Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1905-10-01

in which all the work allotted to men
usually should be performed by women
Whether she has made good on her promise
has not vet been disclosed. Maybe she has
employed a woman for an advance agent
and Is getting ready TO surprise us. But
here is a story w. L. Hubbard tells in Sun
days Tribune;
And what has the coming Of woman into
the theater world ACCOMPLISHED Though
made an outcast by her temerity when first
she became an actress, she, by her presence
and her talents, has helped more than any
other force TO raise the player profession to
one Of honor in the world she compelled
respect for herself and her abilities, she
made the majority OF her male associates
in the theater so behave that society came
to respect them and their achievements. In
management she has shown herself COM
petent and with that competentness and
her feminine dignity has compelled recogni-
tion from all around her. And into the box
Office she has introduced courtesy which
frequently IN the past was sadly wanting.
Her representatives in the show girl and
chorus maiden line have not always been
greatly to the credit Of her sex nor bene-
fetal to the stage. But there are slight in
dications that the worst period OF the in
vason Of these undesirables Is past. And
It is not impossible that the newly appeared
woman stage manager may help also toward
the lettering of the show girl condition
Woman's presence as a coworker in the
business world unquestlonably has improved
that world so far as dignity and politeness
in language, bearing and manners are con-
cerned. She may accomplish as much for
the stage. And there Is room for an I'M
The daring woman who has forced her
way into the closed domain of the. stage
manager of musical comedy Is named Hon-
man-Gertrude Hoffman. She is a miss, is
still young and is described as "a slender
te woman Sle Wy Se beSa a ber career
as a dancer In San Francisco, where she
was member OF the Castle Square Opera
company. one day the ballet mistress was
taken Ill lust before rehearsal and MISS
Hoffman volunteered TO direct the practice.
The manager Of the troupe consented and
she made good" Later she came eastward
and in New York she assisted in the re-
hearsing of some of the numbers in the
shows in which she appeared; After "a time me
voted herself to the staging of short
sketches. Punch, Judy and Company and
when We Are Forty-One" were put on by
her last summer in New York, and she was
directing Me, Him and T. when Marie
Cahill sent for her and gave her fun charge
which the well liked entertainer is to star
x New York newspaper man who was g.
man has been holding during the last two
weeks declares that the feminine. presence
makes itself felt not only in quiet force.
funess and in the obtaining of all that
is desired, but in the dignity ana courtesy
that prevail. AS is well known. the re.
hearsal OF musical comedy, or OF any
"show' for that matter, is not the calmest
and most polite proceeding that is to be
discovered IN the WORTH. lIe SthbN llihhebN
has the reputation Of being person gifted
with vocabulary as picturesquely profane
and widely varied as II Is ineXhaustible,
and his temper is of the fercest and his
action of the most forceful. This reputation
is in many instances fairly well derived,
and often carefully lived up to. There are
exceptions but The material the
stage manager has to deal with is not al
ways of the most tractable or the most
agreeable The influence of conditions pre-
Vious and present, and of former stage
managers, has had it's effect, and the show
girl and chorus girl stand ready to give
as good as is given. The result is that a
rehearsal is not always the acme of har-
moniousness. An old stage manager who
watched one of Miss Hoffman's rehearsals
in New York is reported to have said 1t
was like a pink tea" Miss Hoffman intro
duced a word into the rehearsal vocabulary
which had been obsolete for many moon.
The word is please" Some of the chorus
folks shifted when first II was spoken.
Some almost tainted II is said. But they
meant, and according TO all reports, did
more for Miss Hoffman and II than they
had done in many day for the male stage
manager and his large and familiar vocabu-
larry. There is no wish to defy Miss Hoff-
man, neither is II known what sort of a
stage manager she may be but If her COM
ing will result in bettered condition on
the stage so far as politeness and courtesy
in language and behavior are concerned her
cerned. 1t will improve some of the people
on the stage, and the public In front may
see the effect in a lessening of the brazen-
ness and commences which now are some
Tins in evidence despite paint and gorgeous
gowning,