Virginia Hughes

“ Laughing at themselves, each girl whirled around and showed herself to the other. Peggy’s turn made a wide sweep of her black taffeta dress with its black satin cummerbund smartly making the most of her trim figure. For this special occasion, her first real date in New York, she had put her hair up and skillfully used a little eye make-up. Her long, slender neck was accentuated by a single string of pearls, which were echoed by her tiny pearl earrings. ”

“ What a fantastic city! Peggy thought. Everything seemed topsy-turvy. The idea of driving under parks, apartment houses and giant office buildings was so queer! She said as much to the driver, who only laughed. “Miss, you’ll get used to all sorts of queer things if you live here! I’ve been driving a cab in this town for twenty-four years now, and I haven’t seen the end of odd things. As fast as you can see one, they build two more!”
When they arrived at the Gramercy Arms, the driver leaped out and helped her with her bags up the steep front steps. ”

“ Peggy said. “When can I get a chance?”
With an expression halfway between a smile and a frown, Randy answered, “I hope that you never get a chance. I’m not working now, and with any luck, I won’t have to do night-club work again. I’ve always wanted to write for the theater, and I believe in the play we’re doing now, so I’ve turned down all engagements until we get it produced. It may be the break I need. I’ve been able to put away enough to live on for a while, so I don’t need the night clubs. If the play flops, though, I can always go back to them, much as I don’t want to.” ”

“ Greta put in mournfully. “I’m an even more definite physical type than Irene is, and to make matters worse, I have to act for them. Most of the time, my round, red face and my blond braids eliminate me at the start. If they don’t, I then have to go through an audition reading. I’m just waiting for a casting notice that asks for a new actress with a face like a Campbell’s Soup kid, and I’ll rush right up and get the part!”
“If I ever meet any playwrights, I’ll put in a word for a part like that,” Peggy said. “But by then, you’ll be famous, and the ‘new actress’ part would disqualify you.” ”

“ The next hour and a half, spent mostly in silence, and in trying to get used to the cramped position beneath the stairs, passed by with terrible slowness. Every so often, the roar of a truck would be heard in the street, and the girls would grow tense, waiting for it to turn into the alley. But it always went by, leaving an even deeper silence behind it.
“It’s almost time for Randy and Mal to come,” Peggy whispered. “I don’t envy them their night, but I’ll sure be glad to get out of here!”
“So will—quiet! I hear another truck,” Amy said. ”

“ Peggy asked.
44
“Goodness, no! Only in his personal life! There’s a world of difference between acting and teaching; you hardly ever find anyone who’s good at both. Macaulay’s a magnificent teacher, so he had sense enough never even to try acting.”
“But,” Peggy objected, “how can you teach something you can’t do?”
May Berriman smiled. “Oh, Archie can do, all right. He’s that rarest of all talents—a talented audience. He knows when something is good and when it isn’t, and if it’s not good, he knows just what it lacks. ”

“ Lane, seeing Peggy’s hurt look, was quick to step in with reassurance. “We don’t think you’re going to fail, Peg. We have every confidence in you and your talents. I don’t see how you could miss being the biggest success ever—but I’m your father, not a Broadway critic or a play producer, and I could be wrong. And if I am wrong, I don’t want you to be hurt. All I ask is that you finish college and get a teacher’s certificate so that you can always find useful work if you have to. Then you can try your luck in the theater. ”

“ But before she could finish her sentence, Peggy had dropped her papers, grabbed a towel and bathrobe and raced for the bathroom. With the door held open the merest crack, Peggy peeped through, grinning broadly at Amy, who stood in the hall still apologizing.
“You’re forgiven,” Peggy said impishly, “but your punishment for loafing and not watching the time while I was working is that I get the bathroom first!” Then she quickly shut the door before her friend could push her way through.
“I don’t care!” Amy called through the door. “I can always use the other one upstairs!” ”

“ Rockport, Wisconsin, was a fine place, as pretty a small town as any girl could ask to grow up in. And not too small, either, Peggy thought. Its 16,500 people supported good schools, an excellent library, and two good movie houses. What’s more, the Rockport Community College attracted theater groups and concert artists, so that life in the town had always been stimulating. And of course, all of this was in addition to the usual growing-up pleasures of swimming and sailing, movie dates, and formal dances—everything that a girl could want. ”

