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Show TRAPS POU STAGESTBTJOK. Women Especially tho Victims of Swindlors. The case of the Philadelphia singer who allowed herself to be robbed last week by an obvious swindler who promised prom-ised to get her an engagement in comic opera Is by no means so exceptional as It might seem. Many other women, Bays the New York Sun, have probably had similar unfortunate experiences, and kept quiet about It. The credulity of the stage-struck woman wo-man when there Is an opportunity to satisfy her ambitions knows no limit. "Not a day passes," one of the reputable repu-table dramatic agents told a Sun reporter re-porter yesterday, "that some agent does not advertise that he will secure a place for a woman who wants to go on the stage or Into vaudeville, If she Is able to pay a certain sum of money. Now, any woman ought to know that such an advertisement Is not honest. "In most cases It is a mere swindle. Managers do not engage actresses In that way, even If they aro unknown beginners. "These tricks are, In one form or another, an-other, Intended to part the stage-struck girl and the money she has raised from her family or some other source. One advertisement recently offered a girl a chance to appear In a vaudeville sketch if Bhe had $200 and a handsome ball gown. A gudgeon bit and found herself dealing with an actor of little or no reputation, rep-utation, who told her he could get her on the stage if she would pay $200 for the privilege. "He told her it was positively settled that she should appear first at one of the large variety theaters. Ho would coach her In tho part she was to play and teach her how to make up and to come through the sketch with such success that managers would certainly want her. "The girl raised the money. The actor act-or said that $100 of It went to the man who wrote tho sketch, and half of that may bo true. The rest, he said, went for advertising, and none of that was true. ( "cH did teach the girl her part and get her ready to act It. She bought a new dross In addition to the $200. "There were many delays about the performance of tho play, but it was at last settled that the sketch was to bo acted. To the girl's astonishment, Bhe was told to report at tho vaudeville theater at 10 o'clock In the morning. That seemed a very early hour, but the actor explained that new sketches were always tried at that time. "Only two or three persons were In tho dark theater when the two began to act. It was nothing more than a trial of the sketch. "The manager promptly refused to take it, and although the actor talked much of subsequent productions of the piece, there was never even another trial. The actor Intimated very plainly that an extra $200 or even $100 might would certainly lead to an engagement. But tho deluded girl could not now have raised that amount If she had been willing will-ing to give any more money to further her theatrical ambitions. "Another advertisement which offered of-fered to put a "talented amateur' on the stage If she could produce $200 In cash, showed on Investigation that she was to pose while a lot of doves nestled on her after they had been released from a cage. The doves were detained for their board bill by a cruel bird dealer, who would not release them. That seemed to be a little too far down the ladder for an advance of $200 in cash. "Mrs. Rlhl, the woman who was carried car-ried in her innocence to remote Harlem saloons to meet prominent New York managers, wanted to be a singer In comic opera, and her difficulties should therefore have been less than those of the woman who wants to go on the stage. Chorus girls are scarce, and while the compensation Is not large at first, most of the successful women of the day in comic opera began to sing in that lowly branch of the business. "Col. Savage, the manager she was to j meet, Is the readiest of all managers to give a hearing to unknown applicants. Regularly once a week his assistant hears the voices of all who may apply to him. "At these voice trials In his officdare many young girls who were never heard of until they wrote asking a chance to sing. If they have good voices their names and addresses with a description of the candidates, are filed away and they are frequently chosen for places In. the chorus. "Helnrlch Conreid hears voices once a week at the Metropolitan. Sometimes he forgets to go there when the appll-' cants have assembled, as he did tho other day, when some sixty girls, after waiting for several hours, did not get in at all. "But as a rule every girl with a voice can get it heard. She certainly stands a better chance by applying to the managers man-agers directly than by answering any advertisement that requires payment of money. Reputable managers never engage en-gage actors in that way. "The women who want to get Into comic opera can soon find out the man-agers man-agers that are organizing companies, and their music conductors are always ready to try the voices of moderately sood-looklng women. "Sd small Is the supply of good chorus chor-us girls that managers are willing to look after their comfort. The manager who employs more chorus girls than anybody else has among the printed Instructions In-structions for all his subordinate managers man-agers and agents special directions to look out for the welfare of these girls while the companies are traveling, since many of them are new to the business and were never on the road before." |