The evening world., 1893-10-20
WOES OF THE CHORUS GIRL.
Troubles Met with at the Outset
Of Her Career.
Plenty to Tease and Annoy Her,
but Few to Help.

"The life Of a chorus girl is not all
gas and CATERS" said a novice in comic
opera to Il Washington Star man. Il
have been in the business Just a week,
and l find 1t quite otherwise. To begin
with' l have to endure a lot of hazing
from the other young women. They
seem to look upon me very much as a
new pupil at school is regarded, and
they treat me accordingly. 1t is always
the same way with every newcomer, /
am informed.
instead of trying to help me along,
the other girls in the chorus do their
pest to annoy me and lay traps for me.
Ihey tell me all sorts OF absurd things.
SO as 10 cause me to make mistakes,
AT the last rehearsal one of them asked
me to hold a big. boob for her. 70 do so
ures. and | got scolded for it. which was
exactly what my new friend had count,
r 90 on: Mhen we got through she asked
down and ] went to look for il, Ii was
not where l had placed IL, and snent
nearly an hour hunting for 1t with much
aaH N A. the end OF that time the
pressing room ALI the while. 1t was
Smiy a little same-harmlcss, perhaps,
ouy calculated to distress a stranger.
The other night one of the ladies' of
lne chorus was very friendly with me.
She said that she would like to go home
Win me. n readily assented. AS we
Went out from the stage entrance of the
theatre saw a cab standing at the
curb. Two men in evening dress Jumped
out. ana my companion introduced me to
them. 1T Immediately appeared that they
were there by appointment with my
friend, who had agreed to bring about
gnother girl to make n square party.
~ was n trick and "A trap. I find that
II is necessary to be very careful in such
ways II one means to preserve onc's
reputation. At the same time it you'd
Teser 20 70 pose as a prig or a prude.
steer.
NJ have discovered that the social
Ines OF u the theatre arc exceedingly
rigid: They depend not on birth or
pearty, but On the distribution of parts.
IL "a chor,ls girl gets anything to say in
a play, though 1t be only a single SEN
ing down upon her companions. Per-
maps she will not speak to them at all
under such circumstances but will refer
to her, dearest friend and chum of "A
week before with the co~ntemptuous
have got acquainted l shall doubtless
those with whom ! have come into con-
tact thus far have not been agreeable.
~ would never occur to one of them to
give me a useful hint. 1t was "a man
other day: Take care not to put your
M hand vs to S your face &C., on the stage, or you
WV ST. oI'I ltI u.
I had not been with the company
two days before | was in trouble with
me wardrobe mistress. Apparently she
Il al a,sp ersonage WIN great power: She
took, a spite against me. and she does
not lose any opportunity to express it
ing are limos unlimited. For instance,
she refuses to put the necessary hooks
and eyes and buttons on my garments,
n she viii not permit me to put them
on. That mnknG NV 1rpCCinU I,aryr lin
cult. found it very hard al first to get
my tights on properly, They, would
gather In wrinkles at the ankles; but
well used to appearing in them already,
though / do not like to see my, back
view in the glass, l rather dreaded an
capped 1t so far. The audience looks
dark n unreal to me from the stage.
st "d paid s. for my box Of paints and
Of my, box. which 1 left open. / have
learned snrs to b,s put I'll it i away: There II ire is always
rooms. The men never bring any,, but
count on stealing those which belong to
the girls. We are obliged to be very
particular about our hands. which must
look. white and pretty, with nails well
mailicured. If they get sunburned they
must be painted.
than on the stage. To laugh at the
comedians jokes costs a fine of 81 for
each offenSe. If any person does the
smallest thing wrong during n perform
ancc the whole company must go through
n rehearsal. Thus an error on the part of
q single individual makes punishment
for all. Chorus girls get SIS or SO a
week while on the road. because their
expenses are large. but they do not
receive much more than half that when
playing for a season in u city. All costs
for Carrying trunks are betrayed by the
management. We are obliged to pay for
our own berths on sleeping cars. Conse-
quently we do not indulge in the luxury
except on long night journeys. 1t is bet.
ter to sit ZIP for three or four hours and
make up for lost sleep on reaching the
place of destination. On our arrival in IA
town, a list of boarding-houses, with
prices and so forth. is handed to each
n of us, SO that we may take our
choice.
There Is certainly a great fascination
about the stage. one very pretty girl
in our chorus married a druggist in
st. Louis last season. But when the
company left that city a week later she
could not reconcile herself to staying
behind. so she said good-by to her new
husband md started out again. Most
chorus girls nave very little ambition,
and do not expect to rise from the ranks.
But l mean to be a prima donna some
day."