WINTHROP AMES LURES COLLEGE MEN TO STAGE

"To a young man of real talent and the proper physique, financial rewards as an actor come earlier than in most of the other professions, and later are limited, within reason, only by his talent and determination," Winthrop Ames '95, prominent New York producer, told a CRIMSON reporter recently.

Mr. Ames, after leaving his assistant in charge of the rehearsal that was in progress, joined the CRIMSON reporter in the wings of the Booth Theatre in New York. In the talk that followed, Mr. Ames outlined his views on acting as a profession, and the value of the training acquired in amateur performances. He also branched off to recount his experiences as an entertainer in France during the war, where he managed the "Over There Theatre League."

The value of amateur theatricals, such as are offered by the Dramatic Club, Mr. Ames found to be the test that they provide of a man's ability. "By trying his hand at dramatics while in college, a young man is given the opportunity to discover whether he has a real liking for acting as a regular profession."

Fought Homesickness for Soldiers

"My most interesting experience," he said, "was a visit to France during the War. In 1918, at the request of the authorities, I went abroad to see what could be done to assist morale and combat homesickness, a very prevalent and really serious malady, in our camps overseas, by sending to our soldiers the atrical entertainment from home. In company with Mr. E. B. Sothern, the Shakesperean actor, I spent three months surveying the varied conditions. We visited at least 50 of The American encampments, and spent one night under artillery fire at Toul, which was then our front.

"When we returned to America we organized the Over There League. This, operating through the Y. M. C. A., to which the army had assigned its social welfare work, sent to France some 300 actors and vaudeville performers. Travelling in little groups of four and five, these players gave thousands of performances in American camps and leave-areas. Several of them accompanied our men to the front, and a few played under actual fire. This work continued until all our troops, except the comparatively few regulars left at Coblenx, had returned home."