The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1899-03-28
ALL WELL TREATED.
Mildred living Has a Chat With One
Of Mr.. Ksith's EMPLOYEES.
A Performer Who Says That People Do Not
Know a Good Thing When They See Il


seen really at their best from the Sec
ond balcony at Keith's. went up there
again Saturday for the sake OF seeing
that wonderful picture Of the trip from
New York to Brooklyn over the bridge;
and how startingly realistic it is! And
just think OF a Photographic Aim $50
feet long and containing <Jer 5i00 sep
arate and distinct pictures; and think
Of these passing before your eyes at the
rate Of 80 per second. the rate at which
they were taken! one really doesn't
half appreciate the marvellous nature
Of this invention until the program
puts such figures as these before the
eyes; and, somehow, YOU see In this
picture lots of things you never noticed
when you crossed the bridge. d"
While l was up there / stepped into
the ladies' parlor of the second balcony.
and had nice little chat with the
neatly attired and gracious matron. AS
i sat down at the elegant little art
furniture writing desk, with its dainty
note paper. silver fittings. stamps and
all other imaginable supplies. all free
10 the lady patrons of the second bal
cony. and admired the magnificent
bouquets OF roses. pinks and chrysan-
themums, i asked the matron how she
liked her work.
"Oh, splendidly," she said. "You
know In all Mr.. keiths houses. all the
employees are treated like ladies and
gentlemen. OF course, We have our
work to do, and ii must be done always
precisely right, and spot OF dirt or
speck of dust or anything out OF condi-
tion is serious offence: but as long as
one is faithful and does what is right.
tall a1c rlAafs I NO h.a
so contented TO work. I wouldn't care
to work in the upper balcony In any
other theatre, though, for you know
the kind Of people you would ind
there.
Here, you see, II is different Here
people just as good as you or me"-G
thanked her inwardly for the intended
compimenD ladies and gentlemen
and children. refined. intelligent, we'll
bred and we'll dressed-make up the
patronage OF the second balcony-peo-
pie who aren't too proud to save ten
cents or twenty-five cents when they
have such good chance TO do 1t.
And, do you know. in many respects
you can really enjoy the show better
up here than you can down stairs; and
there's nowhere else in the house
where the Biograph pictures show u
so well. About a fortnight ago. news
paper woman, Mildred Irving her name
is, was up here one day. / didn't see
her. that is, not TO know her; but she
was up here and she wrote long ar
ticle that was published I'm the News
telling how fine everything was up here
and how much better the Biograph Pic
lures lonked--Apd, ado yea know, since
that time we have actually been hav-
ing more and more ladies', and some OF
them really elegant lressed. up here
than ever before. r y you see, the
balcony is about all full Of ladies and
children, and such as appear as we'll as
you will find in the first balcony in any
other theatre you ever saw.
But that young woman does write
some awfully sharp things, though.
about the performances and the per-
formers. Last week she roasted about
every act in the bill. though | must
say she did ii very cutely and with no
evidence of meaning to be mean or un-
kind or unfair They say some of the
performers were hot | guess she
knows pretty we'll where she's at
though; and the performer who gets a
good notice from her may know that il
comes pretty near being deserved. They
say she always buys her ticket so she
isn't under any obligation to anybody
you see; and, say, I'd rather have Man
ager LoYenberg get after me than have
her touch me up with her pen. oh, it's
a sharp one / tell you"
/ thought the air was getting a trife
warm. At any rate, my cheeks felt hot:
so | found seat in the second row
| from the back.
Some comments heard led me to re-
| fleet that the patrons of the second
balcony are about as intelligent and
discriminating critics as can be found
down stairs-often more so, and also
suggested TO me one bad thing about
| modern high-class vaudeville. 1t has
actually educated the public tol expect
| too much. We pay a dollor or a dollar
| and a half TO see some first-class dra-
matte company, in which there arc
| perhaps one star, three sub-stars and
| sixteen people making up the rest OF the
| company. OF the star great things are
! expected and occasionally realized OF
| the sub-stars clever work and of the
| rest OF the company adequate sup
port" as the newspaper writers put IT,;
and we are satisfied that we got our
moneys worth. In a vaudeville enter
tainment. however, in which there are
! perhaps nearly twice as many persons
| employed. we expect each one To be a
star OF the first magnitude. we have
no use for mediocrity and only the very
| best In everything satisfies our desire
TO get our thirty y-five cents worth! The
| fact that we do get IL, that the real
frst-class actors and actresses we sec
in one OF these vaudeville entertain
| ments IL combined in one travelling
combination would run the salary list
! up so high that no manager could stand
| IL. does not alter the fact that We are
! decidedly less rea sonable and more eX-
acting as regards vaudeville than as
| regards the so-called Legitimate"
| And did you ever realize how peculiar
we people are as regards applause? Co
| TO Boston, or New York or Philadel-
! phia. and notice how something merit
| oriuos or laughable Is greeted with a
/ spontaneous burst OF applause that
| seems TO start from nowhere In par
| ticular and Is general at the very out
| set In all parts OF the house Then come
| home again. Many a good thing that
would be enthusiastically applauded in
those other cities is allow to pass with
| almost no recognition. By and by.
| somebody does or says something too
! good altogether 10 ignore. We all ap-
| preciate Il and all would like TO show