success. Balaam was not more ■' astonished when the ass gave him a i bit of bis mind, I am sure. Jolly- ■ looking Bacchantes were joking in . groups, and a creature with horns and L cloven feet was dealing friendly pokes '' to a monster like a rhinoceros. A few splendidly dressed men and women were walking amongst tho monsters, I looking sadly out of place, and in very J dangerous company. At last the overt ture began, the Btage was cleared, and i I was led up to the ladder to mount 5 the " slote." The carpenters were - very attentive, whispering, " No fear, 5 miss; stand steady. Step on the - pedestal when you are about two feet • from it, and I'll take care it shall go i down slowly," and such like encourag- - ing words. Up went the curtain to s soft music, and I became at once the 1 object of attention to thousands of eyes. My heart gave a few great '„ bounds, and then settled down quietly, c as it generally does when one feels >• "at bay." I got througli my first !> long trying descriptive speech without i making a single mistake, darted c througli the trap on hearing morf tals approach, and went down s as if I had been used to sucb eccentric a exits all my life. But shall I ever forI, get the " heave " I felt when descending ? I am a bad sailor, and when in d a small boat pitching now and then i into the trough of the sea have often h experienced the same sensation. Below a the stage is an odd place, cumbered by c ropes, pulleys, beams, and holes of all •- kinds and signs. One night on coming ® down this trap and running to the n staircase I went a few feet out of my I way, and fell through a hole. That o was certainly a " sensation" I had d not bargained for, but the hole not 7 being very large I only bruised one d leg. The kind efforts of the men " about to help mc nearly lost mc that '& leg though; for all pulled at mc differe ent ways, and it was a wonder the bone t was not broken. But let mc indulge my vanity by recording that on this it eventful first evening I passed through h my arduous trial with flying colors; l- and most thankful was I when it was i- ' over. In looking back to it from even

this short distance of time, I can scarcely believe iv the reality of it. During the season I played in several other parts, and thoroughly enjoyed my work. [To be concluded in our next.~\