The Sunday herald and weekly national intelligencer., 1891-02-08
rior and tramped proudly up stairs with his

rior and tramped proudly up stairs with his
| armored brethren.
The second act required all the men and girls
to stand on porticos and stairways during its
entire rendition, forming brilliant and pic
turesque background during the circensan
games (or speciality acts) and the performance
of the trained lions. AS result of this long
stand the men and girls were quite stiff in their
lower limbs when they again went down stairs,
when the curtain fell to remove the armor and
| reappear as plain citizens Egyptians and Naza-
renes in act three, in which they appeared as the
''mob hydra" in the burning of Rome Ming
ling among the mob of ''supers" on the stage
in this scene were several members of the COM
pany, who moved in and around the mob eX-
horting the latter in emphatic whispers to shout,
act in an excited manner, and do other things
that g mob would naturally do under such cir
cumstances. This exhorting was so cleverly
done that it was not noticeable to the audi
ence.
In the last act the newspaper man, as well as
his fellow Roman citizens and the Egyptians,
hustled down to the dressing-room again, and
each Of them donned a VOLTS hide and an
| antique and fantastic-looking steel headgear,
and, seiZing battle axes, they rushed up stairs
again to participate in the final tableau in the
woods where Nero kills Acte and himself, and
the cross, SIN hoe Sig1eo 0tnces," appears in the
sky.
Now the curtain is down and the orchestra is
playing lively air while the audience is dis
persing. Behind the scenes the male and female
auxiliaries are rushing pell nell down stairs to
| remove their costumes and reGnter their every
| day habiliments. The mems dressngroo was
not only overcrowded but it was semi-dark and
| the mass of packed humanity wriggled about
| like snakes as they removed their tights and
| ancient garbs and hustled about in the gloomy
| corners searching for their clothing. There are
no facilities in the dressing-rooms for hanging
up ones attire, and the men were compelled to
| pile their clothing in corners and about on the
| floor. In consequence of this there was sad
| tumble of garments and shouts of stWho has got
M Ghn 9)1 tWhara ia m Ghirt "
ties gone," ETC., could be heard on every side,
adding to the general din and confusion.
Finally the last 'super'' and extra lady dis
appeared down the stairway leading to the cold
and cherries street, and the beow-st apart
ments were left to solitude and the grim old
| Watchman.
At the second nights performance and during
the remainder of the week the newspaper man
| was cast as an Egyptian, to change in the sec
ond and third acts to Roman warrior and in
the fourth to fur-clad Gaul. The costumes
complete are turned in to the property-man
after every performance and in consequence
the scribe got a different suit each night, and
all in different stages of cleanliness, suggesting
in emphatic manner nice, thorough bath
and change OF underwear.
The men and boys who comprise the ''corps
de supers," as some of them term it, represent
many phases of human nature. There is the
dude, who has just gone on, ''doncher know,n
to have some fun and flirt with the girls; the
Government clerk, who does it just for a little
routine; the youth of scant means, who, in addi-
tion to being somewhat stage-struck, wants the
81. so or 50 paid for the weeks work for spend
| ing money. Then there is the seedy old gentle
man. who plays "super'' for the stipend; the
regular, who haunts the stage entrance all the
week looking for an engagement" and, last
but not least, the marine regular soldier who
takes this means to make few extra pennies
on his night off.
Among the girls there is also some variety
One can tell the regular girls by their general
carriage and department. They understand
the work they are called upon to do by intuition,
and 90 about it systematically. They have
nothing whatever to say to the 'supers,' and
promptly suppress the latter when they attempt
to 'get gay" as the phrase goes.
One buxom country girl from Maryland, who
made her first appearance as an 'extra lady'
with Nero, was literally overjoyed at the atten-
tion she received from the ''supers." She wore
tights in the character of one of the Roman
gladiators, and, being quite comely of face and
form, found hosts of admirers among the
Romans, Pretorians, Gauls, and others. They
focked about her, introduced each other made
love to her, and INDUCED in unlimited quanti-
ties of attery, until she proudly declared in the
ladies' dressing-room that she had ''a mash" ON
every man in the house, from the leading actor
, down to the humbest "super." She did not
know in her country simplicity that the major
ity OF them were "guying," and she proudly de-
clared:
''Oh girls, have got them all on a string.'
There was another ''eXtra lady' who made
her first appearance with the blare of Roman
trumpets aud under Roman banners in ''Nero. -
| She was very slender, and her tights hung about
. her limbs like a sheet wrapped around a bean
pole. She Viewea her anatomy In piece OF
-Tt,e famous To X ATOM punoh IL 70 no found