Southwest-sentinel. [volume] (Silver City, N.M.) 1883-189?, 1895-07-16
AN ACTORS MATINEE.


GENERALLY THE 6pEcrhroHe IEtF
THEIR HOST TO PIECES.
Actor. Arr the uar.Ilc.i Sore of Critics 81
Man1sna 81 rheir oun rtsIt.aiou-Ihe
uass deems nnd Ii,oas VIII wm ~
spns q NJ Easss. q ere aias.
Tho eoubretto came cllngine 70 the
arm Of the villnin. sho was gloeious in
q yellow silk waist and Do was glorious
in q high hat and patent leather shoes
Thus armed they felt quito suro Of con
uuoring tho world. which means that
they expoctcd 70 star together SONS
day.
Nino ont 81 ten persons IN every au,d-
enco which consists entirely Of players
have like expectations, and right here
lies the structural weakness Of the net
ors' matinee. Your future star begins
.criticising the performance as ID as
tho curtain IS lifted for the first act III
every movement Of the star, in every
word spoken BY the star, be aees how
much better he could have done tho
part II he had had the chance. As Il IL
not ha1 satisfying % have hah q Che
house whispering when q IL in the
midst Of his loftiest flight In the third
act, the stars first actors matinoo "a
usually his last.
There ore three reasons FOR giving q
professional matinee. . said m old man-
aeer. First. for the self qualification
Of the actor, who wants his colleagues
70 know what line work he Is doing ,
second, ont Of courtesy 20 the profession,
and third. to get a htlle advertising.
The second is the most common. The
manager OF every production which has
q long Sun gets many requests from act
ors who say they want very much 70 sec
It, but can't, because they re engaged.
1.-THE first thing q manager docs when
he determines upon a professional matt
nee is to ask the different managers Of
attractions playing in town how many
seats they q use. Usually every per-
son IN every company wants two or
three seats. Their extra seats are gener-
ally occupied by some stanch admirer
Of theirs who win believe that every
criticism they utter upon the perform
ance is truo. This person Is called the
sympathetic ear.
"Ticket sellers complain about fin
icky people. who always insist upon
such and such a sent. But an actor,
when the seats are given to him, viii
come and raise a terrible hullabaloo IN
less they arc IN q certain, exact spot in
the house. I've even known a manager
TO send back a dozen seats because he
couldn't get them six instead Of twelve
rows back. There's a line Of would be
motors waiting outside your door all day
long. who want anywhere from to
twenty seats apiece, and You don't get
a moments peace until the things over.
Yon don't get much peace even then"
After all Of their trouble to get seats
TO please them, many Of the actors who
have engaged seats do not come. II
they are merely enemies Of the actor
who gives the matinee they present the
tickets to a boarding house keeper; If
they hold an actual grudgc, they give
them TO a bootblack. Consequently the
well dressed leading man doesn't always
find tbs persons ut his elbows exactly
the sort Of company he would choose.
The most important figure at the pro-
fessional matinee is by all odds the mid
do aged lady who is a relative Of q
soubrotte. The more distant the relation
the moro important she is. If she is an
eighth cousin she expects the great doors
to swing open when she is within a
block Of the theater, and eight ushers
come out TO meet her. She is Fat and
comfortable looking, and she always
has a temper.
The old time actor, who has barn
stormed it in the legitimate rs long a.
he could, comes to sec how low the
stage has fallen. Maybe one Of these Fat
and comfortable boarding house keepers
is his sympathetic ear. He tells her thai
things were far different when he and
Booth were starring it; these young
actors don't know much, and the stage
has gone to the bOwwOws.
Between the acts the corridors swarm.
Acquaintance meet, and then they be
gin to talk in this way:
"H0w did il h%appenP"
Don't ask me, dear boy. Bullhoat
luckl''
And, do you know, he really think
he can act.
Eyes suppose that he thought he
was going to astonish the natives Cad
Did you notice that entrance?'
Horrible. Conception is all wrong
Now, If r.
"And il r.
But they break right there-each be
ing Immediately convinced that thl
other does not know anything about IL
But there are exceptions. They ar
usually the most prominent actors
Sometimes tho hand Of the star !
grasped warmly between the acts. ans
no feels the thrill Of triumph with tn
words: ITS immense. old man. YOI
are q revelation.
The reporter had on his right side Oh
soubrette and the villain, and on hi
left q very nice old lady with whit
curls, who had come with her son. Tn
young man was very critical He pioke'
out flaw after flaw, and RECALLED hi
mother with them. The old lady wa
an actress herself-a very good actress
apparently. And finally she said TO thi
boy IN a gentle aside;