Margaret Stahl: interpreter of literature

              1909
Incentives come from the soul's self; The rest avail not.


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Margaret Stahl Interpreter of Literature
EXCLUSIVE MANAGEMENT

WINTER


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THE SELECT FOLKS QUALITY SEAL

ARTHUR C. COIT. President.

THE COIT LYCEUM BUREAU CLEVELAND O.

LOUIS J. ALBER. General Manager.

SUMMER
The National Chautauqua Bureau
DR. W. L. DAVIDSON, Manager
1520 E. 115th St., CLEVELAND, O.




MARGARET STAHL In Interpretive Recitals

Foreword
MISS MARGARET STAHL is one of the most brilliant and successful Readers on the American platform.  Attractive and absolutely free from mannerism and affectation, MISS STAHL'S success is due no less to her ability than to her personality, which is indefinably charming.  By nature, training and experience she is ably fitted to portray humanity in all its varied phases.  Possessed of a mind that can keenly discern the author's purpose, a heart capable of deepest feeling and the ability to make live, apparently without effort, one character after another, it is not surprising that audiences are swayed by the magic of her Art.

There is an atmosphere about her work that is healthful, helpful and invigorating.  Again and again committees re-engage her, often not waiting for the recall until the following season, and there is no stronger proof of artistic worth than this.

MISS STAHL'S diction is excellent and her clear, rich voice runs the gamut in expressing strong emotion, sparkling comedy and delicate pathos.

Her programs are varied and she is constantly adding to her already extensive repertoire, which embraces popular and classic Plays, especially written Monologues and Impersonations, as well as French, Japanese, Cockney, Italian, Negro and Irish Character Studies, all of which are presented with the sure touch of an artist, whose every effort rings true.



Letters Commendatory
MARYLAND COLLEGE FOR WOMEN
Lutherville, Md. — Margaret Stahl has appeared before the young ladies of the college in The Dawn of a Tomorrow.  Miss Stahl proved herself a reader of splendid presence, broad conception, finished execution and much personal magnetism, giving an evening delightful, instructive and inspiring.

Yours very truly,
C. W. GALLAGHER, Pres.

January 18, 1909.



DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
United States Indian Service

Indian Industrial School, Carlisle, Pa., March 3, 1909.—Margaret Stahl is an artist of superior skill and interpretive powers.  Her rendition of Strongheart before our student body, who, because they are Indians, would naturally be the keenest kind of critics, was superb.  She held the audience spell-bound from beginning to end.  Miss Stahl makes an attractive figure on the stage and has made herself a consummate master of her art.

M. FRIEDMAN, Superintendent.

Blanche Friderici, under management of David Belasco, New York City.—There is no more charmingly interesting woman in the Lyceum than Margaret Stahl.  Of fine appearance and with splendid personality she holds her audiences under complete control.  They laugh and they cry with her.  She does not imitate, but is the character she portrays and her impersonations are given with a vim and naturalness which proves her an artist in every sense of the word.  Her repertoire is of unusual range and diversity and the skill and finesse with which she runs the gamut, from sparkling comedy to dramatic tragedy, has rightfully earned her the sobriquet, peer of American readers.

Emma Augusta Greely, Principal Greely School of Elocution and Dramatic Art, Boston.—Margaret Stahl is earnest and thorough in her desire to master the principles governing the art of expression.  Possessed with great enthusiasm for her work and with a sincere love for the study of literature, she ever gives faithful interpretation of the various characters which she portrays.  In public work Margaret Stahl is always pleasing and magnetic and has the power to attract and hold her audiences.




PRESS AND PERSONAL MENTION


An' Bebby Trouble—we goin' mag picture o' him!  His name goin' be Joy after today—Joy after today.—
From Madame Butterfly.




Canton, Ill., Daily Register.
—The fame of Margaret Stahl's Madame Butterfly preceded her appearance in Canton.  It has been heralded from other places as the masterly performance of a woman of real genius.  Nearly 2,800 people filled the Auditorium; they came with great expectations and they left with every expectation fulfilled.  The histrionic powers displayed were a revelation indeed.  Her graceful and womanly presence, the splendid voice, capable of reflecting every shade of human sentiment, and the complete mastery of her art all combined to make Miss Stahl's Madame Butterfly the most interesting feature of all Chautauqua entertainments.


Waynesburg, Pa., Times.
—Margaret Stahl is a true emotional actress and her art is so hidden, her humor so subtle, that it is a difficult thing to describe the beauty and the charm of her work or tell just wherein her merit lies.  Her power to please, entertain and instruct is undoubtedly of the positive character and stamps her work with the seal of lasting merit.


Cedar Falls, Ia., Press.
—Margaret Stahl is a reader of rare ability.  She has wonderful facial expressions and her dialect is perfect.

George L. Hess, A. M., Superintendent of Schools, Las Animas, Colo.—I have had the pleasure of hearing Margaret Stahl in the opening number of the Lyceum course.  The large Opera House was packed, and there was every opportunity to observe her, both in her interpretation and quality of voice.  She has a personality and manner that lend themselves splendidly to her work.  At no time was she out of harmony with the spirit of her selection or the characters she represented.  Free from the stereotyped tricks of elocutionists, she depends instead upon an intellectual interpretation of what is finest in literature and human nature for results, and never falls short of the mark.


Lorain, O., Times-Herald.
—As an interpretive reader Margaret Stahl's peer has never been seen in this city.


