The Brookhaven ledger. (Brookhaven, Miss.) 1875-1883, 1881-04-21
An Audience Of One.

III 0COSAtOAnS5 SAASeS OStAA~~s $3.50 =
Emmett unconsciously assumed the
character of Fritz" and danced
around the brokers' Office as grace
fully as though he was in costume.
He was asked to how large an au-
|dience he had ever performed.
ssWell, / don't know" he replied.
There were nearly fifteen hundred
persons in the Grand Opera
House last evening. OF course, as
lit was a first night, some of it was
paper. But my share ofthe receipts
was more than $800-that is sixty
per cent. of the gross receipts at the
box office. / think ! played to over
two Thousand people in London
once. The smallest audience ever
had was in Columbus, Ohio. The
managers had been trying to intro
duce matinees, but with not much
success. Joe Jefferson, Denman
Thompson, and some Of the big
stars had gone through the mill,
and the audiences had been so small
that they had shied, and refused to
take the gate. The money had been
returned at the box office, and the
disappointed ticket buyers had de-
parsed desc=Essetl nesea a&s1h t.
petronize matinee ID CofumbuS
The afternoon business was at it's
lowest ebb when / struck the town,
After two or three performances the
posters announced a matinee. ]
went to the theatre at 2 o'clock that
afternoon, and found my company
skylarking behind the curtain, in
their everyday suits. l looked out
in the auditorium. There was just
one man in the theatre. He sal
clear back in the parquet. 1t was
as much as I could do to outline
him in the darkness. I went out to
the box office. 'Did that man pay
for his ticketY" / asked. Eyes fifty
cents" the treasurer replied. "The
manager told me to return him his
money and close the theatre. "No
you WON'T" l said, Il have never
disappointed an audience when I'm
sober, and l don't propose to do SC
now. Well play for him." went
into the parquet, introduced myself
to the man, and thanked him fol-
his attendance. told him that as
he had thought enough Of me tc
come and see me and pay fifty cents
for the privilege, he should have as
good performance as though the
house was packed. then went be-
hind the curtain and requested the
company to dress. "Great Caesar
joe" one of them said, "you amt q
going to play to that one man are
your "Ycs, 1 am," Ireplied. Hes
paid his money, aud he shall have
his MONEYS worth" ooh, the dew
il~ broke in another member of the
company, "Fll pay his fifty cents
and you let him CO." I told them
that the performance must go on as
usual, and I warned each one that
any attempt to guy the audience OF
any failure to play part In full
would be a signal for = discharge.
"Well, the orchestra played an
overture and the curtain arose. y
Fritz continued. II walked down
to the footlights. invited the au-
dience to come forward and take q
front seat, where he couid see and
be seen, He thanked me, and set
tied himself in the front row. /
suggested that little generous ap-
plause thrown in where he thought
the actors deserved it would serve
to inspirit them and warm them to
their work. He seemed to appreci
ate the situation and agreed to give
us all the encouragement that he
thought we deserved. The perfor-
nance began. / don't think l ever
played better. l threw myself heart
and soul into the character, and
sang the Lullaby SO tenderly that
the entire audience was in tears.
He called for an encore. / told him
that we rarely gave an encore, but
as it was an extraordinary occasion
he should have one. He applaudsd
literally at times where no applause
was deserved, and again failed to
applaud where applause was de-
served. At such times 1 called his
attention to the omission and ask
ed whether on reflection he did not
really think he had made mistake.
A hint was sufficient. He would
clap his hands as though perfectly
enchanted and shout 'Bravov like
an Italian over Salvini. The com-
pany 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 a disposition to go out
into the auditorium and mingle with
the audience. l set my face against
it and they refrained. At the close
Of the second act the manager en-
tered the theatre. He had been out
for walk. He seemed dumbfoun-
ded at seeing the house brilliantly
| lighted, and the orchestra playing