She made her debut in Philadelphia in 1887, toured with
Daniel E. Bandmann in 1888 and appeared in New York City in 1897. In 1902–1903, she starred as Janice Meredith in a touring version of the play of the same name. She first appeared in her role of Patricia O'Brien in 1904 in the sketch titled
The Chorus Girl, which she carried to London in 1906, and she reappeared in New York in the revised four-act play
The Chorus Lady, in which she made a sensation. , 1912 She had until this time remained largely unknown to the theatre watching public, yet by 1907 had "jumped to the front in the theatrical firmament" and drewcomparisons with
David Warfield. She appeared in Lexington, Kentucky for the first time toward the end of 1907, where she was described as a "theatrical star of the first magnitude". Following her performances in
The Chorus Lady, she was held in high regard by critics, describing her as "a comedienne with an exquisite sense of humor" while praising her naturalness in acting. Afterward, she played in
Maggie Pepper (1911), which critic Percy Hammond writing for the
Chicago Tribune did not consider a good play nor entertainment, yet believed the inclusion of Stahl, who played her role "most appealingly", made it a "diversion of no unwholesome type". In 1914, she played the role of Lucille Higgins in
A Perfect Lady; in this play, she received an encore with the
Reading Times writing that "no one on the stage has quite the plaintive voice that is so characteristic to this great actress", noting that she was not taken seriously a decade prior. As with many turn of the century stage stars, Stahl showed no interest in the new medium of movies when the fledgling studios came to recruit stage stars around 1912. Like
David Warfield, she starred in a handful of plays, became famous for them, and played them for many years. ==Personal life==