The weekly Floridian. [volume] (Tallahassee, Fla.) 1867-19??, 1881-05-03

Joe Emmett, the actor, tells the follow
audience of one in theatre at Columbus,
Ohio:
After two or three performances the
posters announced matinee I went
to the theatre at o'clock that afternoon
and found my company skylarking be
hind the curtain, in their everyday suits.
looked out In the auditorium. There
was just one man in the theatre. He sat
clear back in the parquet. Ii was as
much As | could do to outline him in the
darkness. Iwent to the box office. did
that man pay for his ticket p asked
Yes, fifty cents" the treasurer replied.
The manager told me to return him his
money and close the theatre ]" No, YOU
won't" | said. 81 have never disap-
pointed an audience when I'm sober, and
don't propose to do so now. Well play
for him" / went into the parquet, intro
dueed myself to the man, and thanked
him for his attendance | told him that
as he had thought enough of me to come
and see me and pay fifty cents for the
privilege, he should have as good per-
formanee as though the house was packed.
then went behind the curtain and re-
quested the company to dress. "Great
Caesar, Joe" one of them said, " you amt
a going to play to that one man, are
you ?" Yes, | am,' l replied. "He's
paid his money, and he shall have his
moneys worth Oh, the deuce" broke
in another member of the company, "Pll
pay his fifty cents and you let him co.
told them that the performance must 60
on as usual, and | warned each one that
any attempt to guy the audience or any
failure to play a part in full would be the
signal for discharge.
Well, the orchestra played An overture
and the curtain arose. | walked down to
the footlights. invited the audience to
come forward and take front seat, where
he could see and be seen. He thanked
me and settled himself in the front row.
suggested that little generous applause
thrown In where he thought the actors
deserved it would serve TO inspirit them
and warm them to their work He seem
ed to appreciate the situation and agreed
to give us all the announcement that he
thought We deserved The performance
began | don't think ever played bet
ter. threw myself heart and soul into
the character, and sang the /" Lullaby" SO
tenderly that the entire audience was in
tears. lie called for an encore. told
him that we rarely gave an encore, but
as this was an extraordinary occasion he
should have one. He applauded literally
at times where no applause was deserved,
and again failed to applaud where ap-
plause was deserved. At such times I
called his attention to the omission, and
asked whether on reflection he did not
really think that he had made mistake.
a hint was sufficient He would clap his
hands as though perfectly enchanted and
shout, :" Bravo" like an Italian over Sal
ylni The company paid no attention to
him, but went on with the performance
as regular as clock-work Between the
acts, however, one or two of them evinced
disposition to go out into the auditorium
and mingle with the audience. set nv
face against it and they refrained. At
the close of the second act the manager
entered the theatre He had been out for
q walk. He seemed dumbfounded at see
ing the house brilliantly lighted, and the
orchestra playing soberly to one man.
But be was more astOnished when the
cnrtain arose and the performance was
resumed with as much unconcern as
though there were thousand dollars in
the house. But he had an eye to busi-
ness. He sent word to the newspaper
reporters, and half dozen of them ar
rived in time for the last act No actor
ever received better newspaper criti-
cisms. Some Of them were over a column
long 1t turned out that the audience
was the owner of copper mine in Mich
igan, and very wealthy On the follow
ing night be gave the whole company a
banquet at the leading hotel He enter
tanned US as handsomely as we had enter
tanned him, and we parted with mutual
regrets. Just year afterward announ-
ced another matinee at Columbus. 1t
was we'll advertised, and the house was
packed to suffocation. took in over 81
200. My sense of duty to that one man,
who had invested the small sum of half
dollar, had returned me golden har-