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Show SHORTAGE IIT CSORUS GIRLS. Even WestemMarket Unable to Meet Demands of Musical Comedy. It la not often that a crop report comes out of tho West laden with such significance signifi-cance as that from Chicago tho other day, convoying the lntelllgonco of a shortago In tho mipply of chorus girls, says tho New York Mall. Broadway was touched by it, and when Broadway Is affected Now York is affected, and when Now York, why, of courso, tho world. Tho protentous news was to tho effect that tho producers of musical comedies In Chicago and Chicago hna grown lately late-ly to bo a chief source of this sort of dramatlo product havo this season beon put to much and unusual troublo to fill the stages with girls of tho physical endowments en-dowments required of tho present taste In such matters. Just how tho deficiency in raw material 3hould bo accounted for the managers by no moans aro ablo to conjecture. But thero It Is. Within the past two seasons most of tho choruses In musical comedies have been recruited largely from the West. This was due to two things. In tho first place, to repeat, Chicago has beon producing pro-ducing many musical comedies. It has como to bo recognized aa tho homo of a certain nort of musical comedy. Just a. London Is tho homo of another sort. Tho difference between "Threo Little Maids'' and "Tho Tenderfoot" was about as great as any dlrforonco could bo between be-tween plays of tho samo general description; descrip-tion; and the ono could not possibly have bucn moro typical or atmospheric than, tho other. Thero has como, then, a aeries of these productions, bringing to New York phalanxes pha-lanxes of frosh beauties of tho vigorous Western mako-up. You havo onlv to think of "The Prlnco of Pilsen," "Peggy from Paris," "Tho Sultan of Sulu''Tho Maid and the Mummy," "The Royal Chef" and othcrB to recall that there was a sort of distinctive comellnosa In tho arrays of chorus glrla therein pro-sentcd pro-sentcd All the exccrablo tasto In tho hook of "Tho Royal Chef," for particular particu-lar example, and all tho excruciating blatancy of Its score, could not dull our sensibilities to tho presume of a chorua the prottlcst and freshest scon In this town In many a season And they woro enlisted, every one of thern. In Chicago. But not only tho Chicago plays got their choruses outsldo of Now York. The Shuborta last season decided thoy dli not want New York clrls for their- musical mu-sical plays, and thoy oven went bo far as to establish rccrultlnc agencies In cities of tho smaller class, some of them In New York Stato, it Is true, but mostlv In tho Middle West. So It happoncd tha't most of tho faces long familiar in the front rows before tho footlights of Now York theaters have disappeared, and If that mere statement covers many a -little tragedy it is only another proof of tho prlco that somobody must pay for the entertainment of tho world. 'Ihoro haa taken placo a decided change SKW 58J. ?Y"K$ glory now oita weep Ing in h tall ecu room whllo sho walta for her hair to resume its long-forcotton chestnut or ravon huo! Truo thero aro bioncU.a m tho choruses evon yot-w'1"688- of traditional dizziness in "Mr. , ix 01 Wickham." But thoy aro valued by man agora only for a ort of con tuist. Tho llttlo brunettes havo the oU-brollor with tho plnf eathers on, and not too gamy-by no means too, gamy. Stage 1 cu rectors will stand for much awkwardness, awkward-ness, for feet that stumblo on things nnd danclmr that needs a whole stago for each girl. If only tho faces aro fresh and voung looking, tho legs slim and straight, tho shoulders fair. Tho aKo limit has In the past yoar dropped in a way to givo many a corseted cor-seted hoart tho wallops. Ono Chicago manacer haa mado It an Iron rulo tmu no clrl who has had moro than ono year's oxpcrlenco in chorus work oiso-whero oiso-whero can nccuro a placo In hla companies; com-panies; another has net an uffo limit ol twenty-two years, which ho keops to as. closely as posalblo; and It la well known that in "Tho Royal Chef" which Is referred re-ferred to so frequently here onlj do-causo do-causo It hiul an excellent and typicalij Western chorus thoro was but ono Bin who waa past twonty-four. and sho lieici her placo only by reason of her real abilities as an actress. , It hna been noted wlh almost an Invidious In-vidious pcrnl.stency In tho public pi inta and tho mouthD of tho ldlo tnat tho career ca-reer of tho chorus girl la short. Questionable Ques-tionable Jokes havo been made- upon ncr fondness for lino ralmont and her adaptability adapt-ability to ninety horse-power auto cars. Her fluffy hair haa fhxurcd in thousands of smart paragraphs. Her conversation has filled tho puiBea of uncrratoful humorists. hu-morists. Thero is nocd for warm words In her defense, for sho la. or Bhould bo. a aubject for sympathetic, rather than xnrcastJc, comment, , ... If ono wero but a Villon to Indlto a ballad of pity for tho choruses of yesterday yes-terday I And now to think that whllo tho rest of tho world is permitted to grow old in the long-3anctloncd way, sho, alaal must not only stop having moro birthdays, birth-days, but must recall some of those eno has had not only ccaso growing old. but grow younger to suit tho rules of the tragically commercial mnnagerl To return to tho Woatern product: thero la another reason still why tho girls from Minnesota and Michigan aro popular popu-lar with the stage directors. Thoy aro usually active and caKcr in their work; thev onter Into tho drilling with enthusiasm; enthu-siasm; they find a good deal of fun In tho veriest routlno of their profession. Richard Carle, who wroto "Tho Tenderfoot" Tender-foot" and "The Maid and the Mummy," said not long ago that a Chicago chorua would learn more In ono week's rehearsing rehears-ing than a Now York chorua in threo. Tho Now York girls, ho said, wero always al-ways tired; thoy took no Interest in their tasks; thoy hod to bo driven llko so many unwilling slaves; and they always had tears and reslsnatlons on tap. In ono 08 tho recent musical comedies thoro was a Jlnalo in which many-colored paper rlbbon.1 wero flung down from tho files among tho dancing chorua glrl3 und othora of tho company. As tho curtain cur-tain fell and roso and fell aain tho audience saw tho on tiro aggregation of players entangled In thoso ribbons, and tho spirit In which this llnalo was given sent the spectators away in much better humor than tho play as a wholo ever Justified. Tho secret of It was that tho chorus girls regarded this finishing sceno as tho finest kind of sport. Thoy had not got tho ennui of Broadway, thoy wero children still, and tho cxcltcmont of the ribbon-tangled danco caught tholr youthful youth-ful fancy as Jf they had beon children tripping around tho May polo on somo vllfago green. ""Try to think of seasoned chorus girls acting like that!" aald a managor one night "I'm going West for my next chorus, sure." |