“ As the conversation turned to plays and roles and types of actresses, the other girls joined in. They had just gotten to a spirited and somewhat noisy discussion of the ability of a well-known actress, when May Berriman came in.
“Well, Amy and Peggy!” she said. “I see you’ve met everybody and you’re right at home! Good! Now let me make you feel even more at home by acting like a mother. Do you girls know that it’s very late? And do you know that I’ve been busy making hot chocolate for you? And that it’s waiting in the kitchen right now, getting cool? ”

“ Peggy giggled uneasily as she and Amy inspected themselves in the hall mirror before leaving the Gramercy Arms. “We look like a couple of character actors dressed up for a skit on the Beat Generation.”
“Or like a couple of weird vampires from a horror movie,” Amy replied with a nervous laugh.
Greta surveyed them critically. “At least you don’t have to worry about anything,” she said acidly. “Those getups would frighten off any man in the world. If the crooks do catch sight of you, all it’ll take is one look before they scream and run!” ”

“ I’ve made a living on supporting roles and road shows, and I’ve even played some good leads in stock, but somehow I’ve never quite hit it. Maybe I’m not good enough, but on the other hand, I may just not have had the breaks. These off-Broadway shows nowadays are seen by all the top critics in New York, and if I do a good job, and if they like the play, I have a chance to go on to a whole new kind of career. That’s why I’m here, and that’s why Mona is here. Besides, you can’t do a believable show with just young actors. ”

“ Jean replied firmly. “Your parents know a lot better than to confuse being stuffy with being grown-up and responsible. And, besides, I know that they’re not the least bit worried about your being able to take care of yourself. I heard them talking with my folks last night, and they haven’t got a doubt in the world about you. But they know how hard it can be to get a start as an actress, and they want to be sure that you have a profession in case you don’t get a break in show business.”
“I know,” Peggy answered. ”

“ In fact, the only professional talent I think I do have for the theater is the ability to recognize talent when I see it—and to recognize that it’s not there when it isn’t!”
“But, Jean,” Peggy protested, “you can handle comedy and character lines as well as anyone I know!”
Jean nodded, accepting the compliment and seeming at the same time to brush it off. “That doesn’t matter. You know even better than I that there’s a lot more to being an actress—a successful one—than reading lines well. ”

“ The thought was not a happy one, and both girls lapsed into a tense silence as the bus bore them downtown into the deepening twilight.
They got off in a district of office buildings, shops, and showrooms, all dark now. The streets were empty, save for an occasional car or taxi and the taillights of their bus, receding in the distance. As they turned to the west, down a narrow side street, the street lights came on. They seemed to accentuate the darkness rather than relieve it. The girls hurried on past closed doors and shuttered windows. ”

“ When Peggy awoke in the early-morning sunshine that slanted into her room, it was not yet six o’clock. She reached over to shut off the alarm so that it would not ring at seven, the time she had decided to get up for her big day.
“People say that actors live in a dream world,” Peggy thought with a smile. “Maybe that’s why I seem to want so little sleep. I get enough of dreams when I’m supposed to be wide awake!” ”

“ Since Peggy and Amy had not stocked up the night before, the other girls invited them to share breakfast with them.
“We have a system,” Dot said. “Each of us cooks for all the others in turn, but that’s only for breakfast. At dinnertime, you shift for yourself. The dishes are done for us, thank Heaven, by Aniko, the housemaid. We each contribute to a dishwashing fund every week to keep Aniko happy. Since you’re both new, we’ll put you at the end of the list, which gives you about a week to get used to us in the morning, before having to cook for us.” ”

“ When they were all settled comfortably, Randy opened the conversation with the question that Peggy had been fearing all morning. “Well, Peggy, I brought the list of theaters we’ve seen, and now will you tell us what you have in mind?”
Much to her surprise, Peggy found herself answering as smoothly as if she had known all along what she was going to do. “The first thing,” she said, “is to make use of all the city records. Since a license is required to operate a theater, there must be a list of all the places in the city that have been licensed. ”

“ If you come from Boston, you’re supposed to be Irish. I’m an ingénue and I’ve been in four off-Broadway plays and one Broadway play, and all of them were flops. Right now I’m working as a script editor for a TV producer, and trying to make him realize that I’m an actress. So far he hardly realizes I’m a script editor. He thinks I’m a hey-you.” With a comic bow like a mechanical doll, she sat down to a round of laughter and applause.
“Who’s next?” Peggy said, still laughing. “I haven’t had such fun in ages!” ”

