The Washington herald., 1920-07-29
I New York City
By o. o. Mcintyre

New York, July 2s.-The require
ments for the stage are becoming
more and more exacting. Not only
must the aspirant have knowi-
edge of languages, but OF proper
dress as we'll. The sin of omission
is a deadly one along the Riaito.
Managers will not pay a Leading
man or lady $500 or $500 a week
to have them make simple mis-
take that may turn success into
dismal failure.
A young Mid Western girl, slated
for stardom. lost her Job in a mu-
steal show this week because she
mispronounced the word lingerie
much-used word In these days
of Ostermoor dramas. She gave IT
an Anglo-Saxon sound, the audi
ence Uttered, the dramatic critics
found a vulnerable point and the
young lady found herself out of
the cast. A cruel world!
white spnts Loom Up.
A young leading man who showed
great promise appeared in draw
ing-room scene in a drama recently
in a dinner suit and apparently at
the last moment thought he would
add a dash of jazz to his sartorial
spIendor by wearing white spats.
They loemed up like light house
I in the fog.
The stage manager did not see
him until he was out before the
footlights. 1t will take several
years for the leading man to live 1T
down. Such mistakes travel quick
| ly in the Offices of the produaers.
1t Is said that the only time nat
Belasco ever went into a rage be-
! fore a company was when a star
appeared at a rehearsal one, day
chewing gum. What he said almost
melted the asbestos curtain.
Splitting the Infinitive.
Arthur Hopkins, who has the rep
utation of being a high-brow pro-
ducer because he insists upon per-
feet English. had to chide a finished
actor after a first night perform
ance for splitting the infinitlve.
That he was justified was indicated
when the morning papers came out
with their reviews. The only criti-
cism was this grammatical error.
Even the vaudevillian who in
quires: who was that lady / seen
! you with last night?" to get the
perennial reply: That was no lady
that was my wife," Is now subject
to rebuke from the overlords of the
Keith circuit.
You Never VIII.
1t may be an old wheeze. Most of
| them are. But between acts at a
| theater the other night the audi
| ence heard Charles NJ. Schwab give
a hearty series of laughs. A gentle
man with him asked him IL he had
ever heard of the Scotchman who
overpaid his caddy.
No" replied Mr.. Schwab.
We'll, you never will" was the
| laugh-provoking rejoinder.
Hermie Has Sailed.
| Hermie, the walking pawnbroker,
sailed for Paris this week and will
| spend the rest of his life on the
bouleyards far from the throngs OF
! Broadway. He was one of the
Broadway institutions that yearly
| inspired Sunday section stories. Hi:
office was under his hat. He loaned
money to theatrical folk, gamblers
and many rich young men without
collateral. He knew his clients
| His rates were high and he always
carried $4,000 with him and was
| in easy reach of more. He never
kept books. But he never forgot a
debt and in the twenty-five years
| that he cruised around Broadway
his losses amounted only to a few
thousands. He is said to be worth
half million. He came to New
York from an Alsatian town and
started his career as a bus boy
then a waiter. While waiting tables
he became acquainted with all the
Broadway crowd and most of them
at one time or other became his
clients.
They were speaking of various
campaigns down at the Press Club
when up spoke Don Marquis. the
sweet singer of the Sun. with the
remark that it didn't look as II
Debs was even considering a front
porch campaign.