The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1902-12-20
What the Great Singer Told a
Chicago Reporter.
Her Views. in Detail About Mar
riage of Actresses.
is A BUNDLE OF NERVES
Her Beautiful Face Changes
With Her Moods.
She Carries No Cats, Dogs, Par
rots Or Monkeys.

Though she has been stabbed 500
times, smothered fifty times, and cut up
with knives 100 times, Mile, Zelle dc
Lussan is mighty alive. The prima
donna is CHARTERED in her old suite at
the Victoria hotel and as full of gayety
as if the air We're balmy, the sun shin
ing, and Chicago the loveliest place in
the world" says the Chicago Journal
upon the occasion of her visit to Chi
cagO when she sang in a concert with
Charles Aamlin.
Il have come back to my Sheecago,"
said the singer. with the most coquet-
tisn trace of French in her accent. And
l am VARY glad to be here again.
Unlike the other grand opera singers,
Mile Lussan did not bring with her
parrot, a pet dog, a cat, a monkey, or
any other creature on which to lavish
her affections and make life miserable
for the bell hop and the clerks.
However, on the way to Chicago the
singer did almost fall victim to the
charms of a woolly little lamb
This morning" she remarked, "as l
was passing Michigan City, just at the
dawn of day, I saw the most 'bee-oo-
tee-fuf little lamb. So l said, don't
know why I should not carry one
petite mouton with me, just like the
singers who have their parrots and
dogs But then 1 thought the lamb
might not like it, and l would have to
hire a small boy to look after him, and
consequently 1 am not ike Mary ana
Two minutes after the vivacious so
prano got started she was carrying on
a rapid fire conversatio in which she
talked of everything from the stage
hero to the best way for American girls
to begin an operate career.
The famous Carmen" is a bundle OF
high strung nerves. Her dark eyes and
beautiful face change with every mood.
Hands, shoulders, and body play an ac-
compartment when she speaks Quick
as a flash, she can parry, thrust, or
guard her answers. If Zelie desired to
know what was going on in any ones
mind she would come nearer to 1t than
q clairvoyant. She has a habit of TAX
ing mental notes that gave her listener
a kind of a creepy feeling. When she
smiles and shows her perfect teeth the
effect is electric. It's too bad she has
such habit of reducing the divine
affiatus to dollars and cents.
For one who has been so badly
abused I am in tolerable good health,
said Mile. Lussan. You see 1 have
been killed in Carmen 500 times,
smothered in 'Othello' fifty times, and
knitted in 'PagliaccI as many as a hum
bred In spite of these horrible muir
ders expect to sing in Chicago Sunday.
We opera singers have to pass through
great deal, but our vitality is extraor-
binary. '7
1T is not all fun being murdered on
the stage. More than once / have had
my gowns cut by some enthusiastic
actor. Did they ever draw blood? yes
indeed My hands have been cut. The
was perhaps Brozel. He used to say.
I cannot overcome the feeling that
really have to kill you, madcmoiselle-'
Brozel and I were always very good
friends except on the stage. He scared
me pretty badly several times. 1t is the
only way to do good work. however,
to put your whole heart and soul into
the scene