The Birmingham age-herald., 1918-02-12
All Reports to the Contrary Notwithstanding There's One Matinee Idol Left on the Stage Mr. George
 Damere, And the Lyric Has Corraled Him
By DOLLY DALRYMPLE

H ISIEN, SlrlS, all reports to lne cop-
 trary, notwithstanding there's one ~ "matinee idor' left on the stage Mir. George Damerel, and the Lyric has corraled him.
 You know for a while it "sort of" looked as if the matinee idol' was doomed, the only place where you could possibly find one being in the movies" where the Hacketts, and the Barrymores, and the Favershams, and the Conway Tearles and the Lou Tellegens shone re- splendent but there's one who hasn't as yet succumbed to the 'movies;'' and we have With us tonight the stunning MT. Damerel of Merry Widow fame, who, judging by the swarms of matinee girls at the Lyric yesterday afternoon, hasn't lost any of his magnetism, charm, and attractions, for the fair sex.
 As a matter of news" interest, I may as well tell you that it was a perfectly wonderful matinee attended by galaxies of Damerel worshippers wearing ardent hearts on their sleeves and beautiful nosegays to cast at the feet of this adorable young man, should the oppor- tunity of casting present Itself.
 Girls tall and girls small, girls big and girls little, girls blonde and girls bru- nette were there, exclaiming about MT. Damerel:
 This is the tenth time I've seen him" "I wouldn't miss him for the world" His eyes; did you ever see anything so divine?" He's so adorably fascinating; I believe he'd be delicious to quarrel with,' and goodness knows what else they said about this dashing young cava- Her whose dancing and singing and good looks have placed him in a class all to himself, said class coming pretty near to being the hundred per cent ideal of musical comedy perfection.
 MT. Damerel and l are old friends. I've watched his career with much pleasure, and I've found out definitely that all the adulation and adoration which has been bestowed upon him has not spoiled him or turned his head one jot- He's all there with the flashing eye, the sturdy figure and the stunning manner.
 This matinee idol' business doesn't worry MT. Damerel a bit He has far bigger things to think of for he's always busy trying to do better work, cultivat- ing his voice and learning something new to please his big audiences. Possess sing already the three most desired mu- sical comedy essentials-good looks good voice and good acting He's constantly endeavoring to keep up to the standard.
 And for this very reason, it's not the "girlie girls alone who like MT. George Damerel, for the men enjoy him, too, because he makes them forget thclr troubles and the tired business man. and his much more tired wife enjoy the Merry Widow" hero quite as much as the matinee girls.
 Yesterday when I went round to the Lyric matinee to see the show and also MT. Damerel, it was a behind the scenes" chat I had with the nice young man.
 I wended my way through myriad cues and stage hands in various pastures of boredom. disapproval, and amiable in- difference who were lounging about until it would be time for the scenery to be changed, while the nice MT Manager and I rumaged about looking for MT. Damerel and getting beautifully in the way, as they said things under their berath, and one gaunt, satirical person chortled audibly when ripped over rope Git must have been in the air) and finally landed outside the dressing room" door.
 Got time to tell me what you've been doing since you were here last" I asked as friendly hand grasped mine and the same, cordial winning smile that always makes friends for MT. Damerei greeted me.
 Working! working! working!' he said candidly. I've got a brand new show and I've been dancing and singing and getting things into shape, and that's hard work, you know.
 That sounds as if I were doing lot of dancing, doesn't it?" MT. Damerel observed. "but don't be misled, because I really do very little, for the simple mat ter that I think stage dancing has been worked to death for the past few years; in fact, every since the Merry Widow which started the dancing craze and everybody has danced so much that the novelty has practically worn off; besides, there are so many good amateur dancers nowadays almost as good as professionals, in fact, so that clever danc- ing is the rule and not the exception
 You know I'm great advocate of dancing, though,'' he continued. Il be- lieve everybody ought to learn how to dance. As a child I knew very little about dancing, because I only had a few lessons, so when The Merry Widow part was offered to me I wondered how on eartn 1 was gong to De able to put it over, because felt my inability to dance we'll You recall that the dancing of Merry Widow fame was what we call eccentric dancing, very quick tempo and very complicated steps and it took an awful lot of hard work to learn it, but where there's a will there's a way, and mastered it and from that time I have never had any trouble with danc- ing.
 And, speaking of The Merry Widow,'' ? MT. Damerel said, "so many people have remarked that I was so lucky to get such good part--a part which created such a sensation, and in way I was; but do you know that one of the worst things that can hap pen to an actor is to be associated with one particular kind of part in a play, and have that part cling to him the rest of his life? Now in the present