The Art of Stage Dancing Part 25

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SHOWMANSHIP

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Do you know what "repeaters" are in the language of the stage?

They are people who like a show well enough to patronize it more than once--well enough to spend their money to see it a second or a third time, perhaps many times, and bring their friends to enjoy it with them. There are many more "repeaters" on occasions when attractions have real merit of one kind or another than the casual public dreams of. The show manager watches for them and spots them, and rejoices greatly when he finds them abundantly in evidence, night after night, for he knows then that he has displayed real showmanship in his selection of a cast, a play, and in its rendition. The frequent return of a pleased patron accompanied by his companions attests the success of a show in stronger terms than any other one thing could possibly do. I go on record as saying that no show was ever a real financial success without it produced "repeaters." It is a real test of genuine showmanship, recognized as such the world over by every shrewd theatrical manager.

Good showmanship consists of the ability to antic.i.p.ate the verdict of the playgoing public. The successful showman must have his fingers on the public pulse in matters that concern entertainment. He cannot afford to guess. It is too expensive. He must correctly diagnose the case in advance of prescribing for its needs if he expects to be successful.

The wise showman always plans his play to have the very widest possible appeal, for the public is many sided, and a single narrow idea will fail to touch it at all points, as it must do if it is to have a popular acceptance. He knows, being a wise showman, that people come to his playhouse for entertainment, pleasure, laughter and relaxation, and not for a learned discourse on some abstract or wearisome theme. There are proper places for the lecture and the "big wind," but that place is not in the theatre of the wise showman. It is his business to create his proffered entertainment into a valuable piece of property that shall declare actual cash dividends at the box office. That is being a successful showman, and he who does this exhibits real showmanship.

The successful stage dancer must possess showmanship. That is why the subject is brought into this book on stage dancing--that dancers may be made to realize a need of which they may be wholly uninformed.

It takes showmanship on the part of the dancer to get fully in touch with the audience, get down to their level, if you like to say it that way, and never go over their heads. Successful dancers always use good judgment in their offerings. The same kind of dance does not do for vaudeville, musical comedy, revue and opera. Each requires its own kind of dance. The revue has its own audience, the musical comedy one of another character, vaudeville still a third kind, and opera still another. Here is where the dancer's showmanship comes in--to recognize this difference and adapt the offering to the audience before whom he or she appears.

Dancers who would profit to the fullest extent in their profession must learn how to absorb this essential element known as showmanship, in the various ways in which it may be done.

Reading along right lines is very important. Read the dramatic reviews and criticisms in the daily press, and read regularly the leading theatrical weeklies. Identify yourself with your profession in this way; read "shop" and talk "shop." Make it a point to see and study other dancers, in vaudeville, musical comedy, opera and revue. Meet your fellow dancers in their own habitat, behind the scenes. The actual experiences that you are recommended to undertake in your own behalf in the chapter I have called "Making a Name" will be invaluable aids to you in harvesting a lot of the best grade of showmanship.

Travel will help you learn a lot. The traveled and successful theatrical person is always alert, quick, bright, posted in all important matters that concern the profession and all who are connected with it.

Those who take my courses as students of dancing are given a wide mental as well as physical training, to prepare them to cultivate showmanship that shall complement their skill as dancers when they become professionals. I call my lectures "inspirational talks," for I do want what I say about their future careers to be inspiring to them, and encouraging and beneficial. I speak to my pupils from many years of stage experience, and I know if what I say is heeded and given full consideration they will be better dancers and secure better engagements, and do so in less time, as a result.

[Ill.u.s.tration: HELEN FABLES]

Good showmanship in dancing consists also in being able to "sell"

one's own personality in a dance. Select your offerings to suit your public. Put in the effective "tricks" in your exits that are so important in inviting applause. And learn to leave your audience "hungry" for more of you. Let them go away with a wish that they might see more of your dancing. That is your cue in successful showmanship, my dancers. Let the audience come back to see the same show again in order to once more enjoy your pretty work. That means "repeaters," and repeaters, as I told you, mean successful showmanship, and both artistic and financial success.

