Cornelia Stabler: original character sketches

              1946
Cornelia Stabler
ORIGINAL CHARACTER SKETCHES

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Comments

Miss Stabler made effective use of all her resources as mime and monologist in a series of telling characterizations.  Her sets and costumes were simple and her chatter bubbled out easily.  What's more, she made you feel the presence of unseen persons.
WORLD-TELEGRAM, New York City


Scintillating … witty … most entertaining.
VARIETY


After dinner Cornelia Stabler gave us some delightful monologues.  The one on the refugee was particularly touching.  We were glad to have it followed by a very lighthearted comparison of a girl saying good-night after a party in the 90's and a present-day girl doing the same thing in quite a different way.
ELEANOR ROOSEVELT in “My Day”


Swell show.  Great acting.
JAMES B. POND, Editor Program Magazine


Miss Stabler had her entire audience turning frequently toward the unseen characters she addressed, so true was the course of her monologues.  The grandmother was perfect, the Viennese character was timely, and the closing number gave her mastery of dialects full play.
DAILY NEWS, Burlington, Vt.


Charming and vivid.
THE TIMES, Scanton, Pa.


Simplicity and directness of characterization … potent with humor and pathos … her style was most effective.
NEWS-LEADER, Richmond, Va.


Cornelia Stabler proved her right to the title of One-Woman Theatre at the University Playhouse last night.  It was a delightful surprise to have a monologist develop a complete plot through a series of sketches, a plot that was compelling until the last line was spoken.
THE COURIER-JOURNAL, Louisville, Ky.


This graceful monologist had everyone in the Annie Russell Theatre (Rollins College) completely en rapport.  Her monologues are clever, witty and wise.
REPORTER-STAR, Orlando, Fla.



Cornelia Stabler

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It's Curtain Time

Scene I — 1945


VERNA CARLTON

SECRETARY



The office of a New York Theatre School.






Scene II — 1945


GAIL BANNING

DIRECTRESS



The studio, five minutes later.






Scene III — 1925


FLORA SINCLAIR

CHORUS GIRL



A dressing room at the theatre.






Scene IV — 1926


HENRIETTE LAFITTE

ACTRESS



A hotel in Paris.




Intermission



Scene V — 1926


MRS. EBEN BREWSTER

GRANDMOTHER



Her living room in Springhill, Mass.






Scene VI — 1935


MRS. HARRY ELLERY

MOTHER



The Studio.






Scene VII — 1945


GAIL BANNING

DIRECTRESS



The office, three hours later than Scene 1.






IT'S CURTAIN TIME is a series of monologues which develops a continuous dramatic plot.  It is as satisfying as a three-act play with a large cast.  The stage is convincingly peopled with clearly defined characters who unfold a story that is full of human interest and keen suspense.  One falls so completely under the hypnotic spell of the artist's brilliant imagination that each member of the cast seems to be played by a different actress.  One even sees the characters who never appear at all!  Here is interpretive and creative talent, both serious and comic, in perfectly balanced THEATRE.




Personality Portraits

SUBURBAN BREAKFAST
HICKORY LIMB
THE GOURD ENTHUSIAST
WEST OF BROADWAY
AFTER THE BALL, IN THE NINETIES AND NOW
THE VACATION MOTHER
GLAMOUR BY RADIO
A QUIET HOUR IN A BEAUTY SHOP
COMPRENEZ-VOUS
GRANDMA AND SEARS ROEBUCK
THE BIRD BATH
THE SOUTHERN GIRL AND THE SOLDIER
BRIDGE PARTY
HOSPITAL
DINNER AT EIGHT
THE HOUSEWIFE AND THE RADIO
SHOWING THE HOME MOVIES
MODERN REFUGEE
THE AMERICAN LANGUAGE
RADIOITIS

PERSONALITY PORTRAITS is the sort of program that is just right for benefit performances, fund raising entertainments, conventions, and gala annual events, as well as for the usual club, college and community affairs.  Gay, satiric, wise, these inimitable dramatic pictures are universal in their appeal and easy to present.  They require no elaborate staging; the time and the place of each scene is clearly set by significant costume accessories and the eloquent use of pantomime.  Communities which have already enjoyed several of Miss Stabler's programs, will be glad to know that there are some new Personality Portraits.  They are timely and merry and may be used as a separate program, or combined with old favorites.  PERSONALITY PORTRAITS, old or new, make an exhilarating and delightful evening in the theatre.



American Christmases

Scene I


ELIZABETH WINSLOW

CHRISTMAS EVE 1620



In the Captain's Cabin on the Mayflower.






Scene II


THEODOCIA HUNT

CHRISTMAS DAY 1776



In the hallway of her Trenton home.






Scene III


ELLEN OSGOOD

CHRISTMAS EVE 1877



In her living room in New York City.






Scene IV


MARIA KENYON

CHRISTMAS TODAY



In her son's home in Washington, D. C.,






AMERICAN CHRISTMASES is an inspiring and delightful monologue sequence of Christmas stories Delving into history and biography, Miss Stabler has selected incidents which occurred in the Christmas season and dramatized them into an interesting picture of our country's background.  Through four women, whose lives were lived in four different centuries, the past comes vividly to life and foreshadows the hope of the future.  The characters are charmingly portrayed; Elizabeth Winslow, whose waning courage is strengthened by the events of the day; Theodocia Hunt, who takes part in an exciting chapter of history as Washington crosses the Delaware; Ellen Osgood, who struggles to keep up appearances on a minister's salary in New York's plushiest era; and Maria Kenyon, whose faith in the world is restored as she watches her son face a wartime Christmas.  Their stories are not only engrossing history, they are good theatre.





