New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1916-10-16
HITCH YOUR STAR
TO A WAGON
Hard Work Seems To
Be Beneficial for
Actresses
By HAYWOOD BROUN

There may be something in this Cos
pei OF hard work, after all. Il never did
US any good. But John d. Rockefeller
and George Stallings and the Democrat
who is running for alderman in our dis
trict all set no end OF store by perse-
Miss BANTER is the young actress in
ARMS and the Girl" who has made a
pleasant impression in this her first
appearance on Broadway. Miss BANTER
came 70 Broadway from Albany. out
not as the crow flies. Her route lay
through Los Angeles, Sioux City, Des
Moines and FL Psso. There are shorter
roads 20 Broadway, but they are not
necessarily better. In five years Of
stock Miss Banter played all the char
acters there are. She was queen and
slavey and ingenue and vampire.
Coughs overwhelmed her in tear
dimmed last acts. Aged men turned her
out into whistling snowstorms. She
set herself in the dead centre of the
stage and took the spotlight "a she
murmured of mothers love, and now
and again she chewed chltfoniers and
kicked the furniture a. her lover
slammed the hall door for the last time.
After this training Miss Banter IS
capable Of being Ruth Sherwood and
acting most pleasantly like herself IN
the light comedy at the Fulton Theatre.
Only the most rigorous work enables a
person to act like herself on the stage.
Every artifce is needed to be natural.
Miss Banter understands these arti-
fees. She can take the rabbits of emo
81 81 81 DE- nS
her sleeve in a manner 20 mystify her
audience. and please IL, too. In other
words. she knows her business, and she
knows that she knows, which is ever so
much more.
Before she is allowed TO say any
thing here Il is well to establish the
fact that this article is written calmly
and dispassionately For instance, you
might not think Olive Tell was great
actress if you watched her play from
the twelfth or thirteenth row, but any
body who stood face 20 face with her
would almost OF a certainty be sud
denly swept away by the realization OF
her genius. Now. Miss BANTER is not
beautiful or pretty. II might be pos
/ sible 70 get around this by using chic
or piquant or something like that, but
| such outlandish phrases do not mt the
pleasant young person OF Arms and
the Girl" One of o. Henry's most
/ fetching heroines had a wide mouth and
a corking smile filed with a lot OF
white teeth Her name was Celia and
she played the harmonica. Maybe Miss
BANTER can't play the harmonics, but
for the res. she is another Celia. This
being established, let it be said that
/ Miss Banter thinks that stock is me
training. The best way 20 learn 10 ac'
is to act" she said. "I played juliet
when I was eighteen. ! know lot more
now, and get I'd be much more fright
ened in playing the part. I'd remember
some Of the people who had playec
/ Juliet and the study they'd given 20 th'
mart. -Four wears ago just learned th'
. lines and went ahead slam bang. But II
( didn't do me bit OF harm. ! took tn,
work seriously, and even though
played the part badly ! got lot ou'
Of II.
The worst danger in stock is stay
/ ing in one place too long. The peopic
/ OF the town come 20 know you, and
after while they'll accept you nc
matter what you do. The stock actress
+ has 10 guard against playing for tne
easy laugh and the easy cry. lhen II
YOU stay IN klOCh hoD iOh= ~ NNN
some of the fire and sim out OF you
The strain OF creating so many charac.
ters makes your work mechanical. OF
course. | don't pretend for minute
that the way to play part is to feel
It. Imagine what would become OF a
woman who had 10 tear herself 70 bits
every night in some heavy emotional
role. But once or twice before you be-
gin to play the part you ought to get
inside II. After that you get the bust
ness mapped out and carry on the part
by what you know rather than what
you feel. The better the actor the less
his performance will vary from night
to night
Miss Banter likes her part in Arms
and the Girl" New York is a fine city,
horseback riding IS her favorite diver
sion and some time she would like TO
be in a fairy play like Peter Pan.
And that's all We know.
7. ia Just shout as easy 70 lose