The Osceola times., 1881-05-14
JOE ENMET'S AUDIENCE.
How He Played an Entire Matinee for the
Benefit OF One Man.
Interview in New York sun.

theater. 4 gentleman in buttoned klds
and hair parted in the middle occupied
private box. He coolly surveyed me
through his eyeglass. | was feeling
pretty good and was acting with more
than usual freedom. The audience roar
ed with laughter, but not a muscle OF his
face moved. He stared at me like
Gorgon. Twas nettled and ! determined
10 capture him. did my best, but there
he sat partially turned toward me in the
easiest of positions with the coolest OF
faces. You could fairly read on his fea.
tures. We'll, upon my soul, expected
something pretty bad, you know, but this
is perfectlv execrable' lost my guard
and made no secret of my effort 20 cap
ture him. The audience dropped on II,
and became deeply interested. | war
bled 'Wilhelmina Strauss, and hlled IL
to the brim with grotesqueness, but the
fellow sat there like stone statute en-
tirely unmoved. Apparently nothing
would fetch him. And 50 the perform
ance progressed, the audience watching
the man in the box more than It did me.
At last made an impression. 1t was m
the act where pranced around the stage
with a little child astraddle my shout
ders. 4 faint smile overspread the mans
face. He raised his goved hands aud
languidly clapped them twice. The au-
dience screamed with delight, and from
that time until the close of the perform
ance ! had every soul in the house with
me. The naiyete of the child, combined
with the acting, had been too much for
him, and had brought him down"
In describing these scenes Mr.. Emmett
unconsciously assumed the character of
Fritz, and danced around the brokers 8
office as gracefully as though he was IN
costume. He was asked TO how large an
audience he had ever performed. "WCll,
| don't know" he replied. There were
nearly SEQ persons in the Grand Opera
House last evening OF course, as it wa,
a first night, somr of it was paper. But
my share of the receipts was more than
SS00-that is. go per cent OF the gross
receipts at the box Office. | think J
played to over 1000 people in London
/ once. The smallest audience | ever had
was i'm Columbus, Ohio. The managers
had been trying to introduce matlnees
/ butwith not tmuCh success. JoeJetlerson
/ Denmau Thompson, and some Of the
/ biz stars had gone through the mill, and
the audiences had been 50 small that
thcv had SHE'D, and refused to take
/ the cate. The money had been returned
at the box office, aud he disappointed
ticket-buyers had departed determined
never again 10 patrOnlGe q matinee in
| Columbus. The afternoon business was
at its lowest ebb when / struck town.
After two or three performances the pos.
ters announced q matinee. ! went 10
the theater at o'clock that afternoon
and found my company skyllrklng be.
hind the curtain, in their everyday suits.
| looked out in the aditorium. There
was lust one man in the theatef. He sat
clear back in the parquet. 1t was as
much as ] could do To outline him In the
darkness. went out TO the box Office
Did that man pay for his ticket Yes
30 cents the treasurer replied. The
managcrtolj me % return him his money
and close the theater' NO you won't
said; i have never disappointed an au-
dience when sober and don't propose
to do SO now. Wen play for him. !
went into the parquet, introduced myself
70 the man, and thanked him for attend
ance. / told him that as he thought
enough Of me 10 come and see me, and
pay 90 cents for the privilege, he should
have as good a performance as Though
the house was packed. ! then went be-
hind the curtain and requested the com
pany to dress. Great Cesar joe one
of them said, you amt a going 10 play
10 that one man. are yuu?' Yes, | am,
| replied. He's paid bis money, and he
shall have his moneys worth oh, the
devil broke in another member Of the
company, III pay his 90 cents and you
let him go told them that the per
formauce must 90 a. usual, and ! warned
each one that any attempt to guy the
audience or any failure to play part in
full would be the signal for a discharge
"Well, the orchestra played an over
ture and the curtain arose, Fritz cuntin-
ued. Il walked down to the footli ghts
invited the audience to come forward
and take a front eat, where hc could
see and be seen. lie thanked me and
settled himself in the front row. ! sug
gested that little generous applause
thrown in where he thought the actors
deserved it, would serve 10 insprit them
and warm them 10 their work. He
seemed 10 appreciate the situation, and
agreed 10 give us all the encouragement
that he thought We deserved. The per
formance began. ! don't think | ever
played better. | threw myself heart
and soul into the character and sang the
Lullaby 50 tendcrly that the entire au-
dience was in tears. lie called for an
encore. | told him that We rarely gave
an encore, but as this was an cxtraor-
dnary occasion he should have one.
Ileapplauded liberally at times where no
applause was deserved, and again failed
to applaud where applause was deserved.
At such times | called his attention tu
the omission, and asked whether on re.
Election hc did not really think that he
had made 4 mistake. A hint was suili-
cient re would clap his hands as
though perfectly enchanted and shout,
Bravo like an Italian over Salvini.
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 a disposition to 90 out into the
auditorium and mingle with the audi
ence set my face against it and they
RETAINED. At the close Of the second
act the manager entered the theater.
He had been out for walk. He seemed
dumbfOunded at seeing the house bril-
lantly lighted, and the orchestra play
ing soberly to one man.
But he was the more astonished when
the curtain rose aud the performance
was resumed with as much unconcern as
though there were 81 Goo dollars in the
house. But he had an eve TO business.
He sent word 10 the newspaper reporters
and a half dozen of them arrived in
time for the last act. No actor ever re