Waterbury evening Democrat., 1894-05-29

''Only stage hands are allowed here,
he went on. The scene shutters need ell
the spare room for their work. SO we can
have no loungers in the way"
Run by Schedule.
Capitainc, the French Sandow, flung her
last kisses to the audience and vanished
The next was the magic stormHakers'
act. And now those scene shutters and
property men simply raced things. While
the singing sisters WarblCd one stanZa of
a popular song on tho other side of the cur
tain those ln>n created heaven and earth
and all that in them is Trees and great
rocks sprang into being, grass grew under
foot, and the sea, the mountains and the
sky came tuMbling in together. The
brass buttoncd call boy scampcrcd away to
chirp at some dscssing room door, You
ncxt!" At the switchboard the electri-
clan experimental with the moon, the
stars, the aurora borealis and the light
ming, and the property men stood by their
cymbnls and kettledrums to make thun-
der, while tho stage manager, with eyes
and cars upon everything, running the
continuous performance as an engineer
runs locomotive, whistled through the
tube to the orchestra leader, and, presto!
all is ready for the magic stormmakcrs,
The Dressing Rooms.
III leu CIlc way up lIOh SUttlACGboS
from the stage to the dressing rooms, most
of which were simply generous sized inches
in the walls around and back of the stage,
like cells in the catacombs There wero
about 80 of these, some Of them roughly
improvised and partitioned off with odds
and ends of old stage scenery. Big stars
like Signor Campanini, the famous italian
singer Capitaine, Cyril Tyler and Lew
Dockstader have rooms en- suite, while the
ballet girls and Gilmorc's bald are hud-
died Is in a room. Looking into the char
acter singers room 1 found it minus its
occupant but plus u litter of wigs, puffs
and paint pots, backed by rainbow of
lace skirts, fancy coats and outlandish
hats. In other apartments I found the
Hindoo jugglcrs chatting like magpios,
the vocal blacksmith painting his face to
a ruddy hue, the laughter provoking come
dian lacing the shoe of the xlyopNonc vir-
tuoso and the serpentine dances in one
corner rolled up in a blanket like a ball,
doing nothing.
Just then Mr.. Tighe was called away,
and returned to the stage. An acrobat,
a stalwart, muscular, intelligent fellow,
was waiting to go on. I asked, lis it true
that gymnasts and others who undergo
great nervous strain are short lived?"
'Ah! That's the only sad side Of this
gay business. We seldom live to good
old age We keep right on hoping that
nature will stand by us until suddenly,
long before middle age we break down and
become complete wrecks. But then,"
Struggling his shoulders, I'VE are brought
up to it. It's this or starvation. t"
A young woman with very black hair,
very rcd cheeks and very blue gown,
who had been dancing like sylph, came
tripping off. I wondered if she, too, had
% keep at her speciality or starve.
do you prefer dancing to any othsG
kind Of work." asked without the for
mality of introduction.
"Oh, Out, monsieur she cried in de-
lightful Franco English, better than any
thing in the whole world. make $50 q
week for dancing 10 minutes three times q
day. Why should prefer other work."
The Pay Roll.
I learned that her case was exceptional,
however, as she was q particular favorito
with the public. The ordinary song and
dance actress averages only about SIS q
week. Salaries are something managers do
Aot like to divulge However, I learned
that some single spccialties arc paid as
high as 81, 900 week. For example, Cam
panni at Proctor's received 800 for every
time he went ''on." AS he went on twice
3 day, that was 5000 day, or $1,000 a
week. Cyril Tyler came very near the
same figure, as he was great attraction
for the ladies. Capitaine was another high
salaried performer. Another feature was
Gilmore's band of so pieces, who gave an
hours concert every morning. The salary
list, then, reached very nearly five figures,
for on the same bill with the band was
the ballet of 35 imported dancers; also the
Kiralfy dancers, pantomime company
and II other novelties.
Now a messenger came from Mr.. Tighe
inviting me to join him in large room
back Of the stage, where he sits in Judgment
upon new specialites. The applicants
come here in costume by appointment to
show what they can do. At this particu-
lar moment the applicant was q young
woman who said she was female Inaud5