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Show j ADVICE OF ACTRESSES TO STAGE-STRUCK GIRLS THE question that actresses are asking more frequently than any other is: "Should a woman adopt the stage as a profession?" Opinions differ widely on the subject, nnd thorc could scarcely be more divergence di-vergence than that expressed by five leading, actresses when the question was put to them last week in New York. Two of. the younger American women stars of the stasre, both descendants de-scendants of theatrical families, are quoted, and tho optimism of their views cannot be entirely explained by the fact that they have made great successes suc-cesses early in life. The two English uctresscs quoted have been successful in this country as well as their own. If their views seem less hopeful, the fact, perhaps, only illustrates that In this, as in all other questions, It is all in the point of view. " 'Don't!' That's my advice to your stage-struck girl." said Jessie Mill-ward. Mill-ward. "The stage ib overloaded today by second and third-rate material, but good, efficient women In both clerical and domestic positions are In demand. And I assure you it Is far more honorable honor-able to be a first-class bookkeeper or stenographer than to be a second-rato actress. "Of course, there have been women who have made splendid successes, women like Mmc. Bernhardt, Miss Terry and Mnic. Rejane; but these are not ordinary women. Here you have women with heaven-3entmisslons. the divine gift, women who, had they disregarded disre-garded this gift, would have committed a crime. Such women have bought the right to their positions by years of the hardest sort of work in training schools of practical experience. Acting is. like any other art; like sculpture, like painting, paint-ing, like music even you must learn the technique. "The ordinary young woman has an altogether perverted idea of the stage. There is a glitter and glamor to it which quite bewilder them. They do not realize the years of work which went to make success. "Most of the craze for the stage is due to misapprehension and a false idea tlon of 'star which blinds and befuddles the aspirant. To me the position of the star. If won honestly, Is the highest honor that the dramatic profession can give. But when It comes through any external cause of circumstance or any cause save merit then an injustice has ben done both to the public and to the profession. "The case of the girl who is forced to earn her own living Is different, of course, but the rules hold pretty much, the same, don't they? In the first place, such a girl wants 'to consider the pecuniary pe-cuniary return If she is a beginner, her salary will be, I should say, Just about the same as if she had a clerical or commercial position. If I understand conditions rightly, It is considerably more difficult to obtain a theatrical engagement en-gagement than an ordinary position. And the probability of continuous work is Infinitely less. On the other hand, tho stage offers the constant chance for advancement. "As for the work Itself, she will probably prob-ably work harder and put up with more hardships. "There has been a great deal of nonsense non-sense written regarding the moral side of the question. The young girl, If she is the light sort, can go on the stage with safety. I would be in far greater fear of her losing her ideals than of any moral breakdown. I see no reason why a girl should not try to earn her livelihood liveli-hood on the stage as well as In any other position where she Is thrown In contact with men and the conditions of the world. So the question resolves itself, in my mind, Just to this: Let no young girl be deceived by the glitter and glamor of the stage. Let her know the real conditions, the yearn of hard work and pain and struggle that she must endure. Let her realize that she must begin at the very lowest rung of the ladder and win, not buy, nor cajole, ca-jole, nor gain by trick, her way upward. up-ward. Let her be dead in earnest, and not sentimentally so. And, above all, she should be absolutely sure she has, as Mr. Thompson says, soul, the power to croate; If she has not this, let her seek other fields of livelihood. "I do not believe that any one will succeed in the dramatic profession." said Eleanor Robson, "who docs not take It up with as serious intentions as he or she would the profession of law or medicine or teaching, or any other business busi-ness in which people earn a living. Of course, acting Is different from other professions, because the really great actor must have It In him. He must have talent, inspiration as much as the poet or the painter or the sculptor must have the divine alllatua. Given th In splratlon, however, then comes the work, and it must be good, hard work. "It seems to me that an actress who wishes to succeed, to do something, ought to start off with a respect, a veneration almost, for her profession. For acting is a great profession. In some of the European countries, where the theaters are endowed, they are looked upon really as educational institutions, in-stitutions, and that Is what they ought to be In this country, and will be, too, some day, I have no doubt. The better class are that today. Where, for instance, in-stance, can you And better schools of deportment than in the theaters where really high class dramas are presented In the way they ought to be presented? There is no more thorough way of teaching than by example, and It Is only on the stage that very many people peo-ple In this country have the opporttmlty of seeing actually performed the proper etiquette of the drawing room. And, after all, it is what one learns unconsciously uncon-sciously that Is best remembered, It always al-ways seems to me. "Morals