Show IS STAGE STRUCK Tips for Amateurs From WellS Known Professionals DUTIES OF THE STAGE MANAGERS What Flays are the Most Suitable and How to Run Them Other Notes HE season 4 for amateur theatricals I q a p p r caches I The hour is at hand when r i society people n peo-ple sigh for the sock and L > iS 1 buskin when L k I the young J 1 F I man of transcendent ¬ r i 1 a I trans-cendent tal S I 1 e n t s feels 1 j sure he can i JI 42 J 0 thrill his dear ilf f 1 k four hundred I 2 fi a s Romeo Il1 when the girl II who has been told that her potion scene Is equal to Neilsons begins to think of renewed re-newed triumphs as Juliet It is a curious fact that amateurs stop at nothing Shakespeare Moliere Sheridan nothing daunts them Of all Shakespeares characters the Unhappy Lovers of Verona have suffered most at the hands of dramatic debaters Poor culprit I Poor L Montague I But amateurs are fast becoming more discriminating in their selection of pla sand s-and are willing to fly a little nearer the earth Many amateur clubs moreover are doing capital work and the ranks of professionals are constantly being recruited from those associations of clever and painstaking pains-taking people Yet there are so many things to learn In this line of amusement and cultivation a few hints from professionals may be of value to those who are threatening theatricals theatri-cals What class of plays to select the duties du-ties of a stage manager how to knock up a stage in a drawing room are interesting topics to people who for sweet charity or simply for fun are going in for entertain ls mont of this sort Perhaps the most famous amateur this country next to the lato lamented Cora Urquhart Potter was Elsie DeWolfe now a full fledged professional To get any hints the young lady might be willing to give to stage amateurs called upon her I the other morning Miss Do Wolfe lives in the most marvelous and picturesque bans imaginable It is an oldtime mansion in Irving place You step from Now York into a bit of Paris When the doors are closed behind you and you find yourself in the solon with its tapestries its ormolu its xnarquetrie its Louis Quinzo cabinets its tiny gilt tables its quaint columns and a thousand and one bits of Parisian brica brac you could swear that should you lookout look-out of the window yonder you would see the Boulevards and catch a glimpse of the Arc I Do Triompo i Will you come up to Miss Do Wolfe bedroom bed-room asked a softvoiced maid and I followed her up the rambling stairs and into a bijou of a bed chamber all pink and waite and silver The walls are crowded with pictures of famous actors and ac 1 tresses A sparkling fire glows in tho grate and Fabienne bolstered up with an array i of pillows holds out her had to me with one of thoso strange sweet smiles A tip for the stage amateur said the young lady thoughtfully Always to 1 imva the best possible stage manager I professional if practicable if not the best equipped amateur to be secured I have I really been considered unreasonable on this point When I played with amateurs I always insisted upon having the services of a man like Belasco to stage and direct the play I remember when I was besought to appear in such plays as School for Scandal and Contrast I said frankly to the ladies who begged me to play Yes I will play but only on one condition that you have Belasco as stage manager To this many demurred declaring that his services would be so expensive but I insisted in-sisted You say 1 can till the theatre at sC 5 a ticket I urged Then you should Certainly consult my wishes and expend some of the money I can bring you in baring the play properly managed I carried my point and the wisdom of my determination was plainly demonstrated I should always recommend amateurs to hare a competent stage manager above everything else As to THE CHOICE OF MT PLATS I would suggest The Loan of a Lover Still Waters Run Deep and that charm ing comedietta A Cup of Tea As to costumes and stage settings and properties make them as elegant as possible I have repeatedly denuded mydrawing room of my pot bits of bricabrac to make a stage drawing room attractive and have tried always to have my costumes appropriate and as handsome as my purse would allow Of drawing room theatricals I know noth ing I never appeared but once in a draw ing l room and that was in one of those old I timo Washington square houses where a platform was built in the back parlor But of the accessories I recall nothing Bessie Tyne whose beautiful face looks out from under tho dear little Quaker cap in liTho Dancing Girl was a famous Washington amateur and wont from the crack club of that city into professional ranks If amateurs are playing for im provement or selfeducation she said I I