St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1890-07-29
FROM THE GALLERY.
A Witness of All Stage Decep'
tions in Their Baseness.

A Witness of All Stage Decep-
tions in Their Baseness.
New York Herald.
1 viewed "Der Gotterdammerung"
from an exalted pinnacle the other
night. Iarrived late at the Metropolitan,
and a 5O-cent seat in the topmost gal
lery at the extreme left of the stage was
the best that could obtain. To one in
such a location, where only by leaning
far forward in a most awkward fashion
can even a glimpse of the stage be
secured, the most elaborate scenic effects
of the opera are almost wholly lost.
But l made the pleasing discovery
that the occupants Of the upper tiers i'll
one respect possess a decided advantage
over those who sit on level with the
footlights. From my dizzy height /
could see into various little secrets OF
stage mechanism which the Astors, the
Gerries and the Iselins in their boxes
could only vaguely guess at.
There was the prompter first OF all,
whose score and twitching fingers were
ever before me as he studiously fol-
lowed the singers through the Wag-
nerlan maze encased in his little
prompting box. Then the mystery of
the Rhine maidens' natatorial act be-
came to me almost painfully tranSpar-
ent. | had beheld these ''weird sisters"
several times before, but had never
realized that it was just in that way
that their graceful evolutionS were per-
formed.
They appeared nothing If not gro
tesque, running backward and forward
across the stage behind their f1imsy
screen and gesticulating in truly re-
markable fashion. Had | not been aware
of their purpose l could never have I'M
agined that such motions could have
borne the faintest resemblance to swim
ming. 1t seemed to be rather a quaint
dance, in which swaying arms and
bodies, not twinkling feet, had the bulk
of the labor to perform.
The practical utility Of the tall tree
that rises from the center of the stage
in the scene near Gibichung Hall was
also demonstrated. as it could not have
been from any other coign of vantage.
Its ample trunk affords, / learned, an
admirable resting place for delinquent
choristers. During the chorus OF Gun
theirs vassalS | saw one sturdy singer.
slip into its shadow out of view OF all
the great audience save myself and per-
hapS one or two others. Once hidden
lie ucllU6Idlely uIOW HIuolCol o0OiO
from the scabbard in which mis- dirk was
supposed to lie and fell to singing lus-
tily with the rest. following his notes
with studious zeal. -
For fully ten minutes he was thus out
of sight, though not of hearing. and not
until the eXigencies of the libretto de-
manded did he sheathe his music and
quietly step out among his associates.
The wheels of the skiff that bore
Brunhilde down the Rhine revolved be-
fore my eyes with laughable obvious
ness. was literally seeing, as few 9TH
ers in the great auditorium could see,
'.the wheels go round" Still another
amusing feature of this impromptu by
play was the occasional appearance in
the wings of black-bearded gentleman
in full evening dress, including tall
silk hat and boutonniere OF violets.
At times he was so close to some of the
singers as to fairly elbow them, and
from my eminence he appeared to be in
full view of the audience. though of
course he must have been screened by
the wings.
The incongruity of swallow-tail coat
among the heroes of Walhalla was de-
llghtfully absurd, and with this added
pleasure my enjoyment of this birds
eye view of the opera was complete.