While working at Wanamaker's Department Store in 1919, a colleague saw him dance and informed Cagney about a role in the upcoming production, Every Sailor.
A wartime play in which the chorus was made up of servicemen dressed as women that was originally titled Every Woman.
Cagney auditioned for the chorus, although considering it a waste of time, as he knew only one dance step, the complicated Peabody, but he knew it perfectly.
This was enough to convince the producers that he could dance, and he copied the other dancers' moves and added them to his repertoire while waiting to go on.
He did not find it odd to play a woman, nor was he embarrassed.
He later recalled how he was able to shed his own naturally shy persona when he stepped onto the stage: "For there I am not myself.
I am not that fellow, Jim Cagney, at all.
I certainly lost all consciousness of him when I put on skirts, wig, paint, powder, feathers and spangles."

Had Cagney's mother had her way, his stage career would have ended when he quit Every Sailor after two months; proud as she was of his performance, she preferred that he get an education.
Cagney appreciated the $35 a week he was paid, which he remembrances as "a mountain of money for me in those worrisome days."
In deference to his mother's worries, he got a job as a brokerage house runner.
This did not stop him from looking for more stage work, however, and he went on to audition successfully for a chorus part in the William B. Friedlander musical Pitter Patter, for which he earned $55 a week. (
He sent $40 to his mother each week.)
So strong was his habit of holding down more than one job at a time, he also worked as a dresser for one of the leads, portered the casts' luggage, and understudied for the lead.
Among the chorus line performers was 16-year-old Frances Willard "Billie" Vernon;  they married in 1922.

The show began Cagney's 10-year association with vaudeville and Broadway.
The Cagneys were among the early residents of Free Acres, a social experiment established by Bolton Hall in Berkeley Heights, New Jersey.

Pitter Patter was not hugely successful, but it did well enough to run for 32 weeks, making it possible for Cagney to join the vaudeville circuit.
He and Vernon toured separately with a number of different troupes, reuniting as "Vernon and Nye" to do simple comedy routines and musical numbers. "
Nye" was a rearrangement of the last syllable of Cagney's surname.
One of the troupes Cagney joined was Parker, Rand, and Leach, taking over the spot vacated when Archie Leach—who later changed his name to Cary Grant—left.

In 1924, after years of touring and struggling to make money, Cagney and Vernon moved to Hawthorne, California, partly for Cagney to meet his new mother-in-law, who had just moved there from Chicago, and partly to investigate breaking into the movies.
Their train fares were paid for by a friend, the press officer of Pitter Patter, who was also desperate to act.
They were not successful at first; the dance studio Cagney set up had few clients and folded, and Vernon  and he toured the studios, but there was no interest.
Eventually, they borrowed some money and headed back to New York via Chicago and Milwaukee, enduring failure along the way when they attempted to make money on the stage.

Cagney secured his first significant nondancing role in 1925.
He played a young tough guy in the three-act play Outside Looking In by Maxwell Anderson, earning $200 a week.
As with Pitter Patter, Cagney went to the audition with little confidence he would get the part.
At this point, he had had no experience with drama.
Cagney felt that he only got the role because his hair was redder than that of Alan Bunce, the only other red-headed performer in New York.
Both the play and Cagney received good reviews; Life magazine wrote, "Mr. Cagney, in a less spectacular role [than his co-star] makes a few minutes silence during his mock-trial scene something that many a more established actor might watch with profit."
Burns Mantle wrote that it "...contained the most honest acting now to be seen in New York.
While working at Wanamaker's Department Store in 1919, a colleague saw him dance and informed Cagney about a role in the upcoming production, Every Sailor. A wartime play in which the chorus was made up of servicemen dressed as women that was originally titled Every Woman. Cagney auditioned for the chorus, although considering it a waste of time, as he knew only one dance step, the complicated Peabody, but he knew it perfectly. This was enough to convince the producers that he could dance, and he copied the other dancers' moves and added them to his repertoire while waiting to go on. He did not find it odd to play a woman, nor was he embarrassed. He later recalled how he was able to shed his own naturally shy persona when he stepped onto the stage: "For there I am not myself. I am not that fellow, Jim Cagney, at all. I certainly lost all consciousness of him when I put on skirts, wig, paint, powder, feathers and spangles."
Had Cagney's mother had her way, his stage career would have ended when he quit Every Sailor after two months; proud as she was of his performance, she preferred that he get an education. Cagney appreciated the $35 a week he was paid, which he remembrances as "a mountain of money for me in those worrisome days." In deference to his mother's worries, he got a job as a brokerage house runner. This did not stop him from looking for more stage work, however, and he went on to audition successfully for a chorus part in the William B. Friedlander musical Pitter Patter, for which he earned $55 a week. (He sent $40 to his mother each week.) So strong was his habit of holding down more than one job at a time, he also worked as a dresser for one of the leads, portered the casts' luggage, and understudied for the lead. Among the chorus line performers was 16-year-old Frances Willard "Billie" Vernon;  they married in 1922.
The show began Cagney's 10-year association with vaudeville and Broadway. The Cagneys were among the early residents of Free Acres, a social experiment established by Bolton Hall in Berkeley Heights, New Jersey.
Pitter Patter was not hugely successful, but it did well enough to run for 32 weeks, making it possible for Cagney to join the vaudeville circuit. He and Vernon toured separately with a number of different troupes, reuniting as "Vernon and Nye" to do simple comedy routines and musical numbers. "Nye" was a rearrangement of the last syllable of Cagney's surname. One of the troupes Cagney joined was Parker, Rand, and Leach, taking over the spot vacated when Archie Leach—who later changed his name to Cary Grant—left.
In 1924, after years of touring and struggling to make money, Cagney and Vernon moved to Hawthorne, California, partly for Cagney to meet his new mother-in-law, who had just moved there from Chicago, and partly to investigate breaking into the movies. Their train fares were paid for by a friend, the press officer of Pitter Patter, who was also desperate to act. They were not successful at first; the dance studio Cagney set up had few clients and folded, and Vernon  and he toured the studios, but there was no interest. Eventually, they borrowed some money and headed back to New York via Chicago and Milwaukee, enduring failure along the way when they attempted to make money on the stage.
Cagney secured his first significant nondancing role in 1925. He played a young tough guy in the three-act play Outside Looking In by Maxwell Anderson, earning $200 a week. As with Pitter Patter, Cagney went to the audition with little confidence he would get the part. At this point, he had had no experience with drama. Cagney felt that he only got the role because his hair was redder than that of Alan Bunce, the only other red-headed performer in New York. Both the play and Cagney received good reviews; Life magazine wrote, "Mr. Cagney, in a less spectacular role [than his co-star] makes a few minutes silence during his mock-trial scene something that many a more established actor might watch with profit." Burns Mantle wrote that it "...contained the most honest acting now to be seen in New York.
James Cagney