Tricks of the Trade

Radio Record, 5 August 1938, Page 11

Tricks of the Trade

2 vey p j

J. I.

S.

Your Eyes and Your Ears -Deceive You When.:-Old T'roupers Get.. Qu, The Job

-y. VER: been "had" in the theatre ? r . "OF course," you reply. "I’ve seen more foul vaudeville and flesh-and-blood shows than -., any other-living theatre-goer." But that really wasn’t the substance of my question. Have you ever been "had at a flesh-and-blood show you thoroughly enjoyed?" . . .. -I’m willing to bet that you have seldom, if ever, seen a professional vaudeville show without being well and truly "had." The player’s art is to pull your leg. ° Think hard now-can you remember a pit band suddenly. blaring forth into 4 noisy crescendo just as some ‘Singer has been about to hit a-top- note? You probably thought at. the time, "Silly fool of a conductor, he’s made me miss a great: note." But-dnd this'is a big "but’was that note really there? "Canary" Singing ‘ ‘CANARY" singing is the term they’ use in the profession. _ + It means faking notes which are beyond one’s powers

GHG SeCLUNS away Wwitd It. | Ionce saw a massive soprano with’ a travelling vaudeville show. She was impressive, to say the least: Beautifully gowned and coiffured, she flourished. an enormous ostrich feather fan. with consummate. skill. _ I will grant-she had: personality-but she. had no voice. She had not got far. with: her-.song before we in. the audience. realised that it was pitched so high that it would take Galli-Curci at-least to.achieve it. What twas go-. ing.-:to.- happen-I held my breath... But I.need: not have worried. When the fatal note arrived she inflated her bosom to its magnificent uttermost, emulated the worthy Mr. Joe KH, Brown .with her mouth, flourished her ostrich. plumes triumphantly-and ° made no sound at all. But that did | not. matter, for 99 per cent. of the atidience thought that she had hit a top D sharp, for the conductor had forced the, band up so loud that nobody, could have heard it even if she had '.sung it. It was a triumph of "spoofing" atid completely "had" the audience.

EXT time you feel like murdering a conductor for spoiling a "perfect" note with too much volume, you ask .yourself, ""Was that note really as perfect as it appeared’ to be?" ‘ You can bet your shirt the is concealing the failings ofa baritone who’s never heard of the tonic sol-fa, drowning "a flat ‘contralto, covering the limited range of an uncertain soprano, or racing to keep up with a booming basso who sings in a state of cheerful catalepsy with no regard to, or knowledge of, rhythm. It’s the conductor’s.job to conceal the show’s musical defects from the audience-and it-is'no-éasy job either. ‘ And now those acrobats who resin their hands, tense their muscles, take a ‘little -preliminary. canter to limber

up, pace out their distance with meticulous accuracy, measure a terrifying: height with steady. eye, murmur a sibilant "Allez-oop," attempt the~ feat, and fail. Their audience is now doubly excited. When the trick is performed without hitch, the applause is twice as great, and that first failure is the direct cause of it. Was that failure intentional? == 8 = -~ ‘Kicking High. =~ ~ SKIRTS can make a high kick look twice as high. Next time you see some ballerina high-kicking in diaphanous- long skirts, pause and wonder whether jit is not more likely to ‘be inefficiency than modesty! Wheiishe kicks her hand and ‘touches: her cheek. with her thigh, watch and: see-‘whether’ she is dipping’ both head and hand, and: hoping you.:won’t: notice! So, _ ° Then there is. the, fascinating. technique. of- the eure tain calls. The turn is finished, the curtain falls,. pauses, quivers, and the ‘audience, thinking that it js going to-lift, automatically: increases the aplause. It's that quiver that does it! Set ahh s allel Looe imam vs: The, handsome -male- in-a -"double" turn-.chivairously ?

.,.0OWS the lady off and. takes, the: last . bow by himself. Is it chivalry? You ’ ‘see, the’ claps. which follow after "she ’ has left ~ the’ stage are bound to ‘be for him.-°And"-that ulira-glamorous blonde croonette who takes "her. final "eall well out from the: curtains so that ghé can take at least two more bows on the way off.’ Also the oh-so-amus-ing gentleman who invariably gets ali "tangled ‘up ‘in the curtain while taking ‘one of his bows. "That's always good "for a laugh. HO has not seen the show in "which the leading comedian was so funny that even the hardened troupers on the stage gave way to laughter? Don’t believe it-those laughs are one of the oldest tricks of a trade which has some very ancient tricks indeed. Years ago I saw a "partner" turn in which the gentieman would rapidly reduce the lady to hysterics with his jokes. This lady must have a very low resistance to humour, for she has been reduced to. uncontrollable mirth twice daily for

at least three years now. Not that I wish to decry the old stagers’ effort to make a little laughter for their audiences-for laughter is & welcome thing, particularly these days. But there are’ some actresses and actors who use tricks of the trade to their own advantage at the expense’ of other members of the company-the dialegue stealers, and the people who "mess about" on the stage so effectively that the audience. thinks it must be for some -good purpose and.takes its attention away from the focal character. OR is this "faking" the prerogative of the artists, abroad, where competition among "shows" is keen, th¢. managers have. to be on the alert in order to be able te. xegard the box-Office prospects with (Contd. on page 35)

Tricks Of The Trade |

¢Continued from page 11.) any degree of complacency. . The manager of .one English . theatre specialising in the ornate type of variety answered all telephone inquiries on the day following the "opening night" with a supercilious "I am afraid there will be no seats available until next month." ‘The rumour that you couldn’t get a seat for love nor money then ensured him packed houses for some weeks. It’s a great profession-on stage they trick the audience and steal each other’s thunder. But off stage they are the most generous people in the world. You try and spot their little tricks and dodges next time you visit o show it’s a fascinating pastime, especially if the show is a dull one!