The Memphis appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1886-1890, 1886-11-28
SOCIETY LADIES' SHOCKED
BY The BARE LEGS OF THE
PENNsYLVANIANS,
Who appeared In the Old Greek
comedy OF "rhe IrcharianS" at
the Academy Of Music.
IooRREsPONDEEcn or rHH APPEAL. I

- ~ NiFOh AOhCuNb Hc 1TCfbuFtuH6t ny
stud nts from Poi,sdelpuia, is re.
gHd' d as the hsndsomtst ever known
10 New Y rk, b cause it's excessive
fashiC nsbleue IVES permested by ia.
tense INTEL, ctusli;y. Inspired by 8
tn y sIcb@o ogicsl impul, Q, the man,
fgsls OF the show had provided cos.
umes fr the sc oIs that were exact
i'm tations the ancient Greek fath
i ms Toe general cut OF The Atheni4 an
ga ments should be pretty well kUo IN
by all who have had sny iuteIcourse
Gith ar, snd it ca not be presumed
tina, sny OF the su ence at the Acad,
envy of Nm ic had fail, d 10 see and
admire numerous tstues and paint.
IL q illustrative of antiquity. Never.
thelesa, whtn the two d, zen young
men OF the chorus and the several solo
sctor5 ssampeied lit, view, war ng
srcb@ logical short uppr garments,
and cisplsyir g fully thrte-f urths OF q
Uar ( srch@ log cal b re egs each, a
d stir Ct shock pa sed over tbs III at
Its effects We're Immediately no ice
able in the halt sve.ted faces OF the
ladies, in their involuntary betrsyas
of surprisa, IN her brave attempts to
llok comfortable a d ercl 8ealol ic lily
content. The aux airy chorus Of hall
a hundred men, feature unknown to
the original Greek stsgp, and intro
duced ere because Of The necessity OF
SOL ur ng a Big volume OF sound to
compete vito the or hestTal in
simmer IS, was arrOyed In the
tonventio al black suit and broad ex-
par SO of shirt bosom. This group Of
men eat in the front OF the house be-
fnre the performance began and prob
ably ter ded to reassure any who might
have feared for the propTieties. L.
made the C nhast all the more maj ked
when the young gentlemen compos-
ing tie acting cho u' threw off their
"Hlmstia" and fr liz ktd about in the
most &C i've and alarming manner,
their white leg' fl lshiug and cleaning
in the light, al d their trief upper
garments swrying and Vibrating like a
ballet dauce = shirts. 1t was some
time Def re the i.minine portion OF
the audience could sGC us.om itsef to
the novel sight. Bot at last arcb@o-
Logical il flaence 81 emed to prevail,
aud one by one the aides turned one
to another and whispered comments
and Impressions of the performance,
in which, il appearances are any
guide, criticisms on the ct e l'ogical
shape of some of the csllow limbs may
have had part. There is no quest on
that many OF the spectators brought
face to face thus unexpected y vitn a
rial leg show, 'elt genuine discomfort,
but the behavior was excellent under
the tryiog cirtunstances and the coll
legiate devotion 10 arc 9jlogical de-
tail met proper reward.
1t WAS somewhat different at Har-
ward five or K years ago. 1t was the
first at empt to produces Greek drama
in this country in the original Ian.
guaee and style. A whole academic
year and thousands OF. d Illsrs were
spe, in the preparations; the high
eft talent in he country was eng ged
ia the several departments to make
sure that all de'a Il should he as exact
aud rea istic as p1es b e. Ole day at
a r hea'ssl in Sanders Tneater the
q question of costumes came 10 for in.
lormsl discussion. A part of the gar.
ments ere on band that day, and il
was noticed by soue of tue young
g ntlemen, W had, perhaps, learGed
Iheir points from playing ''supe" a
the D ston Thester, that there were
no tighte. Pot. John Will ANS Waite
who stood by, sun ed sw, city bul
made NO reply, for in hisarcf @ leg ca
simplicity it htd never oc, ured to
him that al ybody would expect tight'
in Greek drsms, least Of all ihe GIeeh
sp., king actors thu mselves.
rs It . stble that we are not Il
have z t,2' Exclaimed Mr.. George
Riddle, the elocutiOnist, who eventu
ally IN ,de great biz in the role o
"uedipus." Mr. Riddle five mint
before had been inf rmed that nj
mccall, coin or statue had ever beer
discover ed on which Greek at thu
ime of Pericles wore a mous ach'
without full beard, and therefore hi
81 gait fstial ornament must come of
H bad submit, d to the sacrifice, bu
the thought of playing Ia bare leg
oveTcams him. In answer ~ bis quts
ton Pr (. White eaid:
"Of course not. The Greeks did no
wear ghis, did they, proiessorp ad
dressing VIM. W. GOf dwin, the heaC
Of the Greek department.
The white hard scholar sgreeC
with bis colleague, ard theTeupon ,
lively debate ensutd. Prof. Jonn K
Paine, the comp Sci, who with the othel
professors named constituted the com
mitee in charge of the enterprise
seemed inc ined to defend tights, bu
ss he had already b. uised the aTchseo
logicsl hearts OF his associates on thu
c immiltse by iusislinR that the must,
shou d not be confined to the narro
limits OF the ancient Greek style, b,
could not with good grace oppos
them wi h vigor in this matter. Tn
students rs rule rather welcomed tn
idea of bare legs, and Mr.. Rddl
mads no very strenuous objection
merely asserting that it 9 eme'
"ceansr" to lay in tights. The las
half dozen Iehearssls were in iul
dresp, each tjms in the pTesence 0
from 500 to 1000 p ople. They passe'
a with great &c at, and no murmu
OF dissent with iesgect to The barenes
OF the legs was heard. The play wa
pic u,e qne, tragic and hittoricall
conec'. But, bar in mind, the adie
present at the Iehearssls we're in on
way and another atsocia ed with tn
professors, with scholars end stu
dents; ladies who lived in an atmoi
phere cf Archaeology, who for month
bad heard Greek. seen Cheek, talket
Greek and dreamed Greek. Whe
the q st public pc Torrance was give
the audience Included good propoi
ton Of ladies who had never read
lire OF Greek, and who were unprE
pared for the intense realism OF bar
legs. The result was 8 prophet
storm behind the scenes, not Of th
,heater. but OF several household
and before the next ptrformsDce wa
given full set OF tights hPd bsen OIL
oered from a Boston costumer. The
were wond rlul and fearful in thei
mi, e ness, but they had to be. worr
The split Of modem prOplie'y hs
wrts led with clasiic ffeedom, an
the result was clear fall 10 the cred
! II prom CIV. After two or three pei