would advise them always to select from L Shakespeare Sheridan or some other standard author If for fun simply then L by all means choose some comedy like Home Caste School in fact any of Robertsons beautiful plays Take a play always which has no star role where the I parts are quite evenly distributed A I drawingroom stage can be easily arranged Give me a screen or two some draperies a t few palms and I will improvise a stago in L any drawing room Of course if amateurs are to appear in theatre or hall it IB neces sary to have a capable stage manager I should advise amateurs to take plays simple of construction and requiring up no intricate stage settings said Mr I Daniel Frohman loA play like Young Mrs Winthrop which has one interior for the three acts is most suitable for ama teurs Then there is Esmeralda another good play Any play of that nature invol ving some gentle domestic story is best fitted to an amateur entertainment Ama teurs make a great mistake when they tackle melodrama or tragedy 4Let me see said Lillian Russell stop ping for a moment in her preparations for the second act of La Cigale A suitable play for amateurs in my opinion would ho All the Comforts of Home Robertsons comedies tare too ambitious I think Ama teurs do them constantly I know but I think it a mistake All the Comforts of Home is a rollicking sort of affair wherein every one gets rather larky The main Idea is to make as much fun as possible and clever amateurs ought to get the spirit of the play Any play in which all parts are even is the sort of thing amateurs should attempt and something modern They should let the dry bones rest and La Gloria pinned a knot of red roses on her breast and smiled at what sho saw in the mirror Virginia Hemedo said I think amateurs should first of all have a professional stage manager a coaoher some one to keep them in order A lot of amateurs without a manager are like sheep without a leader Now remember the pantomime rehearsal cone by the Yokes company It is a capi tat satire and true to the life as anyono who has ever seen amateura rehearse can testify It seems to mo that WHAT AMATEURS SHOULD MOST AVOID is i staginess or a tendency to overaot These defects are bad enough among pro fessionals but something terrific among amateurs In regard to the selection of a suitable play I would say in general the o u1 v simpler a story the more fitted to the amateur ama-teur fashion of telling it Yes I have staged a great many plays for amateurs said David Belasco as wet sa we-t chatting behind the scenes at Miss saH Helyott the other afternoon I dont do it any more as I havent the time but I always enjoyed the work immensely The best plays for amateurs emotional plays That seems strange does it notl The plays of intense passion are far easier to act than are comedies A comedy is too full of fine effects which may be lost entirely en-tirely when in the hands of inexperienced players A single detonation may ruin a sentence The mannerisms of an expor ienced actor will carry off passages which would fall flat otherwise The finesse of comedy is beyond amateur talent through London Assurance is a great favorite with them Such plays as Young Mrs Win throp are quite the fad now but I think amateurs make a mistaken i mistake-n taking cast of modern plays There is an old play called Camillas Husband which is very well suited to amateurs Lovos Peril Two Loves in One Life are also within their scope In the line of tableaux there are many beautiful selec tions Take Tennysons Dream of Fair Women What could be more beautiful It has always been one of the ambitions of my life to get up a series of tableaux rep resenting Shakespeares heroines Think of the opportunities there are for beautiful pictures I really wish some one would get them up Id like to see it done In coaching amateurs I study them carefully watch their mannerisms and pose them so face and figure shall show off to best advantage ad-vantage At Governor Stanfords house they were always getting up theatricals The back parlor was the stage The folding doors were draped and a smart maid opened the doors and drew back the drapery A piece of plain canvas formed the background and for an outdoor sceno a rustic bench a few plants and a fence were considered sufficient But at Mrs Whitneys during Mrs Porters reign theatricals were carried out beautifully stago scenery and properties being elegant Of course it all depends on the money to be I expended but it is my opinion that ama teurs should always have a professional I coacher or stage manager What play wouldI suggest asked Mrs Carter tossing that marvelous red hair over her shoulders 0 Frou Frau always Thats a dear play foreither amn teurs or professionals I love it EDITH SESSIONS TOPPER |