The Arkansaw traveler., 1884-12-20
STUDYING FOR THE STAGE.
[Exchange.l c

said one of the managers of a New York school of acting to SNS reporter, than 10 sit here as do all day and see the people who want to go upon the stage. Hundreds of young women all over the country long to become actresses. Some pretty girl on the east side, after rolling cigarettes or measuring of ribbon all day, goes to the theatre iD the evening and her head is turned by the lights, the finery, and the excitement. The ap- plause that meets the prima donna makes her position seem the proudest in
 the world, and the shop girl up in the
 gallery looks and longs and says to her
 self: She wouldn't look a bit better
 than do without her makeup and her
 fine things; why shouldn't be like that,
 instead of working hard all my life to
 make just enough to live ? Then the
 pretty girls eyes flash, as she leans back
 and pictures to herself her future triumphs.
 She shows scarcely any excitement when
 her young man mentions ice cream on
 the way home, and she goes home and
 goes to bed and dreams all night of silk
 and bouquets, and clapping and stamp
 ing of feet. She doesn't see the actress
 whom she envies going home late every
 night, rehearsing every day and worried
 and perplexed as she has never dreamt
 of being. Some of these girls conquer
 their infatuation an go on with their old
 life eontentedly. Others plunge into a theatrical career without forethought,
 and while an infinitely small number fur nish the Rachels and Bernhardts to the profession, the majority fail miserably and get more and more discouraged, until they look back with regret upon their old life.
 But pretty shop girls are not the only novices we have to deal with, by great deal. Although the majority ofthose who select the stage for career are poor, yet that rule doesn't always hold good, and many daughter of wealthy parents drives down in her fathers carriage, and comes in here to see what she could do, and how soon we think she would be at the head of her profession. Few otthis class of aspirants are apt to get along well :: they take the rosiest kind of a rosy view of the life before them, and when they see anything that isn't rosy they get dis couraged very quickly. If they are full of ambition and have lots of pluck they may get along, but when a young girl has failed dozen times, and has seen others climbing far above her, and her self not as far advanced in a year as she expected to be in a month, she is apt to go back to her comfortable home, if it is still open to her. A rich mans daugh- ter becoming an actress with her fathers consent IS almost an unknown occurrence in this or any other country"
 Which turn out the best among ac- tresses, the pretty or the plain onesr p
 Well, that's funny thing, too. Of course, almost all the girls who 20 on the stage are pretty. They imagine that beauty is the first requisite of first class actress, and pretty girls are more apt than others to become stage-struck. Still, there are just enough of the other kind to make up the larger number of the celebrities. If you look at the very great actresses (take, for example, the two whom l mentioned before, Rachel and Bernhardt you will find that they are not the beautiful women of the pro- fession. don't know why, unless it is because the great> amount of character necessary to make a genius is incompati- ble with beauty"
 There is one great advantage which the plain woman has over the beauty. | A woman always knows when she is that is always safe to bet on. She knows that she is good looking, and she depends too much on that. If she has to render part demanding great passion, she is apt to tone it down a lit- tie, so as not to lose the effect of some dimple or curve, which she considers in itself to carry the house. She may be moderately successful and her picture may be for sale everyvs . ere. but she isn't likely to set the newspapers talking, and doesn't stand much chance to be presented to royalty.
 The plain or ugly girl, on the other hand, feels that she is handicapped in the race, and works hard to make up for it. She sees at first her hardest work pass unnoticed, and mere beauty of face and figure applanded more than all her hard work. Then, if she has the true stuff in her, she works all the harder, and whatever she has in her is bound to come out. With successful actresses, big thinness, and other physical pass unnoticed. But now come and have look at the classes, and 'ee how the actors of the future are being turned out"
 In one room were dozen young men under the tuition of an elderly gentleman with perfectly smooth face.
 Attention, gentlemen" tine instructor said. "I'll now show you how to come nto room with an expression of surprise upon your features" He went out, and walked leisurely in. Suddenly he stopped, raised his hands with the fingers pointing upward, and said:
 "Haw
 A careless observer would have thought rom his air that he had seen a COW walk. ng up the side of house.
 Now," said he, "go out and do as lid"
 The young men went out one after the other, and their expressions varied all the way from horror to meek remonstrance.
 "Go back" the instructor said, "and ny to imagine that some one has paid