St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1904-07-02
STAGE DOOR GUARDIANS.
They Are Rigid and Relentless in
Their Attitude Toward I'm
warranted Intrusion.

Writing of "the man who guards tn,
Stage Door" in the Theater Magazine
Wells Hawks, one of the principals o
Charles Frohman's managerial staff, &C
c0rding to the-New York Times, says:
'"The man who tends the stage door a
q theater may be old and decrepit, bu
he has lodged in every active faculty o
his antiQuated being one fixed under
standing, and that is that no one shall
pass the door he guards. Often SO rigie
is the conscientious Cerebus, that he has
been known to conscientiously refuse
admission to the stage to- the man who
owned the theater, through the fact that
he knew him not by face, but only by his
name, printed on the top sheet Of the pay
roll. In the well-conducted theater oil
to-day it is the rule that only those
whose business brings then there shall
be admitted. Other rules may be broken,
but this one stands inviolate. The stage
manager is supreme here. Even the
manager of the theater bows to his rule
in regard to the conduct of that part OF
the theater back of the curtain.
1T has come to be the custom that the
stage doorkeeper is an old man. He is
generally an old man with q history He
is either respondent over some melan-
choly fact that il the tide had turned an
other way he might have been a success
full manager, or he is full OF remin-
iseences of the old Gays of which he loves
10 TIL Tn MI fhrrNOhnTJf the
season he guards his pest, knowing and
admitting through his Goor Only the
members of the company and those
other persons he is absolutely sure have
a right to enter there. He is generally
silent and has no argument. If you are
net entitled to admission, there are 10
wopls-he simply shuts the door in
ones face. Stage Goorkeepers are quick
to learn the faces of the members of
company playing at the theater where
they guard the entrance to the stage.
The star is treated with greatest courte-
sy-door held open and frequently hat
in hand 1t is traditional perquisite for
the stage Goorkeeper to receive ger.
erous gift from the exalted parsonage
on the last night of the engagement, and
there is no stage doorkeeper who<aes
net begin to pave the way for it frcm
the time of the first arrival Of the star to
the last night of the week, or the run, as
the case may be.
Few players ever omit this gift to the
man who guards the door. It is he who
receives the mail and hands it to them az
they enter. just as it is he who receives
the flowers and senGs them up to the
dres sing-room, when remembrance
from a friend is NEST cheerful at crit
lcal moment before first-right audi
ence. It is he, too, who keeps back that
onslaught of youthful admirers who
lingsr about the stage door for she who
seems so beautiful in the limelishtIs
glare, so radiant meath the touch ct
rouge and penciled cosmetic. A hun
bred cabs may line up before his deer,
and a great multitude of genus Johnny,
crush hat and evening suit, adorn the
pavement side, but he is as immovable
rs the hills, as impossible as the mine
;unken straits or torpedoed entrance to !
he harbor OF besieged and beleaguered |
:itadei.