The Washington herald., 1906-12-16
ON THE GOTHAM STAGE
VIEWS AND REVIEWS
VIEWS AND REVIEWS

New York, Dec. 15.-Generaliy speaking
1 suppose. this has been better season
| for actors than many a one that mas
gone before. There are more successes on
the boards this season than usual But
even so, no one knows how many pro
fessional people are out Of work, how
many are behind with their board how
many are actually In want Of the neees-
sites Of life, trying 70 keep up pre-
sentable appearance-think how much de-
pends on the appearance Of a Thespian!-
and going TO and from managers ofti-
/ ces with hunger gnawing al their Vitals.
/ One sees evidence of such distress every
day: almost every hour, Tragedians,
/ character actors. comedians, leading men
and leading women. condolences, SOU
/ brettes-excellent in their lines, holding
/ good positions last year and the year
| before-oUt OF work, almost out at the ell
/ bows their furs showing faint signs OF
wear and abrasion, yet living on hope de-
/ ferred and trying to laugh on their hard
| luck.
/ Hope! Come around next week.
agents and managers tell them, -or next
month" ANY old time but to-day-to-day
when they need help. In perspective, this
whole theatrical business consists of rails
/ ing hope in the breasts Of emotional peo-
1 pie to-day and crushing it tomorrow. II
l is a ume-honored device of keepers TO
/ plscate a violent lunatic with soothing
/ phrases. II is unequivocal hypocrisy. but
! 1t succeeds.
/ People are so crowding the theatrical
profession that they have almost ceased
! to preserve an individuality. They are
simply checked up by the gross. and
their needjness is accepted as a condition
| for which there is no remedy. Their tales
/ OF woe are never more than half told,
/ for what would you think of the beauti-
/ full heroine Of a romantic drama, who
+ goes virtuOusly home 70 cook her mid
night supper on an oil stove? They meet
managers with smiling faces. Il is a le
and the managers retort in kind. The
manager smiles. too; tells them how well
/ they can act, how anxious he is TO get
| his new play ready for their sweet sakes.
and ushers them out with every mark
/ Of personal interest, only to turn 10 the
next one on the waiting list with exactly
/ the same method OF diplomacy.
1 In the popular language Of the Rialto
this Is 'jollying'' person. I have become
a eonhdsnt, nolens volens. OF an incredi-
/ bly, large number OF these unfortunates,
who tell me their experience without the
set smile that they wear when they make
their rounds. One very excellent actress
spent 500 for clothes TO wear in a certain
| production for which she was engaged
early in the season. The first night
doomed the play. She was given her two
weeks notice, and at the end Of eleven
days the company was disbanded
/ I have my heart wrung eleven times
day by tales ike this You hear much
talk about the stage as a career for arnbi-
tious young people. Don't believe It. II is
a snare and delusion. One out Of a hun
/ dTed succeeds in getting an engagement
year after year. He gets, say $3.50 a week
for thirty weeks-S4500 a year That's not
so much after all. considering that this
does not represent the situation in diam
eter, but is rather an exception. Many
nowadays get no more than $50 a week
for thirty Weeks-S1 500 II half of that
goes for clothes for a certain part. there
isn't much left Hardly one out OF thou
sand rises 10 the dignity OF being "fea-
tured-" Genius does not always count
I Influence does. One actress 1 know was
Z
success. Her place was given 10 another
woman with influence, and the woman
who was winning laurels in the part is
I lying desperately I'll in a hospital The
shock was more than she could endure.
One Washington girl, who has bit Of
a role in a successful production in which
| she has not even line to speak, spent
one year in New York to get that. Her
+ parents could afford 10 crafty her whim.
And she had letter 70 the manager
+ from the principal Of the leading dra-
/ matte school, saying she was specially
gifted.
Oh. this lying: this hypocrisy; this
heartIess 'jollyingv'
( one little woman, with talent oozing
out OF her finger tips. could wiring your
/ heart if what she told me could be print
7 ed with all the pathos OF a wan face;
I hollow, hungry eyes. a slight. shrinking
ngure that buffeted the cold blasts Of the
! past week without sufficient clothing.
/ She is bringing up a little boy, and the
struggle is for two instead of one. She
played for some time in d stock company
/ twice day. Then she managed to get
one Of the big managers interested in a
play Of hers. He told her 10 finish il
and promised to do something for her
/ 1t was all vague, but it satisfied her She
I finished the play. Then she tried to read
( IL to him. Weeks and months passed
without a hearing She was offered other
engagements out Of town, but she de-
clined them IN order to be on the ground
He had said he would do something for
her. But she could not see him He
probably knew nothing OF her hopeless
efforts. She could simply not break
/ through his encourage. Then, from self
denial, hunger. and exposure she was
prOstrated on sick bed with malignant
typhoid. For months she was kept there.
Much Of her beauty faded. her body was
emaciated. But as soon as she was able
to be out she began her struggles again.
She haunted the theater. Once or twice
she caught the manager on the street. He
always treated her kindly and told her
to call. But an invisible wall surrounded
him, defying her efforts 10 get near him.
She was needy. Her child was suffering.
II was no longer a question Of the play,
but OF getting work, to keep body and
soul together. She stopped at nothing.
One night she put on her last handsome
stage gown. and, with a slight wrap
around her shoulders, sat in the drafty
lobby of the theater until the perform
ance was over. The manager was on
the stage. himself very Ill. But he re-
eeived her with the same kindly courtesy
and willingly consented TO hear her read.
That was all she wanted. For that she
had decked herself in her last remaining
splendor. The manager praised her work
highly He told his stage manager TO
give her the next part TO be given out.
A few days later a vacancy occurred.
She heard Of It. and ran breathlesslv to