New Britain herald. [microfilm reel] (New Britain, Conn.) 1890-1976, 1915-08-12

(By Alssa Franc in the New YORK
Tribune.)
"Shonld women become stage man
aeers D, T asked Mrs. Ada Dow Cur
rier, the first feminine representative
of their race and trloe.
"Certainlv. Every man speaking the
absolute unvarnished truth would ad-
nit that the mentality or the average
woman is infinitely higher than that of
the average man-nO matter how
much he bluffs himself-incidentall
# is mere cowardice on his part that
makes this fierce struggle against suf-
frage."
Vince not, oh fathers, husbands,
sons and brothers, at the truth that
! this energetic little lady would have
| her kind realize, for the twinkle
tucked away at the very back of her
kindly gray eyes takes the sting from
the bitterness of her words. .
Advocated Woman Suffrage.
She speaks of her early career, of
the years spent playing with Joseph
jefferson, of how he was the stanch-
est of feminists. To him, she tells us.
there was nothing a woman could not
do as we'll as man, and fervent1y did
this forty years ago!
There are quite a few successful
stage managers now" she says, land
their numbers will increase rapidly as
women gain courage in their own i'm
mense capabilities"
Il think 1 ought to say" she
laughingly adds, that stage managers
pSOit1OnS are not exactly the pleasant
est ones in the whole world, as recog-
milton for their labor and services
falls but seldom to them. One might
almost say that there are all the
kicks and none Of the halfpence, so to
speak-but let that not restrain wom-
en- from their bent, for the JOY of the
work brings its own reward"
Speaks of Julia Marlowe.
1 asked her to speak of her early
connections with Julia Marlowe.
Julia Marlowe'-her voice takes
on the somewhat hazy tone of long
past remembrance.
Il found Julia Marlowe in Cincin=
natl, Ohio, to which place 1 had been
called by my brother-fn-law, r. E. J.
Miles, to direct and produce grand
opera for him. I took her into the
chorus and then afterward brought
her to New York to study with me the
roles which were to make her IA
nous.
II have never in all my life met a
human being with the power of con-
centration and application of Julia
Marlowe," she says emphatically.
After three years she made her
debut at the Bijou theater under my
directions brilliant, instantaneous
success
Help Struggling Artists.
With their experience and their un-
derstanding of women Mrs. Currler
feels that women stage managers will
help struggling artists more than men,
"for women so we'll understand the
hardships of home life and sufferings
connected therewith-their interest
will perhaps be a more personal one
THE development Of women is sim
ply . question of time" she aft1rms,
women have never had a chance up
to the present. The war-wlth
grim humor-"has thrown into their
laps all they could ever have asked
the fates to give them-let them not
lose their heads, but show their WIS
DOM"
And then we talked about the most
interesting ventures of Mrs. Currler
career-her three trips to- emma win
her own companies, performing elgh-
teen plays from musical comedy 10
Greek dramas
| Own Municipal Theater.
| 1T is difficult to tell you sufficiently
or the love for art and literature in
| this country we are prone to mention
with a slight tinge of contempt" she
aff1rms. Art does really play a part
in the democracy of China-and here?
Do you realize" she asks almost fierce
ly, that not a town of China but has
it's own municipal theater?
What is done for art in this coun-
| try? Absolutely nothing. There is
| more young genius in America today
than there has ever been at any age
in any land, and yet what becomes
of it? 1t begins it's struggle with grim
enthusiasm in spite of an instructive
knowledge Of what stands before it,
determined to conquer-but little by
| little it's spirit gets broken and it dies
away into the unknown.
Art Should Be Subsidized.
art should be subsidized-it is not
| a commercial asset-but all that the