Evening star., 1917-09-16


hardly have attained and filled with honor
the positions held by William B. Giles. ;"
A Talented Warrington Girl.-In
the company supporting Thomas E.
Shea at Polls this week is Washing
ton girl. Edna Buckler.
Her father. now a minister of the gos-
pei. was well known as a Shakespear-
can actor and manager and is now
president Of the Washington Shakes
peAre Club. which includes in its mem
bership many prominent people in so
cial and official life. Her mother. also
a talented woman, has long been stu
dent OF the drama and is popular lee
turer in social work.
Miss Buckler has been trained for her
career in music and the drama. When
but eleven years old she dramatized
and produced q play of her own and
later was the winner in a short story
contest conducted by The Star She
made her first professional appearance
in a vaudeville sketch of Henry Miller's,
afterward sang in vaudeville. posed in
two movie thrillers and has played in
stock in Hoboken. Schenectady. Worces
ter and in Washington.
Rough and Rugged Road to Fame
II Clare Hummer ever runs out Of ma
terial for plots she will have only to
dramatize the story of her own strug-
gle Her meteoric rise to fame, when
once the coveted first hearing" had
been obtained. would make a comedy
OF engrossing interest. brimming with
alternate triumphs and defeats that so
frequently characterize the lives of
those struggling for recognition in the
various fields of art
More than a decade ago Glare Beecher
(Kummer is only nom de plume) was
Brooklyn schoolgirl. setting her own
jingles to tunes of her own compost
tion, for her own satisfaction. She was
Beecher of the family whose most
famous scion was the eminent divine
Henry Ward Beecher-and writing
songs was her way of expressing her
share of the family talents.
One day she managed to get past the
guardian at the door of a famous
Broadway musical comedy entrepre-
neurs ofnce. the open sesame being a
letter of introduction from William
Gillette, a relative by marriage. With
in the sanctum she explained to the
magnate that she wrote songs. which
she would be glad to have Incorporated
into into his PRODUCTIONS: PRO Miss Hummer
tion called Egypt"
The lyric is good" the producer said
unbending bit, but what about the
music? Where can we get the music ?''
II have written that. too" she told
him.
That seemed to the manager to be
too much. In those days a woman who
could do one thing well was considered
an anomaly. but one who could do two
things-like the tabled giraffe to the
country man, there was mo sech ami
NAL" So Mr.. Manager advised the as
pfring author to go forth. find a COM
poser and then return with her song
Miss Hummer went forth, and when
she returned some weeks later she sang
her song. The managerial critic ap-
proved highly, and his surprise was
not unmi1ed with chagrin when he was
informed that the music was the orig
inal score he had refused to listen to
previously.
Egypt" was sung by Sallie Fisher in
one of the producers musical comedies.
and after that Miss Hummer had no
Egypt" became one of the most wide
ly warbled numbers of the decade
''Dearie," sentimental ballad Of hers.
was murmured in literally millions of
city flats and on provincial front
porches
From writing songs for lame and halt
musical plays, Miss Hummer became a
doctor of librettos. and wrote snatches
Of dialogue to bridge over dun spots.
She became expert at this. and had com
missions enough to keep her busy. But
she wanted to write whole plays. She
did write them. but again the apathy
Of the producer halted her.
1t was some years afterward that her
perseverance was rewarded. Marie
Cahill approved Of an idea for a musi-
cal play submitted by Miss Hummer.
and advance royalties were paid on the
manuscript. Then something happened
to Miss Cahill's plans and she was
forced to abandon immediate produc-
ton. It was at this juncture that Miss
Hummer met Arthur Hopkins, one of
the enterprising younger New York
producers.
Mr. Hopkins liked the idea of Good
Gracious, AnnAbelle," immensely. He
suggested some changes, chief Of which
was the deletion of the score and then
he produced 1t. Those who know their
Broadway know the rest of the story.
When Good Gracious, Annabelle."
after a prosperous run, took to the
road Miss Runners second play. "A
Successful Calamity" was produced by
Mr. Hopkins. No sooner had even larger
royalties begun coming in from this
than Miss Hummer began work on a
third comedy. the completed manu-
script of which she turned over to Mr..
Hopkins within two months of the time
she had begun. This was THE Res
cuing Angel" in which Miss Billie
Burke will begin q weeks engagement
at the National tomorrow night
Now instead OF waiting in outer Off
ces, the managers come to Miss Kum-
mer. But she has not forgotten the re-
buffs of other years.
Got His Moneys Worth.-When Dave
Ferguson of the VERY Good Eddie"
Company was in his teens and grow
ing very fast. he was invited to a full
kA