It is never good showmanship on the part of the dancer, or of an actor or actress in any part, to let the audience know that you know they are out there. The way you handle an audience will have much to do with the opinion of your work that will be held by the big men in the theatrical world, who may be among those present at any performance, you never can tell when--and they, remember, are hiring good dancers now and then. Their judgment of how you handle an audience is worth consideration.

And bear in mind, too, that the most important part of your dance is the very end of it, the finish, upon which always depends the applause and the recall. You like to earn your bow, and that is right. Take your bow in front of the audience gracefully and quickly. Don't milk the audience dry by your bows. Never do that. Get general applause, but don't work up a lot of bows. Come right back, bow modestly and do a short dance, to acknowledge the applause. Such good work as that will stand the inspection and secure the approval of every theatrical manager whose approbation you value. An audience does not want to see you take bows. Bows simply gratify the vanity of the artist.

So, you see, there is quite a bit of showmanship for the dancer to study and acquire, and it is very much worth while for all stage dancers to put it into practice, early in their career.

There are entertainment values that the showman himself must be able to create from his available material, which he will find and develop in dialogue, lyrics, tuneful music, voice, singing, dancing, characterization, costumes, settings, scenery, properties, lighting, and everything else connected in any way with the stage picture or the presentation of his offering. The publicity and exploitation of the show will tax his showmanship from another angle and is of great importance to the success of the play or the artist. The selection of proper music also has much to do with the appeal to the auditors. No musical show can ever be made a success without beautiful, appealing melodies, or "song hits," as we call them.

And now one final word of advice to my dancers: Three minutes is long enough for your solo dance. Concentrate your efforts. Do not present a long-drawn-out and padded dance that will weary everyone. Brevity is the soul of good dancing as well as of wit, and you will be wise to heed this from the very start of your professional stage career. Never show a dance to any prospective employer unless your dance has been thoroughly set and properly rehea.r.s.ed with whoever is to play the music, pianist or orchestra. Never offer any excuses at such a time.

Be sure of yourself, and only do one dance, your very best one.

"WHO'S WHO" IN THE SHOW

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To the members of an audience attending a theatrical performance it may appear as though the actors were the entire show and the only princ.i.p.als concerned with the carrying on of the affair. Of course the man in the box office, the ticket taker, and the ushers have been in evidence, and there is the orchestra and its leader. Others than these have not been seen or heard, and so perhaps are given no consideration. Who the "others" may be, or if there are any others, and of what their services to and interests in the show may consist, would puzzle many theatre-goers to determine with any degree of accuracy.

Let me take you "behind the scenes," as you may call it, but "back-stage," as we say in the theatre-world, in this matter and disclose the forces that move the puppets on the stage; the powerhouse that generates the current that moves the whole machinery of production. The intricacies of theatre management may come as a surprise to you.

Chief of all comes the owner, the promoter, known to the profession as the Theatrical Manager. He it is who selects the author of his contemplated production, and also the writer of the lyrics and the composer of the musical score. He engages the producer, the creative genius who realizes the possibilities of the production and directs and rehea.r.s.es it, and the princ.i.p.al actors and singers, and some of the members of the chorus as well, but the producing director usually recruits his own chorus and dancers. A most important step is the choice the manager is to make of a producer, or production director, on whom is to devolve the entire handling of all matters back of the curtain line from the day of his selection to the rising of the curtain on the initial public performance. He is well aware of the importance of this choice, and places his reliance only on a man known to be thoroughly experienced and competent in this line of work.

Having selected him, the theatrical manager steps out of the picture and the producing director a.s.sumes control. And this control is absolute in his domain. Not even the power behind the throne, the man who placed him in his position, is allowed to interfere in any way whatsoever with his orders or plans. The wise theatrical manager possesses full knowledge of this and keeps hands off. Should he venture to countermand a single order of his producer, the latter would be certain to say "Take your show and direct it yourself," and walk out.

