New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1888-02-12
NETWORK LIFE.
THE GIFTED AMATEUR.
NOW THE YOUNG RACHEL sTUpIEs-oN THE STAGE
For SWEET CHARITY.


drawing rom elocutonist TO tho dramatic Luminary,
| ia brief brilliant glorious. There Is nothing pro-
! ecssional In her movements. There Is no grahuai
awakening OF her dormant sblltIcs-the overwhelming
power Of transcendcnt genius carries all before H.
| She rises to fame with rapidly beside which tie
| movements Of tho stock market are SLOW
| and pondcrous as tho march OF the
| great Pastcrzcn glacier Sho has no need
for rant concentration for burning Of midnight oil,
for hours Of ntess repcttions, for days OF passion
| ate applications. She Is really without vohtioh, lho
mighty gift which ohafes for outlet has swampcd nor
individuality. 1t will not down; In fact, she Is I'D
the grip of gonius which sweeps hor onward, as tho
current sweeps the falion leaf Talent Is that "moh
Is in a mans power genius Is that In whose power
man is she will tell you with charming, conhdone
smile. az an excuse for her Topographic translation
from the bay window and tho curfew to the historic
| boards and Lady Teazc' and Pauline
Nothing but the finest mental endowments couio
tho cbasm which yawns between the elOcutionlst
and the amateur actress in short year When she
| left school, a slim and graceful creature, with a
smooth coil of fair hair on tho napo OF her hoch'
Hight blonde fringe her forehead, howor'iihe droop
of her head, shy soft manner, trick Oh gancihs
bashfuuy through her long lashes as sho extended
besitatng hand Of welcome, smooth, and warm, ana
white, a straight, plant look about her waist which
the osshed roundness of maturer years-she
was Shy as a rabbit, conscious as coliegian, tenuor
as spring lamb and 1t was only In answer 10 your
entreaties that Siding and bushing In delightful con-
fusion she would consent to reclte little for you
You were charmed by her ingenious graces and muir
| INJURED a compliment or two as you pressed her hand
In lingering farewell under tho palms green spikes
OF all the foolish words you have uttered In your
life, you have most reason to regret those comph-
ments Thcy are the snow flakes which loosen tho
avalanche, the seeds from which tho mustard tree
springs till birds of the air roost in its branches
Fired with ambition she begins to study. The welhn
rings for hours with tho explosive expulsive' The
family richly conscious OF genius In their mdst a.
Jude to the explosive eXpulSive with what Is Kno"n
| in the hymnal as " awful mrth" Occasional NslNrs
hearing the sonorous echoes OF tho expiosNeeAPui
sive as they resound from distant apartment where
the Young Rachel Is performing vocal prodgles WIN
her larynx look agitaed and uneasy, as Jane Eyre
might have done when the bowls Of Mis-. Rochester
| echoed from her cache But tho young kachei s"s-
alned by tho consciousness OF her exnbcrant genius,
continues uplift her voice. till 1t Is deepcned ana
enriched TO the proper pitch for damning her errins
husband or recognizing her little cheeild In inc
transition period she passes through the stage when
| Aux Itallens' Is her favorlte poem. She smells
the Jasmine flower for a whole winter. No one ese'S
olfactory organs could have survived tho strain hue
the Young Rachcls In good order at tho cnd as
they were at tho beginning of the winter linen
comes the first step Into the tragic. and on one reu
letter night she curdes tho blood OF select audience
| the cynic murmuring that marrowy phrase 1hrco
| of a kind boats two pair
From Tho Portrait to the stage the step IS small
there being always the drawing room drama as sort
of Pursatory-that stopping place halfway for the
as plrant OF hstrlonc bonors. For the audience tho
torn may be accepted In It's original Roman Cathohc
sense And finally from the drawIngroom drama,
from Delicate Ground in a shortwalsted Directolre
gown and set OF canoes, from the fosshed remains
of that interesting relic Of pro Adarnte man, "Ihe
Morning Call" from the " Loan OF Lover In an
apotheoszed peasant dress, and My Uncles WIZ
I'm train and her mothers rings, the young Rachcl
passes on to the stage, and for sweet chartys sake.
makes her bow before tho footlghts to wel-Dreu
| audience at two dollars head
1t is hard to realize what sweet charity would 90
| viii work like a slave for the widow and the orphan
| with few dramatic gentlemen, soubrcttc, heavy
| mother extremely weighty father, and walking
gentleman and lady, She is ever ready to answer the
| call OF the needy. Be It to Podunk or Kalamazoo
say but the word and there She I5 with the troupe,
| two trunks, maid, few friends, mother, several
| hand mirrors, a dog. and portable gasstoye She
| is the most obllgng of young women always ready
| TO offer her best and full OF rcaSSurlng sefcOnh-
| dence. She IS wonderfully hard working. suppose
Won are kindly disposed to let her of with one act of
The Lady OF Lyons and farce. With what celebrity
Will she Insist upon giving two-the one In Mel
|
and not a farce no-a two act drama, with an clipping
husband or an abducted Child to give free scope to
her emotional talents OF course, considering the OBJ
ject the prices must be high. Podunk must open its
purse for the widow and the orphan. POdunk must
also make It's opera house fitting background for
| the display of genius and beauty.
| On the day before the performance the Managing
Committee receives Instructions from the seat of war.
The dressing must be heated to 20 degrees The
Gifted Amateur has always had her dressng-room at
that temperature. II the thermometer does not regis
ter 10 she sorry, but she won't 90 able to appear
| Tho Managing Committee looks blanhly at the ennis
sary of Genius, he recalls the pneboard solitudes
of tho dressing In the local Temple Of Fame the
| temperature OF which, with coaxlngs from gasstoves
and hardcoal fires, be decOyed up to 90 degrees
at the highest, stays there for . moment and then
drops do with a crash
| Then the Gifted Amateur must have her maid, and
her mother and her two friends, Miss Smith and Miss
| Jones
q But what says the Managing Committee, feel
ing that he pales vlslby, what the friends for'
| @wcil," says the EmIssary, they always CO. No
body knows why-but, thcn there's tho dog. Why
does tho dog got He never appears They're al
| ways regarded part of the baggage
| 81 should think the mother and the maid would
do urges the Managing Committee, looking little
sulky for he has to put them all up the dog includ
| cd aud his wife hates dogs.
Oh nor says the Emissary, with easy smile,
they hold the sponge IN ths wings And Oh by the
way hope you'll see that the stage setting Is all
| right You know, In tho farce we want really good
lnteror-palms porteres, rmchaIrs pictures, pianos
| and thlngs-you know the kind"
The Managing Committee cognizant OF the re-
sources Of the Temple of Fame, and that 1t offers as
choice of interiors sordid garrett with the broken
botIes on shelves round the walls, which, on the stage,
| are always a sign Of debauched pauporsm, and
panelled hall" decorated with ancestral portraits,
treated In the mpressionlst STYLE Is plunged In silent
| thought There IS, to be sure, an italian Terrace"
| with white marble steps and two statues, very fat
and unsteady, which bulge in and out when there Is
| a draught which there always Is. The Managing
Committee. distracted by this variety of choice, IS