Wichita eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1886-1890, 1888-07-03
THEATRE AUDIENCES.
HOW THEY DIFFER IN CHARACTER
ON CERTAIN NIGHTS.


ON CERTAIN NIGHTS.
Patrons-some Observations Of an Ex-
perienced Manager-Saturday Night tho
Best of the Week.
Probably few theatre goers o. this city
realize, as do the theatrical managers,
that there are in Boston six distinct
audiences of amusement seekers, and that
they have special nights upon which they
attend the theatres. So marked are the
audiences on different nights OF the week
that one manager in this city has 8 name
for each night, which he has given to it
mainly on account of the character Of the
audience which he expects on that day
to see in his house. For instance, Mon
day is Autograph night; Tuesday, de-
Gliding night, or assistant critics night;
Wednesday, train night; Thursday,
might out" night; Friday, society
night; Saturday, everybody's night.
Asked to give his reasons for thus naming
the nights, he said: ION Monday, unless
| there has been a large advance sale or the
| indications are that there will be good
sized audience drawn by the special merit
| of the performances, we give out what
are known as Autograph tickets. These
entitle the holder to admission to the the
| atre in return for the privilege he has
| given US of hanging in his shop window
or in his store our Autographs and small
| bills, or, perhaps, are for the use OF
| bill board in good location.
on MONDAY EVENING.
''It is on Monday evening, usually, that
! the theatres change their bills, and so
| the opposition on that night is generally
felt more than on any other, and if there
is room it is desirable to pay off the lith-
ograph or advertising debts on that night
| in preference to any other. There are more
of these tickets issued than managers
would care to acknowledge, and they are
generally we'll represented on Monday
night, and so call that night Autograph
night OF course, on Monday we get the
| regular critics and the first nighters, who
are always ON hand 10 pass Judgment on
every new actor or play, but the dead
head is plentiful on that night, and
recognize him in my nomenclature.
'On Tuesday night we can generally
tell from the receipts how the business Is
going to be for the week. If the house is
larger in money than it was on Monday,
we assume that the performance has
pleased the public, and has been well
spoken of, and that the receipts will in
crease nightly for the rest Of the week.
Therefore l call it deciding night as it
generally decides the business. On that
night, too, we get those who never attend
the theatre until they have lead their
favorite daily paper, and learned the opin-
e Al bn
play and players. These are the assist
ant critics, and they are influential as a
class. Wednesday night is train night,
because on that night the late trains
especially designed for theatre parties
were run and brought into the city theatres
crowds of persons living in the surround
ing towns. This name is not so peril
nent as it used to be, as now on nearly
all the roads out of the city there are
trains run late enough to permit of out
of town people visiting the theatre, and
reaching home at a fairly reasonable
hour.
THE "NIGHT OUT" NIGHT.
"Why do / call Thursday night out
night? Well, L do not want to disparage
Thursday night, for we get strangely
mixed audience on that night, but we are
/
of servants on that evening, as that, by
some unwritten law, seems to be the even
ing when the help have their night out.
The upper tiers are always well filed on
Thursday evening by stout, healthy look
ing young girls, accompanied by their
sweethearts, and / tell you they make a
splendid audience for the ordinary attrac-
ton, as the illusions of the stage are to
them realities. An actress who cannot
make them cry or a comedian who cannot
make them laugh should speedily retire
from the business. On Friday we expect
to see the more fashionable personages, as
on that day, for superstitious reasons or
for other reasons, there are are fewer wed
ding receptions, balls and social events
than on any other night of the week. On
Friday night we also expect to see a great
many of our Hebrew patrons, more than
on any other night Of the week, although
they are great theatre goers, and are
found in goodly numbers on every night.
Saturday night is the best night of the
week for many reasons, and the audience
is more mixed on that evening than on
any other Of the week. The gallery is full
of working people who have been paid
their weeks wages and are seeking en-
ioyment; the clerks and shOpkeepers are
there with their sweethearts and wives,
knowing that they can rest on Sunday,
and the front rows are full Of Harvard
students, more especially if there are
heather goddesses ON the stage. The
nearer the representatives of the heather
goddesses approach the originals in form
and raiment, the nearer the students get
to the stage. You mustn't ask me why
this is. / only state facts. An expert
enced theatrical man, acquainted with the
city, could tell you what night OF the
week it was by just looking at the audi
ence. if he had no other means of know
n0"-Boston Herald