The Dallas weekly herald. [volume] (Dallas, Tex.) 1873-1885, 1883-10-18
OUR OPERA HOUSE
Grand inaugural and Dedlcatory
Opening Last Night
A Full House aud an Elegant Audience
Present.
Criticism Of The Play "foianthe"-The
Description.
Finest Opera-HOuse South Of st. Louis.

Finest 0pera-HOuse South OF 81. Louis
Iolanthe, one of Gilbert and Sullivan'i
operas, inaugurated the Dallas dramatic
season last night and christeued our new
opera.house. There was a full house, com
posed OF oil classes Of our citizens. Th'
orchestra circle and balcony alon
was one bouquet Of beauty. There wa
a large number of ladies " an'
gentlemen in fall dress for tn
occasion, and noticeable feature was tn
iruly handsome toilettes Of the former
There was an almost universal expression
of appreciation at the elegance and hne nm
ish of The building.
Al precisely So'clock the orchestra strucl
M a light march. alter which the curtain
rose and Major Elliott, of the HERALD, ap
neared and delivered the opening, or deui
catory address, which was substantially a.
follows:
MAJOR ELLIoTi's ADDRESS.
Ladies and Gentlemen: an,
In accorda nce with a time-sanctlhed Gus
tom under so auspicio1s a circumstance a.
the happy one we now rea.izs, nave, a
tbe renuest and on behalf OF the manage
ment. the appreciated honor and the plea
nre 70 welcome you tonight into this, on
new onera-house, at once the pride OF GU
nennie, a credit to those whose liberality
we are indebted for its existence, and last
ing monument to theskill OF the architects
Messrs. McElfairick q Son, who 50 carefully
designed and the ex,raoId pn ABILITIES ESQ o
40 thoroughly and speedily constructed
II with Messrs. Noxon. Albert d Toomy
senic artists, Although not yet com
Melted. It is sufficiently advanced
to permit this initial and other
proposed performances TO proceed.
1t has been constructed with the fullest
regard to the greatest convenience OF tne
actors. and an absolute comfort and safety
for the audience in The matters OF lngress
and egresa, seating facilities, ventilation
and accoustical arrangements. In its en-
tiretv science and art and good taste, with
Ali modern appliances, have combined 10
make it an elegant, as well as commodlous,
resort for pure amusement ana Varleu IN
struction at the hands OF the aoles! artists
graceful of proportions, it Is delightfully."-
designed in all interior appointments and
the stage is SO feet deep by G5 feet in
breadth. affording ample room for the set
ting and presentation OF the most elaborate
spectacles, The auditorium proper has
seating capacity OF ,OOO persons, whlcn Is
nearly over halt the size OF the Grand opera
house of PARIS, which figures only 2,1t6 and
the average number of our theatres seating
hnt n o thousand persons, while the larg-
est figures at only three thousand.
How very different in all these respects
is this our modern temple from
ITS EARLIER PREDECESSORS
in the beginning of only the century pc,
fore the last when the play-writer shared
the odium of the actor; or that OF Shakes.
peare's time, when the awkward and mea-
grely prepared play-houses were built OF
the commonest materials, with the rough.
eat Of board seats, with poorly painted
stationary curtain, opening perpenuicuiarly
in the middle. in the back ground Tor the
sole scenery, when the appointments were
SO crude that only bed was to suggest a
he'd room. a gilded chair and canopy the
state. while black drapery symbol
izsd the coming tragedy, and white
the comedy, all illumined by tai
low candles only, at the regular
exhibitions from 2 to O'CLOCK OF after
moons, as the play was given 10 the foul-
mouthed crowd whose bolsterous conuuct
and brutal buffooneries often drowned the
eloouence of the performers, and where IN
suits being regarded as jokes and obscenity
as witcIsm, no ladies were permitted TO be
present without masks. 40
And vet again, how different in that
further back and golden age when under
Augustus and Cicero, one theatre In Rome
would hold $4,000. persons and another
40 900. each OF massive walls and interiorly
adorned with costly marble columns and
statutes in gold, with trees ana
fountains in the centre exbaling
The most enhancing OF perfumes,
while wines and sweet balsams conducted
through concealed pipes ieil mere ana
there as spray or fine rain. 30 great was
has N O.
common "while stands the Coliseum,
Rome will stand" And, yet. again, now
different from the rude stage Of the humble
atructure of logs and boughs on the sd-
Unstable platform, which was carried out
on the wagons OF the peripatetic Thespis
and bis contemporaries, as they wandered
from place to place, satirizing the vices and
follies of the age, with their grotesque
masks or their faces painted with wine-lees,
with yestments in exact imitation OF tht
living personages they mimicked and called
Thus the drama has risen from the feeble
v-rtomvrre with its boorish dancing and
wild chanting nearly always mirtnfui ana
ludicrous and often indelicate ana inde'
cent, TO
rrs rREEsEKT EXALTED STATUS,
with the hrillisncy.of genius.
that has written, and the grandeur OF &C
tors who have represented every conspi.
cusus event Of history, and impersopated
with life-like semblance every important
character In its role. Originating in the
love OF imitation, but at hrst
INSTITUTED FJR AMUSEMENT,
"a evidenced by the simple comedy OF the
village, It passed by graduation into the
uoblsr sphere OF the instructive, frequently
taking neurological lore and religious cere-
monies for It's subjects matter. and suose-
quently embracing the historical and the
social, there IL to-day no field that II Goes
no. enter and adorn, and no phate oil hu-
produce vith a fidelity that converts
he past and the distant into a seeming ex-
,sfebce about Us. From strolliDg amateurs
with names disguised and CT very pleoian
order its glorious GALAXY now corruscaies
with the splendor ofsucn authors az Ans
tophanes, Eschuylus. Eurigides. and Soph
ocles, Seneca, Plantus and Ierrenee, among
the Greeks and Romans; CorDeiile. holiere,
X acine among the French; Cnthe, bcnlll
her. eessig, Glucl and Schlegel, among the
Germans: Ariosto, Aifsri, Lope-ce-NeRa,
among the Italians and Span
|srfr: Jonscn, COleridge, COngreve, Gold
ninth. Sheridan, Beaumont and fletcher,
DRYDEN, and that human nature slchtmist
N Al myriad minded man, the Incarnation OF
he universally Of genius. unequallef
"ghom, When nature made
he broke the mould" among the BnRiisbi
nd With such actors as Keene. MscrssdJ-
Forrest Kembls, Plscide, Cushman, geher
on, Mccullough. Warde, Barrett and the
ISnk,nv its.lf with the religious element
N TIE MIDDLE hoEs
"a Il had dous In Ire earlier l1e-As evi-
Irr~pd NJ the tiiicr n t1e pieces, ne
IIr-sfiop II Man" The Delufe. Ine
Irn~ifrion." The Blessed SACRAMENT
sTns Conquerine Of Hell By Christ, nna
he like. the clergy encourages al
,<nsored exhibitions IRON escreo Ms
80 nrfrl fnsIlr drsmstic INDEPENDENCE
,rt->IIed seninsf restriction, and one
limited liberties eventually rsn INTO
~ srrruted license and lewdltys and
ron which the more moosrslrso &c