The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1904-10-07

stage and would most certainly be re-
fused at the ConserVatoire The lady
departed in tears When she had gone
Dumas said: Il was brutal, but had
to be. The girl has a lot Of talent" III
Marcel Prevost looked his surprise.
She had taken good care not to tell
one she was Of good family, the little
mink! But know now have seen her
mother. for one am not going to send
honest girls in to the stage
On the strength Of this anecdote NJ
Provost asks: Considering that dress
es are just as costly on the English
stage as on the French, and that living
in London is dearer than here, by what
miracle do English actresses, leading
the lives Of ordinary bourgeoises, man
age to make both ends meet? No one
has yet given me a satisfactory expla-
nation of this mystery" He cites She
case Of an actress, Madame Mary JUL
en-, who, after carrying on first prize
at the Conservatoire in 1877, and being
hailed on her appearance at the odeon.
| the Gymnase and the Franchise as a
second Aimee Desciee and second Ra-
chel rolled into one by all the critics,
suddenly left the stage, wherein she
has never since been seen. because she
found that 'she was earning five hun
dred francs a month at her profession
and spending thirty thousand francs a
year in dresses, gloves and cab fares"
Now Madame Lerou has tackled the
subject. She is tragic actress, having
been a very interesting Lady Macbeth
4 at the Odeon some years ago, and she
takes the question most seriously.
| She goes to the root of it at once by
saying that, except at the Odeon and
the Coincide Franchise, and she believes
of recent years at Antoine's, at the
Gymnase and the Vaudeville, actresses
are allowed no expenses in France for
their dresses. Whether there is as
much elegance on the London stage as
on that of Paris she does not know, but
she does know that in Paris one of the
chief attractions is the toilets of the ac-
tresses. Another reason why things are
different in France and in England may
be, she thinks, that there is more rival
ry and jealousy here among budding
actresses, and also that many Of the
latter look upon the stage merely as a
stepping stone to a life of luxury
Nowhere are sensibility, sincerity
and conviction carried further than on
the London stage" Madame Lerou is
gracious enough to say, and it is easy to
see from her own seriousness that she
Is paying no idle compliment, but means
what she says. A particularly delicate
question touched upon by Madame Lee
rou Is that Of the influence of critics,
which she AYERS is a formidable and
disquleting omnipotence'' in Paris for
actresses. "Conquering the critics. and
hunting for puffs' are slang express
sions Of the Paris stage, which the lady
quotes as being significant. In Eng
land, she remarks, women are far bet
ter protected by the laws, and "the en-
i terprising gallant needs must be more
circumspect" In Paris, according to
Madame Lerou, a pretty girl doing on
the stage and finding what difficulties
beset her, usually comes to this way of
thinking: After all, why should I be
different to others? Why quarrel with
THE established order of things? Better
an easy life thana garnet, maid of all
work and riding about IN omnibuses.'
Madame Lerou concludes by quoting
the following piece Of advice from an
Experienced stage manager to a young
lactress: If you want to get on you
must have three PATRONS man of the
world for your toilettes. a dramatic au-
thor to give you good parts. and q jour
lnalist to write you up.-Paris Cores
i pondence Of the London Telegraph.