Los Angeles herald., 1910-06-05
THE CHILD ON
THE STAGE

Not long ago, in New Orleans, the
manager Of Mrs. Fiske was several
times fined for allowing a child to
appear in "Salvation Nell" In the
forthcoming tour of the New theater.
! Shakespeare's classical. "a Winters
Tale" can not be produced in Massa-
chusetts because of the child labor
law. In Boston, recently, Puccini's
beautiful opera, Madame Butterfly"
was made ridiculous by the substitu-
ton of a doll for the child. This sub
stitution was rendered necessary by the
| Massachusetts, child labor law, which
forbids the appearance on any stage of
any child under a.
Obviously this is a great injustice in
many respects. First, it is a great in
justice to the people, to the public,
VINO are thereby forever prevented from
| seeing and hearing any of the classical
masterpieces, such as "The Tempest"
Midsummer Nights Dream" "King
john Richard Ill" "Vicar of Wake
field" and others that might be men,
toned. 1t also prevents the public
Ten Nights in a Bar-Room," Little
from witnessing such modern classics
and plays as rip Van Winkle"
Lord Fauntleroy," little Red Riding
Hood" "The Awakening Of Helena
Ritchie," "Salvation Nell" polly of
the Circus" cinderella" and all fairy
pantomimes in which children appear,
and a numerous host of other plays,
dramas and operas, serious and comic.
If only from a commercial point of
view it is a mistake, because people
will go to more favored communities
to witness these modern plays and
classics thereby entailing a monetary
loss to their own commonwealth, and
engendering an increased respect for
more liberal laws in other states and
a corresponding disrespect for the il
liberality of their own laws. But the
great distress is the moral and educa-
tional loss to the community.
Secondly, it is a great injustice to
the stage child whom it robs of It's
medium of expression. Who would adj
vocate a. law prohibiting children with
musical gifts from playing the piano?
Children with literary gifts from writ
ing childish stories? Who is there
who would deny the Chicago child
scientist, or the Harvard child student?
Yet 1t is as reasonable to do this as to
legislate the child from the stage, for
the stage is the actor-childs medium.
There only can he enjoy the opportun-
ity of development in the public career
of which his precocious talents give
promise.
The child of the stage is generally
one of the little geniuses of the poor,
| or of those in moderate circumstances,
and is frequently the only ray of hope
that has come to his family in gener-
ations, enabling them to lift themselves
out of the rut of poverty or mediocrity.
By some mistake of wording, the fac
tory laws as applied to children, have
been made to include the stage child
who was not dreamed of in the bills
original drafting. To shut the door of
opportunity to the child of genius is
cruel and unjust. To place this royalty
paid child of the stage, with his few
moments of mental effort, on the same
level with the underpaid, overburdened
child of the factory, is flagrantly un-
Just Yet that is what has been done
in Massachusetts and Illinois.
One of the great needs of the theater
is the child-actor. One of the great
needs of the child-actor is the theater-
1t is essential to the success of the
actor that he come to the theater in
his young or plastic period, during
which his mental and physical quail
ties are more readily trained, and it is
well-known fact that great ma
iority of those actors who reach en-
inence in their profession began as
children. More notable instances of
which are: Macklin, Kean, the KEN
bles, Mrs. Siddons, Give, Rachel Ris-
tori Salvini, Forrest, Jefferson, Mrs.
Fiske. Maude Adams, Julia Marlowe,
Nazimova, Annie Russell, Blanche
Bates and many others.
The stage is no mental injury to the
child, because the child, coming In
contact with all phases of humanity,
as sifted through the minds of great
poets and dramatists, receives an ideal
mental training. One that is in line
with the most approved modern system
of education-the German kindergarten
for the development of the imagina-
ton.
The stage is no moral injury to the
child, because the innocence of the
child is a protection in itself. The
appeal of innocence to human nature is
so strong that, as is we'll known, the
child usually has as many fathers and
mothers as there are men and women
in the ompany.-Francis Wilson IN
Golfers.
type of juggler, does his work in
nonsensical fashion.
The Three Mascagnos, gymnasts, Will
have some Fun in Drawing Room"
They handle any and everything in the
usual habitable apartment, making OF
each article a means to their fun and
tumbling.
The Ollivotti troubadors are skilled
in the music Of Italy Remaining is
that baseball scream, "Swat Milligan.
Also. the Sisters Klos and the Avon
Comedy Four, while new motion pic
lures round out the bill.