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Show lr Maude Adams Interviewed I j a She Tells the Story of the fr I 1 1 00 1 Nights of Lady Babbie gfe j W 1 iKV thousand and one times of "The Ilf: BjLlttki Minister"' had Just cone into M ' v nlstorv' sa's tne New York ller-?4 ller-?4 I aid. It seems a tremendous amount vj ff work to look back upon, but Miss 4 JhuJe Adams, who was tho Lady Babble y la-all those ten hundred and ono perform-tacts, perform-tacts, did not Heem to consider the record f ht had made as anything verj' unusual. 2$i : As she sat In her dressing-room at tho ft Empire theater after tho curtain had gone A ioTm on tho last act of "Tho Little Mln-i Mln-i ' liter" Mils Adams appeared to bo any-jf any-jf , tMns but w eary of tho rolo of Lady Bab-t Bab-t In fact, she was as enthusiastic over 3j 'Xas thourjh the performance sho had JiBt i , Wished wns the premiere, instead of the Xg, ' tnc thousand and flrst time. was lost Wednesday night and the &JS I-opular actress was In tho best of spirits. Eh fajPly ijub), w)ln vivaclousncss as M i" ?xP,alne1 to a Herald roporlcr what H ?a altogether enjoyablo and easy thing it J4 , ".,,0.l,,(iy one part a thousJtnd times, pro-it pro-it 'r' or cou,st. that ono likes thu pari. ts -r.v ,a 11 cvtir become monotonous?" W 1!. lne Herald reporter. "Does not ml ?,r Interest In tho part go down at all $ Jpy. number of tho performances goes I? h'1,1"""0 nevor grown tired of Iady Bab- Sl Vn "Tho Llt-l'o Minister.' roplied Miss S bnrai8', ''"Jeed, 1 began playing her 1i before she ever appeared on the S? ! !"Ge. Thin was duo to the great delight fi ' irii m cnccd whc" Mr Charles Frohman , iT Bai'r'o selected mo for tho part, SI 1 dtni. . vo "ever failed to feel that Fame ' riir 1 ln 11 cvt"" sinco I do not think I tj 1 wui ever tiro of lu" W. Always Feels It. th'!? Y0u act tho role as well on the S' "iSrfMnath time as on the first?" omik' 1 031,1 fco1 antl llv5 idy Babble foWn WpH on th0 ono thousandth pcr-- pcr-- "ranco as 1 did on tho first perform- iS! or. it might bo better to say. as I for !! when 1 llrst rehearsed tho part, tni wsis a character that took hold of ril ,.oncc- I fact, tho ver- first time I 1 led fuf10 pl!,y 1 Wfla absorbed by tho rolo ' 'trsan J llvo ,l ln mJ' mind," I t'.jour , hero 13 110 Particular tlmo ln r U L..xPetlenco whon a performance can v lh. n"nttd.upon aa being tho best; not th VJ Is. wnen everything Is strango, nor t IhV L ' wl,on the play has got to run-th'fi run-th'fi n ?PtnIy "or tho ono hundredth nor 'm tnU8andth?" ' thAno:. thcro 13 no set time to arrlvo ; tttT ctlon as though ono wcro a lim-Wuli lim-Wuli 1 Pn,ef8 tm,n- Acting Is not, or ' fcKfl,.!7101 bo- regulated by a dispatcher's tablv- "0r art bo Kvcr"cd by a tlmo i fttri0,d adnK that practice makes por-to por-to tK?y apply 10 slctlng, then, as well as ' ''clr, ,ccuiatlon?" -i ' rnA. nl- Tno morc or"0 acts a part nd on!, ono becomes accustomed to it, '' Nkelv S",0"111' tho moTO natural ono is : ' lort rr 00 ,n 1" When a part becomes a . or wcond, nature It pould bo almost M - impossible lo give a bad performance of It." Grown Into It. "Tho continued repetition of a role does not generate any repugnanco for It. then?" 'Not at all. I would feel strange and sad, Indeed. If during my cureor I were compelled to give up Lady Babble altogether. alto-gether. I havo grown Into it and lovo It to strongly that when 1 play another part I really feel as if It were Lady Babble herself that were playing it." "Do you ever change the conception of a part as tho number of performances Increase?" In-crease?" ' No. I never chnnge tho conception of a part, but as the run of a piny progresses ono grows to know It hotter and to feel tho character more, provided it Is a character char-acter that one Is fond of playing," "If there Is any change ln the Lady Babble of today from tho original rendering ren-dering It is an unconscious ono then, slm-plv slm-plv a natural evolution?" "Yes. that's It exactly." "Did It eer socm to you when you were first appearing as Lady