The Washington critic., 1890-05-15
BEHIND THE SCENES.
MESsRS. BARNUM& s. BAlLEY's GRAND
SPECTACULAR DISPLAY.


Had Gibbons or Macauley or any
other Of the famous historians seen the
production of Nero at the circus last
night they would want to revise 1t. If
one wants TO study Roman history he
wants to chum and chat with Nero and
indulge in small.talk with grave and
reverend Senators in their stately togas,
patricians in their gorgeous costumes,
censors in all the pride OF Off
cial dignities, mincing courtiers
and stalwart gladiators, and
last, but by no means least, the ox.eyed,
creamy skinned, midnight.haired, lis.
some.limbed darlings who made the
Roman life a dream of beauty and
dance forever in the olden days. You
want to be crowded by lictors and
iostled by gladiators and have bewitch-
ing glances thrown at you by vestals.
In other words you want TO 60 behind
the scenes and see the burning of the
Eternal City from the rear as a CRITIC
reporter did last night.
All is confusion. You see long
vistas of loose canvas and towering
heights of rigid canvas--long tables,
which are piled high with helmets,
spears, shields, bosses and bucklers.
Near the main entrance is the dressing
room for the colored participants.
Magnificently proportioned negroes are
putting on their snowy apparel. Fur
ther on is the dressing. room of the
ladies, through which the reportorial
eye may not penetrate, but through the
canvas walls come the murmur of
many voices, and one sees in silhouette
relief the forms Of the divine beings
who led to the fall of Rome.
Now one is in the centre of the stage.
There is stretch of brown canvas, a
lot of pine frames and some mysterious
figures in black. Further on is q long
pine table, two men are preparing for
the destruction of Rome. Iron scoops
are being filled with red fire, which is
taken out of barrels by the spadeful.
Masses of cotton, as big as beer kegs,
are saturated with alcohol and placed
in shallow metal pans. AT the extreme
end of the appian way are the dressing
rooms of the supernumeraries. All is
glitter, glare and movement.
Suddenly the leader sings out: pro
cession FORM" and the visitor has Just
time to retreat to the side, as the
ladies of the ballet begin to pour out of
their dressing. rooms. What q dream
of loveliness was there Three fourths
Of the ladies are Spanish or Italian,
and their drapery gives one a glimpse
of necks and arms and shoulders which
would have destroyed St. Anthony s
place in history, had he witnessed it.
There are girls with stately, or petite,
or slender, or. plump, or willowy
forms. There are girls with brown
eyes, which melt, or blue eyes, which
dance; with flashing black eyes and
questioning hazel eyes. And the man
who watches thanks his stars that the
nineteenth century, or the North
American climate does not permit of
such girls wearing such bewitching
costumes as these which pass before
him in kaleidoscope display.
The first scene progresses and dozen
men ascend ladders. Suddenly whis-
tie, and brawny arms pull back the
hundred yards of the first scene. The
triumphal procession moves onto the
stage ready to delight the thousands of
spectators. You are no longer in pro-
sale Washington. You ''leap chasm
of centuries and stand midst by-gone
things" You are living in the days
when Rome was at the height of its
splendor and cruelty. Nero, that mag.
nificent madman, rules the destiny OF
the mistress of the world You look
over the immortal city seated on
her many hills, and see her gardens, hei
palaces, and her coliseum. Herdsmen
from the neighboring Campagna gaze
in rustic astonishment at the rich dresses
of the patricians. A wrestling match
ensues, and it begins to look bad for the
aristocrats when one of them throws
back his hood and discloses the features
of Nero. The scene changes. and it is
fete day in the heart of Rome. Nero's
triumphal procession approaches in the
distance. 1t is the grandest spectacular
display ever attempted, and beyond the
| power of pen to describe.
The fete is proclaimed and the audi
ence is treated to the gladiatorial com
bats dear to ancient Rome. Then comes
the dancing, and what dancingl In ses
green, in pinks, in rose tints, in white
in pearl, in all varieties of costume.
they dance-no, they do not dance. i
is but the floating of summer borr
| gossamer; the sinuous movements Of
wavelets; the undulations of ROSE
twig when the blossoms art
heavy-the quintesence of tn,
| poetry of motion, the apotheesi
of shapely forms, the rhythm of bodies
and limbs and arms. But the revel
draw to an end, and suddenly Rom'
begins to blaze. Down goes the cur
tain, with the Emperor laughing il
fiendish glee, while the spectators com,
back to the stern reality of life il
rainy, electric lighted Washington
1,S0O years after the scenes they hav'
seen enacted.
But the audience would have realized
more from the magnitude of the enter
prise had they been on the grounds
short while before and seen the cree
tion of the tents, and the othe
work connected with this small
world of pageantry and display. Atmid
day only the big tents which cove
eleven acres of ground were in position
and the hundreds of employees wer
scattered over the place driving stakes
unpacking boxes and putting up tn
scenery in the vast amphitheatre.
When the parade returned to tn
grounds, shortly after l o'clock, tn
confusion was doubled. The heav,
wagons were wheeled into place in tn
menagerie tent, and the whole seen
seemed a pandemonium. But orde
was quickly brought out of chaos, an
the performance commenced o.
schedule time.
Not the least entertaining portion ar
the incidents that occur at the main en-
trance, and when the doors were finall
opened and the $4,000 people began t
flock into the tents, one had an exec
lent chance to study human nature
| Ihapa xJith half a 1Aya