Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1910-07-03
| NJ |

&s&2 title Of tho piece as she rushed
about the big dressing room OF DAYS the
ntcr after the matinee answering telephone
calls accepting bushes OF roses thrust
through the opened door by the stage
hands. FALLING down a skirt and swirling
a Napoleonic hat TO its required angle, adj
justins n veil, demonstrating with a firing
woman, pinnlng on a bouquet OK Parma
violets rs a finishing touch and greeting
Mr.. Bergen. her leading man, who arrives
TO escort her TO tea.
Nine. Oily would probably greet Mr.. Ber-
gen Just cordially II It were not for the fact
that she IL foreign and in addition admires
the work OF the young American actor i'm
nansely. Ho adlnires her just as much
and for at least five Of the precious mo-
men.s they tell you so. You learn that II
~ 4 great advantage for a leading man TO
play with a star who has had the CONT
aental ana temperamentA experiences VI
Nine. Oily, while she believes that for an
aotresS 10 find all at once a man capable
OF understanding methods aud manners a
little different from those employed on the
American stage Il a great piece Of good
luck.
II was q when / commenced to play"
states Nine Oily, and that was five years
ago. She looks you squarely in the eye
when she says this, and you are obliged to
admit to yourself that II che had said 26
years and II months you would not have
had any cause for suspicion, for in the
cruel north light Of the dressing room
without makeup and little fatisued by
the strenuous work OF the stormy drama
our latest foreign importation does not look
a day older than she says she is.
Though not strictly beautiful according
70 classic standards, Nine. oily has face
Interesting by its varied expressions. Hor
hair, complexion and eyes all light, in
colorlng, suggest her Teutonic rather than
her Latin ancestry, while her figure, sup
pie, slight and nervously alert, is far re-
moved from German stolidity.
Always" she says, the American pa
papers speak of me as German actress.
As 1 made my American debut in a Ger
man theater playing in the German tongue
that probably Is the reason; but 1 oil
ways think OF myself an Italian, as my
mother was a Neapolitan and lived in
Italy until / was 10 years old. My father
was born at Trieste in Austria, where the
German language, by court decree, is
spoken.
"As Marietta Davia 1 played in Italian
pieces, acquiring a small repertoire and
enjoying tremendously my vsgabond life
through the provinces of my beautiful
country. 1t was quite by chance that was
seen by the celebrated author, Paul Lin
dau, who apparently believed that / had
promise, and in that belief brought To my
work the attention of Ernst Possart, the
we'll known stage director OF his own
theater in Munich. Soon after our first
talk on the subject l commenced to study
under his tutelarge, and after some rather
difficult months Of learning and unlearn-
ing-principally the latter-I made my de-
but at a special matiness performance in
THE Blue Devil" in which Frit2i Scheft
was very popular and with the memory OF
whose triumphs had to compete.
After played in the next part allotted
10 me by Herr Possart, that is, 'Divorcons,
was written OF as the overnight star. but
don't allow myself to feel over-triumph-
ant at any praise of that kind, for ever since
! began my work / have been especially
fortunate In the matter of criticisms. With
very few exceptions the newspapers have
been tremendously kind and appreciativc
and particularly in America, where ] had
been told ! would be chilled by the un-
demonstrative audiences and that after
ward l would be SCARED by the bitterness
Of the attacks in the press, Don't think
Tor moment that the foreign artists come
over here thinking to find an easy field
60 conquer and that great artists can af.
ford to play carelessly. That point of view
may have been held at one time. It Ger.
tainly Is not any more. American audi
snces TO us now mean audiences the mos
difficult in tho world to comprehend and t
conquer.
after a run of 'Divorcons played II
some OF Oscar Wides plays, then In TIL,
Yellow Star by Tourchouski; Arms ant
tho Man. by Bernard shaw; In Gorky'l
Child Of the Sun and In 'zaza,' which
gave hero whom l came to play Baccarat
at tho Irving Place th0Aler. have ais,
played in all of Ibssps and should love t,
produce some Of them here, but natural!
Il would be foolish to try to compete will
Aime, Naslmoya and tor the same reason
'Divorcons,' which I particularly like
would be another unwise choice.
The failure of The whirwlnd' has beel
great disappointment TO me. 1t has
however. fulfilled the vocation OF mos
failures and has taught mo a great dea
necessary Tor me to know The fact tina
my own work as well as that of the othe
artists has been satisfactory to the man
aSeInenI anu 10 lne puDnc ana that tn
lack of patronage has come about beeaus
Mr.. Bernsten's drama did not appeal I
tho American public has swcetcncd th
failure considerably,
Whether rightly or wrongly. the Amer
can audience is swayed by the general ton
Of the piece rather than by the keynot
OF It's creation, and one has TO come ovC
here and realize It before that fact pen,
trates ones comprehensive. l had heal
il causally in Berlin and other places. \
popular premiere of Z piece, over whic
the German audience was wild IA enthus
ssnl, l listened TO friends OF minc WI
knew America well, actors and actress,
maybe who had played over here, exclair
Wen, 1t won't go in America ana que
toned the accuracy Of their opinions. b
cause when / said Why? they had shrul
ged their shoulders and merely said, We
you know the man and woman aren't real
married, and in America
"Of course they weren't married.
would say TO myself, but II they had be-
there wouldn't be any reason for the pla!
! understand that in the newspaper fie
Ii is very satisfying truth for edito
and reporters and writer's to know IN
the John Browns ana their wives al
children all live happily together but
doesn't make copy; and In the same W;
the sane, wholesome. commonplace trut
tek ~, =