Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1876-08-30
4 "REMINISCENCES OF DEJAZET.
The Last Appearance of n Once
GreRt french Actress

Paul Vevay in The illustrated Weeklyl
1t was quite by accident that /
saw the famous Dejazet. 1t was
after she had taken her farewell of
the stage-after that great ovation
in the Opera House, where all the
actors assembled to crown the
singer of Preranger's songs, and
half Paris assembled to see them
do it. This act Of homage gave
Dejazet such fresh notoriety that
she could not resist the impulse to
appear in an engagement at the
Vaudeville, Notwithstanding she
had said goodbye" " to Paris the
ater-goers.
said it was quite by accident
that | saw her. So it was; / was
going to Rouen for the night; | lost
my train, dropped into a cafe by the
station, and there met an enthusi-
astic French journalist, who had
the Deiazet madness. He insisted
that | should accompany him to
the Vaudeville, and fairly dragged
me through the streets to the box.
office. On reaching the theater he
asked hurriedly;
SIS the first act through ?"
"No, monsieur"
"Then we shall not miss &
word"
We went to our box-a box hal
way round the balcony-and where
there was a good view of the stag,
and of the house. We had hardly
been there minute when Dejazer
made her first appearance for tht
evening.
The claque promptly began, anC
the whole house took up the wei
come.
She stood before us, the queen o
soubrettes, the woman for whom
theater and street have beel
named, q woman over whose grace
three generations of Frenchmel
have gone wild. She stood there
petite and graceful and old. TIL
play was Monsieur Carrot, and De
iazet had the title role. She wa
dressed in a light suit Of the Ell
} croyable type. All the arts of tn
stage had been used to make Deia
zet look youthful, but all the art
, were routed by time. She locke
old in spite of everything. Ther
we're wrinkles on her face that a
the cosmetics in creation could nc
hide. Her smile-what a sad smil
it was-showed even rows of teeth
Ieyen as the dentist could max
them. Dejazet was no lopgC
beautiful, no longer 1.-THE, no longe
piuuant-she was old.
!. But she did her best, She wi
: conscientious. She neglected non
: Of the traditions of her youth. SH
. skipped on to the stage in a painfl
;, way. She walked as if her shot
it hurt her, as I've no doubt they di
is Old people have corns and tendO
( feet, and high heels and pointe
. toes ore likely to hurt.
a But it was Dejazet! 1t was ii
j b crowned Deiazet-of whom Beral
d ger sung-and over whom the criti
4 Of the last generation raved.
a. The house is hushed! There
G, the silence of expectation; Deiaz
(. is about to sing. What? OF q
things, the one thing we wouI
more wish to hear, "Lizette." 81
:. sang and the people listened breat
he lessly, she received an encore ~
s. sang again, and the house was wi
70 with applause.
10 In what did the secret OF il
success hyf Simply in the mel
IT. ories Of The past. Had an unknoy
woman of her age sung as she di
: even the Parisian's traditional q
!. lantry would not have saved her
! torrent Of Kisses.
- 1t was a thin, piping voice, Al
but for a sort Of magnetic silent
the words could not have be
!. heard across the theater. The
chestra helped the singer all
could, and her enunciation was p,
y feet. Every syllable was as clt
ar cut as a diamond. Poor Dejaz'
....,,,,o,. .I,x,,oI that &