Los Angeles herald., 1892-12-24
WORSE THAN DUDES.
THE STAGE DOOR GIRL is A STERN
REALITY TO ACTRESSES.

REALITY TO ACTRESSES.
The stage Door Dude Declared to Be. .
rvth. but the One Who Haunts the
Exits of Theaters Is Generally an En-
thusisstio Bit of Maiden.
have read many remarkable stories con-
eerning crowds of men of all ages and sizes
who swarm about the stage doors of thea
ters, staring the actresses out of counte-
nance and making themselves generally
disagreeable and obnoxious. But the stage
door dude lives only in the newspapers. l
have been on the stage-well, won't say
how many years-but in all that time l
have never seen one of his kind. There is,
however, being who haunts the stage
door. This individual prefers sunshiny
matinee days, is young, pretty, well
dressed, and possesses an alarming cara
mel appetite. In short, it is the sister, or
possibly the daughter, of the stage door
dude. He, If he ever existed, belongs to
past generation.
She goes to the matinee, falls in love
with the hero, sympathizes with the hero
inc, hates the villain, giggles at the come
dian (the stage door girl never laughs) and
says she thinks the ingenue ''just dear"
Then when the curtain falls upon the re-
united lovers with the villain shipped off
to Botany bay, the galleys or Sing Sing,
according to his location, she devours her
last caramel and hurries to the stage door.
And she does not go to the stage door to
see the hero, the leading juvenile or the
handsome villain, but, astonishing fact, to
see the heroine, the ingenue or the SOU
brette! This door, which is to her eyes
gilded portal is usually located down the
dingiest, dirtiest alley in the neighborhood.
But it does not look dingy or dirty to her.
She does not even see the garbage barrels,
tin cans and general gloominess of the
place. Her Mecca is that door through
which she must pass-that radiant vision
whom she has just seen folded to the heart
of the hero
have known girls to stand for an hour
or more in a pouring rain with undamp
ened ardor merely to see figure COM
pletely enveloped in macintosh, veil and
umbrella hurry past them and disappear.
In Baltimore are two pretty sisters
who, / am assured, are cultivated and
refined young women. But these girls
Sunday they are seen at the principal rail
way station of the town to welcome the
coming and speed the parting actress, al
though they have no personal acquaint-
ances in the profession. They are per-
fectly content to worship from afar. But
they must see their divinity and find out
if she is "as pretty off the stage as she is
on it," They usually sit in front seat at
the theater and stare at her through their
opera glasses. This to a sensitive actress
is something maddening, if by any chance
she happens to catch sight of them. How
ever, there are many people who do this
same thing, and who are not stage door
girls and no doubt the girls are justified
in thinking that they have right to do
so. But cannot see what pleasure they
derive from minute inspection of rouge
and grease paint.
To return to the stage door girl. 1t will
require great deal of argument to con-
vince her that the hero and heroine are not
madly in love with each other in private
life A nretty girl once said 70 az. actress
OF my acquaintance, rs 1t really possible
that you do not love Mr.. B-?" Ser
tainly not" replied my friend. "Well, I
can't understand it," said the young lady.
He must be in love with you or he
couldn't act his part so we'll" 1t was time
and words wasted trying to convince this,
on other subjects, sane young woman that
Mr.. b was a devoted husband and IA
ther, with about as much sentimental re-
gard for my friend as he had for the table
over which he spoke certain line, the
sword with which he fought the villain, OF
any other stage property.
The stage door girls room is usually
decorated with photographs of her favor
ties, and she is not always contented with
a mere photograph. Actresses receive
of themselves every day from
admiring girls, with the request that they
return them with their autograph
All sorts of questions are asked in these
notes. This one wants a lock of hair, an
other to know who makes her dresses.
And I know of one girl, more curious than
the rest, who wished to know the name of
her divinity's corset maker.
But the letters received by actresses are
not all from inquisitive girls whose eyes
have been dazzled by the glare of the foot
lights. Sometimes they come from sensi-
bic, thoughtful women who wish to tell Of
an evening pleasantly, perhaps profitably,
spent at the theater and to speak words of
and encouragement. These
are always pleasing to the actresses who
receive them. One word of honest appre-
citation is worth whole pages of gush, and
no one is 80 quick to appreciate this as
whose life is passed in an honest
struggle to achieve success and possibly
distinction on the stage.
A friend of mine received the following
note, accompanied by Bible and bunch
Of violets, from a dear old lady:
My DEAR MIss-I am sure you will not be
offended by an old woman sending you this
gift and her best wishes. l have many times
your interpretations of characters
that show much intelligence. / know to look
Into your honest eyes that you have a sweet,
pure heart. God bless and keep you. Very
sincerely, Mrs. -.
And, bless her heart, her Judgment was
not incorrect, and Bible and little faded
bunch of violets are kept among the dear
est treasures of the actress in question.
Before the Actors Fund fair a great
deal was said about the probability CT the
actresses who attended the booths being
subjected to insolent attentions from men.
This fear was afterward found to be ell
tirely groundless 1t was not the men who
pushed and struggled in the crowds about
the booths, staring and making audible
comments about the actresses who were
working for charity. 1t was the women
These gentle creatures flocked there in
crowds, and stared to their hearts content.
1t was the first time they had ever had
such an opportunity, and they were bound
to make the most of it. OF course I do not
assert that every woman went there out of
mere curiosity to stare and comment, but