Omaha daily bee., 1910-01-30

RD HE SIukt-hNluCh kHl, like lut
N poor, we have always with us.
No village is too small to boast
- its wouh-bs Juliet" Show
I4H9NSM me a city large enough
- to support a business college,
and ] will show you one that supports
either a dramatic school, or a teacher
OF elocution whose pupils hope some day
to shine before a real audience.
There are styles in stage-struck girls,
as in art and in gowns. There was a day
when the stage-struek girl was a crea-
ture Of tears, emotion and wild schemes
for eluding watchful parents. The stage
struck girl OF q decade back thought she
simply must run away from home to court
success. Today all this has changed. The
stage Is regarded by girls as a serious
career. They prepare for It by more or
less study. They enter upon the career
with the full, consent of their parents. The
average letter which l receive from a
stage-struck girl, today, reads something
Ike this:
II have been seriously considering the
stage as a profession. l feel the need Of
a career and think my talents are largely
dramatic l am a graduate of - col
lege, where l specialized in English lit
erature and the drama, and 1 have done
some work as a member OF the -----
Dramatic club, which attracted attention.
l would be glad to accept even the smallest
role in your company, etc"
That Is the sort of letter which makes
an actor or a manager sit Up and take no
tice. 1t is the sort of letter which should
make the mothers of daughters do like
wise. And that is why 1 have accepted
the EDITORS invitation to ak through the
columns of his paper TO the girls of this
city who are thinking OF adopting the
stage as a career You see. 1 quote lit
orally from a letter now at hand
To begin with. let us understand each
other thoroughly. IL is not my Intention
to poke fun at the stage-struck girl. A
lot OF US have learned to take her seri-
ously. l am only asking the mother and
the girl to consider the matter as seri'
ously as we who stand In the need Of cap.
able .eading women for our support must
consider it. Mary Anderson was what we
today would term a stage-struck girl
Julia Arthur wal stage-struck. Belle
Archer, who. n her prime, was one of th'
cleverest light condolences the American
stage has ever known, ran away from
school TO join the original production OF
III. NJ. S. Pinaforo" in Philadelphia.
To get right down to a great basic
truth, IL is not what a girl is before she
joins the profession, but what she does
afterward that counts. Generally hei
chief offense Is youth, but she will out
grow that particularly IL behind youth
lie ambition and good sense. An belief tC
the contrary Notwithstanding, the Ameri
can stage today Is sadly In need OF girl,
with brains and common-sense. A pretty
face Is an added asset, but it will MOI
carry q girl to real success unless sup
ported by grey matter, ambition and com
nonsense. Given ordinarily good fea
lures, good carriage. the ability to carr,
smart clothes, which comes largely from
good carriage, and quantities OF grey mat
ter. and IN back any American girl 10
success, against the merely pretty fac
which lasts a season or two in muslca
comedy chOruses,
1 speak now from the heart When W,
we're ready to cast "a Mans a Man" IN
problem Of securing a leading woman I
play the role OF Peggy Hewitt" grey
from a mere still hunt for ability into
tragedy. In four days we tried out tire
pleading women. each capable OF LOOKING
fHe part, each capable Of p~ortraying Ger
lain phases Of Peggy Hewitt's" many
sided character. but not one possessinl
The Tey-matter to give a satisfying pog
formance