Weekly expositor. (Brockway Centre, Mich.) 1882-1894, 1885-12-03
THE FIGURAATES.

she SIOOu lHc Vi II
Square dramatic agency with the sun
light playing about her bleached
tresses and scanned the street with the
eager, eXpectant glance of coy young
novel reader looking into the future
for bonanza husband. She was fair
to look upon, she was pretty healthy,
too, and passionatelv fond of flesh
promoting provender.
Something familiar about her APP
pearance coed reporters gaze from
male constellation IN plaid suits who
were busy repairing some OF last years
gags"
Where had he seen that face beforeP
Or was it the figure that struck him
with the reminiscent flavor of min
strel Joker Why did she recall
..Adonls,n the "Adamless Eden" and
the BLACK Crook" Why did she
seem simultaneously Roman matron,
an Italian peasant, avillage maiden
and silvcr-plaied Amazonp Had he
not seen that same face under a Span
ish mantilla and nuns veil and a
fairy carnival and pasteboard he'll
metz Had not that form once been
draped in u classic tunic and q page S
uOuUlCl anu ~ laiuN -lu- w UllIHg - lODCl
and in paper muslin armorP This
patent reversible being was becoming
a mystery that bothered him.
All of a sudden she advanced one
foot, and the reporter half expected to
see her march down the stoop to an
orchestral accompaniment. She
stretched out her hand. and she WAS
an Italian operate peasant saving the
air, She lounged against the door,
and she became a syren scrutinizing
an audience for ''mash." She
yawned, and, shade of Tltania! she
was q stage fairy. with her knuckles
pointing ut the zenith. A moment
more and she swung around her para
sol. Surely now she was II gypsy girl
passing the hat. There never was
anything so bewilderng as the light
ming changes Of that young woman
summing her buff ringlets in front of
the dramatic agency.
just then the dramatic agent him.
self appeared. and while she poured
several gallons of liquid melody into
his ear the reporter stood aside and
saw IN her reflected about two dozen
historical and mythical persopages
with whom he had been familiar in the
drama. At last she skipped off merrily
after a Lloetlng horse car, and the re-
porter caught the dramatic agent and
asked
''Who may that young person be?"
''She may be n prima donna or q
leading lady said that unsentimental
man, and then he added, zone of
these days. just now she's tieur-
ante"
The reporter gave a sigh Of relief
His head was all right still. 1t
was ON the stage he had seen her
in ali the characters she recalled.
''Is she waiting for an engage
mentP"
"Yes, It's a way the sex have
got, SAID the dramatic agent. face
| tiously.
care there many in the busness?"
''Bless your soul. that is the second
! stage of stage struckness. Nearly ev-
cry q ri has the first. You want the
symptomsp Well, it's notion that
she's genius--a Sarah Bernhardt
! blush ny unseen-that all she needs is
1 a chance to appear N order to en-
chant the public. AS soon asa young
woman feels that she has TO call to
/ play Juliet and Lady Macbath, it's all
up for while with the home circle
She won touch II pot or pan. She
won't sew and she won't kuit. She'll
just sneak off to her boudo and pose
to the mirror until the glass cracks,
and she'll kick until she's tired in the
avenues to fame being trodden by so
many less worthy than herself. You
can't fancy how much sterling merit
the everyday girls of the coun-
try are carrying around-in their
minds"
"But they all don't 60 on the
stageP"
mo, heaven be praised, they don't.
That's the second stage. The old man
generally administers dose of copper
bottomed arguments. with an occa-
sional belt on the ear. that cures them
before that. But some have ii bad.
They are bound to have to go at the
footlights or perish in the attempt.
They become iigurantes.
"Then tigurantes are stage-struck
falluresp"
Some of them are born to the stage,
some acquire the Stage, and some have
the stage thrust upon them. There
are lots of dramatic people who car
60 something. and they lug on the
boards sisters and cousins and aunts
who can't There are some girls who
are conscious of being shapely, and
they want to let the world know it.
Don't find fault with them too quick.
ly. It's all they have instead OF tai
ent, and they're not going to hide il
under a bushcl, nor in muslin dress
either, any more than the greatest
artistic will have her talent hidden
There is more of this than you think
in the world. I've known women
married women. too--who were crazy
to monkey around in tights; not fol
pay, not for the sake of being on the
stage; but just because they knew they
had good figures, and were dying Il
show them of. Then there are the
women--and God help them, there arr
great many of them-who want Il
get among the auxiliaries for the sala
ry it brings. and which often is needed
bad enough. don't mention tn,
class who want to get on so as to b,
thought actresses. The city is full o
them"
"What qualifications does figur
ante needr'
"A good face and graceful figure
Apre!ty face is always catching, al
though in spectacles and the like
shapeliness is as much consulted
Then ease and self-possession ar
needed by both men and women"
''What training have theyP"
THE stage managers, or the bale
masters, as the case may be.