The Waterbury Democrat., 1934-09-13
In New York
BY PAUL HARRISON


 New York.-Every now and then
 I get a letter which says, in sub stance: q am a talented, amb.-
 tious, attractive girl of the ingenue type. Please tell me how to get on the Broadway stage" The problems are stated as sim- ply as that, but I'm afraid my re- plies have been somewhat less definite. And perhaps something less than helpful, unless they have
 served to keep a few people away from the rialto, where there are 50 applicants for every job. Most aspirants believe that in- terviews with casting directors and producers are obtained only through the influence of powerful friends. That isn't strictly true. Elmer Rice, now occupying the old Belasco offices, sees every ap- plicant for a part. Margaret Lin I ly, casting director of the Theater Guild, declares she'll grant every written request for an interview, though there are so many. letters that ther'll be considerable de- lay. The same goes for Dwight Deere Wiman, Tom Weatherly and most of the other bigwigs of Broadway.
 Don't Believe in Signs
 At the height of the casting sea- son, nearly all offices have posted NO Casting signs. These for bidding notices are producers first line of defense; they turn away the timid and the amateurs. But no seasoned performer pays the slightest attention to them; he or she will barge right up to the office receptionist with an air of "Tell your boss that l have ] arrived and that his troubles are | over"
 I am not one to encourage un- truthfulness or trickery in the young, yet it must be told that many stage roles are won by de- yious deceits. There was the girl. | for example, who called Earl Car roll. said she was on the staff of a magazine and that she wanted 1 to write an article about him. MT Carroll received her and was con- fiding all the details of his life and ambitions when she broke down and admitted that she was just a chorus girl looking for q job. She got 1t.
 Getting a Husband
 A lass named Frances Fuller, who never had been behind the footlights in her life, went to see Ben Hecht, Worthington Min CT and their associates when they were casting "The Front Page. She reached them by declaring that she had played couple of seasons in stock, but they soon
 had her confessing, among tears, that it wasn't so. But she wept SO appealingly that they gave her
 a job--and soon afterward sch be- came Mrs Worthington Miner. Mary Brandon, niece of Booth Tarkington. landed role with the same tactics. Violet Carlsop | fortified herself with few French phrases and Gallic ac- cent and bluffed her way into Caviar" as a native Frenchwo- man. There was no criticism of her performance until the shows
 author, who happens to live in Paris, complimented her work | with a torrent of French. Miss Carlson didn't understand word of it, of course, so the denouement
 was swift if not tragic. They let her stay.
 While Sailor Beware" was be- ing cast several young men got the idea of wearing gobs' uni- forms while applying for parts.
 One or two made out all right, but the one real sailor, who appeared in his own uniform. was told he
 wasn't of the navy type.
 Getitng a Letetr Read
 Then there was the trick em- ployed by a fellow who knew an ordinary letter wouldn't get past the secretary of a certain busy producer. And so he wrote, famliliarly, Dear Bill: Sorry we weren't in when you dropped by the other evening, but Helen and
 I will see you at the club next IFriday. Meanwhile I want you to
 be thinking about that fishing
 cruise. I've had the boat painted land" It went on like that for
 a couple of paragraphs, suddenly
 broke off in the middle of a sen- tence to confess that the forego- ing had been just ruse to get the lletetr into his hands. The writer I then went on to state his qualifi- cations and request an interview labout a certain part in forth coming play.
 The producer never had heard of the actor, but he was so amuse- led and impressed that he sent Ihim a wire. Dear Pete,' it said, II ssdrn,. t<, anv finn aaD "