Sacramento daily record-union., 1882-01-21
THsArER-aorEa m LONDON.


spirit that l 60 to New York theater. I
fancied that my experience here would en-.
able me to secure good seat and see
good play without trouble. A small poster
in the rotunda of the Continental Hotel an.
nounced the play of /" The Colonel " at the
Prince Of Wales Royal Theater. It was to
ter of the late E. A. Sothern was to ap-
pear. 1t was misty, rainy night. /
drifted into the vestibule along with the
current. 1t was very small, and contained
but one box Office. | asked for an orches-
ira seat as near the stage as possible
Two and sixpence, sir, was the response.
On passing in the coin / received dingy
pasteboard card, but no coupon. The
agent, however, assured me that the ticket
called for desirable seat, and was di-
rected to the first entrance on the left. On
surrendering my ticket l was turned over
to female usher, who wore white apron
and a French cap. She assigned mea seat.
1t was on bench without back, about
foot wide, and covered with red leather. 1t
was away back under the dress circle, at
least a dozen rows from the railing inclos-
ing the orchestra chairs. 1t commanded
no view of the theater, and only a fair view
of the lower half of the stage The curtain
was up, and Sothern's daughter was al
ready deep in the merits of the farce. All
the orchestra chairs were empty. Ipointed
to them, and asked the young lady
whether | could not secure one of them.
She said she thought that they were all
taken, and advised me to keep my seat, as
it was the best that was to be had. re-
piled that | should leave the theater if |
could not buy an orchestra seat. "Why,
sir" said she, "they are half guinea"
| expressed an entire willingness to pay it,
and she hesitatingly suggested that gentle
men who occupied that part of the house
usually appeared in full dress. l asked
whether all others were excluded. She
thought not By this time found myself
the center of interest in the pit, for it
seems that | was in the pit. Its occupants
were straining their ears to hear the farce,
and they We're annoyed at my efforts to
secure better seat. A broad -shouldered
man, with heavy black eyebrows, gave me
villainous scowl, and ruddy-faced Eag-
lish lad loosely advised me to pay the girl
and let her go. Acting on the hint,
apologetically rendered her a shilling,
threw my overcoat over my arm, and
moved toward the door with flushed face.
The girl kept at my side and induced an
attendant to 60 to the box office with me
and assist me IN securing seat in the par.
quet. Receiving check representing the
sum of two and sixpence, l was ushered
into the street and shown second entrance
to the theater, which had previously
escaped my attention The check was
presented at the box office, and asked for
an orchestra chair. The agent replied
that he had nothing but box stalls.
Under the vague impression that box
stall was private box, asked the price.
=" Hall guinea" was the answer, and it
flashed through my head that box stall
was an orchestra seat under another name
Squads of ladies and gentlemen in full
evening dress poured down the carpeted
stairways Hanking the stage. The ladies
wore low bodices and no bonnets. They
were not overdressed. There were no stun
ming displays of jewelry and no elaborate
coitfures. The halr was neatly coiled on the
back of the head and held in place with
the simplest pins and combs. Some young
ladies wore plain velvet ribbons around
their necks. The gentlemen were glove
less. The ladies wore white kid gloves
Canes, overcoats and wraps were invariably
left at the cloak. room. All acted as though
they were in drawing room. The finest
acting and the tersest of hits drew no ap-
plause from the box-stalls. 1t seemed to
be mark of i'll breeding to either applaud
or laugh heartily. The pit and gallery,
however, were in ecstacies. Ladies in both
sections wore their hats or took them off, as
theypleased. Between the eactsrefreshments
were served. Many of the ladies in the
orchestra seats ate ice cream, and the pop
ping of beer bottles was heard in the pit
Gentlemen visited the refreshment saloon
near the entrance, where three pretty bar.
maids sold coffee, liquors and cigarettes.
Those who desired visited saloons outside,
going and returning without checks.
My experience in other London theaters
was a repetition of my experience at the
Prince of Wales Royal Theater. All the
plays were cast much stronger than in
America. Spectacular dramas were pro.
duced with the most minute details. At |
the Drury Lane l saw a battle scene in
South Africa SO perfect that could hardly !
realize that it was sham fight. The St. |
James is the swell theater at London. Its |
actors spoke the English language as it is
spoken in America, and without the British |
drawl affected by some American actors