, 1874-07-12
REVIEW OF ANiUSE2IENTS,


REVIEW OF ADJUSTMENTS.
SUMMER THEATRES.
The theatres, excepting the Academy OF Alu~
sic, being now I'll closed, it is agreeable to look
back q little and see how the march OF time has
added to the discomforts of dramatic audi
enccs. With tho thermometer ranging above 100
deg, rs it has occasionally done during tho past
three or four weeks, We are driven to admit that
covered place Of amusement, which admits air
only by the mouthful, is not the most desirable
form Of summer-house. Managers have found
this out in other cities. In Chicago they insist
upon holding out, no matter what the
weather is. Next year they will all
close carly. The policy OF slowing
men and women like oysters in their own perspi-
ration is frightfully expensive to the managerial
cooks. As q general thing, people like to think
Of such process only as remote possibility
oyoo then the contemplation Of such condition
harmouizas better with the Athaaasian Greed, or
= camp-moeting address, than with the play
house. Even tie ehost1y counsellor postpones
that fate for playgoors till after thoy have loft
their gross bodies boAird thom, either At the
cremat;onor's or the cemetery. With this indul-
gence granted from tho pulpit, the
~
steHed alive lacks common sense. Managers
have found that t..is class Of person is rare in
Chicago. Hencaforth, il Mr.. McVi:ker or MI.
Hooley desires to give GUNNER performances,
bic mus: have the roof taken of his theatre. the
auditorium lighted by electricity and the atmos-
ph ere properly iced before being admitted.
This will be- AL evidence OF modern progress.
As ne now are, our theatres are rather behind
the ege.
N TIE GOOD OLD T1;IEs.
when tue early Romans patruLlzed theatrical
entertainments, before they began to destroy
cities aad drag conquered monarc:ls iu triumph
! through the streels,-n fact before they
had ANYTHING in the form of strcots, their tAca-
tres were OF the airy description We should like
to have. Every schooltoy has picture of the
theatre in Its crudest and most natural form IN
the familiar Lain grammar quotation
Tity-e tu pa:ulp recuoans sub tesnlihe fag
with the orchestra neatly criticised in the next
Inns
Silvestrcn tenai uusa rlcditaris avc1a-
We can easily picture elch
pUcoLIc VARIETY PERFORMANCE.
Gordon and Aulaly}iis leaning up against the
beech tree cooly smashing the sharp trisnsular
aI,ells, md manching the kernels, talking
softly with a.,,sn one eye ro2 on tue s;aopp ;aaoep
| as those Two stars went through their variety
| performance, Corydon aud then slapplng .
| mosquito from his companion muse, but otu.r-
| wise heartily given over to the quot repose
| which the situation demanded
Imagine this, ye 6riefously bored and m citing
| thousands who paid 10 ccnrs for pal1n-leaf is:
ard then discovered, what you ought to have
! known long ago. that the mere motion of tno
air did not cool it, and the exercise of flaming
| variety theatre was tho mora rational for
| summer weather. Miss Dya5 and jim Lewis
| were not there to charm or amuse, but
then the audience OF that da?
would have been juEt as critical as you arc. and
would have rushed into print, as some Of you do,
| to prove that nIiss .Dyas could not express
| ratnos, and that Jun Lewis WAS little better
] than buEoon. Thev were better pleased With
the squeaking OF their roed flutes than thoy
would have been With that immense orchestra at
the Academy Of Music, to support which, as the
progl ammo 30 carefully announces, Mr. Gardl-
rcr pays $3.50 week more than aay other man-
ascr III the country. In polnt OF fact these open
air hearty bucolc auditors would have laughed
| at Mr. Gardiner, aud told him he was throwing
away nearly every cent Of THAI amount. ludeed.
that appcnrs to be the only point on which VIC OF
| to-day nould agree with them.
| And then. how muea ,pleasanter to sec
| An,a1yl1ie and Chloe picking the soft meat out
J of the creamy beech nuts than to watch the Ia
boring laws Of Belle and Georgiua struggle for
| liberty with chocolate caramel! Indeed the
| old sryle Inns not been improved upon in this
| rC2pect ll4 SWatuS NUu4l ptIlaP6 I4So ~
| K1ck SHEEP Oh TWO,
| or even fill horn with water, but they never
| rushed en- maase from the leafy auditorium to
the sn-llll under the theatre to return with feck-
ing breath and ruddy noses. The ladies' at any rate.
| will agree that civilization has brought with it
Eotne unpleasant features in respect OF theatr-
| ca1 performances. But then the ladies all wore
| about the same kind OF garments-ono loose,
| long robe, and though human nature was tho
| same in those days, undoubtedly, as It ia TOW,
/ frr o}f
| Comfort aud cleanliuets were the two things
| nocdful. and there could have been no opportu-
| nifty to indulge in that sEnal-arm tire OF sarcasm
| at Miss Smiths want Of taste il. matching col
| ors or Miss Jones' execrable ideas OF what is
fashionable. Civilization las given them this
privilege, OF course, for the law Of compensation
| is eternal. But this was
| THE THEATRE IN ITS SIMPLEST FORM.
Tho god Pan was the general manager; pol
! 10 was the critic. Unfortunately, in those days
the critic was less agreeable than he is nov. It
| le thought performer excelled himself lo
| would st1aightwny Aay the offender on the spot,
instead ct going to his Office md reserving tho
punishment until next days issue. Nowadays,
ihe critic gives the wretchcd actor time to sleep
| over it, mako his peace. aud get his things IN
| order As far as criticism is concerned, wo
humbly venture to, assert great improvement
| has been made. Critics now have no personal
! interest at stake although eyen Apollo could
not convince an excoriated actor that it was all
for his own good and tho elevation OF popular
taste. ,.-
OF course such condition Of affairs could have
been improved little. And if Mr.. 1clicker
should come forward, and insist that the profits
Of such theatre as ITO have endeayored to do
scribe would certainly be insufficient to keep
him ii bread and cheese; or in case Mr.. Gardl-
ucr should object that tho boot-blacks in
| the upper branches OF the theatre would as
surcdly steal down to the parquette and dtess-
| circle, re will revert to
| ANOTHER FORM OF THEATRE,
| much In vogue among ''those poor old Pagans,
AZ the self-suHiclent cant OF our day aud genera
tion patronizingly terms tue "glorious Greoks
of DID," who built the Parthenon, and whofo
| models OF beauty remain to-day unveiled among
| our "more blessed people,"
| EVERY CHEEK TOWN
had its theatre, and even in the colonies dra-
matte performances we're given in frst-class
houses OF amusement, built upon tho most ad-
u1iraole plan, and lacking nothldg OF the sump-
| tuousness OF our modesn play-houses but the
meretricous gliding aud sign-board fresco-work.
| The Athen1an Calumet or Evanston would have
| supported theatre, and been all the better
| for it. .,, ,-
Tie Greek theatre was not built exactly like
| ours. with tiers OF galleries rising one over the
/