St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1890-05-18

large, no matter what the salary: These
observers assert particularly that the
Young girl who Stimulates the passion OF
love on the stage and listens to speeches
which in her private character she
would not hear at all, is robbed or
freshness of feeling and the acuteneSS
of her moral sense. Finally. Albert
Wolff, of the Figaro, says that the ques-
ton of morals has no interest Tor an
actress any way, because the pupllc
cares no more for woman OF spotless
reputation on the stage than woman
who has reputation for intriguing. =,
These statements have been repeated
to number of prominent actresses rep
resenting successfully entirely different
lines of the professional endeavor III
American theatrical life, and their an
swers are set down here as they have
been received. They show some Inter
esting differences of opinion.
MOdieSka'S answer to the queStlOnS
was much brlefer and more emphatic
than the others.
MODJESKA'S COLD VIEW.
with the virtue of actors and actress
es the public has nothing whatever to
do" was her crisp and positive state
ment sit is only with what they do on
the stage that we should concern our
selves. Their private lives should be
private Where we should look for
good example from them is on the stage.
A pure conception of the part is what
should be demanded. We have no right
to ask whether the actor OF actress is
virtuouS. If an actor is bad on the stage
he gives bad performance; in my eyes
he is wicked. And with an actress 1t is
the same"
MARIE BURROUGHS OPINION.
Actresses are certainly subjected to
more temptations than women i'll prl-
yate life,' said Marie Burroughs. when
asked to discuss the subject. The
nature of the temptations is of char
acter such as no man dares address to a
lady who is placed amid the surround
ings of her own home. The offerings
of flowers and bonbons and similar
affairs from men with whom actresses
have no acquaintance whatever are
constant, and are considered by the
men who make the offerings as pre-
llminary to an acquaintance. During
the first three months was on the
stage hardly day passed that did not
have flowers and candies sent me
from men who wished, according to
their notes, to wave the fOrmality
VI XII lIltlOuuCGlOlls Wy iuAS VIZ
simply to tear these notes up and send
word by the messenger boy that the
writer of the note had made mistake.
If women Oh the stage accept these
things, such OvertureS are invariably
followed up by words more significant.
But it is an easy matter to repulSe these
men if one really means to do so. They
tell one another that such attentions are
useless, and that's the end of it.
whether or not the necessity for
dressing handsomely On the stage opens
up the possibility of temptation depends
on circumstances. The girl who is
called on to play leading part and
wear superb dresses. and do it on the
salary of a walking lady, is met with
very serious problem, which cannot
be solved legitimately, unless she
has private means. However, the skill
and ingenuity OF the actress have
something to do with it. The actress
with brains and ideas OF her own goes
with them to cheap dressmaker and
gets a handsome dress at a compare
lively small price. A woman with no
brains and no ideas goes to a dress
maker and has to pay big prices. The
one makes greater showing with 500
than the other with $1,000. So far as
jewelry is concerned, [ think it is much
better to go without it unless you can
wear real gems. Jewels anyhow are
not absolutely necessary to any modern
part, that is, unless they are alluded to
in the lines, and then they are fur
nished by the management as prop
erty. OF course, in the legitimate
drama, that is to say, the old-time
drama, where people do kings and
queens, stage Jewels are quite appropri-
ate and are generally worn.
eff a girl has brains and intelligence
and fixed purpose to succeed, the at
mosphere of the theater has no unfor-
tunate effect on her, and by no means
is she robbed of freshness of feeling and
acutenesS of moral sence. She is not
affected half so much as she is by read
ing the trashy literature that soci ETY.
girls indulge in. The girl is thoroughly
in earnest in her desire to become an
actress and works hard, and, il she
studies with the right feeling and right
idea, there is nothing grander than the
study of human nature, of the passion
of life, of love and the elementary feel
ings of the mind and heart. The
speeches should rather tend to broaden
and ennoble her nature. There is no
personal feeling about it at all. The
actress thinks of her part, of her work,
of the character she is trying
to portray. Whether it is a lover,
a mother or a sister who iSdem-
braced on the stage, is all the same to
the actress. What effect the stage has
on girl is determined almost altogether
by her motives in entering the profess
sion-whether she goes on the stage to
work and to make something of herself,
or whether she goes on expecting that
she is going to have good time and
wear pretty dresses.
"Do | think that the public encOur-
age morality on the stage by giving rec
ognition to the actress whose life is
blameless which they withhold from the
actress whose life they know to be
otherwise? / do not know that / can
answer that question, but there is this
to be said about it: When we see a
great actress who is not what she
should be we admire her. but when we
get home. and the glamour of the stage
is vanished, we feel that we can have
neither love nor reverence.
II suppose that the life of an actress
does bring her more into everyday re-
lations with men than is the case with
women in private life OF in other pro-
fessions, but the temptations Of the
stage do not come from the actors"
NAIVE PAULINE HALL.
81 do not think that actresses on the
comic opera stage are exposed to more
than women in private
Iife," said Pauline Hall. ''Their temp
tations, as far as they are temptations,
come from the front of the house, and
consist of letters of invitation to suppers
and similar affairs, which women who
hold any position whatever never dream
Of accepting from strangers. Even
girls in the chorus make fun of such |
notes and pass them around from one |
TO the other. The singer in comic opera |
s not put to any expense herself for !