The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1901-04-28
THE PASSING SHOW.

Mrs. Carter has been giving advice to
young women who want to be actresses.
According to her experience. no vounr
woman working without a definite purpose
and good reason will ever achieve sue
cess on the stage.
She goes into detail as follows:
The average girl with stage aspira-
tons wishes to become an actress because
It seems to be an easy way to make a lot
Of money. An additional reason is that
10 her mind actresses appear to have so
many opportunities for wearing an end
less array of stunning gowns in public:
she takes IL for granted that If only she
had the chance to wear such robes she
would carry them in a way that would
captivate all Notwithstanding of
course, few jcalous-minded professional
rivals. As for the routine of an actress
work this stase-struck girl imagines that
she can readily master it. Why. you will
near her say, anyone with any brains
at all can memorizc the words Of a long
drama and speak them aloud in a ma
tural tone after a week or two of prac-
lice Poor girl. That Is less than a
tnousandth part of the work a woman
must do before she can hope for IT, hand
Glapplns from the dark side of the foot
lights
According to Mrs Carter the rewards
for stage triumphs are quite alluring. In
this connection she saws:
There Is indeed much money nucb
public applause, and therefore much So
cial pleasure for every actress who
achieves big triumph. And these are
very gratifying, just as the. successful au-
thor must feel TO receive large checks
from the publisher of his writings
But acting would be a narrow ife-WorI,
il these were the highest regards jusJ
as writing would be IL a great authors
big royalties were the best returns for
m L.
incidental in both professions. An actress
need not wait until her name is pastcd
over all the ash-barrels of New York be-
lore she begins to taste the rewards of
histrionic success. Once a girl has taken
mp the profession truly rs an art apprc-
eating the work for its ow! sake she has
only TO apply her energies to whatever
little work is given her, and she will
find herself in full, If quiet enjoyment of
her rewards. Ii is worth while to know
that she has done small thing well The
smaller the part. the smaller the reward
OF course but she Will soon realize that
what Is harder to earn is the better en-
toyed. and the edge will he taken off early
disappointments if she understands thai
these are but the roads TO the highest
success"
The girl who is to become a great ac-
tress must be born to the stage believes
the Iitian-haired actress. That this state
ment may not be misconstrued, she has
tens to explain:
1t is true that no cir! who does not
birth can ever hope for the richest re
wards. On the other hand, il does not
follow that because a girl does possess
certain natural traits she is sure of sue
cess If she only half tries. To her nat
ural gifts must be added an fnfnft,.
amount of very hard work II would be-
easier to find royal road TO Euclid than
a velvet road TO true triumph on the
stage. OF course. a girl with extraordi-
nary beauty and no brains may without
any very hard work achieve a more or
less big success In vaudeville Here how
ever. we are speaking exclusively of peo-
pie in what we call legitimate drama
The natural gifts required for n sue
cessful actress are first and foremost
general nobleness of character-a char
acter that finds more Joy in an event If
the joy is shared by at feast one other
soul. II is as impossible for a selfish
natured girl to become a great actress as
II Is said to be hard for n rich man to go
to heaven. The first underlying princi-
PIE of the drama, whether the general