Babble that the play would moot with such a largo measure meas-ure of success as It has and enjoy Buch a long theatrical llfo?" "When 'Tho Littlo Minister' was given mo the only feeling T had. concerning It. outsldo of tho fact that 1 was enraptured with Lndv Babblo herself, was that I hoped all "tho audiences that saw the play would enjoy It as much as I did. In watching the many audiences beforo which 1 played it I have felt that Mr. Barrlc's comedy had tho necessary elements ele-ments in It to give It as long llfo as many of the standard old comedies." "Docs tho part approach your Ideal of what a rolo should be?" "It not only approaches it, but Lady Babblo Is my Ideal role." Laid out at hand and In the neatest sort of order was Miss Adams's costumo for Amanda Aflllck In "Op o My Thumb." and scattered over her dressing tablo was an elaborate assortment of "make up" materials. Seemingly very much out of pluco among them was a tall stack ot shlnv new pennies Whnt uso Miss Adams could possibly moke of pennies on her dressing tablo was a problem that aroused curiosity. "When questioned about It Miss Adams laughingly replied- "Oh. thoso pennies aro to pay Mr. Air Hayman hlB nightly salary. It Ib a sore of trlbuto that ho levies whenever ho comes bock on tho stngo to seo me. Maybo It Is blackmail. I'm not enough of a lawyer to know. As to n Penny. Then she explained that one night during dur-ing tho original run of "The Little Minister." Minis-ter." nt tho Braplrcp Mr. Hnyman went back of the stago to seo her for a mlnuto or two, as was hlH custom. IIo was In something of a hurry and only Htopped long enough to say "Good-evening," and started to rush away. "What are voti ln such a tearing hurry for?" asked Miss Adams. "Can't you stop to speak to mo a mlnuto?" "No thoro ,1h no money in It for me. rjtaying back hero with you. I must get out front." .... . . . , . The next night when n went back to . a. Inquire for her welfaro Miss Adams handed hand-ed him a penny with "the remark that tnere'was somb money "ln It" for him and that sho proposed to pay him for his trouble trou-ble Ever since tho ponny toll has been a regular custom. with Miss Adams. She always al-ways keeps a pile of them on -her dressing dress-ing table and solemnly presents Mr. Hay-man Hay-man with one every time he goes "back " Which explains why Mr. Hayman always has a pocket full of 1 cent pieces. As Miss Adams arranged the sticks of grease paint ln an orderly row, she said: "I think It Is great fun lo make up. I don't mind the bother of It. as It might bo termed. In tho least. Then, too. one enjoys the fascination of trvlng various make ups when llrst studying a part. The Empire theaters new lighting system, which provides ln a measure for the sut-presslon sut-presslon of the footlights, Is a great assistance as-sistance to make-up. a3 It penults an av-dlenco av-dlenco to see clearly across the slacs without straining their eyes' and gives better view of the actor's or actress' features fea-tures than the old. system of footllg.htf did Indeed. It Is of great assistance,- botfa . to audience and actors." It Is not generally known that, there ass fewer footlights In tho Empire than la any other theater ln Broadway. Instead of being thrown up In a dazzling glane from tho outer edge of the stage, tho llglct Is obtained hy throwing a "floodlight" In a peculiar way from behind a screen at tho rear of tho balcony. Tho ordinary footlights always dazzle. an actor, so thni If he wishes to see out Into tho auditorium It Is necessary for him to shade his oyes from below. They also necessitate a peculiar pe-culiar and unnatural facial make-up. to counteract tho effect of the shadows cast upward. Charms of Make-TJp. So excellent and lifelike Is MIps Adams's make-up as tho slavey In " 'Op of Mo Thumb," and In such a contrast to her nppcaranco as Lady Babble, that on the llrst night of tho play tho audience did not recognize her when sho made her entrance, en-trance, Thoro was not a hand, not the slightest murmur of welcoming