Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1895-12-28
A CHAPTER ON DEADHEADs.
An Actress Talks of Their Effect Upon
Her Work.

An Actress Talks of Their Effect Upon
Her Work.
From the New York Evening Sun.
In an elevated train the other morning an
actress who was playing an engagement at
one of the West Side thea tiers sat with her
nose pressed against the window pane all
the way from the Battery to Harlem.
You must really excuse me-" she ex-
claimed to her companion as they left the
train at 125th street; but 1 was counting
my Hths. When we go down town again
presently you will probably find me just as
unsociable. 1 shall sit on. the other side of
the car though. and keep both my eyes
peeled for all the fences and billboards on
that side of the train. Don't think me con-
ceited In doing this. 1 am not doing it
assure you, for the pleasure of gazing at
my own pnysiognomy in seven colors or in
order to admire my name in letters that are
three feet high. It's a combination of my
commercial and artistic interests that
SbEges me to indulge in this species of
counting up whenever get a chance. You
see. like TO gauge my audience in advance
when L can. Now, after l see all those pic
lures of myself l shall know exactly how to
play my part tonight in order to please my
patrons.
do you follow? No? Well. l scarcely
expected that You could. But I'll explain
myself more fully. Today is Tuesday On
tuesday night there is always great deal
VI paper III lile houses, 4 mean
paper in a double sense of the slang ex-
preston. In the first place, l mean dead
heads, and in the second place 1 mean
hthograph deadheads, which are even
worse. On the way up to Harlem 1 saw
seventy-nine Autographs OF myself in the
shop windows. That means that there will
he lbs persons in the theater tonight who
haven't paid their way iii. For each of
those autographs my manager has to give
two tickets of admission. Tonight l Shall
probably play to mixed assemblage of
cooks. bootblacks coalheavers, with an &C.
caSional longShoreman thrown in.
Fortunately, l am starring in what is
known as popular play this year, so it
doesn't matter so much. The bootblacks
Will be upstairs, of course. l always love
playing to bootblacks anyway. they're al
ways so enthusiastic. It's the cooks that
always worry me.
Influence of the Cooks.
You see when a cook gets Autograph
ticket she feels that she has a certain DO
sition to keep up. So she and her gentle
man friend take their 1iths.' to the box
office pay an additional 80 cents apiece and
obtain seats in the orchestra chairs That's
where tie rub comes in. l don't care If
three-quarters of your orchestra chairs are
filled with the most aristocratic persons in
New York, and the other quarter is made
up OF cooks, its going to be the cooks that
will regulate the applause and enthusiasm
every time. If they like you-that is to
say, If you play part that is in no way
intricate, and which appeals directly to
their IDEAS of what a perfect lady should
he-nothng is too good for you They'll
break their hands in your behalf if neces-
Sary. But should you offend them in any
way, say smoke cigarette or recall to
mind by some little trick or mannerism A
recollection of their mistress, you are
doomed. When a cook is out on a Eth
ticket she's going to get her windows
wofh of blood. And the worst of 1t is
they make their remarks so loud that they
usually reach the actress ears direct and
without any assistance from those of her
dearest friends In front who may happen
TO have overheard them.
Clara Morris once put me up to clever
actress. Il was transforming then in
'Frou Frou, Camille and all the other
Frerch ladies'. Take my advice, my dear
said Morris to me one day; whenever you
know you're going to have a heavy lith
house put up Camille" 1t makes them
pipe their eyes every time and will be
doliZed in every kitchen in town for
months afterward.' / took Morris advice
and it worked beautifully OF course, in
the play I'm in now the liths, take to me
rather kindly anyway. I'm a heroine with
lots of thrilling adventures, but no past
And then l get married in the last act In
full view of the audience. Still, even now.
when l know that there is going to be a
lot of liths. in the house 1 always ac-
centuate my house a bit. But it is only
when an actress is doing a really artistic
piece which is more or less cavare to the
general that the lths. become a whole bush
of thorns in the flesh.