season would give him and Mal enough profit to live on comfortably, so
they’re now beginning to talk about becoming managers, doing their own
shows and, when they don’t happen to have a show for a particular
season, renting the theater to other groups.
What’s more, the rent covers the whole building, and the boys are
thinking of turning part of it into apartments for themselves, and the
rest of it into apartments for other young actors, something like a
Gramercy Arms for boys!
Incidentally, the theater is beautiful. The police let us in to take a
look at it today, and even with all those boxes and crates and fur coats
and things stacked around, we could see how nice it is. It’ll need new
seats, I’m afraid, and a new lighting system and a switchboard and a
curtain and loads of other things, but the reward money will more than
cover all that. And we even have a name for it—the Penthouse Theater.
How does that strike you? I only hope you can come to New York to see it
when it’s all ready.
Or, better than that, plan to come to New York next season when, with
luck, I might have a part in a play there. One of the things I like best
about Randy and Mal is that, even though they’re just bursting with
gratitude and they keep calling me a heroine, they haven’t tried to ‘pay
me off’ by offering me a part in the play. I’m still going to help just
by painting scenery and selling ads in the program and running errands
and things like that. This way, I know that if I ever get a part in one
of their plays, it will be because I deserve it as an actress.
Another thing I like about Randy is that he’s coming to take me out
again tonight. Which reminds me—I’d better sign off now, before Irene
and Amy install themselves in the bathrooms!
Do you suppose that’s what they mean when they say that one of the most
important things for an actress to learn is timing?
More next time from
Peggy
[Illustration: Endpapers]
[Illustration: Back cover]
PEGGY FINDS THE THEATER
As far back as she can remember, Peggy Lane—young, pretty, and
talented—has wanted to become an actress. Ambitious but realistic, Peggy
knows her name isn’t going to be in lights immediately but finally
persuades her cautious parents to let her spend a year in New York to
try to gain a foothold in the fabled world of the theater.
Peggy’s first big test is an audition at the New York Dramatic Academy,
whose eccentric director will decide whether she shows sufficient
promise to be accepted for professional training. Meanwhile, Peggy
becomes friends with Randy Brewster, a young playwright, and Mal Seton,
who will direct Randy’s experimental play if and when they can find an
off-Broadway theater in which to produce it. Peggy eagerly volunteers to
help in their desperate search and, exploring the byways of the city for
a forgotten theater, unwittingly stumbles into a mysterious and
dangerous situation.
The launching of Peggy’s career, her struggle to make her dreams become
a reality, is a delightful and heart-warming story.
_Peggy Lane Theater Stories_
Peggy Finds the Theater
Peggy Plays Off-Broadway
Peggy Goes Straw Hat
Peggy on the Road
_Peggy Lane Theater Series_
By VIRGINIA HUGHES
[Illustration: Back cover]
Peggy Lane, the young heroine of this exciting new series, is an
aspiring and talented actress. Her adventures as a drama student in New
York City, and her slow climb to success, with dedicated young theater
people like herself, make the theme of this inspiring new career series
for girls.
1 PEGGY FINDS THE THEATER
2 PEGGY PLAYS OFF-BROADWAY
3 PEGGY GOES STRAW HAT
4 PEGGY ON THE ROAD
GROSSET & DUNLAP _Publishers_ NEW YORK
Transcriber’s Notes
--Copyright notice provided as in the original—this e-text is public
domain in the country of publication.
--In the text versions, delimited italics text in _underscores_ (the
HTML version reproduces the font form of the printed book.)
--Silently corrected palpable typos; left non-standard spellings and
dialect unchanged.
End of Project Gutenberg's Peggy Finds the Theatre, by Virginia Hughes