Cornell joined various theater companies, including the Bonstelle, that toured around the East Coast. In 1919, she went with the Bonstelle company to London to play Jo March in Marian de Forest's stage adaptation of Louisa May Alcott's novel "Little Women". Although the critics disparaged the play itself, they specifically noted Cornell as the one bright spot of the evening. The paper "The Englishwomen" wrote of Cornell: "London is unanimous in its praise, and London will flock to see her." Upon her return to New York, she met Guthrie McClintic, a young theater director. She made her Broadway debut in the play "Nice People" by Rachel Crothers, in a small part alongside Tallulah Bankhead.