Erie, Pa., Dispatch.
—Margaret Stahl is a charming entertainer and won the heartiest applause of her audience.  The rendition of Madame Butterfly comprised the better part of the evening.  This was supplemented by several short stories of a lighter character, in varied phases of dramatic interpretation, evidencing Miss Stahl's marked versatility.  Her voice is clear, flexible, musical and every gesture strongly expressive of the emotion which impelled it.


Boston, Mass., Globe.
—A feature of the recital last evening at the Sailors' Mission were the readings of Margaret Stahl.  She is an artist.


Leavenworth, Kan., Times.
—Margaret Stahl is an accomplished actress in all but name.

F. B. Pearson, Principal East High School, Columbus, O.—I am very glad to have the opportunity to testify to the excellence of the Enoch Arden program.  It is a high-grade entertainment and is given so artistically that it is an inspiration to everyone who likes good work.


Manitoba, Can., Free Press.
—Margaret Stahl scored an undeniable hit with her readings and character impersonations.  Her work in interpreting the strong human emotions was exceptionally fine.  Miss Stahl might attain theatrical prominence if her ambitions soar in that direction.

M. D. Crackel, Secretary West Side Y. M. C. A., Cleveland, O.—Miss Margaret Stahl gave one of the most pleasing entertainments of our course and we had some excellent numbers.  Her presentation of Enoch Arden received the highest possible praise from our patrons.


La Junta, Colo., Press.
—Margaret Stahl breathes out an enthusiasm at once contagious and hypnotic.  Her readings make one a part of the scenes they recall.


Joliet, Ill., Daily News.
—Saturday's Chautauqua entertainment program contained Margaret Stahl in The Dawn of a Tomorrow.  Miss Stahl is a charming girl with a beautiful voice, every word distinct and clear, and her work is delightfully dramatic.  She depicted the Bowery, its tragedy and its humor, and her facial powers presented all the characters alive that made up the dramatis personæ of the impressive story.


W. V. Hayes, Secretary Y. M. C. A., Marietta, O.—I enclose a few clippings from the local papers regarding our New Year Open House and the Recital by Margaret Stahl.  I wish to add that it was one of the most artistic and well rendered programs that I have heard in Marietta.  I have not heard any person hold an audience in our hall as the one was New Year's night by Madame Butterfly.  So far have not heard an adverse criticism on the work of Miss Stahl.

Pennsylvania R. R. Y. M. C. A. Star Course, Philadelphia, Pa.—The high standard of the Star Course was ably maintained in the program furnished by Margaret Stahl on the evening of January 8th.  It was Miss Stahl's first appearance here, and she fully sustained the reputation that had preceded her, of being one of the greatest readers now before the public.  While the miscellaneous selections were given in a thoroughly finished manner that won warm applause, yet it was in her rendition of Madame Butterfly that she shone as a real artiste.  It was as quaint, artistic and delightful bit of impersonation as we have ever witnessed, and no warmer praise can be bestowed upon her than the mere statement that she held the audience in almost breathless attention for fifty minutes.

O. L. Wilson, Manager Aurora Chautauqua Assembly.—Margaret Stahl filled a three days' engagement as reader at our Chautauqua this season to the immense delight of all who heard her.  She is a finished artiste to the minutest detail.  Individuality, charm of personality, stage presence and ability are hers.  She is unquestionably the best reader that has appeared on the program of the Aurora Chautauqua during the five years of its existence.


The Press, Salamanca, N. Y.
—Margaret Stahl's interpretation of Strongheart, the play made famous two years ago by Robert Edeson, was most vivid and convincing.  It is probable Miss Stahl will be seen here next season so satisfactory was her work.


Fremont, O., Messenger.
—The dramatic reading of Madame Butterfly by Margaret Stahl was one of the most artistic and satisfactory recitals ever given in this city.


Brooklyn Daily Eagle.
—A literary work that can strengthen and deepen as it is repeated is a great work—and repeated performances of The Servant In the House have but more definitely fixed its position as the one great play of the season.

The higher development of the power of the will does not come idly or by mechanical concentration, but by the bitterness and agony of experience.  When we have been broken, literally broken, when we have been reduced to the great depths, when we have not one power left us, except to cry out in our agony, then our souls rise and the human will, the great dynamic force that can move the world really wakes.—Except from an interview with Charles Rann Kennedy, author of The Servant in the House.


New York Times.
—The Servant In the House is a drama so great, so compelling, so reverent, so akin to all the beautiful and permanent things in life that it is more than a play, more than a story; it is a page from life itself, revealing the brotherhood of man as a real, breathing thing, showing that the impossible has become possible.


New York Sun.
—Mrs. Frances Hodgson Burnett's play, The Dawn of a Tomorrow, is strongly significant of the intellectual drift of the times.  It makes one more in the series of dramas taking account of things that are not material.  It teaches unselfishness and optimism.  Its dominant note being the theory of thinking right out of wrong, hope out of despair, joy out of sorrow, and light out of darkness.


The Courier, Salisbury, Md.
—Margaret Stahl's presentation of The Dawn of a Tomorrow was exceptionally fine and in the portrayal of the various characters she had ample opportunity for the display of her unusual talents.


Vincennes, Ind., Capital.
—Margaret Stahl's interpretation of Madame Butterfly is magnificent.  Her work was genuinely artistic throughout.  The entire production was marked with the greatest delicacy, while suggestive of infinite reserve power.  Her impersonation of the little Japanese woman was artistic perfection—voice, manner, action, all were ever true and complete.


As Seen in The Servant in the House