, 1886-09-21
THEATRE D%EADHEADS.
EXPOSURE OF THE INIoUITY OF THE
OF FREE TICKET SYSTEM.

VI W.T. iiSNG . CWs
Mania Which Certain People Have OF
Going to the Theatre for Nothing
Woes of Theatrical wealthy
Deadheads-Drnmatic Editor.
One of the standing human curiosities
OF New York, is the veal. by deadhead.
1t NAV not be generally known, but IL ia
a fact. nevertheless, that no deaGhead
was ever known to be im~pecunious. The
poor man VINO wants to go 10 the theatre
will steal the money like Il man and buy
a rticket. Your professional deadhepi
will make $1,000 and then write for a
complimentary" For some unknown
reason the professional deadhead has in
grained antipathy to paying for a seat at
theatre or on a railroad train. He will
lie, fawn and dishonor his family 10 get
his seat for nothing. and then he will take
his friends and spend $25 in wine between
the scts. Good society is honeycombed
with deadht ads. Tney own their coaches.
dress in Partisan finery. wear diamonds,
give late suppers after the performance,
ut the Brunswick, but they never pay Tor
their seats.
SOME CURIOUS CUSTOMS.
This has given rise to some very curl
Gus customs ut the New York theaters.
First of all is what is calle.l the "co ich-
ers." They are swell dead who W
their equipages, and are sure to cons on
the first nignt IN them II they get compli-
mentar.es. AS it is very desirable to make
a show of carriages on the first night OF a
piece, the managers pet them and take
every means to get them out. To facill-
tate the theater, there has recently been
published a little BOO called the Couch
ers' List" which gives tle names O. the
swell families that can be depended on to
turn out with their vehicles on a hrst
night, IL they receive complimentaries be-
fore 3 O'Clock. 1t Is but fair TO say that
this list Is very accurately and honestly
edited. If a respectable family is known
to receive tickets AMI then takes a horse
car IL Is stricken from the pages.
The ingenuity and persistence shown by
some of these people passes belief There
Is a well-known lady, moving in good So
ciety and well-to- do, who is seen at all
first night performances. But she /, never
known To pay for her seats. When she
tan not obtain them directly from the
manager, she succeeds In getting them in
a roundabout way. There are always
railroad men, editors and OF hers to whom
the manager is under obligation for fa-
vors, and it Is through one of these cnan-
nels that sac will work the tickets. On
several occasions special efforts have been
made by managers to give a first night
performance without her. To her request
Tor tickets the polite regrets were sent
that they were all sold, not a seat in the
house. But she was there all the same,
In iull array. The marked tickets were
traced in one case to a dramatic editor, in
another 10 n prominent banker. When
a-E oil A1nthf II th. . IA IL
played a letter he had received from the
lady, in which she piteously beggeI him
to get her two seats as a special favor, as
the mad been unable to buy them. Here
she had deliberately lied about the matter
rather tnan pay out 50. AMI it is curious
to know that she is in evesy other respect
a most liberal, exemplary and seft-respect-
ing woman.
II MANIA EXPLAINED.
/ have myself, known of women who
underwent the most extraordinary dis
comforts 10 secure complimentary seats
on a first niglt, travelling aud toiling
and importuning, while t lere were plenty
OF tickets to be had ut the regular price.
There is but one way of explaining this
mania. The tirst niyhters at "a New York
theatre are in n sense regarded as the
jury wno gives the Yer lict to the country
ON the play, TIT press Is largely repre-
seDted on such occasions. But there are
nlwaNDueJeyyn managers, and in-
fuentiai town people on the list. whose
opinion and favor are worth having. To
be included among these invited guests
tickle. Il shallow pride.
Tnere is one side of the deadhead sys-
tenn that ha, never been written about,
and that is the dramatic editors side. [
suppose he has more cause to hate and
t.ispise IL t,!an any poly else. for it bs-
comes the curse of his life. There never
was u man deputed TO take charge of the
anu ement colum of a daily paper who
did not very soJL lind out that he was tue
Save of tickets. a general notion pre-
walls that he carries III his pocket con-
stantiy tickets for all the theatres, aud
that his special privilege in-lile is to write
orders for boxes and complimentaries.
On some newspapers he Is exp .cte | to
supply the N chief with private
boxes at half an hours notice, and Ike ,p
the staff In amusementS. TIE business
department of some of these papers do
not hesitate to ask him to get seats for
tHeir best advertisers. II he wishes to
preserve anything like an independa nt
spirit in his criticisms IL is impossible,
and | believe that this %iniquitous dead
head business has Iona more thar any
thing else to kill the fearlessness and i'm
Partially of current dramatic and must
cal reviews. | wa shown not long ago
in one of our theaters the request coming
through the dramatic editor of a daily
paper for twenty-eight seats in three
days The managers are proverblally
generous in their favor to the press, but
it is with the expectation OF favor5 in re-
turn. Matters are not so bad in the news
nHner nfirax aa fhaV y,.ra Gonna 10 . - mao
scarcely hope that the system wal
ever be entirely eradicated. The dead
head, like the ticket SPECTATOR. will con-
tinue to defy ordinance and good taste,
and together they will go down to future
generations bound by common iniqu.ty.-
Nym Crinkls in Cleveland Leader.
Tie Meaning of bonanza
In an English magazine an attempt