Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1910-04-03
THE CHORUS GIRL
 OF PRESENT DAY
By Ben Teal. Stage Director of "A
 Skylark" Company.

The chorus girl at the present time gets fifteen dollars a week ill New York and a few dollars extra on the road, transportation being furnished, and nothing else, on tour. There is no hope of any bigger salaries for those 'in the line" for every season the supply to draw on becomes larg- er and from all parts, not alone of this country, but of the whole world. Some of the applicants are driven ln- to the profession by need some by vanity and a few by ambition. The chorus applicants from the old world i giving them all the praise that is due, can not in any way compare in ] beauty, grace or intelligence with ! the American girl. They have tech nique by inheritance, and that much ! abused quality, temperament, which , someone has recently described as an innate disinclination to work; but, robbed of these characteristics, they l have nothing. Taking the eXternals ! of good figure, the perfect chorus , face with it's round oval and express i sion of serenity, small features and ! large eyes, with attendant attractions ! of fine teeth and hair, the quality that makes superior ones out of the 1 many when competition is keen, is
 the possession of that indefinable : accomplishment termed manner" which is positively essential to make : a success today 'in the line This manner must give the impression of a well-bred woman who knows how to wear good clothes and to en- ter and leave room, the drawing room manner,' in word, almost inn . possible to teach, but the possession of which will make amends for great many laXes in other attrac- tions.
 The two girls among the thousands in the chorus whom I would select as representative types of the re- uuirements in this direction at the
 present time are Jeanette Horton and May Maloney who are in Henry B.
 Harris, new musical comedy, "A Skylark." One is a blonde, the other a brunette In their manner, their ability to speak line tellingly, their way of walking, standing and wear ing clothes, we have striking exam ples of the very best in the way of chorus girl material
 Every once in while we hear of a manager who had accepted none! for attraction for an unknown girl who is being "angelized" by Man hattan millionaire, and who has no real need or accomplishment for the place. I know of no reputable man. ager who is open to any such pro- posals. I don't say that such an epi- sode has not been known, but say that it is the exception which really proves rule In the same way, would not deny the existence of chorus girl, too we'll known to the exclusion of the veritable class, who goes to rehearsals in her own car, gives her salary to French maid and sometimes figures in sensa- tional murder or divorce trial; but that type of girl is just as exception al as the manager. Heaven help the chorus girl today who thinks she is going to get anywhere in her pro- fession by notorious loss of self re- spect-a success of that kind is as short lived as a smile.
 Beginning at eighteen, when her voice is developed enough for the use to which it will be put, the chor- us girl, if she never gets beyond the ''line,' has at least ten years of de- mand After that she is passed ex- cept in rare cases. Perhaps it is that knowledge that finally swamps her. Certainly, it is that which prompts her to get out and into some other work, which even drives her to matrimony. There are two classes of girls who live and die in the chorus. There is the girl whose vanity outstrips her talent-the one who believes that it is the easiest way to some spectacular future, and who in the end becomes wardrobe woman, goes back home or drifts into the sea of derelicts; the other is the girl who is honest in her de- termination, but discovers that she has no real talent, such as is neces- sary to get out of the "line," but with endurance enough to stay on until somebody takes pity on her or she takes pity on herself and creeps |