The Meeker herald. [volume] (Meeker, Colo.) 1885-current, 1907-01-26

"'But you are IS and more, l in
sisted, perhaps bit cruelty. but for
the good of the piece. She flung me
look of scorp and replied: Yes. but
we are not here to exploit our de-
fects. We expect to gloss them over.
And that is the true attitude OF the
average woman on the stage. She is
placed on pedestal by the public,
and in private life she is IN tho
ground with other women-she ID
what she really is. Her vanity for.
bids this, and SO private life pals and
| the stage calls"
May Twins Testimony.
May Irwin, the richest actress in
America to-day, whose New York real
estate holdings are enormous says:
"Why did l return to the stage?
have never analysed my feelings on
| the subject. 1t started when my
friends kept asking me why had re-
tired when l could still attract the
public, why l placed myself In the
class with theatrical hasbeens when
| l could still draw laughs-and dollarf
to the box Office. l had no sincere
answer for their very pertinent ques
tions, and SO | came back.
Il do not see why the stage is not
like any other profession. So long a
you can succeed and make money By
attracting appreciativc audiences you
want to remain in harness. The Law
yer who can win all kinds Of casel
does not retire simply because he has
made enough. His happiness is ID
winning more cases, harder cases
All right! We of the stage want ID
win more laughs. more applause. more
public approval.
During. my two years Of retire
ment was always busy. You know
have two boys to occupy my
thoughts. am naturally very do
nestle. and am my own housekeepef
with big home to manage. and yet
particularly when ! was in town
| there was something missing, void
which cannot explain in my life. In
the evening 1t comes over the retired
actress. that peculiar yearning to get
ready for the nights work. In ina.
gination she can smell tire contents
of her makeup box, she can hear the
hurrying feet of the stage hands, the
orchestra and 15-minute call, she sees
the lights go up, the curtain rise; but
another woman is there getting the
applause that was once hers, and the
first you know she Is back at work,
back drinking In the appreciation of
the audiences, the appreciation that is
the very red corpuscles OF her exist
ence."
Fascination About Stage Life.
Joe Weber, under whose direction
many chorus girls have earned dis
tinction. says:
There is no denying that there il
fascination about stage life which
outweighs any other inclination in
many minds. From the time saw
my first theatrical performance, when
was not quite seven years old de
cided life could have no charms for
me unless l could act out on the
stage and make people laugh and ap-
plaud. The sweetest music in the
world to an actor is the sound of
laughter and applause earned by his
individual effort. To give up all
thoughts of acting would seem like
blotting out one of the principal joys
of living. II that is an actors idea
about the subject, how much more
difficult it must seem to the more i'm
questionable members of the opposite
sex!
AN actress may leave the stage
because she has fallen in love and her
fiance will not consent to her contin-
uing in that atmosphere. or she may
haye lost her ambition and deter
mined on quieter existence. 1t may
be months or even years later, but
this girl is almost certain to hear.
and. II possible, heed the call of the
stage. Her mind naturally turns that
way at the slightest mishap In her
new life. That's the practical side of
the call Of the stage. The sentiment
tai side of it comes to aid the practi.
cal side when she thinks of the lights,
the gayety, the pretty costumes, the
music, and, what is sweetest and
most alluring Of all, the applause. So,
l suppose the definition of the call of
the stage might be summed up into
the one word applause"