Evening Republican, Volume 15, Number 177, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 28 July 1911 — BEHOLD THE ACTORETTES [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

BEHOLD THE ACTORETTES

TOTTIE SPOTLIGHT’S eyes gleamed in a manner that boded 111 for the aenemlc youth with the green hose and clam'orous tie who pulled Industriously at a cigarette. ) Tottle was peeved. Her professional standing had been questioned, and she resented the imputation. “Take it from me,” she snapped, with a display of indignation calculated to wither the offender, “I had an offer from Mr. Hammerstein himself. He’s just dying to have me go on at his roof garden in New York. Offered me S2OO per for two turna*-a day, and 40 weeks straight qn_.tfie road when I got tired of New York. I’ve got Hammerstein’s letter to prove it,” she stormed, stamping one foot by way of emphasis; “I’ll show you It ain’t hot air I’m retailing.” Open came the undersized suitcase that did duty as a handbag. Into its depths went bejeweled fingers. There was a powder puff, chamois skin, a tube of rouge, handkerchiefs, manicure set, a purse, sadly in need of inflation, A dozen programs of vaudeville theaters on the kerosene circuit —everything but the letter. “I musta it at my hotel,” admitted Tottie after -rummaging through the accumulation for the fourth time. “On the piano, eh?” suggested he of the clamorous tie, sidestepping neatly. “Say. you can’t hand me nothing like that and get away with it,” came the Bharp retort. “If you’re going to try And be funny you ought to get some nutty person to write you a few jokes that don’t go around on crutches.” “What’ll you charge to write me some?” shot back the tormentor. “But, say, you ain’t got nothing on me. I just turned down an offer of $350 a week for me and Bob to do our turn in ’Barnyard Romeo,’ in New York. I told him to make a noise like SSOO per and mebbe I’d listen, but nothing less would go, and mebbe I wouldn’t take that—” “Gwan,” broke in Tottie, “you don’t mean to tell me you threw down an offer like that.” “Sure. When you going to New York?” “I’m not going. I could make good, of course.” Tottie paused for an instant, taking an inventory of herself, and sighing contentedly. “I’ve got a figure that’d make‘a lot of those showgirls hunt a hobble gown sooner,” she continued, “and I played Sapho once like the manager said he’d never seen it done before—but say, where do you feed? I’m so hungry 1 could eat anything good.” And the actorettes—she of the auto bonnet, Grecian coiffure and scant skirt, and he of the clamorous tie, green hose and loud hatband—wandered off down the street, the observed of 'all observers, the troubles attendant upon dodging insistent managers determined to force them to accept high salaries forgotten for tbe time In their quest of a place where a bite to eat could be secured without exceeding their combined resources. Time works changes in all lines, and tbe theatrical profession Is no exception. Your legitimate actor of a decade ago viewed vaudeville anything but favorable; but* It grew and prospered. Likewise, when the picture shows with vaudeville trimmings put In an appearance they were scoffed at by the “polite” veudevillianl, who, professed to see nothing commendable in the “advanced" variety. Nevertheless it stuck. And in its wake, a part And parcel of it, in fact, has come an army of men and women—boys And

girls, to be more accurate—who figure as a new generation in an old and respected profession. The picture houses have drawn their "talent" largely from the ranks of the beginners, who are for the most part youthful. And whenever possible this youthfulness is fccentuated and capitalised to its fuller extent toy

those who gain their livelihood in this manner. Bizarre apparel is the order of things with the performers much in evidence about the booking agencies. The burlesque queen, with an eye to the value of advertising her physical attractions, has nothing on some of those actorettes, who boast coiffures that would put a Circassian belle to shame, and who parade the streets in gowns so scant as to give rise to apprehension regarding the • consequences should the wearer Indulge In a hearty meal. Big hats and highheeled slippers, and all the accessories that, to beg a couplet, go to “make a woman what she ain’t,” render it unnecessary for their possessor to do anything more to attract attention than to parade up and down the streets or strike an attitude at he curb and talk shop with, one of her associates. As for the “actors,” the Cohanesque kids with fried egg hats and hightide trousers who twirl canes and jig on the sidewalk and in loud tones and with many gestures tell of the hits they have made, at the same time begging “the makings" front a more fortunate member of the “profesh,” most of them would in the matter of attire make old Solomon lit his gala apparel look like a ragamuffin. . So much for the more prosperous side, at least so far as outward appearances are concerned. There is another and a less alluring picture. There are those no longer young, who have either outlived their usefulness as entertainers or who have never reached a state where their services were in demand. They are far more picturesque than those with whom fate has dealt kindly. It may be an ancient thesplan who has been pushed out by a younger gen-

eration, but who, in spite of repeated rebuffs, still clings to the fond belief that “the other one was Booth." With silk tile, much the worse for wear, shiny frock coat, tight-fitting trousers and discolored spats, he Is typical of a class rapidly disappearing from view. There Is something almost patronising in his tones as he applies to the manager of the booking office. And the hope that knows no despair makes Itself manifest in his manner as he stalks proudly out Into the street. There are doting mothers with youthful prodigies, gotten up in the most fantastic style, and who, If given half a chance would make the stellar lights of the profession pay homage to their marvelous talents. Others there are, plenty of them, the successful and the * unsuccessful, the youthful and those no longer young, a never-ending procession of humanity seeking to break Into the theatrical profession as It Is exemplified in this newest form of entertainment, and those who, having broken in, are endeavoring to hold on. They gather in the little booking offices that cater to the moving picture and popular priced vaudeville houses. 'The stories they tell of the hits they made are after all no less plsoalbls than some of those retailed by members of the “legit"

To the Booking Agency.