“ It was the rush hour, and parkways and streets were jammed with homebound cars, but their cab driver knew his way around back streets, and turned and twisted around one corner after another until Peggy lost all sense of direction. Her father, though, seemed to know exactly where they were at all times, and kept pointing out buildings and parks and bridges to Peggy and her mother, telling the name of each and how it figured in his memory. People, trucks, cars, buses, cabs, motor scooters and little foreign autos filled the streets. ”

“ The next two on the list had also totally disappeared, giving way to a garage and an apartment house.
“This is hardly encouraging,” Amy said. “I somehow feel already that we’re on a wild-goose chase.”
“Amy, this is no time to get discouraged!” Peggy said. “Why, we’ve only gone to five places, and we’ve got nearly forty more on the list! And, after all, it’s not as if we were looking for a dozen theaters. All we want is one, so I don’t care if all but one prove to be shut or converted. And we have to see them all, just in case it’s the last one that turns out to be for us!” ”

“ Then, once we’re sure it’s a theater, we’ve got some thinking to do before we act.”
“But why would that janitor say there was no theater there if there is one?” Amy said.
“That’s the question,” Peggy agreed darkly. “I want to know why he said that, and I want to know what the place is being used for.”
“But, Peggy,” Amy protested, “why should we go poking into other people’s business? We already know that they’re not going to rent us this theater, and that they’re downright unpleasant people. Why don’t we just cross this one off, and go look at the others on your list?” ”

“ One reason is the fire laws that make it illegal to have a theater with anything built over it. In other words, you can’t have a Broadway theater on the lower floors of an office building; and with real-estate values as high as they are in Manhattan, it just isn’t profitable to use up all the space a theater takes without building high up as well. Off-Broadway rules are a little easier, but the downtown theater has become so popular that everybody and his brother wants to put on a play off-Broadway, and all the available theaters are booked way in advance. ”

“ He just keeps asking for what he wants, and when he gets it—if he gets it—it turns out to be just what everyone else wants, too. That’s why he has been able to discover and develop more fine talent than any other man of our time. You’re a lucky girl to be able to work with Archer Macaulay. Even to be accepted for his school is a great honor.”
Peggy nodded in understanding as May Berriman talked about the talent for recognizing talent, remembering her last conversation with her friend Jean Wilson. ”

“ Reluctantly tearing her eyes from the fantastic cloud formations that floated past, Peggy once more opened her book and was soon deep into the even more fantastic world of Thornton Wilder’s Skin of Our Teeth.
The quick flight to Chicago, the change of planes, the landing and take-off, scarcely attracted her notice, and the three hours flew by at faster than air speed. Peggy had finished reading and marking Sabina’s role, and was deep into Miriamne’s when her mother interrupted her.
“They want us to fasten our seat belts again,” she said. “We’re coming into New York now.” ”

“ But the thought of rats did nothing to calm Peggy’s nerves, or Amy’s either. What if, in the alley behind the theater, rats should come? What if they should come at the same time as the crooks? What if, under the fire stairs, there should come a quiet scratching...? ”

“ Still, when the food came, she and Peggy consented to try the hare, and were forced to agree that it was one of the most delicious things they had ever tasted. Amy also liked Peggy’s sauerbraten, which was a kind of sweet-and-sour pot roast of beef, done in a rich brown gravy and served with potato dumplings and red cabbage.
“You know, it’s an odd thing the way Americans eat,” Mal said between bites of the saddle of hare. “I’ll wager that there are millions of people in this country who have never eaten anything but beef and pork and perhaps a bit of fish. And I don’t mean poor people, either. ”

“ Peggy said. “We’ll be all right. Just wish us luck, and we’ll be on our way.”
“All right, then. Good luck,” Greta said, opening the door for them. “I just hope the police don’t pick you up, for looking like suspicious characters.”
Peggy and Amy left, feeling a little foolish about their costumes, but after walking for a block or two, they realized that nobody was even looking at them.
“That’s the wonderful thing about New York,” Peggy said. “You can wear anything, or do anything, and nobody seems to care as long as you don’t disturb the peace.” ”

“ Pip said mournfully. “Nowadays you need at least ten thousand dollars, which is still practically nothing compared to what it costs to put a show on Broadway. You have to pay high rent for theaters now, if you can find one at all, and you have to spend money on costumes and sets, because the public expects more from off-Broadway than they used to. And you have to pay your actors, or else Equity, which is the actors’ union, won’t let you open. And you have to advertise, and print tickets, and pay for lighting equipment and a hundred other things. It all adds up to a lot of cash.” ”