OCR Text |
Show VOICES OF PLAYERS. , Comment on Vocal Powens of Stars of Stage. A good voico ia a hoavcnscnt qift to a playor. It ha6 boon a feature m tho success of many actroasca. The dramatic dram-atic power of tho voico is marvelous, ono moment it may bo eloquent with lovo and. tenderness and in tho next may chango in a flash to anger and jealousv. A. proper modulation of the voico a'ud a true delivery of tho words is one of tho most important factors in an actor's success. That this ia appreciated by players ia shown in tho fact that Wilton Lack-ave Lack-ave at ono time mado a rocord of his part for a phonograph after ho thought bv hard work, he was perfect in in ton - ations and inflections. He not only was not perfect but had made at least 100 errors in speaking the lines. The late Stuart Robson was murtk limited in his arc bv a comic peculiarity peculiar-ity in his speech. Because of this ha was often obliged to use other methods to secure effects which ho would have preferred to obtain with his voice. At a benefit given somo years ago in Now York he tried to riso above this limitation limita-tion and endeavored to play Cassius seriously, but his efforts were vain, tor ho was greeted with roars of laughter from the audience. Another artist who was so handicapped was Charles E.can, who always spoke as though he had a cold in bis head. His strong individuality individu-ality conquered this defect. When Otis Skinner first played Fran-cesca Fran-cesca de Rimini tho last act was spoiled by the violence in speech that was used and Mr. Skinner, noting the lack of sympathy in tho audience, looked for a remcd3', and by lowering the pitch of the entire act and whispering whis-pering much of tho dialogue ho created an intensity of feeling which wa3 communicated com-municated to the audience. Sarah Bernhardt has an unsurpassed voice, and if ono has heard it it is never forgotten. Her voice, which vibrates vi-brates with music and magnetism, is the most wonderful thing about her. When Mary Anderson was 1 years old sho became stago struck and went to Cincinnati to see Charlotte Cushman who was then at the height of her lame to get her judgment in regard to her abilities to becomo an actress. Mary Anderson recited portions of Shakespeare's Shakes-peare's plays in a loud, strong voice. When she had finished she asked Miss Cushman if she thought that sho would ever make an actress. Miss Cushman told hor she had tho first requisite, which was a good voico, as well as a good memory and a fine personal appearance. ap-pearance. . , Clara Morris has a wondcriul voice, with which she can do anything. Witn certain tones in her voice she can produce pro-duce tho effect of tears without shedding shed-ding any. The possibility ol tears is never far away from the tones of Eleanor Robson ra lovoly contralto voice. Because of tho somber note "i uot highest speech, Mrs. Pat Campbell is particularly suited to tragedy. Her deep undertones aro extremely eftective. Eleonora Duso's voico seems natural on tho stage. It suggests tho idea ot loneliness lone-liness in tho actress's hie, as if sho had had many hopes unfulnllcd. Much of the success that Margaret A.nclin has had is duo to her voice. Iler mother said that she had practiced VOars to attain tho correct: and distinct LiLLl.ti.iN AhhJb Who Is on Orpheum Bill for Storios and Songn. enunciation which has boon ho much praised. Clemont Scott, tho English critic, when ho first saw Miss Anghn remarked on her sweet, pathetic voice. One of the reasons that Maude Adams s portrayal of Peter Pan is bo .lovely and so altogether satisfying is in a largo part duo to her silvery, pathetic voice. Julia Marlowo is a conspicuous example ex-ample of an actress who uses her voice well. Her pronunciation and enunciation enuncia-tion aro excellent. Sho is one of tho few plavors who read blank verse naturally. nat-urally. 'Although Mrs. Fisko has a good voico thero is a certain mechanical jorkincss that sho employs in the delivery deliv-ery of her lines that makes it hard al-wava al-wava to understand what she is saying. Fritzi Schcff hag a sweet voico but sho uses it peculiarly and it often sounds as if it were marked staccato. Tho unique quality of Eflic Shannon s voice has gained her distinction on the stngo; it suggests romance stifled by convention. Ada Rohan, in tho famous fa-mous aceno of the tapestry pictures in "Tho Hunchback" used to employ a half-choked utterance which was ei-foctivo ei-foctivo in indicating tho mood she was portraying. |