Free The Girl at the End of the Line by Charles Mathes Page A

she had spent countless hours in them over the years. A helpful clerk at the front desk quickly directed her and Nell to the fourth floor. A few minutes later they stepped out of the elevator and entered a room of books surrounded by glass walls.
    The Billy Rose Collection was a small, quiet space done in the same 1960s architecture that characterized the whole Lincoln Center complex. Bookcases ran along one wall. Five long wooden tables with seats numbered from one to sixty filled the center of the room. A few researchers sat in red 1960s-style chairs. The only evidence that the room had anything to do with theater were a few models of stage sets in white lucite boxes on top of the card catalogues.
    â€œWe’re looking for information about someone who appeared on Broadway a long time ago,” Molly explained to the librarian, a thin bearded man in his thirties. “Where should we start?”
    Five minutes later Molly and Nell were in assigned seats perusing the spread for Without Reservations in the appropriate year’s Theatre World Annual. It was as easy as that. The reference book was packed with information about the show, including the same cast list of eight actors as in the program Nell had found, plus three
more production photos. In each photo a young and beautiful Margaret Jellinek dressed in odd, old-fashioned clothes struck a different pose as various cast members looked on.
    Tingling with excitement Molly read the brief description of the story:

    The family of a dying girl keeps the seriousness of her illness a secret from her. When Linda Blake (Margaret Jellinek) learns the truth, she decides to spend her last days on a whirlwind tour of Europe rather than finish the promising symphony she has been composing. Her heartbroken fiancé (Tuck Wittington) and parents (Lillian St. Germaine, Arthur Page Anderson), try to talk her out of leaving, but it is only the noble sacrifice by her faithful cocker spaniel, Alexander The Great, that finally shows Linda the true meaning of life.

    As she read further, however, Molly’s excitement turned to disappointment. Without Reservations had previewed in Boston and tried out in New Haven and Philadelphia before opening in New York City at the Booth on Thanksgiving Day. It had closed that same Sunday, having played a total of five performances on Broadway.
    â€œWell, you’re bound to have some failures in a big Broadway career,” Molly whispered to her sister.
    Nell nodded absently, leafing through the current issue of Backstage, the showbiz weekly, that somebody had left on the table. She had long ago learned to amuse herself at libraries while Molly was digging out obscure facts about this antique or that.
    Molly turned to the brief biographies of “Popular Broadway Players” included at the back of the Theatre World. Margaret Jellinek wasn’t listed. Nor was Tuck Wittington who played her fiance
in Without Reservations , or the actors who played the Doctor, Aunt Tillie, Gramps, and Bart the Handyman. Only the parents—Lillian St. Germaine and Arthur Page Anderson, who were married to each other in real life—rated mention. Each had numerous Broadway credits, including plenty of Shakespeare.
    Apparently you had to be pretty well established to get a bio, Molly realized, which meant that Margaret Jellinek must have been something less than a full-fledged Broadway star when she had won the lead in Without Reservations.
    Of course, there was nothing wrong in being a newcomer, Molly told herself—or to star in a show that didn’t have a long run. Anthony Quinn had starred that same year in a play that hadn’t lasted even as long as Grandma’s. And he hadn’t rated a bio, either.
    â€œWait here,” said Molly to Nell, then walked over to the card catalogue and filled out call slips for any archival materials that might be available for Without Reservations. She also picked up more Theatre World annuals for