Nogales international., 1929-04-23
CHAPTER II.
REHEARSAL

.OuI VGISlO1I "a L ySlAIo1AO1A oA1O
Galatea" would doubtless surprise you
if you. are at all familiar with the
original, in which PygmdlioN is the
artist and carves the lady in the sketch
out of block of marble.
We started out to rehearse it that
way, but ran into difficulties when the
matter of costumes came up for dis
cussion. 1t seemed advisable that the
statue should wear white tights and
white grease-paint on the face in order
to carry out the illusion. All the ladies
of the club were quite content that it
should be so, but when it came to
assigning the parts each and every one
refused to be GGlateG.
For a time it looked as if we would
have to fall back on some little sketch
of Shakespeare's until Maryella made
the practical suggestion that we change
the story. Her idea was to make
Gdlatea a sculptorine who hammers a
hunk of stone into a beautiful male
statue by the name of Pygmaliom.
Can you imagine an anti-feminist
thinking up thought like that?
Maryella's suggestion carried. AS
the literary man of the organization,
I was appointed to doctor up the
manuscript to fit the change of charac-
ters. Later, much to my surprise and
in spite of my protests, the stellar
role of Pygmoliom was forced upon
me.
Tonight was to be the dress re-
hearsal and on the following evening
we were scheduled to give trial per-
formance in the basn at the Old Sol
diers' Home. The trial performance
was for the double purpose of getting
easy in our parts and of making the
old soldiers realize that war is not SO
terrible after all.
When l returned to my bachelor
rooms in town / had only time to
change to some dry clothing and hurry
over to the rehearsal without gettin
anything to eat. Food did not appe
to me anyway. Neither did anythin
else leas: of all rehearsing a lot {
| fool love-talk. Ny own romance ha
suffered such a disheartening Set-bac
that | was in no mood to enact tt
role of a hand-hammered Romeo {
mythology.
But | went just the same. You kno'
how hard it is to step out of the ror
tine business of your life just becaus
some disaster has befallen you. YOU
A perceptions become numbed and yo
wonder vaguely why the sun is shining
but you go on doing the things thu
are expected of you just as you hay
always done.
i Business as usual" is not the mott
of an exceptional nation. It is the ur
derlying principle of the progress @
the human race.
The Sheridan Dramatic Club ha
borrowed for rehearsals the stage O
the local opera-house, which was va
| cant that week. 1t was there that
wended my disconsolate way.
l was late, but it didn't make muc
difference, as all during the first &C
the statue of PygnGlion was a pabie,
mGche figure. Between the acts l wa
supposed to take the place of tn
statue in the same pose so that Iittl
later / could come to life in respons
to G0lGteG's wish.
/ When / came in they were rehears
| ing with the dummy. Everything ap
peared to be going very WELL Maryell
looked absolutely raviShing in th'
Greek drapery, and Jim Cooper wa
doing the best he could to impersot1at
a skinny Greek warrior.
He was even thinner than had sus
! pected. AS a Highlander he woul
| never be a conspicuous success. An,
| one could tell that at glance.
The part of young sculptor's ap
prentice was taken by Mrs. Hemming
way, dazzling blond who was wortl
going miles to behold in a shor
Greek tunic and sandals. Sh,
/ wouldn't have fooled any one but /;
blind man into thinking she was /;
boy but nobody minded that. Sh'
had talents enough to get into f:
! Ziegfeld chorus any day.
There were a dozen. other part.
played with intent to kill in the goot
cid amateur way. I discovered
former male friends hidden behinc
bushy boards that dropped off oc
casionally at critical moment, leav.
ing the actor bald-faced and speech.
less; and ladies / used to know dis.
guised as Hellenic maidens by doing
their hair into a Psyche knot anc
trimming their best nighties with Z
Greek key-design and an occasional
swastika.
Off stage, doing a piece of EN-.
broidery while she waited for hel
cue, was Mrs. George P. Lillielove
the wife of the most popular under
taker in town. In Greek robes Mrs
Lillielove looked almost exactly like
a haystack with tarpaulin over it.
l slipped into my dressing
unobserved. Ny costume was there