applause, although tho theater was packed to tho doors with friends and admirers of Miss Adams, who had come there for no other purposo than to seo her. It was an experience ex-perience sho had novor boon through before. be-fore. Invnrlably whon sho cainc on there vould be a storm of applause so long as to Interfere with the action of tho play and compel her to pauso for mlnutea before be-fore she could speak her lines. Nothing of the kind happened that night Tho house was as still as a church for a moment mo-ment only. Simply becauso they did not recognize h'i', which was tho be3t proof In the world of the oxcellcnco of her make-up. It was an achievement, for every other of tho many roles sho has played she was recognized at once. . However. It did not phase Miss Adams In tho least. At most, any other actrcsB would quite likely havo misunderstood tho condition -and-taken It to heart. -In that caso sho probably would havo become a bit hysterical and when oho left the, stugo rushed to tho dressing-room and had a good cry Not so Miss Adams. Sho laughed and was highly elated over It. "Did you think that tho audlonco would not recognize you?"' tho reported asked. "My only foar concerning the part of Amanda Affllck on tho first night was that the audience might recognize mo too easily. That was what I tried to guard against " Pound in London. "Where did you study tho charnctcr? "Was It a conception from life, taken from a real girl'" "During my stay in London I had the opportunity of studying tho cockney girl a typo which is most Interesting to a foreigner, and which leaves a strong impression. im-pression. I had studied .tho typo long bc- foro I was given tho role role In ' 'Op o' Me Thunlb.' This .part I did not study until last summer In San Francisco, while 1 was playing 'Tho Utile Minister' thoro. I then got my llrst conception of what the character should be. aqd I compllcl my make-up last summer while at my home In the mountains Three days beforo tho first performance here, however, I changed It." "What of all the parts you have played do you like the -best to act?" "My personal preferences concerning the roles I havo played, are, Jlrst. Lady Bnbble. second. Amanda In ' 'Op o' Mo Thumb.' and third, 'L'Alglon.' " "'Does the playing of two such contrasting contrast-ing roles ln one night afford any mental relief: that Is. does one act as a sort of relaxation to the other?" A Cliango Has Belief. "After Lady Babble's work -Is over It Is simply fine to play ' "Op o' Me Thumb.' Playing -both of- these- characters, oven when two performances a day. are given on matinee days, does not In tho least llro me. becauso they arp so different In their acting qualities, and becauso they are my favorites.' ""The physical strain, then, Is not really so Tory great?" "'WhOrt ono Iri interested In the part ono Is playing and gives It her full sympathy the physical strain that might possibly result Is overcome by tho Interest ono gets In watching tho effect of the acting on different audiences. Tho repetition of the role of I-ndy Babble hns never produced any grentcr strain than would result from appearing lh a new charnctcr. because ovory new audience Is a now source of Interest, In-terest, and I havo been continuously dl-T-erted and delighted all through the long run of tho play by tho enjoyment tho audiences au-diences havo gotten out of It. Tho manner man-ner In whloh tho play has been received .again and again by Now York audlonccs has moro than repaid me for tho effort I havo put Into playing this character one thousand times. Onco in Two Hundred Times. "After every two hundred performances ot Lady Babblo I hnvo been given an opportunity op-portunity to create a now character In somo othor piny. 'I would play this char-actor char-actor for a season and then como back to Babbfo again, arid each return to It made mo feel llko coming back homo after a long absence." And then Miss Adams went to hor own homo to rest. In preparation for tho one thousand and second porfdrmanco of "Tho Little Minister." |