Los Angeles herald., 1909-01-17

claimed a fluffy little girl
holding up an odd collection of
pads and strings and buckles.
''Them's symmetricals, kid" an old
er girl explained; ''you certainly have
got a lot to learn about this business"
''Well, I don't think I'll have to use
them, anyway said the first girl dis
painfully, divining their use.
The girls were all together, sixty Of
them, in the dressing rooms at the
Auditorium, preparing for the first re-
hearsal of Cinderella" the first per-
Torrance of which will be given to-
morrow night. They have been prac-
ticing for nearly six weeks and when
they go prancing out in the gorgeous
opening ballet many of them, perhaps
fifty, will look across the footlights
for the first time. Some are just out
of school, some have worked in de-
partment stores, some in hotels and
restaurants and some will admit, If
you urge them, that they are real so
ciety girls. They range in size from
the two tiny leaders of the pony bal
let up to the tall, stately girls who
will be fairy queens and princesses and
leaders of pageants. It was one Of
the latter, Clarice Worthington will be
her stage name, who told me how she
came to go on the stage.
"You can call me Clarice if you
want to- she said, "but of course I
don't intend to use the name until I
become known. 1 think it's awfully
be too long, but I saw an actress
once when l was a little girl whose
name was Clarice and I always thought
that I would use it if l ever went on
the stage.
II can hardly believe it's all true
when 1 think it will be only two days
more before 1 am really on the stage.
"I used to talk about it to the girls
down at the store, but we never really
thought that any of US would ever
have a chance like this. Once Mr..
Ward-do you know him? He's one
of our f1oorwalkers, you know-once
Mr.. Ward asked me why I didn't be
an actress and make a lot of money,
and we laughed about it. l wonder
what he thinks now 1 was only max
ing SIS a week then and when I read
about the Auditorium wanting girls 1
went right over. 1 didn't really think
they'd take me, and when went home
that night 1 was afraid to tell my
sister, live with my sister-but she
says: It's all right, kid; you'll make
lots more money and some day you
may be a great actress
I'm going to be a tragedy actress
if 1 ever get the chance. They told
me that 1 looked just like. Ophelia
when Hamlet was played here two
years ago, and 1 can make real tears
come to my eyes. That's so much bet
ter than things like this, if you can
only do it.
There are lots of these girls don't
seem to have any ambition at all; they
don't seem to know what a chance they
have. You can see how they walk
through those dances, just as if they
wished it was quitting time; but you
don't see me doing that; Miss Leslie
said to me just the other day that I
was fine in that minuet thing they just
finished.
"And after all, guess the real rea-
son I'm doing this is for the money
there is in it. If you had to work ten
or twelve hours day for IS week
and you had a chance to make SIS d
week doing something you'd always
wanted to do, and didn't have to work
any longer than we do, I guess you'd
make the change in a hurry"
And so it seemed with most of them.
Some were stage struck, but almost
without exception they admitted that it
was the money that was the chief in
ducement.
Miss Florence Leslie, who is drilling
the girls, is the youngest ballet mis-
tress in the United States, although
she has followed this occupation nearly
five years. Within six weeks she has
taken this threescore Of inexperienced
girls and made them a company of