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About Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922 | View Entire Issue (Nov. 22, 1903)
" ; Jf f ' me. do you? I used to sing In one of your the femaln'mfttJ """h 'SlQ. 1 companies." wear thorn on th stage. ' V & M : II U IXVSw M 1 '-I remember yu ver well." said Mr. "I have Been women on Jiroadway wear- F ! AVA I. VS x'X ll : lfirl iv""- lUu Cohan. Ing such high heels that their manner of V -thj ' WW VfM IL HhIS 1 YvVX. vtvX "Are you surprised to see me here as walking was absurd. Borne of them had uJ f A VS. a waller?" asked the other. large ankles and others small, but all were AJ )4 4 1 J -JrVf fi X. "Not a ,lt" P11'0, th comedian cheer- equally ridiculous. They walk proppy, like -ffffcr A VVI V hJP TCvvU," TTEf X fully. "I recall your voice perfectly." a race horse with three bad legs. If high ff('V" J1"Xl XV Vyii VNQ' , I ylw-x- J heels continue In fashion then I am going j M ..irrr fl Mrs. Camnneirn Versatility, out." ,1, ' i Then have been those whose artistic kANAQKR C. B. Dillingham, who M Is fast becoming a power In the atricals, still enjoys a joke, so it Is said by those who know him well. And when "Fools of Na ture" was placed In ichearsai bo bad good opportunity to Indulge his humorous fancy. Mr. Dillingham's stage manager Is Fred erick O. Latham, and when the Utter took charge of Miss Mirlowe's company h? found that there was one part for which no actress bad been provided. Hurriedly be carried the message to Dillingham, who told him that an actress had been chosen for the part and would be on band In good time. Ten days passed and the rehearsals went n, but the actress did not put In an ap pearance. Latham loot patience, and on day blustered Into the manager's office wfth more than his usual energy. "I tell yon, old man," said he to Dilling ham, "it's out of the question. We can't go on rehearsing the second act without the woman who Is to play the part opposite Miss Marlowe. We must have her or the rehearsals might as' well stop. When will She come to rehearsals and who is she?" Mr. Dillingham was Imperturbable. "Oh, she'll be here at th end of the week," he answered. "She's an English actress. I sent the manuscript to her In London." "But I know the Knglish field," Insisted the stage manager; "there is not an Eng lish actress at liberty who can play the part." "Well, we'll see," calmly returned Dil lingham. Rehearsals went on for another week. Latham continued to storm, Dillingham to mile. Then one morning the English ac tress arrived. When sho appeared at re hearsals there was a pretty scene. "This is Miss Cynthia Brooks," smiled Dillingham. "She will play the role we were speaking of. Do you happen to know ber, Latham?" "I've been married to her long enough to be reasonably well acquainted." smiled, back the stage manager. "I thought she was still In Australia." "And do you think this English actress can play the role7" jokingly Inquired Dil lingham. "I'm too modest to say what I think," beamed Latham. Cuban Colloquies. George Cohan, generally credited with being the brightest of the four (a classi fication with which he fully agrees) tells of riding on a Broadway car In New York the other day and of paying the conductor bis fare when he entered. When that wor thy appeared again before lilm with out stretched palm the jlggly young comedian went through his pockets, found two pen nies and gave them to htm. "These are pennies," hissed the conductor. "I know that," replied Cohan. "Then why did you give them to me?" "I thought you wanted them and that Is my usual contribution when a collection is being taken up." "But I want your fare," said the con ductor. "Oh, Is that the Idea? Well you got my fare eight blocks further back. This time I thought you were taking up a collection for some charitable enterprise." Again young Mr. Cohan was sitting In a New York cafe with several friends when the waiter who approached to take bis order observed: "You don't remember sight was so blinded or so prejudiced that they denied Mrs. Patrick Campbell more than a single note In the dramatic scale. In England, however, where ber quality Is recognised and appreciated, her versa tility la also admitted and as further proof of her artistic range, she recently appeared In two plays In which the characters she assumed were widely diversified. The more pretentious piece was a drama made by W. L. Courtney from the famous romantic tale "Undine." fairly familiar In this country In another version some years ago, and also made known in cantata form. Mrs. Campbell played the role of the wave 'maiden, who leaves her watery haunts In search of a soul and