http://forgottennewengland.com/2011/10/05/performers-of-the-victorian-stage-professor-samri-baldwin-installment-i/ Exploring New England As It Was Sun, 28 Apr 2013 02:50:20 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.com/ http://forgottennewengland.com/2011/10/05/performers-of-the-victorian-stage-professor-samri-baldwin-installment-i/#comment-11 Sun, 09 Oct 2011 01:37:19 +0000 http://forgottennewengland.com/?p=184#comment-11 Yes, the millboards were a key part of the act. The Baldwins distributed them to the audience for them to use as a writing surface, but a small number of them had been slightly altered so that they included a hidden sheet of carbon paper atop a sheet of regular paper. After the audience members had written their questions, the assistants collected the millboards, placed most on the stage, but brought the small number of doctored boards backstage where the Baldwins could review the questions during the next act. There, the assistants would also pass on details of the askers and even their situations that they had been able to glean while collecting the boards. Mrs. Baldwin would then appear on stage moments later, ready to amaze the audience with her ability to call out the questions of certain audience members, and armed with details of their situations that she couldn’t possibly have known, without the help of ‘spirits’.

]]> http://forgottennewengland.com/2011/10/05/performers-of-the-victorian-stage-professor-samri-baldwin-installment-i/#comment-9 Sat, 08 Oct 2011 23:06:09 +0000 http://forgottennewengland.com/?p=184#comment-9 I wonder if the blocks of wood were the reason she could guess the questions.

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