A “PRINCIPAL GIRL"

New Zealand Times, Volume XLVII, Issue 10923, 10 June 1921, Page 5

A “PRINCIPAL GIRL"

DETAILS HER IMPRESSIONS MISS MARIE FANGHONETTI ON NEW ZEALAND. THE “REAL AMERICA.” Pantomime girls are not generally expected to take even a passing interest in matters of public policy, but a cheery exception to the general rule was discovered yesterday by a “Times” representative in the person pf the principal girl of the “Humpty Dumpty” production, Miss Maria I‘ouchonetti, a New Yorker by birth and education, who is now making her first tour beyond the confines of “Uncle Sam’s” territories.

“Warm hearts, in cold weather,” was Miss Fanchonetti’s summing up of her impression of New Zealand and its people, or so much as she had gained in a tour of the North Island. The scenic beauties of the country appealed to her, as to all visitors, but there was a practical note in her comment. “What a rich country, and what opportunities for development!” she exclaimed. “You have only a million people in New Zealand, and there are over a ’ hundred million in the United States. And your country has a territory as large as Great Britain. “We theatrical folk have few opportunities to make friends on our travels. Our chief impressions of a new country, or a new territory, are gained from our practical experience of the oost of living, the price of clothing, and the quality of accommodation we can get for a fair outlay. “In Australia I found prices much the same as back home in New York, although they -were beginning to fall, as was the case in the United States. Here in New Zealand the difference in the cost of living does not appear to be much, except that foodstuffs are cheaper, as is to be expected in a foodproducing country.” The motion pictures did not accurately reflect American life and conditions, continued Miss Fanchonetti. The days of gun-men, of hold-ups, and. of cowboys, as the movies represented them, were now memori.. s of a generation past. So with the type of English spoken by Americans. Educated folk m the States were not slangy, neither did they drawl, neither did they preface each saying with “I guess” or “I calculate,” although there were different modes of expression among habitues of Fifth Avenue and the southern and western States. ( Miss Fanchonetti expressed the opinion that the financial depression in the States was now lees acute than a year ago, and there was every confidence of a quick return to normal conditions.

This talented actress, who. played leading parts in the States with Anna Held. Elsie Janus, Irene Franklin and Ralph Herz referred to her profession as the cruellest in the world. Performers knew that every eye that faced them, in the stalls, the dress-circle, or the gallery, was a critical one, quick to detect faults. But behind the smiling eyes and the care-free maimers of those who work before the footlights were just the same worries and disappointments that were met with in any other walk of life. The principal girl confessed to one hobby-—that of saving enough from her earnings to bulild a home for her mother in New York City.