true love. The one-act play bears the title "A Dream," and was written by I .July Ban croft, whose only other contributions to the drama have been "A Riverside Story," performed In Iondon In 1890, and "My Daughter," produced by John Hare In London In 1893. In this pleasant little ef fort Mrs. Campbell's role was that of an 80-year-old invalid who has a godchild to whom she wishes to leave her wealth. But she procrastinates until a dream shows her that her legal heir, a rascally nephew, has secured the morey as he would In case no will was written and that the young girl Is starving. The dream la so vivid that as soon as Lady Jane, the octo genarian,' awakea she summons her law yer and writes her wllL As a display of versatility. If nothing else, the evening's performance seems to bave been an In teresting one for Mrs. Campbell's many admirers. 1 Mere Marie Caalllissas. Marie Cahlll, having started forth with "Nancy Brown," Is still the leader among the female story-tellers of the profession, and last week she revived "ber favorites." It concerns the appearance of Joseph Jef ferson, some years ago. at a benefit per formance for a hospital In New York. Miss Cah!!! me alas la the Mil. Wha the, en tertainment opened Mr. Jefferson was the first to appear. With a number of other playars, Mlim Cahlll stood In the wings and listened to Uie dean's remarks, which took the nature of a discourse on dra matic art. During the speech two highly rouged girls, dressed in red tights and tinsel, and carrying themselves with the bearing that Indelibly stamped them as belonging to the song-and-dance species, came down the stairs from their dressing rooms and began to practice their steps behind the scenes, much to the annoyance of the players who were trying to hear what Mr. Jefferson said. Finally one of the song-and-dance girls walked to the wings and leaned over Miss Cahill's shoulder to see what was going on. Miss Cahlll gently attempted to shake her off, but such a hint was unavailing with such a performer. A moment later the other member of the song-and-dance team Joined her partner and said: "Say, Mag. who's on?" "I dunno," was the reply; "some old guy doing a monologue." "How's he going?" "Rcttfn. He's t-n on fifteen minutes and ain't got a laugh yet." Mls Cnhlll Is also doing a bit in a reform way. "I consider women who wear high heels mentally and physically simple." enys she. "I believe French heels are unattrac tive and harmful. For this reason I have forbidden my chorus and show girls and MUs Bailey's Tight Tights. Frankle Bailey is again having prom inence thrust upon her. Frankle Bailey is the young lady whose constant fear it Is that after she dies she will still be spoken of as "the girl lth the beautiful legs." For some seasons she was the model in tights with the Weherflelds. Now she is with "The Runaways." At the close of the first act of "The Run- ' aways," It Is now being told, the chorus, girls were crowding upstairs to their dress ing rooms, with Miss Bailey valiantly In the lead. The third girl in the atalr-cllmb-Ing procession said to the girt behind Miss Bailey, "Hurry up." "I can't," answered the "Daisy" addressed, "because - Miss Bailey can't go any faster." "Then let me pass you," demanded the Impatient one, giving a shove. "I won't," declared Miss Bailey's follower. Words led to violence, and the girl who wanted to get by knocked the other girl down. Miss Bailey, calm creature that ahe Is, proceeded to her dressing room unruffled and un wrinkled. The Manager's Troubles. The manager was talking of the schemes 'cooked up in the small towns to beat the traveling: companies. "There are between 8,000,000 and 4,000,000 new tricks sprung on us unsuspecting and trusting mortals every season," said he "and I struck a new one not long ago up the state. It was in a the ater where there Is a separate box office for the balcony seats. I was walking around keeping an eye on things In the Interest of my company when I somehow got Interested In the ticket taker in the balcony. He sat reading a newspaper and taking in tickets at the same time, and when I addressed him his manner was abrupt and ugly. I grew more interested than ever, and stood some little distance away watching bint. When the curtain had gone up be called an usher and said to him: " Take this newspaper down to Jim. It's bJs'n.' "I fuuuWvu tun buy, and just as be was handing the folded paper to the man in the box office I grabbed it and opened it. Out fell twenty-one general admission tickets. He had been stufilng them into his news paper instead of Into the ticket box, and by turning them Into the account that night as unsold tickets there