The Charleston daily news. [volume] (Charleston, S.C.) 1865-1873, 1870-06-24
LII CLAQUE.
A Peculiar French Institution-rIow at
is Managed.

Everybody has heard OF la claque, the
French institution for securing the systematic
applause OF every theatrical piece, good or
bad. The cldqueur is gentleman who, for q
pecuniary consideration, takes his seat in the
pit, and claps his hands at everything and
evarybod, he sees OF the stage, from seven
o'clock in The evening till midnight inclusiyely,
II any individual among the paying portion OF
the public appears dissatisfied with The perRor-
nance, and 80 far foraets himself as to hiss, it
is,tbe honorable mission of the cldQueur to bawl
"Curn him outl" "Hit him on the head I" and
other amenities; and If there be any sopg or
TRADE which seems particularly " jar on the
nerves Of the audience so as to excite shouts OF
"Oh I" and acute indications OF suffering, the
en- .rgeticslly demanding an "encore," in the
hops no doubt that second hearing of the piece
may enable the malcontents to perceive itg
beauties. The Pail Mall Gazette gives some
interesting details OF this noble institution.
Up to 1890 it was usual for theatrical managers
to covenant With chef de claque Tor leader OF
the claque orche stra, and give him so much 8
fve- and thtrty or forty claQaeorS to the house
every night. One day, however, it Was discovered
that this arranR ement was not at all paying
one. The only man who thrived under it g the
chef de cldque, who generally made his fortune
at the end Off few years, and retired rich; while
his e1-employer, the manager, too often ended
bis career in the bankruptcy court. The chef de
claQue had several ways OF making money out
OF his contract. Besides his fixed salary from
the manager, he received 30 much year from
most OF the actors and actresses, especially
from those who had not much talent; and, in
addition to this, be frequently sold at high rate
the forty seats which he received gratis. Nov
a-days all this is changed. Instead OF the man
ager paying the chef de claQue, it is the latter
functionary who pays the manager. Three or
four years ago, when a cabal was organized by
MaIechal" OF the Brothers Goncourt, the chef
de claQue OF the Theatre Francois brought, on
the second and third nights of the performance,
five hundred cldQueurS to the rescue. The
uproar within the theltre was terrific; the cld
qaie,trs raved and the students shrieked, but in
the end it was the students who got the best Of
it. They had stronger lungs than the mercen-
aries. and after the third performance the piece
was Withdrawn. 1t is very curious to see chef
de claQue in the act Of recruiting his troupe.
Within few doors Of every French theltre is
cafe where the chief cldQueur establishes his
headquarters. Towards five or six o'clock he
puts IN an appearance, and is Immediately
Inobbed by the forty or fifty persons who are
anxious to be enrolled for that evening. As
rule the rst thing the chef de claQae looks at is
the dress OF the candidates. He accepts no
blouses and no slovens. Ifhe sees man we'll ar
rayed, hearty looking and florid Of counten-
ance, endowed with good broad shoulders and
fine big hands, he generally enlists him at once.
The terms Of admission to the claque varies.
Sometimes ESPECIALLY in summer) II there is a
dull piece being performed it il difficult to find
claQnealrS, aud the Chef presses every one he can
get. accepting eight sous. Six sous, and even as
little as four sous from each Of his troupe.
should the piece be 30 hope;essly dull or the
welther 80 hot that no one will volunteer to pay
even two pc zee, the chef must then have re-
course to what ragamufius he can find, and pay
his troupe instead OF being paid by them. When
there is popular piece, however, the chef de
clague sometimes has several hundred
candidates to choose from, and on such occa-
sion. he can mike his own teims. On the
nights of first performance Of Augier, Sardon,
or Alexandra Dumas fills, the seats in the claqae
fetch five or ton francs apiece. Ii O row is e1-
pected, as ut the revival Of "krnani three years
ago, and that of Lucrece Borgia, last January,
the places fetch quite fancy prices. In addition
to the come he derives from selling seats ut
profit the contractor OF the claque still makes
fne bonus by levyine tribute upon the actors
and actre sses. II is ALWAYS easy for O spectator
to guess which Of the performers pays the claQue
and which does not. No matter how slight may
be the part which an actor or actress has to play.
he or she is sure to be Ta1mly applauded II the
cher de claqle has been we'll paid. For de6n-
tdnt to refuse payment would be folly almost
amounting to artistic suicide. Some of the more
popular dramatists. Alexandra Dumas among
them, have, at different times, endeavored to
abolish the claq,te, at e .st so far as their own
works were concerned; but the attempt has al
ways failed. Az in the days OF Napoleon |, and
under the Restoration, 80 now, hecldque is IN
too good odor with the police to be easily su-
persedei.