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1  ·  . V The thing about Mr. Mansfield which most inspires those li`;
{ij  who come in contact with him in his wonderful store of ner- I
if  vous energy. It communicates itself to others and makes I , *1
  - them keen for work. · _  V
  "I cannot talk with him five minutes," said his business V V
 ·é  representative, "before I want to grab my hat and ‘hustle’ ont "
  Y and do about three days work without stopping. For persons
  who have not, or cannot absorb, some of his own electric spirit, V     ,
  he has little use. He is a living embodiment of contagious  
  energy." 4 ‘i ` 
  His performances before audiences constitute a compara- _ `V
  tively small portion of his work. It is in his elaborate and I
_   painstaking preparation that the labor is involved, and it is to `
  this—to the minute preliminary care that he gives to every de- Y
  tail of a production--that his fine effects and achievements be- »»*i `V
  ‘ fore the footlights are, in considerable measure, due.  
 Y- ns civss insinrrs ATTENTION TO DETAIL.   __
  The rehearsals are a vital part of the preparatory work, and    
  to them Ms. Mansfield has devoted a great deal of time. For    
  weeks, between the hours of eleven in the morning and four in  
  the afternoon, he remains on the stage with his company,   A
  , seated on a line four or five deep on either side of him, like _ T  .
  boys and girls at school, deeply engrossed in impressing upon ,
  the minds of individual members of the company his own ideas ` i V
  of the interpretation and presentation of the various parts.
  Again and again, until one would think he himself would be-
 __ come utterly weary of the repetition, he would have an actor 4. ,
  repeat a sentence. Tot until it is exactly right is Mr. Mans-
  field satisfied} Nothing escapes his scrutiny. At dress re- _ _
 ; hearsal he may see, to mention a typical case, a tall man and
 Y_ a small one of no special importance in the play standing A Z ll
  together, and the tall one may be made up to have a sallow ‘
  complexion and Beard. Mr. Mansfield glances at them quickly, i
  Something is wrong. He hastens to the smaller one and sug- V
  gests that, for the sake of contrast, he make himself up to look {
  stout and have a smooth face. The improvement is quite .i .
`   noticeable, Mr. Mansfield carefully notes the effect of light i
  , and shadow on the scenery; and sometimes, at the last mo-
  ment, will seize the brush and add, here and there, a heighten- ' `
 V ing or softening touch. V
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