Carol Goes Backstage

Carol Page #1

by Helen Dore Boylston

Carol, who tasted her first success in holding an audience in a high-school play, and Julia Gregg, a classmate as stage struck as herself, join Phyllis Marlowe's apprentice group in New York. In this setting, Carol beings to learn about herself as an actress. Phyllis Marlowe's criticism of her first performance is hard to take, but not half as painful as Mike Horodinsky's ruthless verdict. Mike is one member of the apprentice group whom Carol thoroughly dislikes. Their antagonism flames into open warfare when Mike almost succeeds in getting Carol away from the stage altogether. However, when the real test comes, these young students meet it with such ingenuity and perseverance that even Carol and Mike forget their differences in the common bond of the theater.

Hardcover

First published January 1, 1941

About the author

An only child, Helen Dore Boylston attended Portsmouth public schools and trained as a nurse at Massachusetts General Hospital. Two days after graduating, she joined the Harvard medical unit that had been formed to serve with the British Army. After the war, she missed the comradeship, intense effort, and mutual dependence of people upon one another when under pressure, and joined the Red Cross to work in Poland and Albania. This work, often in isolation and with little apparent effect, wasn't satisfying. Returning to the U.S., Boylston taught nose and throat anaesthesia at Massachusetts General for two years. During this time Rose Wilder Lane read Boylston's wartime diary and arranged for it to be published in the Atlantic Monthly. - Source

- More information

Series:
* Sue Barton
* Carol Page

Reviews

[Lark · Rating 3 out of 5]

I haven't read the original American version of this title, and in fact noted this was a UK edition only when a character referred to Mrs Page as "Mum" and "Mummie". The style and tone are fairly typical of books at this level and from this period, somewhat reminding me of Pamela Brown. Carol hasn't an enormous amount of personality, but she has certain traits such as determination, grace, willingness etc that point the way to her being a good actress. One interesting point is that her stubborn resolve is not all-encompassing. If she is proved mistaken, she gives up her stand with good grace.

I was quite surprised at the interesting set-up in what is otherwise a mainstream 1940s/50s career novel. As she is an apprentice at the Stuyvesant Theatre Carol's experience neatly walks the tightrope between amateur dramatics and stage school/theatre school. That is, the apprentices play walk on and crowd scenes for the established company but otherwise have the run of the facilities to organise their own plays which they put on for the manager, Miss Marlowe. There are classes, but this is in no sense a "show up or get expelled" school.

From her first success in her school play through home dramas as she presents an alternative to her parents' desire that she should go to college, on through a personality clash with a cranky apprentice director (producer?) Carol's experiences are varied enough to keep the reader's attention. She's a nice girl, on the whole, so we want her to succeed.

I was left wondering, though, if only the best of hundreds of would-be apprentices were chosen, how some of Carol's co-stars got through the cut!

[Emily · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was so pleased when I learned that Helen Dore Boylston, whose Sue Barton nursing series was a favorite of mine growing up, also authored another series, about an aspiring actress, of which this one was the first. Unfortunately, I was less than captivated by the Carol books, which just seemed a little dull, and lacking the immediacy and the sense of fun that I found in the books about Sue. Perhaps this is because Boylston drew on her own training as a nurse for the Sue Barton books, or perhaps it's simply because I read the Carols as an adult.

[Linda · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this book and this series years ago but decided to reread them. While I loved Boylston's other series, Sue Barton, a nurse, this series about an aspiring theater actress goes very slowly. What I did enjoy is a glimpse into the theater world in New York City when the theater was an important part of American entertainment. In this story Carol, who takes part in a high school play, becomes interested in theater. She is accepted by an apprentice group of a New York theater where the students learn various techniques such as diction, inflection, make-up, etc. There is a male in the group whom Carol dislikes intensely but when push comes to shove they are able to work together to get it done.

There are 3 more books in this series. It's doubtful that I'll reread the others.

[Bob · Rating 3 out of 5]

In this breezy 1940s novel, high-school student Carol Page discovers a love of acting and uses her talent, luck, and privilege to begin her career. Quite charming. There are some unfortunate, but brief appearances by racial stereotypes of the period.

[Heather · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very good. Lively and interesting and just that little bit different.