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Show TU1? CT ATI? ARTICLE 1 ttj J 1 AVjllf Number 2 HTiaf 17 Seem to Ate and JiTiai ft lfeaity . Necessary Qualification for a Stage Career BY FRANCES STARB In using the term "necessary qualifications'' quali-fications'' 1 have tn mind. In so tar as this article In eonrernert, not ao much the artistic and hltrtonl capabilities of the alii aspirant for a stage career as those of a more practical and material nature. It would he a task as presumptuous pre-sumptuous on my part as It would be thankless were I to attempt to add one tot or tittle to th already overflowing Iterature oa the subject uf the former, particularly when one remembers that It was none other than my own teacher and manaa-er, Mr. David Belasco. who uttered the last word ou It for all time In his now historic characterisation temperament. tempera-ment. That quality temperament -we must assume as constituting In ariater or less degree one of the salient attributes of the player. Without any vestige of temperament tempera-ment success were impossible, even though every other gift be added, and, vice versa, an excess of temperament, true histrionic tempera ment. may and frequently does compensate the posaesaor for the lack of many other desirable things which are the dower of less for- tunate actresses, such as beauty of face, grace, charm of manner, voice, diction. However and this I have heard Mr. Belssco say a thousand times temperament tempera-ment has all the defects of Its qualities, and unless It be conjoined with a number of other and less picturesque spiritual essentials It may prove the actress undoing, un-doing, nullifying In the end such success as may accrue to her. Indeed, some of the greatest failures on the stage. I have also heard Mr Belasco declare, have been women superbly gifted with temperament. tempera-ment. What, then, did they lack? What qualifications other than temperament, which they possessed tn etich generous measure, would have brought them to the goal for which they strained In vain? Of the particular women referred to by Mr. Belasco 1 i-annot answer these questions, as he did not disclose their identities. Psychic Force Needed. I do, however, myself happen to have known s number of such girls 1 have met tn various stock companies with which I played before ray assorts tlon with Mr. Belasco, girls I have got acquainted ac-quainted with tn the theatrical boarding houses, er who, entire strangers, have written me since ss a star my name Is now flashed on the front of the theatre where I am playing. As r write six of these girls stand out distinctly In my mind, and each of them lacked that without which none of them could hav e won success el t he r on t he stage or in any other calling that something some-thing which for went of a better name we must call force. Force, that mysterious mys-terious quality enaWlpg Its possessor to make hfs personality felt, arresting the attention of the stranger and marking him among perhaps a hundred others all dressed alike and speaking the same words. In the same tone of voice. Psychic Psy-chic force, that gift whieh like Imagination Imagina-tion la the heritage solely of the human, thus sharply differentiating hfm from others of the higher animals. Force, then, I should say Is absolutely essential to a young girl's career on the stage. It Is essential In a number of ways. Not only has she got to have force In order to get herself r'across." as the saying Is, after she Is once on the stage, but she has got to have It In order to get on the stage at all. Not a graceful sentenoe, that, but expresses Just what I mean. Getting on the Stage. And now let me say Just a word about the art of "getting on the stage." That Is of getting a first engagement. This Is really a very much more Important factor in an actress' success than vou might think. Perhaps you know some young girl, pretty, accomplished, highly talented, or at least apparently so. and very much In earnest In her efforts to get a foothold In the theatrical profession. profes-sion. Or perhaps you are Just such s girl yourself. For months, perhaps for a year or two, you have been trying In vain to get some little chance, however humble.' while, all about you, you aee other girts no better equipped step Into the coveted positions. For months you have haunted some particular manager's office, let us say, and Just when you believed be-lieved that you were going to get a chance mutely to wave a feather duster as the curtain rises In So and Bo's new play, to your infinite amassment, disgust and chagrin, you see the part allotted to a girl not nearly so well qualified as yourself, as regards hlatrtonlsm. technique, etc. And when X say "not nearly so well qualified," I mean It. Quite as often as not, this very thing happens. It Is but another example of the law of the survival of the fittest, operative In the theatre as elsewhere. In other words, the ability to get an engagement. In the face of keen competition. It la wise to remember, always carries with It a certain cer-tain essential ability to do the work. Must Possess Tenacity. While It may not he apparent to her disappointed competitors. It Is nevertheless neverthe-less a fact that the girl who wins the desired place does so because she la the beet fitted for It. Tenacity, pluck, and grit ars no Inconsiderable factors In the success of an actress. As a matter of fart, they are superb qualities and ones site must possesse In large measure. All the temperament tn the world, all the genius, will avail her nothing unless she has the stlck-to-ltlveness which will enable en-able her to rehearse a half dosen lines for hours at a time. And that Is Just whst the girl who gets the engagement has in greater degree then the others who fail persistence. The race to the swift, the battle to the strong, the "Job" to the persistent. After persistence, I should then place the divine attribute common sense. I know that It le vulgarly supposed thst great artists are deficient In common sense, but as a matter of fact, tt la by that very token that they are what they are. All the, most successful men and women I haveever known, whether on the stage or off, have been insularly gifted in this respect. Per haps, as f req u en 1 1 y happens, they are misguided enough to assume s pose of Irresponsibility, but fundamentally they are as sane and practical as the grocer and milkman. Given persistence and common sense, the girl of wide general culture will always al-ways have an advantage on the stage as she has anywhere else. Without it, the career of either the man or woman actor must be pltlfulty limited. We may not hsve any general culture when we go on the stage Indeed, very few of us have- -but It Is absolutely Inexcusable for us not to scqulre It once we are there. This, by the way, was one of the first things I learned from Mr. Belasco the necessity for constant self Improvement. Mr. Belasco believes thai an actress should read the dally papers as systems, tlcally as a stock broker, and that she should keep In touch with all the big things in music, art. literature and politics. poli-tics. Mr. Belasco also taught me the very great necessity of an actress" cultivating her social Instincts. He le a firm believer be-liever tn the value of society, human society, so-ciety, and he very msssh deprecates the penchant which people of the stage only too frequently have for being "clannish." It was he who taught me to cultivate a real and vital Interest In people off the stage, ra t her than on It . Not t ha t he depreciates the value of friendship among coworkers. That Is an excellent and desirable de-sirable thing always, but In order to do good work, the actor and the act rasa must hsve other points of vision. First and always, we must he active members uf human society, living in the world and of It: after that, actors and actresses. For If one would succeed on the stage; If one would strive to interpret life with truth and with beauty and that only la the goal of the artist then the great business) of the sctor Is to know and understand life. And there is hul one wsy lo do that, snd that is to know and to love people. |