also are laught on the stage. Even the melodrama, in which virtue Is always triumphant and the villain, no matter how polished he may be, never falls to be thwarted, teaches a wholesome whole-some moral lesson, and in the better class of plays the same lemon Is taught, only loss crudely, and, perhaps. In a more palatable form, to audiences of more cultivated tastes. But the young woman who becomes an actress must not imagine that she is to have an easy time of it. She would not have an easy time of it if she became a doctor or a lawyer or a teacher, and she must expect ex-pect nothing better on the stage. "There are lots of hardships she must undergo, and she must get what comfort com-fort she can out of the thought that there would have been hardships equally equ-ally great, If different in kind, in any other profession she might have chosen." When the question was put to Edith Wynne Matthison, the leading actress In Ben G reefs company, she wrote: "My opinion on 'The Stage as a Career Ca-reer for Women:' " 'Oh, time! thou must untangle this, not I; It is too hard a knot for me to untie.' " "I can see no more temptations for a young girl who is on the stage than one who is living In society." said Mrs. Del-lenbaugh. Del-lenbaugh. a leading actress in "The Secret of Pollchinelle." "That is. where sho goes about a great deal. Perhaps my experience does not include the phases of stage life to which so many people attribute the undoubted prejudice preju-dice from the moral standpoint which exists against a young girl's adopting a stage career. Never havei I seen tho slightest word or suggestion which could not have been repeated in any drawing room in New York. "In fact, instead of the stage offering greater temptations to a young girl than docs a life in society. 1 think it offers less. She has no time for the frivolities of life, the suppers, automobile automo-bile rides and other forms of entertainment entertain-ment or dissipation which to the girl in society are her most Important considerations. consid-erations. "The society girl receives quite as much admiration and attention in tho course of a winter's round of festivities as does the actress who Is playing even the part which audiences like and sympathise sym-pathise with heartily. The society girl knows that her admiration is all offered to her personality, while the actress, no matter If she be more conceited than any woman who ever lived, cannot but Icnow down in her heart that much of the admiration and applause which she she represents In tho minds of the audience, audi-ence, and to the lines which the author au-thor of tho play has given her to speak, "There Is an unutterable loneliness which, although I have never personally person-ally experienced it, I feel cannot but be present when a young girl Is traveling trav-eling on the road. It is this feeling far more than any desire to be depraved which leads so many girls to do things they ought not. But even in this instance in-stance I do not think the lot of a young actress is harder or more lonely than thnh oT .1 vnnnr i'lvl wt-1.1 vnnK i- o country school to teach, one who goes to college In a far-away city, or does any one of a dozen other things which young girls today are doing; without exciting ex-citing the slightest comment or criticism." criti-cism." "Do I recommend it?" said Ethel Bar-rymore. Bar-rymore. "Unhesitatingly. If a woman is bent upon a career, or circumstances force her to determine upon making a career for herself, I don't think she can do better than take to the stage. I don't know of any profession which offers her such rewards as those which the stage holds out. "So far as the stage offering a woman wom-an more temptations than she will find elsewhere when she has to earn her own living I don't believe a word of it. If a girl wants to make a success Upon the stage she has got to work hard, and the work will take up ho much of her time that she wjll have little opportunity for lato suppers and all that sort of thing. That very monopolization mo-nopolization of one's time Is perhaps tho greatest drawback to the stage as a profession. What with actual performances, per-formances, rehearsals, traveling, etc., one does not have much time to devote to the society of friends. "Taking everything Into consideration I say let a girl take up the stage but first let her assure herself that she has some talent. Is willing to work hard and can put all social life Into a distinctly dis-tinctly secondary position." "The opportunities offered to ayoung woman In the dramatic profession are more, I think, than in any other,". was Henrietta Crosman's comment. "There is always room at the top. and T presume pre-sume that every young woman who goes on the stage hati an ambition to become a star, To a young woman who has talent, and that Is not difficult to discover, my advice would be to adopt the profession of the stage. "When one looks at the myriad of young girls who are working in stores, offices and other places, earning a mere pittance and with no opportunity of advancement ad-vancement beyond a certain limit, one cannot help but sec the advantage of the stage as a profession If the" applicant ap-plicant is suited In temperament, constitution con-stitution and all elce for her work. The stage is like all other arts. Because there is always room at the top, one doed not have to wait for a vacancy in the ranks for advancement. Even If the dramatic schools are grinding out actors by the dozens today, I would not discourage any one who I thought had ability to enter the profession. Good actors are scarce enough, and the stago will not be hurt by the addition fii q timber of bad actors if a few good actors can be given to It." Philadelphia Phila-delphia Ledger. |