Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1889-04-07
THE CAFE CONCERTS.
A Prominent Feature of the Paris
ian'S List of Amusements.
FREE AND EASY ENTERTAINMENTS
Where the Audiences Smoke, Drink and
Join in the Chorus,
PRETTY PETS OF THE PARIS POPULACE
rooRREsroxprNcn OF THE p1srArcz.1

CORRESPONDENCE OF THE DIsPATcH.I
PARIS, March 20-Cafe concerts in the
French capital are places of amusement
where there is usually lot of fun going on,
and where at cheap prices we can enjoy a
certain sort of variety entertainment while
smoking cigars and cigarettes and drinking
whatever we choose to order. The Eden
Theater and the Folies Bergere are not cafe
concerts, but the Scala, Eldorado, ,Ambassa-
deurs, L'Horloge and Alcazar d'Ete are, as
are also few other places which might be
mentioned. Each season, almost each
month, notices the increasing competition
Of these popular shows with the more legiti-
mate houses. The Oldest of them all is the
EIdorado, as it is one of the best, sharing
first honor with the Scala in the winter
months, both giving way, however, in
summer to Ducarre's popular resort in the
Champs Elysees.
1t is well to note the fact that the success
of the concert hall is largely due to the
freedom which it offers to all who enter. We
may sit, stand, drink or smoke without be-
ing obliged to listen attentively, and indeed
at these performances, artistes and audience
oAS oOOA vi al 4OOb1ukg buO OuC
leading and encouraging the other to chorus,
in an out-oEtune recklessness that may be
discordant, but is really enjoyable. Nothing
much is needed to establish good feeling be-
tween those who pay and those who sing,
and this intimacy ripens into q popularity
that is likely to prove as lasting as was that
of the great Machin, the first comic singer
the boulevards ever knew.
UNDER THE ROSE.
OF fcourse certain portion of the public
go to these places under the rose" t" and vet
1t is not at all uncommon for high-toned
folks to invite these same artistes to sing at
their houses the very evening when a famous
actor is reciting monologues, or selections
from Moliere and Shakespeare, and GER
tainly articles devoted to divettes and
cabots are eagerly read with curiosity by
nearly everybody.
The importance which cafe concerts have
acquired is quite surprising. There used to
be street singers, NJ. ct Nine. s-Chagrin,
who sang while dressed in colored prints
and a patched gaberdine, but they disap-
peared (along with the roadside public
houses. when the making of the broad ave-
nues that now traverse the city did away
with narrow courts). When in 1910 the
Sans-Chagrin took refuge in the Champs
Elysees, where they gave open-air concerts,
local impressario engaged them and ar
ranged the business so that the poor things
were no longer free to follow their own
sweet will. A stage was put up, on which
men and women sang romantic songs, or
made broad jokes under the very noses of
the police, and after each "turn" the artistic
came down plate in hand to make a collec-
ton, this being their only remuneration.
A POLITICAL MOVE.
During the empire, although comfortable.
well-managed halls had taken the place of
the temporary stages of the Champs Elysees,
the censor forbade the managers to set up
scenery, to act plays or to dress their artistes
otherwise than as men and women of every
day life, even wigs being interdicted, as
were also the wearing of pantaloons by
women. It was not until 1867 that these
concerts were emancipated, and it happened
In an unexpected manner.
NJ. Camille Doucet, the censor who was
then exercising strict surveillance on estab-
lishments where plays of three to five acts
were being performed, determined that the
Eldorado should benefit BY an act of clem-
eucy. This house had recently lost its
brightest star, Nine. Suzanne Lagier, and
the manager was advised to fill the vacancy
by engaging Nine. Cornelie, of the Comedie
Franchise. Though this was a complete
overTurning of traditions, of which Camille |
Doucet had never dreamt, he approved of
it, and Cornelie made her debut in full
evening dress with selections from the
"Songe d'Athalie." Soon after this the
manager was at liberty to act "chef |
d'eeuvres" to the gaUroches, his actors and
actresses were permitted to dress in suitable |
costumes, and from that date the success of
the Eldorado was assured. Then eight or
ten rival establishments started up with |
troupes ofyoung and pretty girls who con-
tributed materially toward eheapening |
places of amusement, and presently the |
public were hearing Theresa, Theo, Judlc, |
Marie Sasse, Michot, Verquet and Berthe |
lier.
ARoUsING PATRIOTISM.
After the war, cafe concerts again as |
sumed new aspect. The nation had suf- |
fered severely in that terrible year, and |
their detestatlon of the conquerors found ex- |
preston in patriotic songs which reused |
great enthusiasm. Theresa re-appeared: |
Nine. Amiata sang "Le Clairon''; the name 1
Of Alsace was on every ones tongue, and |
military refrains, which now seem vulgar /
and hackneyed, raised tempest of bravos. /
the audience clapping their hands and |
almost bringing the house down with their
heavy stamping. Those days of patriotic
songs are over, and critics complain severely
of the stupid things that have taken their
place.
In spite of the facilities for gaining a
heeting popularity artistes in cafe concerts
are not a very talented lot, but they do not
deserve to be too severely criticised. Girls
of 16, who are too idle to sew, and think
they possess voice, 60 to the Eldorado or
the Scala, and see the audience after a
witty sally from some gaily dressed artistic,
throw bouquets on the stage; this seduces
them, and they too will be singers. At the
door of their workroom is notice wanted,
young girls to be trained as singers" One
of them applies to an agency, and very soon
is permitted to take her first lesson. This
costs 8 cents, and once heard, the future
stars are classified into sentimental, comic
peasant girl, or patriotic, according to their
abilities and appearance. In another part
of the room another pupil is singing alone,
studying and copying carefully the move
ments of the throat, and the tired gestures
of the old cabot who calls her Stupid"
pinches her, and charges her cents for the
lesson. In either case it is only necessary
for the girl to be able to repeat her part and
she is at once an ''artiste."
WORKING HER WAY UP.
Generally the agencies place their be-
ginners in the provinces, in the cafe con-
certs of garrison towns where they make a
collection after each morceau; but such an
engagement is not very brilliant one. If
Paulus gets 300 francs a day, and Nine.
Bonnaire 80, poor Zed or Mile. Egreg are
paid for their debuts only francs an even
ing in the "genre" comic or sentiment and
the engagement is only binding on one
side, for the manager may discharge her
that same evening or whenever it pleases
him.
Whenever one of the country singers
shows particular brilliancy, she tries by the
help of journalist, or actor, or stage man.
ager, to obtain an addition in Paris. These
hearings are given in the afternoon in a
gloomy hall, where the manager, with
collar turned up, and hands in his pockets,
stands near the accompanist, while in the
boxes whispered conversation about the
voice Of the debutante is carried on. The
girl trembles all over, and it is really pitt