The Helena independent. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1875-1943, 1892-08-10
! & london MUSIC HALL.
asll III Bsooming - Once Both More
Popular md More Re-
spectacle.
The Babel That Il Heard In the
Alhambra Engagement
ss# Mondays.

aard Work Preparing for Ton Miuutes
81 Action-Drinkins Has Dimin.
ishsd, Smoking Increased.
Tho public, which only recognizes in the
best. naturally enough, % an evening re-
sort, andi II may be surprised to learn that
during the greater part Of the day il Is also
q scene Of activity, says the
New York Times.
At the top Of I long stone staircase in the
rear are the offices Of the company to
which the building belongs. Here the BUS
iuess Of II 10 transacted by Nh. James
Howell. ths secretary, and his staff OF
clerks, whose occupations are OF a strictly
commercial character. On ths other side
u she staircase 10 Mr.. Hollingshead's room,
that OF deputy. Mir. Gilmore, and OF Mr.
Al. q. Forde, this stage manager. Hero all
matters more Immediately relating to the
performance are discussed and arranged,
com plaints are listened to. and OCCASION
ally Aspiring artists, properly recon-
mended, are interviewed. Beneath these
r. WO8tBUlSut8 AFO OoL1hc "a AZ SASsA
and wardrobes, nd she stage entrance IN
Hunts court.
AZ the bottom and moro or less under
ground ID the mineral water mandatory;
for the Alhambra makes all its own min
erals rsaping from the enterprise no small
share Of it's profits. Even the stage Is not
unoccupied. The principal ladies' Of the
ballet regard the evenings work itself as
comparatively q tribe; the more important
occupation of the day is the practice for the
night. One hears with surprise that Mile.
Lecnani. tho premiere dansease. practices
her steps every morning or afternoon Tor
three Of four hours on the stage in Leicester
square.
pants; there il a daily dancing GLASS for the
beginners and extra ladies'. 'rtnose; Sns'
a. Who have mot yet achieved the full dig
nifty OF being members Of the corps; under
The sup~erintendance of the master these
are busily engaged. in the half daylight of
the stage, in completing their eduostlon.
This accomplished, thoy will in due course
b passed en- TO the goal Of their AMBITION.
Emptied OF their ordinary oconpants, the
LARGE stage and the auditorium look far
more imposing, a. far a. size goes, than
thsy do at night.
Every Monday the stage 10 the scene Of a
curious PROCESS; the director gives audience
70 Ill and sundry who are on the lookout
for engagements and from 10 in the morn
Ing till four in the afternoon these go
through their performances in turn before
him and Mr.. Forde. 1t is open house for
them all; acrobats, jueglers. dancers, sing
ors. variety artists with dogs and other
animsls from AL nations" set forth their
wares They arrive, bag and baggage, in
xheir own hired conveyances, and with the
..band parts" which they require by way OF
accompaniment from ths orchestra, which
II in attendance for the purpose. Mr.. Hol-
linRshead declares that he almost forRets
his own language, or, indeed, tnat ne owns
one. 20 confusing il the babel of tongues
from the motley crowd. who are for the
most part foreigners. This 10 an ordeal.
probably, for both sides; one. it may be
said, neither unpicturesque nor destitute
OF pathos to . sympathetic mind.
Recent years have witnessed a very re-
markabls change in the attitude Of the pnb-
liz toward music halls. and the question of
their relations to the theaters has become
one Of considerable Importance to all who
are interested in the future of the stage.
Mr.. Hollingshead HAS lately put one side
Of the maSsei, with his usual ~franknsss, be-
fcrs.sN parliamentary commission. You
1st have the pothouse. be says; will you
ave il in company with music and singing
other recreative and pleasurable &C
commandment or will you have tho pot
house pure and simpls2 His own view, 1t
is scarcely necessary to add. is the former.
Not, however. primarily IN the interest OF
the halls.H
This is hardly the place for u discussion
Of it, but a few of the facts relating to the
management of one of the most popular
houses of the new order can hardly fail to
be of interest. The drink bill at the A.
hambra is by no means a prodlglous one.
being about 945 per night, this including
some 93 for cigars. The FIRST six months OF
the praaent wear showed a total xrcndltu; q
on the part Of the public of &C. 34 for
drinks and cigars; hardly anything il usel
but beer and Scotch whisky, and an enor-
NOUS quantity OF mineral waters to
equality" the Iatte., Champagne has had
its day; nor more than 80 per week is
the abolition Of tho supper rooms, when
the building was reconstructed must
be held responsible. The old Can
tsen,'' of which far too much was
made, was done away with at the same
time. The director assures US that nothing
surprised him so much. when he resumed
his Office after an interval of q quarter of
century, as the reduction in the consump-
tion of alcoholic drinks: it ia now scarcely
more than one-half it's former total sum.
On the other hand. smoking had epor-
mously increased; in earlier days the cigar
cite was almost unknown; 1t is now almos.
universal. The question of liberty of
smoking is, in truth, the main thing upon
which the controversy between the theater
aud the music hall will be found to hinge.
A revolution in Berlin in the year 1926 was
said by an acute observer to have turned i'll
great part on the question of rauchfreiheit.
We have hardly come to that point in Lon
dom; but the situation is one which, in one
form or another, has to be faced to-day By
all caterers for the entertainment of the
public.