Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-11-26
Something About Rejane.
the New York Tribune

From the New York Tribune.
Gabrielle Reiane is one of the most I'M
portant figures on the French stage TODAY,
where important figures are many anu
though Paris laughs we'll, it also Is stirred
by other emotions at her plodlhs anu A .
her yirtuosity Unlike Bernhard, Re1ane
is physically almost buXom, full OF viva
cious common sense, and apparently quite
normal in her ways OF DONG her par %
tn, worlds work. She has had hard hgnt
to the top of the LADDER mas ioush' 4. W.
perseverance, and known little leisure
Yet she has kept natural good nature III
working order and kindness to her fellows
in trouble or grief Is said to marx her
wt6le career. CT,
snent her early childhood about the lobby
OF L'Ambigue, where her father took tick
cts and her mother attended the puHet- II
was while living in this environment that
he- ambition to become an actress was
awakened AT school she became acqua1nt-
ed with the daughter of Jules Simon, then
minister of public instruction Through her
schoolmate Gabrielle managed to be ad-
mitted to the Conservatoire, where she
studied hard and was graduated hrst IN
her class In the beginning Of her ca
reer in Paris she spent eight years at the
Vaudeville Theater from 1872 to 1889, Great
ing twenty different parts, but she had no
place worthy of her talent or OF those
promises it gave, Sardou, the virtual king
of theaterdom; the various directors who
followed one another so rapidly, the good
Pere German, Roger, Bertrand and Ray
mond DeSlandeS-none of them guessed that
they had a great actress at their disposal
1t was Pierre Berton who said to her.
You are not half appreciated here; you
ara far above all these people; you are
star; give up your useless struggle here!
A star was what NJ. E. Bertrand, then di-
rector OF the Varieties, was in most urgent
need of. He engaged Rejane for three
years. in spite of her most unsatisfactory
appearance in tiny part In Les Deno-
selles Clochart," an uncompleted comedy
by Henri Meilhac; and from then dates her
march to the front.
She first appeared on the Boulevard Mont
n,artre on October %, 1882, in La Prin-
ceSse," a comedy-operetta by Raoul Toche;
but 1t was not until December 4 that she
made her official debut as star in lies
Varieties de Paris" a review by NM. Blum,
Wolf and Raoul Toche. She also appeared
a hundred times with Christian In LA Mutt
de Noces de P. l. NJ" an amusing one
act play by Fabrice Care. Sarah Bern
hardt then managing L'Ambigue with hel
son. needed her for her production of La
Glu," Jean Richepin's five-act drama, in
which she took the leading part and was
supported by Agar and Lacressoniere
Later she was sent to the Palais Royal to
create the title part in Ma Camarade," a
five-act comedy by Henri Meilhac and
Philippe Gille, one of the most amusing
plays ever produced at that gay theater.
"A retur1 u the fduueVilIe followed tnal
was not q success and set back her
advance for a time But in the late SOS
she once more came forward in Meilhacs
'Decore," which gained the Academy for
its author and lasting place on the French
stage for Rejane. From then on her pop
ularity has never been dimmed nor her
Partisan success uncertain. She has been
a manager and producer as well as a star,
and her latest ambition, so she recently
announced. is to widen her field by some
thousands of miles and found school of
acting in New York.