The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1899-05-20
OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES
= HER POINT OF VIEW 3
IV,Ng,NM

The dramatic ambition seems to be
at high tide in this city jusG BOW.
There are no less than nine full-:ledged
amateur companies, with many mem
berS in each, that occupy the boards
at intervals whenever tn" opportunity
is presented. All, of course, ara gifted
with undoubted talent which would be
recognized on the Metropolitan stage
at once were merit and not money or
private influence the requisite. In al
most every Individual case the abli-
ties are such that the long and tedious
intermediary steps taken ordinarily IN
the successive roles of super, villagers.
chorus, guards walking ladies, etc, up
TO the principal characters are meth
ods of unnecessary drudgery. Lack Of
education and careful training would
scarcely be noted. so strong ana un-
miStakable is the divine fire of genius.
The vast increasing furore for going
on the stage is not to be smiled at as
it becomes more apparent in this COM
munity. Instead of being an ambition
which, properly directed, may lead to
some great advantage To- the one who
INDUCES in splendid hopes of dazzling
the world of play-eoerS, it is reason
ably certain to unfit him for the more
! useful employment for which he is
probably far better qualified. The
| famous tragedian may be born but he
| is just rs surely made, by years Of
patient and often tragically pathetic
effort Most frequently he comes from
| a race of actors and has been familiar
| with the stage from babyhoOd. Not
| one in five thousand amateur stars ever
| peeps above the horizon,
While the striving after so-caIed
| artistic ideals as eXemplitied by
some as praiseWorthy desires to rise
above the sordid level of work
| a-day life in the mines, the
! mills, the shops or the stores and
| offices. it is in fact when Shorn of its
| frail glitter of tinsel, only an eXag-
| gerated cOnccit, an exaggerated desire
| to be admired and TO gain a livelihood
| in what seems to be a more flOwery
| path than that in which circumstances
| surround one.
Because girl can stand in a
| friends parlor and thrillingly re-
| cite "CurfeW Shall Not Ring To-
| night" is no infallible indication that
| she possesses in that one capacity
| the passport to enduring fame or to
| even decent means of support. Be
/ cause q bOy--Or young man If you
! please-can give character sketch
| or an extract from Hamlet in a
| manner which enchants all his fem
| mime relatives especially his admir-
! ing cousins, is not an incontrovertible
| proof that he can at once command a
| princely salary on the stage. Because
| in neighborhood where they are
| known and loved a company OF young
| people can present a little farce COM
| edy so effectually as to cOnVulse their
| friends with merrirlent is no sure eVi-
| dence that they should resign their
| present hold on PERHAPS humble posi-
| tions and make an attack on the
| American theatre-lover. If the aver
| age young man spent the same amount
| of time in perfecting his knowledge OF
| some useful plain occupation that he
| puts on the love rawlings of Lord AL
| gernon, or the silly If not worse than
! silly attempts at wit supposed to ema-
| nate from a Bowery tough he would
| have his foot on pretty firm round
| of the ladder to success. If the aver
| age girl. who tries to initiate the sup