The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1892-03-04
THE PLAY NOT THE Thing
Which Is Where Shakespeare
- Made
Mistake.
MORE FUN IN THE AUDIENCE
Leap Year Parties and Afternoon
Teas-The Close of the Ante
Lenten Season.

Especially qcrigten for ths JERSEY CITY Ners)
Pray, gentle friend, what do you see at
the theatre? The stage, and what is on
it? Star and soubrette, footlights and
flies. paint powder and rougeP Go to-,
you nave not used your eyes. Turn them
on the audience-there is more in that
direction worth seeing. Leading ladies
are not always pretty to look at, and on
the whole, nine out of ten actors in a
travelling company are bores. But n
audience at all is a mine of delightful
you keep your eyes and ears open.
There is the scrupulous man whose
conscience will not allow him TO laugh
until he understands the joke. which he
does half a min ute after everyone else
After Cornelius OF the stage has said a
good thing, and the general laugh is sub
siding, q wild "Haw, haw, haw," will
ring out, and our friend will be seen con-
vuised with glee and repeating the joke
to his next n~eighbor. sometimes ne Tor
| gets his voice is raised, ana the audience
nears the joke twice. There was such a
man at the "Niobe" metinee at the New
Opera House last Saturday. he sat well
10 in 5ne orchestra with a friend, and as
the fun grew fast and furious, his laughs
increased proportionately, until ne had
| forgotten time, place and surroundings,
and was shouting his opinions OF the act
| lug to his companion In a tone adapted TO
wake the Seven Sleepers. l regret to say
that his phraseology was not choice, for
| he used such expressions as II Oh TO de
| duffer's face!' "BraIl up yer jlb sheets,
me hearty" and like phrases.
THE MAN BACK OF YOU.
Then there is The man vino sits back OF
YOU aud has seen the play before. For
! fear his %neighbors may not know this
| fact, he kindly tells them what is coming.
In the midst of a thrilling situation you
hear his voice murmuring, Now he's
going to be rescued by the faithful SER
Want" or .She isn't s%trangled; she's
| coming on in the next act"-until You
| wish that Providence had either made
MIN dumb or kept that play out of his
reach up to date.
A man of this kind brought his wife
and daughter to the Academy TO hear
"Men and Women" when it was here,
and before the curtain fell on the first act
everybody within a radius Of three rows
had learned that the last time he saw IL
was in Washington in a party with Two
Senator's, il Representative and goodness
knows whom else. All of which was
highly interesting to the general public.
Then another night there Was u mnn i'll
the audience that had music in his soul.
When he had comfortably arranged him
self he put two generous feet INTO the
aisle convenient for the usher to fall over
and waited for the orchestra to begin.
The overture was in march time and its
stirring measure seemed to reach our
fri end, for he began a gentle heel and Toe
m ovement, with a subdued stamp every
now ana then.
n crab-like motion forward and back.
Fortunately the overture stopped there,
but when between the acts they played a
schottische. I fully expected there would
be a skirt-dance not down on the bllls. Ii
was beating time with variations. Which
is why he might be said TO have music In
his sole.
THE CHAMPION FREAK.
But the champion freak OF This collec-
tion appeared at the Opera House the
opening night OF Little Lord Fauntle-
row" He came in late, and tate had or
daiped that ne should be placed with
three vacant seats on each side OF MN.
The house was warm, the lights We're
low. the play soothing IN les nature. and
he dropped off to sleep. Dearest" aud
the curly-headed lordling on the stage
were having their most pathetic scene,
aud not whisper was heard III the house,
when suddenly 'Gw-hrl-ck-chow-sk!' or
words to that ~effect-came booming up
from the orchestra chairs. The slumberer
was getting in his work. Shades of
Sampson, how he did snore! Fainter y
and his m spoke in vain--tne dire
full cannonade kept right on-applause
did not waken him, and when three
ushers united to reason with him, he
merely louSed during the lntermlsslous
and dropped off as the curtain rose. And
after three acts of this, the audience de-
cided that legislation should be brought
to bear on men VINO SeAec6 theatres rs
dormitorles.
THEN THERE ARE THE LOVERS
1t is always interesting to watch the
proceedings of a loving couple, but never
more so than at the theatre. Dear things,
they take it for granted that after the
curtain rises, nobody will look their way.
The ostrich has been known to hold
similar views. The next time you sit be-
hind one of these couples notice whether
d programme accidently falls between the
seats. And whether her nand is under
that programme. Now. did say, did l
In the vicinity? Why, forsooth, should
he 60 TO all that trouble to grasp four
fingers and Il thumbs?
But the very funniest thing that has
yet come TO the writer's notice in n Thea
tire, happened last year. the nrst week oil
the New Opera House. when The Hen
~rietta'' was on the stage. They were well
up in the orchestra. She was very pretty
and he very well aware of 1t. lie began
the conversation during the nrst
intermission by the following extraordi-
nary remark
How amusing that lisp of Robson's is,
isn't it? If That young lunatlc III the
third row doesn't stop smiling ut you. IN
do something desperate"
She:-"Yes. and ISN'T May Waldron
Just too sweet for anything? He isn't
smiling, and he isn't a lunatic. any
way"
He:-"Oh, if you like it. let him go on.
by all means. Only don't do it while we
are engaged. Yes, have you seen her in
She Slooos to Conquer p"
She:-"Yes. l didn't like her so we'll as
in this. 80 you wish to break the en-
gagement? Very well, sir"
He (hastlly): Yet many people prefer
her in her odd comedies. Now, dearest,
you know / didn't mean it. | can't help
being jealous, and -
That's enough for all practical pur-
poses. took some trouble to find out
the names of this delightful duo, but tor
lures wouldn't drag them from me. But !
confess l shall remember that little in
terlude ut the Opera House when l tead
an account of their wedding III the Social
news below. as l expect to DO In the near
future.
fsh..U . Z IN ~ Vfy a