The Norfolk Virginian. [volume] (Norfolk, Va.) 186?-189?, 1896-07-29
VERY LOW RESORTS
Within tho Walls and Behind the Scenes
at tho BIlau and franklin.
ADJUSTMENTS NOT TO BE- TOLERATED
sems or sns scenes q. tho Resorts
Alluded to-fmproper Conduct or
Hen nnd women-"OraiiEe Bios.
soms''-A silent Pantomine whefo
the Audience Docs All tho TaskinE;

the Audience Docs All tho TaikinE,
There are worse places In the world
than Abb Smiths Bijou Theatre" on
Union street. There are dives In New
York, Chicago. San Francisco, Norfolk
and lots of other old places that equal
the Bijou. and go 1t many times better.
or worse.
Smiths does not differ from the usual
variety with bar attached. found in the
larger cities, any more than the pro-
prietors ancient appella'tion differs
from the tens OF thousands other Smiths
byways of everyday and Sunday exis-
tence 1t may be his liquors are a little
better or a little worse than those
served at similar resorts. Fills performa-
tic standpoint. There Is room for i'm
provement-an aching void which
Smith will never fill. Why should he?
The patrons of the Bijou do not go there
for artistic effects. The majority of
them wouldn't know one If they saw
doesn't presuppose any intense admira-
ton for high comedy or heavy tragedy,
and the fact that dozen girls" more
or less physically gifted, though vocaly
deficient, tread the boards behind the
smoky gas footlights. does not argue
that they know anything about acting.
That is minor accomplishment. The
capacity for drink is, 1 imagine, a much
more important factor in the engage
ment contract. Certain It is that If their
histiionic abilities equalled their all
consuming thirst for whiskey punches
and other like connections, they would
be stellar Dhenomenons. instead of
tenth rate actresses.
Like all of the rest of his brothers in
the business, Smith advertises an up-to-
date show. This is not altogether cor
rect The performance, such as it is,
would, In Its accommodating elasticity,
fit any age. Some of the jokes and the
majority of the songs are prehistoric.
They were built before the pyramids.
There are others that are far ahead of
the times, some of them unique to
point of daring; perhaps, not so much in
the words, as in the suggestion. intona-
ton, accompanying gesture, and look.
AS a rule the alleged jokes are coarse
nearly always so. A pun is about the
highest limit reached. Below that any
| thing goes-almost. The songs are very
much more respectable-in some ca ses
due to old age. For most part they are
entirely innocuous. Now and then, how
ever, there are others. They are not the
sort that are sung in the drawing-rooms
| or even from the stages of larger thea
| tres, where real shows are occasionally
given; nor are they cried aloud from the
hilltops.
chorean business, and in this regard It
can not be said that the dances at
| Smiths are worse than those perpetrate ed
| upon the most respectable stages in the
large cities and the small ones. too. It's
| entirely question of how high thea
| tre-going society wiz allow front row
| favorites to elevate their toes Smiths
| girls" don't kick any higher than any
| the rest of them. You will see the same
| figures displayed on most any stage
\ atNi, Il
mersault, famous back kick" and a
| thousand and one others of the some
| genus, which the writer, never having
been in the business himself, doesn't
pretend to begin to know the names of.
Some people say they are naughty.
| Others don't
The price of admission varies from 10
cents to % cents. You get out as cheap
ly as you know how. quarter buys
you a ticket to what is termed on the
cardboard the Dress Circle" Upstairs
| the girls dignity it by the name OF
| wine-room, which, in ;he eternal fitness
of things. is decidedly the more appro-
pirate. 1t extends in gallery-wise the
| entire length of the auditorium. and is
fitted with several curtained windows
| overlooking the stage, the pit. and the
bar in the rear end of the theatre"
| though actually in the front part of the
| building.
Entering the wine-room about 10
o'clock at night the visitor will doubt
less discover an interesting picture.
| There are minor changes every night,
| but on the main it is practically the
| same. Now and then you will find n
group of young men seated just little
| behind the curtain. The chances are
| even that you will see the same num-
| Der of girls" In various attitudes and
abbreviated costumes, seated near.
| sometimes very near, them.
| They are not really bad young men.
| and they make believe they are having
| Il good time-a night out with the girls:
it's quite the thing. you know. This SOW
| ing OF wild oats in the city. Years later
they can tell their children. not to BE
| so reckless, so unrestrainedly wild, as
| their fathers We're, and enjoy the effect
| upon infant comprehensions. or better
| still. they can tell their less sophisticat-
| cd friends how nice and sensational :;
| Is to be wicked. Meantime. their siste. 5
| and sweeihear.s wouldn't know them
or wouldn't acknowledge it. If they did.
In the wine-room the girls" permit
| almost any kind of liberty, or rather
| most of them do. If John cares 10 pay
for the drinks, Pearl hasn't the slight
est objection to his keeping MS arm
around her waist. or admiring the quail
| ity of her hosiery. She probably asks
| for another brandy and soda. She ex-
| cuses herself to do her turn" but If
| John has any more money he may be
| reasonably sure she will come back
| and can bet his reputation as n student