Democratic Northwest and Henry County news. [volume] (Napoleon, O. [Ohio]) 1894-1905, 1896-08-27
OPERA c.Aous NOW OFFICIAL.
End of Cheap nekees In Pasts-WhAt tho
Head Of the claqhe Hss % Do.


An tmportant innovation has been 70
cently introduced at the PaIls Grand
Opera. says lie Figaro, the cloque service
being taken over by the state and ceasing
20 be q commercial undertaking Hitherto
the ciaque had been a mere nntter Of busi-
ness ut the opera, as IN the other theaters
Paris has king Of the clSque who under
takes 20 provide applause IN all the large
.heatersL In return for a considerable sum
Of money this august parsonage rsceiyes o
fixed number Of seats, which he sells OF
his own discretion, with the understand
ing that be Will provide the quantity of
applause that the manager calls for. As
he combines with this trade the sale OF
authors tickets the chief Of the olaque has
Il IN his power 20 determine the price of
tickets bought outside of the box office
To the profits obtained In this way are
sdded "the obligatory gifts" Of the artists,
many Of whom pay from $50 to $50 o
month TO have their entrance and their re-
calls looked after.
Consequently an intelligent chief of the
claque soon becomes rich and has always
50, 600 or 30 TO help managers who ore in
trouble. In return he receives slO, 900 or
Sls, 900 In tickets, or else they let him have
the curtain raiser for certain length of
time He then buys any sort of play Of
some poor devil for $40 and has It acted
200 or 800 times running, keeping the au-
thor's rights. Combinations like these ex.
plain why we see the same stupid one sct
piece performed for two years running at
some Of the Boulevard theaters, no matter
what the main piece is.
Atthe Opera the head of the claque used
TO receive some 50 parterre seats which he
had sold 0t u we'll known Office IN the Rue
Aubew. The normal price was francs,
instead of 8, the cost of the seats at the box
office, but at first performances or othel
unusual OCCASIONS the prioc often rose as
high as 30 francs. The system long in ust
| at the Conedfe Francaise has now beeI
adopted at the Opera The head of tht
claque is employed by the manager and re
ceives 300 o month He has at his dis
posal 80 tickets, which he must distribut.
without compensation TO the amateurs whC
are permitted TO applaud under his orders
| The change has caused discomfort not onll
among ticket agents, but among man!
good people of moderate means, but font
of music who were enabled to attend thu
Opera with these cheap tickets
The new employee Is a graduate of th'
| Conservatoire, an excellent artist who doe
not give the signal for applause according
| to O cut and dried programme prepared be
| forehand, but who selects with tact th
moments when applause fits in naturally
The persons whom he has selected 70 assis
him are doctors, lawyers, engineers or civi
htfph
Dr.. Veror who was director OF the OpeI7
under the second empire, describes in hi
memoirs q chief Of the claque Of his day,
| gigantic fellow named Augusta, who wa
paid regularly by artists and authors A
| all first nights he received at least 10
tickets. After play had been hrough
out, if it needed to be helped along, An
guste received 40 or so tickets, but If j
was Successful and the public did its owl
applauding he only got 10 tickets.
He was present at all dress rehearsals
and before each performance he used {
have long and serious conference wit
the manager. His idea was that at th
opera it was not right to warm up to
much during the first oct, but that hi
efforts should be reserved for the last &C
three rounds of applause In the last oct t
piece which would obtain only one if II
place had been in the first In the middl
of piece you should caress success on
not force 1t, and then he would say, Blu
whnt trouble we used TO have with thos
rascally people who bought their tickets.
He used to earn $4,000 to $4,000 yea
and retired when he had made his fortun'
Those who followed him made even large
sumR