The Omaha guide., 1932-12-17

great a of work, and long be-.
fore the time Of the fina. rehearsal
Tracey's show, which he had nam.
ed Dark Harlem" had received
an extraordinary amount of pub
licity.
Only the final dress rehearsal
now remained before the whole
show would be loaded up and sent
to Washington for a try-out week.
If it proved a success there, they
all knew it was due for a long
lcng run in Harlem, or even on
Broadway.
Ellen attended the dress rehears-
al as part Of her job. Any little
incident which happened now
would be news, and Storms BUSH
ness was t. get the news into the
papers. They sat together in the
front of a chilly, deserted theatre
while Tracey ran the performance
from a point of vantage in the
orchestra pit. Often things dis
pleased Tracey, and when that
happened his nervous temperament
would flare up; he would call for
a repetition of the scene which had
displ.ase1 him. The night dragged
on as number after number was
gone over, popped up, slowed down,
or cut out altogether. The orcheS-
ira grew weary with the constant
rel zion; most Of those who had
merely dropped into the theatre
to watch the rehearsal left their
seats and went home. Still Harold
Stern remained, picking up bits Of
interesting information here and
there, debating them to Ellen for
future reference.
At two o'clock in the morning
the whole performance definitely
struck a snag. Tracey was work.,
ing on a garden scene, one which
featured a very beautiful young
girl in a charming duet with one
Of the male principals. Thg
trouble was with the girl. She was
tired and sIlky, and Tracey's con-
slant f~ault-finding only served to
sharpen her temper.
Good LordI" the producer shot
at her after the fifth try, What's
so hard about that number. any
waya Why, I could pick a girl up
out of the streets who'd do it bet
ter than you without half trying.
Why don't you stop acting and
just be natural? That's all there
is to it,"
The girl tried again, with even
worse results. Tracey tore at his
hair. He looked around him.
Look" he cried, Il could get that
girl back there, with never a day
of stage experience, and put her in
there-and Ill bet she'd do the,
part better than you're doing it,
now"
Ellen smiled at the reference to
herself. She was growing tired Of
this scene now-she had seen it 50
many time she knew it almost
by heart.
But Tracey was serious. He turn
ed suddenly and beckoned to her.
Come up here a minute" he
called.
She hesitated.
Stern nudged her. GO ahead.
He means you," he prodded.
Ellen arose and with pad and
pencil in hand walked down the
aisle toward the stage. Tracey mo-
toned her to go up onto it. She
did. The lights, pouring down up
on her, blinded her for a moment,
then she found herself in the midst
of the garden scene which had
caused SO much trouble.
Miss Young" Tracey explained.
you've seen what I've been trying
to do all this time. 1 want you to
step in there ami take the girls
place just long enough to show
Enid here how it should be DONE
Don't try to act. Just be natural.
And hum your part of the song
if you don't know the words"
Ellen was nervous, she trembled,
all over. She dropped the pad
AMI pencil to the floor, then col
lected herself and started to do as;
she had been told. Enid LaFrance,l
the original girl, stood off to thai
side, her temper slowly arising all
the proceedings.
The orchestra started, and thGt
words of the duet came dimly backj
TO Ellen. The action she did noG