Wheeling Sunday register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1882-1934, 1896-02-23
IN THE BOX OFFICE.

That was an awfully clever fall
YOU did in the second act this after
noon said the proprietor admiringly.
&c the comedian sat down and lit up.
Clever faH?" moaned the comedian.
'Why man, that was no stage act!
The chair broke with me. and I've got
blue bumps as big as an egg all over
my spine And the comedian handed
one of the small boy ushers ten cents
for arnica.
Speaking of accidents and falls"
broke in the advance agent, reminds
me of this curious fact-that one-half
the funny falls and stumbles that are
seen on the stage are not stage business
at an. The audience thinks that they
are awfully original and splendidly ex-
ecuted, but, as a matter of fact, they
are generally mishaps and the quick
witted, even if more or less damaged,
performer has to grin and pass them
OFF as funny business. For instance I
remember that when the - burlesque
company played here two years ago
they had a very pretty grouping, in
which the central figure was q young
woman made up as the statue OF 10
cry. Well, the night OF the opening
show Miss Libertys pedestal wasn't
TO be found and they put her on stack
of three soap boxes covered with
dtapery. The top box slipped and the
girl got q terrible fall and some bad
bruises. but the house thought it was
a part of the mOnkey-Shines."
IL can beat that said the house
manager. In November. 1898, we put
on q Worlds Fair burlesque and a
number of burros posed as Cairo don
keys in the Midway scene. The. came
the speciaities. and the first on the bill
was given by stout young lady who
has since developed into quite prima
donna. Tt was a pretty bit too. She
was discovered in a dungeon when the
curtain rOse-sittins chained on a pal
let OF straw and singing lines to the
effect that il was time for the hero to
come i'm ard rescue her. Well. just as
she let go a note demanding the in
slant presence of the hero there was
rafting sound in the wings. Up scared
the girls voice: Where is my love?
Where is my love? Oh. come and set
me free" And then before the hero
could get on the stage one of those in
fernal jackasses. which had broken his
halter, came braying in, walked over
10 the girl and began to chew her pallet
of straw. IL made corking hit, but
the young lady couldn't see it and re-
signed ten minutes later.
THAT matinee. by the way. will al
ways be considered the most terrible
day i'm the history Of that theatre
The next speciality after the girl and
/ iackass episode was given by a bur-
/ lesQue roller skater. He didn't calcu-
late on a slight slope in the stage and
skated into the fOOtlghts, breaking
eleven incandescent bulbs. Then there
was a buck dance, and the supes forgot
TO dust off the stage after it was over.
A ballet-all pretty girls, tOO-came on
and the leader slipped on the sand !;
her feet flew UP and she sat down so
hard that the drum doomed in the or
chestra. And there sat that crowd
through it all. tickled to death and
thinking everything that happened was
all according to Hoyle.'
81 remember a show said the house
manager. where there was a king.
percbed on a lofty throne The throne
broke at the opening performance and
Mr.. King went into the orchestra. The
crowd thought it was the funniest
thing that ever happened and encored
| it. Mr. King didn't do a thing hut
! climb back and rearrange that throne.
/ and when the queen came down from
the dressing room and got aboard She
was flung seventeen feet and spoiled
her drapery.'
Speaking Of accidents and funny
business" interiected the propcrtv
man. who had just entered in a hur-
ried way. "I want 10 say that the
comedians fox terrier has just eljeD
uD the stuffed dog we use i'm The fourth
act and I want to know what We viii
/ DO this EVENING"
And the meeting adjourned to pur-
chase another stuffed dog-Chocago
/ News.