“Carmen” Company’s Veteran Property Man

Otago Daily Times, Issue 26777, 21 May 1948, Page 6

“Carmen” Company’s Veteran Property Man

Any theatregoer who has taken particular notice of the thunder, lightning, horse’s hooves or similar “ noises off ” in major touring shows during the majority of the past 56 years has very probably been listening to Mr James Foley at work. Mr Foley is New Zealand’s oldest property man and has toured New Zealand on more occasions than any other back-stage assistant or, for that matter, actor. During that time, he is proud to state, he has never missed a “prop,” a cue, or a performance. Seven years ago he retired, but he was persuaded to come back to work for '•the tour of “Carmen.” “ I have seen the old look and the new look,” he told the Daily Times yesterday, “ and this is definitely the last „ , Opera is nothing new to Mr Foley, for as far back as 1896 he was on tour in this country with a German opera company. With those earlier companies, the property man’s work was considerably more difficult than it is likely to be with the current presentation. “ They were massive shows and everything had to be ready so that any opera could be put on to suit last minute availability of casts,” he said. “If somebody got a cold, then the programme would be changed and it was nothing to put on a different opera every night.” In those days the pay for property men was £2 10s a week with no overtime and it was a case of working all day and every day. By the time board had been paid from this wage there was not a great deal left. , Famous Players Great names in; the theatre of yesterday—Sybil Thorndike, Irvine, Bland Holt, Agnes Janssen—come easily to Mr Foley, and his conversation is peppered with casual recollections such as the -fact that on the night Queen Victoria died he was in Auckland with

the “ Trilby 7 company, which included Tyrone Power, father of the present film actor. For a time he was tempted away from the legitimate stage by a new form of entertainment, the silent films. Mr Foley suggested that he might have been one of the first to bring a forerunner of the present “ talkies ” to New Zealand, for in 1906 he was touring with a film called “ The Kelly Gang,” for which he provided dialogue and sound effects with each performance. The film venture palled, however, and Mr Foley moved back to work with the legitimate stage. Among the host of duties which fall to the property man, Mr Foley is most interested in sound effects. “ I think I know just about everything with sound effects,” he said. “I can work a battle scene without firing a single rifle.” His methods are to go out in search of the real sound and listen to it with his eyes closed—that way the hearing sense becomes more acute. To be a good property man, however, requires several attributes. A good memory, keen eyes, the ability to think quickly, fast legs and an even disposition are the main necessities, he says. Genuine Thunder The unexpected can always upset the best of property men’s calculations. In a production of “Sign of the Cross,” with Julius Knight, one player had a line “ the light has come,” Mr Foley said. On this cue Mr Foley had to flash a light on the stage. After the subsequent line—“ You cannot harm me now”—there came a peal of thunder. One evening after the first cue had been given a real peal of thunder sounded. Mr Foley thought quickly and decided that the best thing to do would be to do nothing. When Knight came off he was irate, and accused Mr Foley of mixing his cue. The latter explained that it was a real peal of thunder. Knight was not satisfied. “Anyway, it was a rotten peal,” he said.