Evening star., 1952-05-21


She is agreeably surprised ant
the show. She is also as nice a gir
you quite candidly that she has
not made up her mind about life
and work. In spite of the critical
rhapsody which greeted her and
the nightly cheers of the audi
ence. she is disposed to let the
future happen.
Miss McHugh is an extraordi-
narily funny girl with a song but
she Is also quite an intellectual
and thoughtful one off stage.
The one effect of her success in
"Piccola Pisa" is that it has made
her less certain that she will go
back to teach at her alma mater,
st. Joseph's in Cincinnati, next
year. She will have her Masters
degree in fine arts by then. She
came to Catholic University to get
1t but at % girl has time to be-
gin teaching. Or to delay begin
ming.
X "a
If Dee decides to go into show
business. her future press agents
can say she was discovered by
that expert talent scout, Fredric
March. This may be stretching
the truth a bit. she feels. but not
beyond the license of press agents.
March, a friend of her family,
irst sighted Dee when she was a
mere sprig of a McHugh.
Il guess I must have been a
pmorbidly shy child" he says.
sat any rate. Mr.. March sug-
gested that I called for some kind
of drastic treatment. A children's
drama school, for instance, or
elocution classes.
We'll. my mother did as he
suggested. Years later. I met Mr..
March again. My impact upon
him must have been something
like terrific. He took one look at
me, another at my mother and
remarked: Well. it certainly
worked. My Lord. how it worked" !"
\ x 4 X
Miss McHugh, it may surprise
her fans to know, is regarded as
an even more promising actress
than a comedy singer by those
who know her. There is range in
her talent and her teachers will
tell you that she is perceptive and
expressive in more ways than
songs requiring big voice and a
healthy sense of comedy.
ITO tell you the truth" she
says. exactly like girl who de-
lights in telling the candid truth,
II always thought of myself as
q soprano until this part came
along At college in Cincinnati, ]
was a soprano soloist. Here, in
this show. they just told me to
cut loose and I did. Apparently
it is working out just fine"
Miss McHugh had it quite in
mind to be a drama teacher in
her Catholic girls college when
she came to C. U. for her mas
ter'S degree. One item of her
preparation for this was her con-
cept that the potential teacher
should be a highly diligent stu
dent. In other words, she thought
a girl should like to learn be-
fore she undertook to teach.
She made Phi Beta Kappa as
a result of this. Like many an
other p. B. K, she is the living
disproof that there is any in.
escapable relationship between
scholarship and STIFFNESS. Clearly
in her case a good brain and q
light heart are. no more irrecoh-
cilable than Phi. D. degree woulc
be in the case of Ethel Norman
The impulse of any admirer oi
authentic talent - it's heretica
but there it isis to tell CIR
like Miss McHugh that she should
choose a stage career over teach
ing.
She is an exception to this
rule. In her case, the feeling i!
that the decision can safely be
left to her and that it will bt
right whichever way it goes.
This is something that can bt
said Of few girls who are 6
mere %.
X X X
The Gayety's orchestra pro
vided First Lady" first nighter
with a laugh almost the equa
Of any of those in the Katharin