The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1907-1939, 1922-05-15

HCdTO.
A famous actress will not give
you the name, although 7 have it here
said: ~ must express the utmost
disdain for many of the plays today"
She said: "The lecture room, and not
the theater is the place where such
topics should be discussed"
As a manager why he produces
them, and he will tell you that as
long as the public wants them he
will produce them. So it is your
fault, as a part of the public, and |
take supreme delight in telling you
so.
Therefore, when the %Iroquois thea
ter burned in Chicago some years
ago the theaters around were closed
for a month. A famous actor who
was there at that time with his COM
pany said that if the theaters remain
ed closed any length of time there
would be an excessive amount of
drinking and dissipation and perhaps
suicide, for the theater was a sort of
safety valve for the fellow who lives
in high gear-he goes down to relax.
Public Finds
Amusement.
At the close of the month one Of
the Chicago papers, in writing an
editorial, made the comment: Hap
PLY, no such dreadful things have
come to pass as were predicted by
the famous actor n month Ago.. The
public has shown a capacity for anus
ing and entertaining itself in other
ways, and it was only a question of
amusement, and that seemingly the
most trivial kind, for the day has
long since gone by in which any con-
siderable portion of the public look
to the theater for instruction or in
spiration."
Crude melodrama and comedies
and sentimental and literary clap
trap, extravaganZas that are nothing
more or less than the old-fashioned
burlesque-they are the offerings from
the average stage of today. You
! know it is the spectacular that seems
to attract. You take the leg shows
off and most of them will go into
bankruptcy. That seems to be the
thing that attracts all ver
Another famous actress said:
Conditions of the theatrical world
today are such that l wouldn't advise
any girl to go upon the stage. 1t is
dangerous. Young women should
shu& the stage as they would the bu.
bonic plague. The conditions behind
the footlights, especially for chorus
girls and show girls, is something hor
rible."
Most musical plays employ girls
who are at the mercy of men, and hall
a dozen theaters, she said, that she
: could name offhand, were managed
by m~illionaires. and their friends
have the privilege of staying there
during the rehearsals of the per
formances and their object is obvi
Gus. A girl with a pretty face is
soon at their mercy. And these rich
men go into the business for that
purpose. In a play with an actress
formerly a star, she was asked if she
would allow her daughter to become
an actress. She is reported to have
said: I'D rather see her dead"
Famous Producer
; Gives Advice.
"Now, if you are determined tc
; be an actress" said a famous pro
Queer, land no persuasion can cause
/, you to stop my advice to you would
, be to go TO New York and stop at {
2 boarding house where you can secure
room and board for about 81 per, anC
; stay there for two weeks, and the1
! you will know what to expect in tht
/ way of grub. when you get out on thu
one-night stands hitting these LITTLE
hotels in the circuit out in Iowa.
5 where | came from. Then" he said
s "if that doesn't satisfy you, Just takt
a little stroll up Broadway for a cou
l. pie of weeks and look into the face
of about 10000 actors and actresses
/ looking for engagements that most o
them W get. And you follow tina
procession as they go from one man
ayers office to another. starting GU
q in the early morning, full of hope AM
e expectation, and returning home a
e night with their hearts sad, and yol
i will witness "a awful scene"
o Ninety out of 100 who CO to New
e York to go on the stage fail. Some O
e them go back home, some of them q
q in other lines, and some of them be
q come human dereIicts and driftwooo
e all your years of work and your denia
of your home, wearing yourself GU
in one night stands, travelling up an
n down the land, away from home an,
children? Oh, you will get merely
n passing notice in a newspaper, i
e some obscure corner, and it will sa
o you died in the actors home such an
n such a time and that you were once
famous actor or actress-and that
v your obituary for hard work.
n Now, keep in mind two things
will you? Character in the theatrics
people and character in theatrics
plays.
Oh, that there are noble men an
n women on the stage everybody wi
admit. Just as noble as you can fin
II anywhere. You couldn't find anybod
W more high-class than Booth or Joe
h. Jefferson or Tom Keene, Fanny Da1
S. export or Maud Adams or Maxine E
lie lott or Billie Burke and a lot of then
k and Dave Warfield and Sarah BerI
lie hardt, Rose Stahl, J.. X. Hackett an
-e a multitude of them. They reflec
II great credit to manhood, womanhoo
4. and to their profession, and you can
v, find a higher type of manhood @
n womanhood anywhere on earth-the
{. are just as fine as you find anywher
on earth. They are noble people, e
f. erybody will admit that. You can
a beat them. l say they reflect gres
honor upon manhood and womanhoo
and their profession as well.
Gives His
u. Own Opinion.
Now, the character of the play
that they are in is clean and eleva
II in~g-everybody will admit that.
II Somebody said to me: What is tn
le last play you say o used to like?'