News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1884-03-27
WANT TO GO ON THE STAGE
A DISEASE BY WHICH TOO MANY
YOUNG People ARE AFFLICTED.
The Obstacles i'm the Way of Becoming nm
ActOr-The Crowds Waiting for an En-
gagement.
from the New York SUM-

A correspondent in a Southern CITY
asks us a question which agitates so
many minds that it deserves careful con-
sideration:
"There are two young ladies here
who are exceedingly anxious to go on
the stage, and have requested me to
write you and see if you couldn't give
them all the necessary information in re-
gard to the matter. Is there any place
in New York where persons are taught
for the stage? Who are the parties,
and what terms do they charge? How
long would they have to study before
they are allowed to appear in public ?
l have done all in my power to try and
dissuade them from their intention, but
without avail. I have seen one of the
ladies on the stage several times, that is,
in private theatricals, and / must admit
that she has a great deal of talent in
that line. Beside this, she is very
highly educated, and think if she had
a chance would make a success"
There are in New York several mem
beers of the theatrical profession who de-
vote their spare time to preparing pupils
for the stage, and some of them are
artists of high standing, who must be
altogether competent for the duty. We
do not know what are their prices for
tuition, but they are probably reason
able. As to the time required to get the
adequate training, that must depend on
the aptitude of the pupil. A whole life
time of study would not make an actor
of one man, while another might master
in few months all that his professional
teacher had to offer him IN the way of
technical instruction.
But even after the pupil has passed
from the hands of his theatrical pre-
ceptor, it is likely that it will be impos-
sible for him to get chance to actually
appear on the stage in any part which
satisfies his ambition and gratifies his
vanity. He will come in competition
with many experienced artists who are
standing around Union Square, waiting
for an engagement, and whose illusions
as to their abilities and opportunities
have been pretty thoroughly dispelled
by harsh experience. The novice, if he
gets on the stage al all, must expect
nothing more than a very minor and
humble part; he must be prepared to
encounter sharp criticism in the green
AOOLl3 w w WllllOub Vic bIotS0 VI Lis
professional associates. What seems
histrionic genius to his partial friends
who applaud his amateur performances,
will be very coldly judged in the green
room.
In fine, he will have to make his way
against obstacles which will subdue his
spirit and hurt his self-love most keenly,
and his progress upward will be slow, if
he gets up at all. He will have to work
hard and submit to Indifference, and
what seems to him injustice. Besides,
he will get poor pay at the beginning,
and will be lucky if he can secure an
which will give HIM even
that steadily. Instead of making grand
success in the great city, he may be
obliged to travel with strolling COM
panies, and have to wait for years be-
fore obtaining an opportunity to appear
in leading theater, at least in any ex-
cept a small part, where he has no
chance to gain the particular attention
Of the audience.
A woman cannot hope to fare any
better. Her stage trials may be even
harder to bear, and more destructive of
her peace and happiness. Scarcely any
girl thinks of acting in any other than
the leading parts in which she has seen
The most famous and most experienced
artists. She wants to jump up to the
5op at once, and all her theatrical dreams
are based on the assumption that she
will do it-that she will be the heroine
Of the play, and that she will live in an
of intoxicating applause and
adulation. instead of that, if she gets
on the stage at all, she is likely to be at
first only one of the supernumeraries
who stand-aAeFs+- seateh- 4ha Triumph
of the heroine and assist in making up
the stage picture of which another is the
central figure.
These are facts which the two Southern
girls must look squarely in the face if
they think of going on the stage. They
must understand that they propose to
enter very difficult profession, and one
in which there are ten, nay, a hundred,
chances of their failing to one of their
succeeding. if woman rises high in
the theatre, she gets better pay than she
can earn elsewhere; but if she remains
in the lower or middle ranks of the
theatrical profession she will only make
moderate wages for very hard work. -