The evening tribune. (Pawtucket, R.I.) 189?-190?, 1897-03-09
FINES ON THE STAGE.
OFFENSES FOR WHICH THE CHORUS
SUFFERS IN POCKET.

Now, what i'm the world can you make
sut II that words" the manager asked.
The reporter looked over his shoulder
and WINS puzzled too. The reporter had
just dropped into the office TO say ''How
dye dor' and to hear II any new orbits had
been calculated for the planets and satel-
iites M tho stage. The paper which the
msnager held was "a report from the stage
pAanagur. IL said: "Miss - and Miss
- hnod for making (then came the
word that was hard To read) gestures, 30
cents each. Miss and Miss - for
laughing ut them alouS. 25 cents each ="
INC question--merely ls6 .he satisfaction
of curiosity, not that il was of any other
inportance-was what sort of gestures
shdy were which, in the opinion of the
stage manager, ought To cost 80 cents each.
Afs9 n good deal of study the word was
made out 20 be "cxageratory.
'HDo you have to fine the members Of
tho chorus often for making 'exageratory'
gestures or for other faultsY" the reporter
asked
NO" said the manager, mot very Of
ten With our company, which Is employed
slrough the season and Is thoroughly dis
ciplined, there is less need Of it than there
~ IN some Others that are got together for
shorter periods and are not 80 well trained
and managed. But 1t has to be done some
siInes There is no other way to insure dis
eipline. To keep them In order all the
time you have got 10 touch them where
they feel ID most, in their pockets"
what aro the usual offenses for which
you impose incsi"
Just such us these that you see before
you--acting wrong on the stage or laugh
ing or talking or dressing wrong, or faults
in making up or tardiness Half dollar
In tho usual amount, or quarter for little
thinge"
Newer morcf"
"Oh, for something more important,
like impertincnce to the stage manager,
there might he n fine of u dollar now and
tbcn, but halves and quarters are the reg
Aair thing. a man or n woman in the
chorus, or a girl i'm the ballet who is get
ting $l6 n week, really misses 80 cents and
viii generally try hard not Co lose it. +"
"Do you have To keep up the system all
through the scasonf"
"Oh, yes, from the beginning Of rehoars
AIS to the very end There is little more
latitude at rshearsals, Of course than there
is when the piece s actually on the stage
and before the public. 1t doesn't make so
much difference then II chorus girl whis-
pcIS TO the one next to her AT the wrong
time, and promptness is not SO necessary,
though most srage managers are pretty
particular on that point,
"How much latitude do you allow in
the matter Of tardincss before you impose
fintSY' s.
''None. now. We used to, and some com
panics do still, but we think the better way
is 10 require absolute proinptness. You
have heard the expression among actors,
Ten minutes for difference of watches
That used To bc the rule always all over
the world, / suppose. That is, you know,
IL n rehearsal was called for 10 O'Clock,
nobody would bc fined for lateness II he
got there before 1910. A few years ago i'm
England they began the system Of calling
n rehearsal say at 10 o'clock for 10 80.
That meant TINT the appointed hour for
was 10 and for beginning the
rehearsal 1880, and that IA fine would be
imposed on anybody who was not there ut
10 30. We did that for awhile and think
II is good way, but now we simply give
the exact hour and expect everybody To be
sn hand. IL they would be safe, or if they
suspect that their clocks and watches arc
wrong, they can make allowance for Ii
themselves and come ten minutes earlier
just as well as to come ten minutes late
and expect us TO make the allowance. F"
Actors who wcre indignant at the i'm
position of fines have been known to in
sinuatc that the stage manager did IL TO
save the money but there is little reason
To suppose that this is done with any fre-
quency Fines are small penalties for peo.
pic with small salaries. There have been
jokes about the managers getting his total
receipts from the fines of the actors, hut
they were only jokes. The fines Of n big
opera company would scarcely amount TO
$50 In the course of "A season, and IL would
not be worth n managers while To try to
save money In that way.
Some managers give all their fines to a
charity at the end of the season. Dave
Henderson OF the Chicago Opera House
does that and he has a good, big, unruly
Chicago burlosquc company on his hands,
and the fines amount 10 more than they do
with some companies. Some managers
save up the fines and return them to the
actors who have paid them at the end of
the season. In this case, Of course, the
only punishment Is tho Inconvenience of
going without tho money for time. But
the chorus girls do not know, when they
do wrong. that they are going to get their
fines back. 1, depends on the pleasure OF
rhe manager, and he does not spoil the
effect of his penalties by telling that he IL
merely acting as "a compulsory banker.
Ii happcned once in recorded history that
ccrtaip.stacc manager reported to his
manager that Hiss So-and- so was fined %
cents for whispering. IL happened that
there were four Miss So-and- SOS, sisters, i'm
the chorus, and the manager did not know
which one of chem was meant Then the
brilliant plan occurred 10 him of filming
each one OF them 25 cents, and hc accord
ingly did so, subtracting that amount
from the envelope of each one when pay.
day came. And all four girls submitted
without complaint. This story--it is no
fable-tcachcs chat violent protests against
fines are not the rule, and thnt there arc
some persons on the stage who know that
they ought to bc fined whether they ARE
or not.-New York Tribune.
slow Literary Production.
81 suppose you'll hardly believe IL, )" said
the colonel, who Is writing the libctto of
70 comic opera, but l began work right