The Bellefontaine Republican. [volume] (Bellefontaine, Logan County, Ohio) 1855-1905, 1903-10-27
THE UNDERSTUDY {
tOriginal.1

beioTe Hlul stOOu IL elIl W
who . he was giving a lesson.
Try once more; repeat the words as
i speak them. giving the intonation as
J give it-thus:
20 Romeo. Romeo, wherefore art thou
Romeo?
Deny thy father and refuse thy name,
Or. If thou wilt not. be but sworn my
love,
And I'll no longer be a Capulet''
The girl, who had already repeated
the words a dozen times in a vain eff
fort to please her preceptor and who
had become completely ''rattled," tried
again and made a worse failure than
before.
THAT will do. Miss Cheever. 1t is
useless for you TO proceed. To encour-
age you to go on would be to take your
money knowing that | can never sdu-
cate you for the stage. You were not
born TO be an actress"
At this the girl burst into tears and
the professor turned TO his desk and
began to look over some papers The
and although not devoid of feeling, he
could not afford TO waste his time cod
ding failures" Besides, there was
nothing to be said. When he turned
again Miss Cheever had vanished.
Half dozen years passed and the
professor had forgotten his pupil as he
forgot all those whose histrionic abili-
ties were pronounced by him unworthy
of cultivation. He had ceased to give
lessons and earned a fine salary as
dramatic critic. One night he went to
see an actress who had made some rep
utation. ready TO write her praises or
condemn her. as she suited his fancy.
The actress unfortunately was Ill and
her place was taken by her understudy.
The play was Romeo and Juliet" and
the understudy was the critics forgot
ten pupil, Miss Cheever.
Mcleod. when he saw her, had not
the slightest remembrance of having
ever seen her before. Not so Miss
Cheever She noticed him sitting in
one of tie foremost rows directly be-
Meath her and recognized at once the
man who had sounded her stage death
| knell before she had ever trodden the
boards. Perhaps II was because for
| FIVE long years since she made her de-
but in a part usually given to a super
| she had met with little success, per-
| haps II was that a woman does not
| take kindly TO criticism. Be the cause
what IT may, she had never for
given Dennis Mcleod. However, she
| had made the most of the training he
had given her and had come TO initiate
his methods in n parrotlike fashion
that had given her a meager living.
/ Miss Cheever played to an audience
disappointed at having missed a star
and Obliged TO put up with an under
| study. She went through her part la.
boriously, and as she came to the diff.
ferent points in the play in which Nc
Leod had given her especial drilling
/ did her best to honor his instruction
In this she had decidedly improved
and the critic became interested
There's a woman" he said, "who will
one day make an actress" He ar
ranged In his mind the main points OF
the criticism he would hand in to the
dramatic editor of his paper, and felt
bit of comfort in being able to thus
help a struggling actress, remembering
those he had been obliged to discour
age. When the curtain was rung dowI
on the first act the audience felt re
lieved, the women chatting about socia
trihes. the men going out for a Whit
of tobacco smoke.
Il 81 Lzr -.
room to weep. She knew that on thi.
first occasion Of her playing a promi
nent part she had made dismal fail
ure, and that in the presence of th'
man who had warned her TO choose an
other occupation. But. womanlike, sh,
illogically blamed Mcleod for her fail
ure rather than her want Of histrioni,
ability. From tears she passed to ir
ritati and from irritation to anger.
The curtain went up for the secont
act, and Miss Cheever took her plac,
on the balcony. Romeo spoke thos'
poetic lines beginning:
He jests at scars that never felt /,
| wound.
But soft What light through yonde
| window breaks?
II Is the east, and Juliet Is the sum-
The man was a splendid actor ant
gave them beautifully. Juliet was he
tween two influences. On the on,
hand she felt the inspiration OF tn,
scene, on the other she was in a rag,
with Mcleod, whom she could plainl,
see from her perch. Then came he
own lines:
o Romeo. Romeo. wherefore art tho'
Deny thy father and refuse thy name.
Or, II thou wilt not. be but sworn m,
love.
And III no longer be a Capuiet-
Whether 1t was inspiration or def
ance she never knew, but somethin,
prompted her to speak the lines in til,
fashion Mcleod had tried to train ou
Of her. and she gave them with all tn,
natural feeling the part, the scene, tn,
impelling recklessness impaired.
A hush came over the audience
Romeo spoke the single line:
Shall I hear more or shall speak a
| this?
Miss Cheever hesitated a mcmen
before her reply, then went on as M
ture. not art, had taught her, and from
that moment TO the end of the seen,
every eye in the audience was fixet
upon her. every ear listening for he
slightest whisper.
The understudy played the part o
Juliet through TO the end as she con
ceived IL. not as some one else had con
ceived u or how the lines should b,
spoken. On that night new star aros,
above the theatrical horizon. and Mis-
Cheever never played as an understud.
again. r. A. mitchell.