River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1892-12-29
PARTISAN ADJUSTMENTS.
First Nights at the Theaters of a Gres
and brilliant City.

q n
and Brilliant City.
During the summer months Paris re-
mains the beautiful city of marvels, and
although the Tout Paris" or the up
per ten, are supposed to have migrated
to the mountain, the ocean or the
baronial hall, the city continues to be
animated in a calm way. Summer is
the season of that open-air life in which
the Parisians particularly delight, when
the popular restaurants in the CITY
place their little dinner tables on the
sidewalk. and when the restaurants of
the Champs Elysees spread snowy cloths
for the weightier purses in the vicinity
OF splashing fountains and brilliant
flower beds That it is pleasant of a
warm and still evening TO dine at
Laurent's or the Ambassadors,
and to recognize many of the
notabilities of the capital as they
sit at the neighboring tables,
on each of which is little lamp that
casts opaline reflections on the faces of
the women. Gradually the glow of sun
set fades away: overhead you hear
President Carnot's rocks returning in
loquacious bands to their nests in the
garden of the Elysee palace; little by
little the mystery of darkness seems to
issue from and envelope the landscape;
and then, by the time we have reached
the moment of coffee and cigars, we see
festoons of gigantic pearls whitening
into luminousness beneath the trees,
and lighting up brilliantly the under
side of the delicate green chestnut
leaves. A few minutes later there is
heard clashing of cvm halls and flon-
fion of commonplace music, dominated
at regular intervals of the couplet by
the voices of singers-paulus, Elise
Faure. Yvette Guilbert- -summoning
the amateurs to the gaudv joys of the
cafes concerts.
The cafes concerts the cirque d'ete.
the hippodrome, such are the amuse
ments of elegant Paris during the sum
mer, when the theaters are closed,
with the exception of the Opera and the
Coincide Franchise. In September the
theaters reopen their doors. and the
intellectual and frivolous life of Paris
is resumed with renewed ardor. The
summer holidays are over. In October
everybody is back. and the dramatic
authors imperiously claim attention
for their new pieces. 1t is the season
Of first nights" The first performance
Of a new play is always somewhat of
an event in Paris. The French stage
has prestige that no other stage pos
sesses, and the French audience dis
penses greater glory than any other
European public, insomuch that those
\
acted before Paris can scarcely be said
to have danced, sung or acted at all;
their fame, however great it may be
elsewhere, requires the ratification of
Paris before it can be considered to be
absolute. Paris as Victor Hugo said.
is the starting point of success, the an
vii on which great renown is forged.
Therefore, the privilege of being pres
ent at the first night" particularly if
the piece be by an author of supreme
celebrity, is highly esteemed and per-
sistently solicited. premiere" is. in
a way. a social function. and constant
attendance at such ceremonies consti-
tutes patent of Parisianism. Certainly
first night" is interesting; it has the
charm of novelty and uncertainty the
attractions of plot yet to be olsen
tangled, Of witticism that bounds
across the footlights for the first time,
of scene that will be the talk of the
town for the next nine days. of cos
tune that will be the fashion of
tomorrow. But, above all, one is in
terested by the house itself, by the ami
nation of the Hobbies during the
entr'actes, the exhibition of we'll
known faces, the presence of the great
glories of literature, art, war. and poll
tics, the consoling spectacles to which
the eye has become accustomed. the
avant-scenes that reveal the latest
arrangements made between wealthy
seigneurs and distinguished Cythe-
reans, the baignoires full of mystery.
the balcony radiant with powdered
beauty, the whole audience vibrating
with lively scepticism, and with that
passion for movement and life which
characterizes the elite of adventurers.
fools of fortune, and men and women
of genius who compose what is called
the Tout Paris. Theodore Child, in
Harper's Magazine.