New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1899-02-12
>7,,,u vOp1, TR1RJrNE ILLUSTRATED SUPPLEMENT-

aisles In the auditorium, which are unknown m
| France, and which add much TO the bright
and graceful appearance OF the American tho
aires I shall adopt this arrangement and have
the auditorium nicely carDeted IS the casa
with the theatres in New York and London
The claquc.' paid applauders, is anoth1
stupid abuse which / have completely done
away with at my theatre, and it is incompre-
hcnsiblo to me why this antl1uated institution
Is still kept up in France The 'caquc with
It's aggressive applause, can never make sue
cess out OF a poor play or out Of bad acting,
and It only ofends an intelligent audience"
When asked about the system OF selling tick
cts at the Paris theatres Nine. Sarah Bernhard
/ replied Il have tried In vain to find some way
Of suppressing the ticket-mongers, but this Is
impossible in France, unless the matter be taken
up by Parliament The chief obstacle is the So
clety of the Dramatic Authors and Composers
which Is a monopoly and rules all theatrical
managers with rod OF iron. It makes contracts
with each manager, specifying the amount the
| society shall take. which Is usually ID per cent
OF the gross receipts. II the manager refuses u
sign the contract plays by members OF the
society can be performed at his theatre. This
would close his doors, because every dramatist
| in France is a member of the society. All this
! bears directly on the sale Of tickets. The con.
| tracts between the different managers require
| that the author whose work is produced shap
be entitled TO 100 francs worth Of tickets in ad.
diton 70 two dozen seats placed at his disposal
for the first and second performances. Besides
this, every author who has one act produced at
theatre Is entitled to one free seat at the thea
| tire for every performance during one year. no
matter whether It be his own play that Is given
or the play Of some one else. The author who
has four or five acts played at a theatre is en-
| titled each night to free seat for five years
Six acts enttle the author to a free entrance for
| life The dramatist who has twelve acts pro-
duced at any theatre has a right to two free en-
| frances each night for his lifetime, with reyer-
sion after death to such third person. also for
! life, who may be named by will
you can imagine" continued Nine. Perm
hardt how terribly hampered theatrical man.
ager is in Paris, especially when 1t Is remeH-
bered that the Assistance Publique' takes each
night for the Paris poor e-eeventh OF The
total gross receipts But the worst OF It is that
the authors usually transfer the tickets secured
to them by the Society OF Dramatic Authors and
Composers to the ticket-mongers or other agents
who sell them at the highest price obtainable.
This l consider a real grievance, and explains
the impossibility of doing away with the ticket
] ~~'N-'-'N-Nf~
thors is to blame for this"
As NJ Victorlen Sardou was listening atten-
lively to this conversation. and he is the pres
ident of the Society Of Dramatic Authors and
COMPOSERS the writer asked him to express his
opinion on the subject The prince Of French
nlavwrights replied THE tickets and free en-
frances accorded to French dramatic au'h ors
with hereditary reyersion constitute vested inr
terests that have accumulated for generations
and TO do away with them would be an lrnpoe-
sible task Years ago. when l was Just o'o
enough TO go to the theatres, it was not 80 bad
as II is now. In those days there was famous
theatrical hairdresser, to whom all he IRA
matte authors handed over their tickets 10 ~
DISPOSED or and from whom they often DOT
rowed money. He got the whole business into
his hands, and founded the present community
Of ticket-rnongers. l quite agree with Nine
Sarah Bornhardt that it would be impossible 70
make any change at present.
The explanations given by Nine. Sarah Bern
hardt and NJ Sardou will enable an American 10
understand why II is that when he presents hls
ticket at the entrance of Paris theatre II u
not glanced at hastily by a single gateuan' as
IN New York but Is critically examined by three
grave officials One of these is the tcket-taker
Of the theatre: another IS the Government en-
yoy, who veriiies the gross receipts, so that tno
! Assistance Pubque may get It's one-eleVen'n'
and the third is the agent of the Society OF the
Dramatic Authors and Composers. ConvenienI
features OF all the Paris theatrical ticket otce-
are small plaster and wood models OF the audi
| torium with each seat distinctly numbered, 80
that the purchaser can see at q glance the poss-
| ton OF his seat.
The ushers and cloakroom attendants at Parh
| ~ uyerIa tho OF -cpfi
ticket Office are invariably women. The coas-
L Anl,n chn onksn &c