The Sun.
London, England, 1862-10-13 00:00:00

FRENCH MANAGERS PAINTED BY A

F.R.ENC.H CRITIC.

The eminent feuilletoniste M. Fiorentino, who for many
years has written the weekly theatrical reviews in the Con-
stttuttonnel, and also (but under the name of De Rovray) in
the Moniteur, describes as follows, in the _France, a very
rotten state of things behind the scenes of some of the
French theatres :

In France the manager of a theatre is not an ordinary
trader ; he is half a functionary and half a commercial man.
He owes his appointment to a minister, who, before grant-
ing him the very considerable monopoly and privilege in-
volved in the direction of a theatre, is supposed to have ob-
tained satisfactory information as to his probity, capacity,
and solvency. For this cause the manager inspires more
confidence, and has better credit with the public than a
mere private adventurer—it is supposed, whether rightly or
wrongly, he has given hostages for trustworthiness, that
his acts are rigorously controlled, and that if he should
violate his duties, either towards the actors or the public,
he will necessarily be dismissed, and replaced by another
man more capable, more honest, or more lucky. And in point
of fact, no man stands in so much need of protection against
his own enthusiasm as a theatrical manager. There is a
gambling feature in theatrical enterprise which makes the
wisest heads giddy. Managers are prone to risk on a single
card, with the blind confidence of the gambler, not only
the last farthing they possess, but much that is not theirs.
They deceive themselves ; they make calculations upon
chimerical successes—upon imaginary receipts, three-
fourths of which will be absorbed in expenses ; they promise
what they can't perform ; they seek to gain time, and all
the while throw down recklessly upon the same black or
red hazard the money of their partners, their creaitors, and
their friends— the bread of their wives and children, But
they have never strength of mind to leave off playing : the
seductions of that frightful green table, theatrical manage-
ment, keep a fast hold on their victim. If once in a
hundred times they meet with success, prosperity is more
perilous than ill fortune. With the rashness of the gambler
they also contract his other vices—prodigality, dissipation,
want of foresight. When they make a hit we see the mana-
gers furnishing their house in the style of the Renaissance,
and driving their mistresses to the Bois de Boulogne in
splendid equipages,
t he iss notce scene
b
never
eteveeirr painters,sreflecting, but t
belongshlae that
r kt t hso eo themoneyft actors,
t otlir which
ahtti
r the
they squander e
carpenters,.
How often have I seen managers and
on thee eve of a catastrophe
splashing the passers-by with mud from the wheels of their
dashing tilbury o
ballet r phzet
a on,
dinner,while besiegingtheirchoruW£l
istihn
singers
ss an
and
girls were without
empty treasury,
or receiving something "on account" of
arrears of salary
at ten
sous a day I
It was with a vie
the Minister of State of putting a stop to such scandals that
every month with a e ordered the managers to furnish him
is a good balance-sheet of their accounts. This
Is it only measure, but has it been strictly carried out ? or
the minister's warningdeereei ? One very simple way of eluding
ther device is to put os ffnot to open the theatre at all. Ano-
the 10th to the 15th or 2Poathday to the sth or the 10th, from
a month. It is most desirable 20th, so gradually to gain nearly
that the minister's authority
should be respected in the
to ensure regular paymeitmfaotter, and that an edict meant
working people who live, if r a very large body of hard-
most slender and uncertain livingmeans, it can be called, upon the
issued in vain. But some may.
sas, should not have been
special and administrative protection—they
have no need of
mon law. Let them bring an actionn—they have the cora-
seize his goods, and if necessary
arrest
tinst their manager,
talk in this way know nothing whatever ofhtheat i"
They whores, mane-
gers, or actors. If a manufacturer or a shopkeeper does not
pay his workmen or clerks, the latter leave the
service, and
there is an end of the matter. But the actor is
in a
situation. He cannot decline his Work ; he must peculiar
e
and play every piece which his name is put down for.rhenarsow e
money to
many actors can find either time or e
.7go to law?
How are they to run about after huissiers, avoues, and adawvo?
elites when they are tied from morning to evening to the
same chain, and often up to midnight, or even (at times)
two or three in the morning? But assuming that the poor
player does find means to launch his writ ; suppose that he
persevere to the end of the law's delays, and after hearings
and rehearings, references, and inquiries, obtains at length
final judgment. lie is entitled to execution. But what is
he to execute upon ? The manager's furniture ? It is in
another name. The receipts of the they ? They ate