And the reason why no producer of the first magnitude will brook interference, opposition or disobedience from any source is, that he is held strictly responsible to the owner for the form that the show takes and for the manner in which it is performed. His own reputation is always at stake in every production of which he accepts control. He makes the show a success, if he is that kind of a producer, and is ent.i.tled to the credit of successful accomplishment. If, on the other hand, he gains a reputation of "breaking" rather than of "making" the show, his career is abbreviated in short order. His job depends upon making good; he is the "realizer," the dominating and master-mind of the show.

Let us name some of the duties that devolve upon the ubiquitous producer:

He must know by heart the book, lyrics and music of the entire play, and bring out to the full, in all of the actors, princ.i.p.als and chorus, every possibility that their parts, acts, songs, dances and groupings permit or demand. All the comedy must be developed and emphasized, and the personality of the cast studied and properly brought to the fore. The princ.i.p.al artists engaged for the production are under his sole direction. He creates all solo and ensemble dances; gives all readings of the dialogue, sets the dialogue syllable by syllable, devises nearly all the entrances and exits for everyone on the stage, indicates the tempo for all songs and dances.

He must be capable of inspiring the lyric writer and composer, the costume designer and the scenic artist. He must possess imagination, suggest the locale, color and architecture--the atmosphere--of all scenes, select the color schemes for all costumes and scenery. He makes up all orders for scenery, costumes and properties, and must, to that end, know both qualities and costs; prices per yard of silks, satins, and every kind of material required in the production, whether for wardrobe or in the scenic effects. He must order the correct number and size of shoes, stockings, tights, wigs--everything, in short, that the company supplies to the players, which is usually all save the street clothes which they wear into the theatre. The orders for properties include all furniture, rugs, bric-a-brac, draperies, and everything else that serves to dress the stage or the performers.

If period furniture is called for, the producer must be competent to say what is correct for the locale and the period.

He must furthermore make out a plot for the switchboard, to control every lighting "cue." There will be a front light plot for the "floods" and "spot-lights" as well as separate plots for side-lights, overhead lights, and all the rest, to be thrown on or off at a certain cue. This necessitates his knowing how many and what colors he requires in front of each lamp for his many different lighting effects.

For each act the location on the stage of all scenery and furniture must be definitely determined, as well as the exact place for each performance, and the producer determines the location of the same, and the different heads of the mechanical staff mark the stage ground-cloth in colored crayons or water-colors for the guidance of the stage carpenter, property man, and electricians, upon whom devolves the duty of setting the stage, props and electrical equipment. The producer is absolute monarch behind the curtain line, his dominion extending not only over the actors, singers and dancers--the entire company--but also over all members of the mechanical staff and the orchestra. He alone is responsible to the owner for the successful presentation of the performance. His is a man's size job.

How many American producers of the supreme type, capable of the bigger things, are there in the United States?

I know five. And I know them all. Five out of 110,000,000 people. How many do you know of?

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The Stage Manager takes the show from the Producer after the opening performance and is thereafter responsible for everything connected with the show back of the curtain line. He it is who presses the b.u.t.tons that run the curtain up and down, and gets the performance under way and keeps it moving, changing the scenery and lights exactly as arranged by the Producer. He is accountable to the Company Manager for the way every performance is given, and maintains a close supervision over the princ.i.p.al artists and the chorus, sees to it that they stick to their script and do not interpolate matter of their own or "guy" each other or the audience. Actors or actresses who are insincere in the parts a.s.signed to them should be barred from the professional stage. There is evidence of "guying" an audience at times in some of the best companies on the part of some players of established reputations who should be ashamed of themselves, and who certainly should be punished for such offenses. I have known some star comedians to go on the stage intoxicated, which is an unpardonable offense, and for which such persons should be driven out of the show business. If an actor would dare do such a thing in a company directed by me, I would go before the curtain and denounce him to the audience and refund the price of admission. An actor who would do a thing like that is called a "ham," which means a common person with no mentality or breeding,--a type that is practically extinct now in the theatre.

