Cincinnati daily press. [volume] (Cincinnati [Ohio]) 1860-1862, 1860-08-03

every actress and every actor is under, that
they are Astounding the audience BY their
talents IAN illusion eyery one Of them Of both
sexes and every part is under) Is 30 agreeaoiel
The actresses. are so delighted az being aole
to exhibit themselves in light and in cos
TUNES which they think doubles the effect OF
their charmsl OF truth, there is not IN the
whole world a more amusing and more
satisfactory pastime than these same private
theatricals. Every thing connected with them
is so diverting, and, confess II, for my part
do like to taste the pleasure of private
theatricals long before the piece IS played, oy
witnessing with delight all the pretty ma
neuvers, the secret plotting, the specious in
triguing reused to action when the piece isto
be selected and the parts distributed. Every
thing, at least almost every thing goes just
as IL should not go; matured women take the
parts of ingenious Dreaded and buttered
girls Can any thing appear more ridiculous?
What an excellent and droil piece one could
write, II one would note the scenes extempor-
lied, and the remarks made during the dis
cussion between these 'fancy" actors and
actresses, while they dispute possession OF
the important characters and best parts Of the
| piece ] may say, without making 1t the
subject Of a boast, that my vanity Is mac
cessible to these petty ambitions.
consented once, and once only, this win
ter, 10 appear on private stage, and then
/
piece a very short part, which nobody would
take; | accepted 1t, and in the few words
had TO speak | commanded good deal of
| applause and the greatest success of the even
| ing without resorting TO Madame dc T-'s
tricks. Did you ever hear of it? II is one
of the best Jokes of the last season. pri-
vate performance took place toward the close
of the season in a drawing-room in the Fau-
bourg Saint Honore. The piece played was
n comedy frequently played at the French
Comedy, and, of course, familiar to every
body in Paris. One of the actresses-this
same Madame de r, had intrigued ac-
lively to get gold part She received the
shortest and humblest part in the piece.
Every body thought she would refuse it. She
acted the bit Of q part well enough at the
| rehearsals. But she had secretly changed her
part, and when the piece came to be played,
| she unmasked her batteries and added long
| TRADES of her own composition TO her part.
| Where she had one line to say she said
| twenty. Her astonished fellow actor waited
fifteen minutes before she would allow him
| to reply TO her. She acted in this way
throughout the whole piece. Wherever
| Madame de T. had one word to say, she
would say three hundred. The spectators,
familiar with the piece, did not know what to
| make of it; but they we're too well bred to
| exhibit their surprise. By this way, which
made the piece last an hour and quarter
| longer than it should have lasted, Madame de
| T. made her part-instead of being, as 1t
was, the shortest, obscurest, and least impor-
| tant of the piece-the longest. most promi-
nent, and most important of the comedy.
Fancy balls have not been numerous and
there / think, fashion was in the wrong.
like to wear costumes and it seems to me the
variety of costumes is the most beautiful or
nament of a ball. We obtain the advantage
of no longer seeing men attred in the sad
| and ridiculous uniform-black coat, black
vest, black pants and white cravat. They
| look so ugly in this ungraceful and melan-
choly dress, they should for their own sakes
| endeavor to make it the law that every
| ball should be afancy ball.
You know crinoline was banished from
fashionable circles toward the close of the
| winter. Are the new fashions more econom-
| ical than it2 1t seems to me that the dresses
make up in length what they have lost in
width. We now wear dresses with trains,
| and dare say we shall see in 1861 what we
see in Vatican and Lancrets pictures-hne
| ladies attended by small negroes, who. hold
| up their mistresses' train with one hand and
| with the other shield her head with q long
handled parasol. / hope they will be eco
| nomical fashions, for am moderate kind
| of person. I'll give you good proof of M y
moderation by telling you II have not gone into
| debt this winter. 1t is true had left at the
beginning of the season two or three thou
sand dollars of poor dear old aunt's legacy TO
me- and that they have gone, but still keep
poor old aunts diamonds.
There have been good many and some
very brilliant marriages this winter. So
| ciety here does not want women, but We dc
| want men. their clubs and stables take al
most all of them from our drawing-rooms
am going to spend the coming month in
some quiet rustic nook, where shall rest
from the winters fatigues. Intend to sleep
sixteen out of the twenty -four hours to make
amends for the nights when | slept only
three or four hours. The summer | shall
spend at some watering-place, and on the
first day of September shall knock at the
i gate of your chateau in Provence, and pass
i away the pleasant month l have promised
myself Believe me yours.