“OUR NELL” OFF THE STAGE.

New Zealand Illustrated Sporting & Dramatic Review, Volume XVIII, Issue 1013, 5 August 1909, Page 17

“OUR NELL” OFF THE STAGE.

MISS NELLIE STEWART’S MAGNETIC PERSONALITY. SIDELIGHTS ON HER CAREER. As charming and vivacious off the stage as on, means a good deal when the subject is Miss Nellie Stewart, and this impression was confirmed after a chat with that lady at the Grand Hotel the other day, a representative of this journal at once coming under the spell of her magnetic personality that has swayed its many thousands. “ Ask me anything you like,” was Miss Stewart’s greeting. “ But I’m afraid there’s nothing new to say. This is my tenth visit to New Zealand, and the warmth of its people every time makes me feel as if I am having a second home-coming.” “ You had a great reception in Melbourne and Sydney, on your reappearance in those cities ?” “ Wonderful,” was the reply. “ In Melbourne the ‘ early doors’ people were waiting from noon ! Can you imagine it ? I was able to show my appreciation of the compliment in a slight degree by providing tea and cakes for them.” The queue also subscribed amongst themselves, and presented Miss Stewart with a dainty trinket, on which were inscribed the words “ Sweet Nell,’’ and also presented her with a bouquet from “ The gallery girls and boys of the early door.” Sydney followed suit with another tremendous reception. “ And did you supply them with tea also?” “ Well, no,” said Miss Stewart, laughingly. “ You see. they were nearly all men. and I knew a cup of tea would not satisfy them !” “ We had record bookings in both those places, and the same here. Altogether £9OO worth of tickets was sold the first day in Auckland. You say money is ‘ tight.’ Doesn’t seem much like it, does it ? But I was very sorry to read about the roughness that prevailed when the booking was opened. I think you should adopt the queue system that is in vogue in America, England, and elsewhere. It is a great success, both as regards comfort and celerity, and would prevent, as is now inevitable, the weakest from going to the wall. Everybody has an equal chance in the queue, and I’m surprised Auckland hasn’t fallen into line with what is in other countries an established custom.” Miss Stewart always has her own conception of the character she impersonates. “ I am no mimic,” she remarked; “ never was, not even when I was an understudy. I must make my own part. Personality first and foremost is my belief. I always observe my audience closely and watch for points. There are always differ-

ent people in the front every, night, .and sometimes it is one point that scores, sometimes another. I am a keen reader of faces, and I change my moods according to what they express. One night it. will be the comic element that takes, another the grave, but whichever it is. jokes or platitudes, I give them what I think pleases, in consonance, of course, with the text of the piece. For versatility, I hold, follows closely on the heels of. personalitv as a factor towards success.”

“ The reporter in your evening paper accuses me of having my arms ‘ akimbo’ in ‘ Sweet Kitty Bellairs.’ Well, now, is it likely that I should impersonate a lady of 18th century society, and ape the customs of Billingsgate?” At the time when ‘Kitty’ was written. Miss Stewart explained, padded panniers were worn, and the wearers were quite unable to hold their arms gracefully by the side. Consequently, through the exigencies of fashion, they were obliged to bend the elbow and rest their hands on the point of the bodice which divided the panniers, the thumb and the first finger brought into prominence. Thus was the wearing o’ the marquise ring popularised, for the fashion of the day lent itself admirably to its display. “ But that’s a very different thing to being ‘ akimbo.’ isn’t it?” appealed the lady. Miss Stewart added that before she plays a piece, she studies it in every detail, goes to libraries and looks up encyclopedias and old books so that she may get every pose and attitude correctly, in keeping with the times represented. She saw the original production of “ Kitty Bellairs” in America when it was put on by David Belasco, and so had an extra opportunity of becoming conver-

sant with the deportment of the ladies of those times. An actress, unlike a poet, is born and made, too. Miss Nellie Stewart has her ancestry to thank for the first, her talents and natural charm for the latter. Her great-great-great-grand-mother was the famous Mrs- Yates who acted with David Garrick. A pair of silver buckles presented by the latter to Mrs. Yates has been handed down to Miss Nellie Stewart, who, it is interesting to learn, wears the identical pair on the stage. “ You get besieged with requests for autographs, I believe.” said the writer. “ Yes, indeed,” was the reply. “But I am only too pleased to accede, and make a practice of giving up .Sunday for that purpose.” “ Can you give me the secret of perpetual youth?” was the parting request. Miss Stewart laughed. “Well,” she declared brightly. “I take care of myself. I don’t go in for afternoon teas and social functions. I am interested in people and events, and I don’t allow my mind to rust, but I don’t waste my energies. I keep them all for my audiences at night. I feel that I belong to the public, and that it is my duty to keep myself fresh and give them of the very best. The management engage me to please m, and the public honour me by being pleased, so why shouldn’t they be considered ? I never feel a day older,” she went on. “ There seems so much to do yet. In fact, it seems as if I’m just beginning my life. I always feel as if I must ‘ go one better’ every time. In England, you know, an actress wins a reputation, and that carries for all time, but out in the colonies it is different. You mustn’t allow yourself to go off, for

that is fatal. I mean to ‘go off’ the stage literally, before that comes to pass, and retire gracefully.” And lucking ai Miss Stewart, her face aglow with interest and warm-heart-edness, it does not seem that she is ever likely to “ go off” one way or the other.