Program Chairmen Say

Barbizon Plaza Theatre New York City.
My heartiest congratulations on your beautiful presentation of It's Curtain Time. Your original story is interesting, your personality charming, and excellent showmanship was manifested in each and every character.  I wish you could have heard the unanimous praise of the members of the audience as they were leaving the theatre.

Gladys Andes, Director



Kiwanis International Convention Cleveland, Ohio.
I have heard many fine comments about your show; all were most enthusiastic.  It was one of the high spots of the whole Kiwanis Convention.

Thomas Husselton, Program Chairman



Women's Club Westfield, N. J.
Cornelia Stabler is the answer to a program chairman's prayer.  She is attractive both in appearance and personality.  Her sketches, while humorous, show deep understanding of the human race, especially the feminine.  My club is discriminating, not to say downright critical, and they loved her, all six hundred of them.

Mrs. W. M. Smith, Program Chairman



University Club Middletown, Conn.
Cornelia Stabler's monologue sequence was as you described it, only more so!  As the Wesleyan University Argus stated, it was superb, astounding, the acme of perfection. The town is still talking about it.

J. Alfred Dodd, Program Chairman



Railway Business Women's Association Chicago, Illinois.
Compliments are still coming in for Cornelia Stabler's performance of It's Curtain Time. Her portrayal of the grandmother was especially liked, although too much cannot be said in praise of her whole work.  She has such a nice personality and is so lovely to look at.

Anna Koch, Program Chairman



National Convention Mortar Board College Women's Honorary Society.
The National Council has asked me to express its great appreciation of your delightful impersonations.  One reason this was the best convention we ever had was because of the grand start you gave us.

Ellen Fernon Reisner, Secretary Philadelphia, Pa.



Woman's Club Larchmont, N. Y.
Thank you for a very wonderful afternoon.  I've heard nothing but glowingly enthusiastic comments.  Your performance was one of the highest spots of the year's programs.

Marie F. Tuck, Program Chairman



Station Hospital Camp Shanks, N. J.
Your fine impersonations were greatly enjoyed by the entire audience.  It was the first opportunity our boys have had to enjoy a performance of this type by so fine an artist.

Adelia Smith, Field Director




Cornelia Stabler
CORNELIA STABLER has a special genius for creating illusions.  When she steps upon the stage to present her original character sketches, she ceases to be an actress standing against a velvet cyclorama, magically she becomes an operator in a beauty shop, a hostess at a party, or a farmer's wife in a hot kitchen.  She knows her characters so completely, their voices, gestures and thought processes, that her monologues are veritable dramatic portraits.

Each characterization is the result of careful and sympathetic observation.  Miss Stabler makes it her business to know people, she is a good listener.  She carries a notebook in her purse in which she jots down conversations she hears in busses and trains, at teas and wedding receptions.  In her file case are brief outlines of real life stories, clippings from newspapers, records of charity cases.  She watches people walk, studies their hands and feet, the angles of their heads.  And then with understanding and a delightful sense of humor she writes them down and recreates them.

In costuming and make-up, as well as in story content, Miss Stabler knows how to select the most significant details.  With her simple basic gown she achieves complete costume effects by adding a shawl or a hat or an evening wrap or a bustle!  She can change from a newly-wed housewife to an old grandmother in less than two minutes, and change so completely that the audience finds it hard to believe she is the same person.  There are no long waits in Miss Stabler's program, yet it is as satisfying visually as it is dramatically.  The skillful selection of costume accessories, the simple but careful staging and the beauty of the color scheme add much to the charm of the presentation.

Cornelia Stabler was born in a boys' dormitory, the daughter of a Professor of languages in a Pennsylvania boarding school.  From here she went to Swarthmore College where she majored in Dramatic Art, and later returned to direct the plays of the Little Theatre Club.  She took graduate work at Columbia University, and also attended Theodora Irvine's Studio For The Theatre in New York City.  At present she is Director of the summer theatre group at Buck Hill Falls, Pennsylvania, and devotes the balance of the year to writing and presenting her character sketches.  She has appeared in many radio programs on the major networks, and is the author of several plays and civic pageants.  She was enthusiastically received by the President and Mrs. Roosevelt and their guests when she entertained for them at the White House.  Her wide experience in the field of dramatic art gives her work authority as well as warm human sympathy.

Her repertoire includes about twenty-five short sketches or PERSONALITY PORTRAITS, one Christmas program, AMERICAN CHRISTMASES, and one Monologue Sequence, IT'S CURTAIN TIME. The short sketches are predominantly humorous, the occasional serious number serving as contrast for the satires and comedies.  AMERICAN CHRISTMASES is inspiring and full of human interest, depicting four American women who celebrated Christmas according to the spirit of the times in which they lived. IT'S CURTAIN TIME employs a series of related sketches to tell a story with as much emotional impact and keen suspense as a three-act play.  Programs can be arranged from this versatile repertoire to suit any occasion and any stage.  They are a joy to audiences everywhere, for Cornelia Stabler's sketches are vividly written and brilliantly portrayed.

Roxanna Wells, Inc., Lecture Bureau
393 Seventh Avenue, New York I, N. Y.