PAULA EDWARDES
[Illustration: PAULA EDWARDES.]
One of the few young and pretty women making a specialty of eccentric
comedy parts is Paula Edwardes, a Boston girl, who, starting at the foot
of the ladder only a few seasons ago, has quickly claimed a position of
prominence in the musical comedy world. Miss Edwardes's most recent
characterizations have been two different varieties of the Cockney type
in "A Runaway Girl" and "Mam'selle 'Awkins," but previous to that she
gave a taste of her ability in this line of impersonation by creating in
"The Belle of New York" the role of Mamie Clancy, the Bowery girl, a
type of character which is nothing more nor less than an Americanized
Cockney. I have no idea where Miss Edwardes picked up her weird and
wonderful Cockney dialect, unless she got it during her short visit in
London with "The Belle," for she was born and brought up in Boston,
where, as every one knows, nothing is spoken except the purest of
Emersonian English. Neither will I vouch for the accuracy of Miss
Edwardes's importation. However, it sounds English enough, and it is
certainly hard enough to understand to be the real thing.
There are two ways of presenting a character study of the uncultivated
types of civilized humanity. One is faithfully to imitate the original,
sparing not in the least vulgarity, uncouthness, and coarseness. The
comedy in this method is the crude product of incongruity and contrast.
The second method is merely to retain a recognizable likeness to the
original, to tone down the vulgarity, to reduce the uncouthness to a
suggestion, and to rely for effect on an heightened sense of humor.
There is also introduced in this second method of treatment a subtle,
but nevertheless distinct, self-appreciation of one's own unfitness for
polite society and social conventions,--a cynical atmosphere, as it
were, that gives the study a touch of satire.
The first method is usually adopted by the unpolished and unthinking
actor of variety sketch training, and often, too, by the acrobatic and
strictly mechanical comedian of light opera surroundings. It is comedy
acting which proves vastly amusing to such as desire their theatrical
entertainment as devoid as possible of any intellectual flavor, who do
not care to hunt for a fine point, and who are bored by anything that
suggests an intelligent appreciation of humor. The comedy of the second
method is on a decidedly higher plane. It suggests more than it actually
represents. It is more delicate in every way, and it requires a modicum
of intelligence on the part of the spectator to be estimated at its full
value.
Miss Edwardes's Carmenita in "A Runaway Girl" was a genuine
characterization. She did more than to array herself in garments of
curious pattern, stain her face a gypsy tan and talk a Blackfriars-ish,
or alleged Blackfriars-ish dialect, that was wellnigh incomprehensible;
she also imparted an individuality to the role, and one got from her
acting a distinct impression of Carmenita, the woman. Such was the case,
too, with her Honorah in "Mam'selle 'Awkins." She evolved, from the
precious little material that was given her, a personality. Josephine
Hall, on the other hand, let the character go completely by the board,
and relied entirely for success on her ability as an entertainer. I will
not say which achieved the better results in this particular instance,
for the entertainment in which they appeared was too absurd to be
considered seriously even as an absurdity. Miss Edwardes, however,
adopted the more artistic treatment of the two.
Paula Edwardes went into the theatrical business on the strength of a
voice, a face, and a figure, which is simply another way of saying that
she began in the chorus. It happened in Boston, and the occasion was the
professional production by Thomas Q. Seabrooke of the First Corps of
Cadets' extravaganza, "Tobasco." Miss Edwardes was understudy for Elvia
Crox, the leading soubrette, and a little luck came the chorus girl's
way at the first matinee. Miss Crox declared that she was too ill to
play, and Miss Edwardes took her part for the afternoon, succeeding so
well that Miss Crox rapidly recovered her health and was able to appear
at the evening performance.
Nevertheless, the next season still found Miss Edwardes in the chorus,
this time with Hoyt's "A Black Sheep." Again Boston was good to her, for
when the company reached that city, Bettina Gerard, who was playing the
Queen of Burlesque, was affected by the climate or something of that
kind, threw up her part, and Miss Edwardes was pressed into service in
the emergency. Her success was sufficient to put an end for good and all
to her chorus experience. The following season Miss Edwardes was in "A
Dangerous Maid" with Laura Burt and Madge Lessing, and then she created
the part of Mamie Clancy in "The Belle of New York." She went to London
with the original company, but after a few months she became tired of
the fog and homesick for New York and the familiar surroundings of
Broadway and the Rialto. So she resigned from "The Belle" cast and took
the next steamer for the United States. Augustin Daly engaged her for
Carmenita in "A Runaway Girl," and at the conclusion of the run of that
piece in New York she was transferred to "The Great Ruby" in which she
made quite a hit as Louise Jupp, the romantically inclined hotel
cashier.
In February, 1900, she appeared in "Mam'selle 'Awkins," creating the
title role, and after that she acted in Boston and New York her old part
of Carmenita in "A Runaway Girl."