The Stage Manager is responsible for every facial makeup, and will personally pa.s.s upon each individual's appearance. He is usually an actor of long experience, and knows makeup thoroughly, but not the straight makeup for youth as taught in the Ned Wayburn Studios which is the makeup I perfected when glorifying the celebrated "Follies"

beauties. He is capable of maintaining discipline, and is the watch dog behind the curtain. He commands respect by reason of his knowledge, experience and good judgment. He has presence of mind and is able to handle any emergency that comes up. He must thoroughly know his business. He is versatile. Like the several instructors in my studios, who have had long stage experiences and specialized training for their jobs, the Stage Manager is able to answer any question that can come up concerning stage matters, and he is able to understudy and play most any part in an emergency.

The a.s.sistant Stage Manager is under the Stage Manager. In the larger productions there are often two a.s.sistants. He has charge of the chorus, male and female, and is required to make all calls, to get the princ.i.p.als and chorus to the stage. He calls "half hour," thirty minutes before the overture time, "fifteen minutes," fifteen minutes before the overture time, and "overture," and when the overture is called everybody in the opening of the first act must come to the stage. He does the clerical work for his department and keeps the record of attendance, etc.

The Musical Director, who is the leader of the orchestra, is responsible to the Stage Manager for the way in which all music is played at every performance, as well as for the correct rendition of all vocal numbers on the stage. Every tempo throughout the play is his personal responsibility, and the composer exacts of him the most careful and effective execution of the score as written. It is he, too, who conducts all music rehearsals. He and his entire orchestra are members in good standing of the American Federation of Musicians, and the amount and time of their service in the theatre are definitely agreed upon and duly set forth in a signed contract in established legal form and binding upon both parties.

All shows carrying scenery require the services of a Stage Carpenter, who is the custodian of all scenery and scenic effects, drops, solid drops, cut drops, leg drops, gauze drops, borders, exteriors, interiors, ceilings--all flat stuff and set stuff. (I am using the usual stage nomenclature for these, a.s.suming that you will know the meanings of most of them, can guess at others, and won't care especially if one or two are not in your vocabulary. Stage jargon has crept pretty well into the understanding of the general public, till now most theatrical terms are matters of common knowledge.) The scenery is set for each scene on the exact floor marking indicated by the producer. Stage-hands, known as "Grips" in stage parlance, set the scenes.

There is usually a second stage carpenter, or second-hand a.s.signed to work at the side of the stage opposite the stage carpenter, and a boss flyman, whose station is up above in the fly-gallery. He gives the "flymen" the cues to lower and raise the scenery as required, upon receiving signals by "buzzer" or "light-flashes" from the stage.

The property man, known as "Props," has charge of the furniture, rugs, pianos, telephones, everything of this nature, as well as of all hand-props, such as bric-a-brac, books, flowers, fruit, food for stage banquets, table silver and china, everything in fact that the play requires--even to a prop baby or any animals required. It is his duty to see that all props are in place for each act, ready to the hand of each player as the action calls for them.

There is also an a.s.sistant Property Man, who has charge of the clearers, the men who set the "props" and clear off the trappings after each act, preparatory to setting the scene for the act following. At the close of the last act of the play the stage is again cleared, both of props and scenery, to permit un.o.bstructed pa.s.sageway. This is a state requirement, enacted as a fire-prevention measure.

The Chief Electrician operates the switchboard and is the custodian of all lights on the stage; that is, of all portable lamps, of all that actually light. A lamp that is merely a prop or a decoration and not used to yield light is under the control of props and no electrician will touch it. The a.s.sistant Electrician has the responsibility of all lamps in the theatre other than those on the stage.

n.o.body ever touches a light in the theatre. A call goes out for the electrician if anything goes wrong with a light anywhere. n.o.body ever shifts or moves any part of the scenery except the stage carpenter or the crew under him. None but props ever places a piece of furniture on the stage. If you want a chair moved half an inch you must call the property man to do it, otherwise the several unions involved will immediately and without any question stage a drama of their own that is not down on the bills; one that may really turn out to be next door to a tragedy, since the penalty for failing to observe union requirements would undoubtedly be to stop the performance, walk off the stage and fine the stage-hand who was guilty of over-stepping the bounds $100.00 and ban him from the union.