would have been $10.60 to divide between the box office man and the ticket taker. "And you should have seen what hap pened. Wow!" Kleanera Dnse'a Gratltnde. . SIgnora Eleanora Du&e is grateful. Re cently she lost, temporarily, the use of her voice, and consulted an English specialist connected with the Santa Cecilia institution in Rome. Through him she discovered that her trouble was due to a faulty method In voice production. When she recovered, through application of the specialist's system, which she did almost Immediately, she sat down and wrote of her experience to the London Daily Mall, that England might know of her son's success In Italy. The letter Is of Interest to actors und public speakers. It follows: Dear Sir: In the Interests of a great art, may I uk the hospitality of your columns to give publicity to this letter? There are thousand todny whose caieers depend upon the human voice, and ihra are thousands who never realize It until from abuse, neiilect anil wrong use the oi'Kan ce.ises to perform its function. Then the wli'ile of the voice-dependent com munity Implores assistance and teeka re lief. Burnings, scrapings, periods of en forced silence, water cures all have to be endured with more or less Indifferent re sults; meanwhile the singer or speaker whose voice la failing Is doomed to suffer, and very often to retire. Is It pomibie that in this age of science there exists no body of men who consider the subject worthy of special thought and spnciai study? One of your countrymen has made a step forward In this direction, and while yet on British shores I want to testify as to Its Importance In the recovery of my voice to his masterful understanding, and it is only right that the English publlo should know it. To them I need not disclose the name of the man whom Rome has elected a pro fessor of her great academy; for my ob ject It Is sufficient to state my own case which I hope may encourage others to con centrate their energies on a subject which concerns the welfare of my own and many other professions. Yours truly. ELEANORA DUSE. Since her last visit to London SIgnora Duse has had a great deal of trouble with her voice. She underwent various courses of treatment without finding n remedy, and eventually, while in Germany, com pletely lost Its use. Returning to Rome, she consulted a professor of Santa Cecilia the Royal academy of Rome who advised her that the trouble was due solely to con stant wrong usage of the voice, and, fol lowing a new method of voice production suggested by him, the actress found her self able to resume the most exacting work of her art. "The pleasure that the restoration of her voice power has caused her English ad mirers," says the Mall, "will, of course, be intensified by the knowledge that the gentle man to whom she so successfully appealed Is Mr. Henry Russell, a son of the author of 'Cheer, Boys, Cheer.' He is the first of his countrymen to be elected a professor of Santa Cecilia." Carrie Nation's Hit. Carrie Nation has made a hit in "Ten Nights In a Barroom" In New York. It hasn't teen altogether the hit she Is looking for, but on the wholo It has been pretty satisfactory. There was one sad feature of the first night's performance which aroused the performer's Indignation to t!io utmost. Just when Mrs. Nation had made her little epcech and the final curtain fell " the stereoptlcon of a mercenary manager threw on the drop curtain a mammoth whisky bottle with a finger pointing at it, and the words, '-This is It. Don't forget the - litbel." At this point the audience howled with glee. When Mrs. Nation heard about It later she went for' the manager, who sent his assistant to face the music. To Mm she declared: "I will smash It. I will smash that curtain tomorrow night just as sure as I am atond'ng here. I'll come out at tha eide, threw my hatchet through It, and I'll smash that little lantern up there, too." Her warning had the desired effect and the whlaky bottle was retired from the cost. Mrs. Nation is not very much of an actress, but she had tho house with her In n way that many a more experienced woman mtcht well envy. Her greatest hit was dur ing the last net, when she came forward to the footlights and made the following speech: "Who hath sorrow? Who hath woe? They can't deny It! They can't say no. Woman Is the guardian and prohibition votes are tho hntchets which will destroy the saloon! Oofl pnv Samson the Jaw bone! He gave, David the sling and He has plven Carrie Nation her hntchet!" After the performance Mrs. Nation held nn Im promptu reception, bopped a lot of little nem-hhovs to trive ur cigarettes and dis tributed n few tiny souvenir hatchets. 4 ( t