The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1907-08-01
Customs that Seem Odd TO
the Foreigner.
ABSENCEOFGALLERIES
Winter Is the Open Coughing Season
And Actors Have to Scream Above
the Voices Of the Storm---Thc
Vaudeville Houscs--"La liachi-
Ia" in Madrid.


q. cs as soon as the winter months
come on, even If tho weather is not
a. all cold, has a bad effect on the
none too strong lungs of the Spanish
people. The result is that they all
cough great deal. The theatres are
not heated, and once inside the audi
ence begins coughing chorus, says
the New York Times.
The theatre buildings, as a rule.
are barnlike, bleak places, the sole
exceptions being the homes of ltal-
Ian opera. such as the Teatro Real in
Madrid Shows begin late and Wind
UP late, too. For instance, in the
Teatro de San Fernando in Seville.
the best of the show houses of the
place, the show begins little after
9 O'Clock.
They gave a piece one night they
called Marie Antoinette." 1t started
oat at the customary hour At IL
O'Clock the fourth act Of six had been
finished, and the two to come We're
longer than any of the others.
Tickets are sold on the sidewalk
from window in the front wall, the
prospective audience gathering out
there. No line is formed. 1t is case
of first to the window first served.
Spectators are there. too, but just
why Is not clear. They sell tickets
Just as cheap as the theatre, but like
their American bretheren they man
. ~. Ia hn
Seville Is not so large a place that
It gets the best shows, but the COM
pany that did Marie Antoinette" was
very fair stock company from Mad
rid. The worst feature was young
women who took the part OF the
Dauphin She was so ungraceful In
knee skirts and had so homely
face that the audience laughed even
In the saddest parts when she swung
around suddenly on them.
N passing It may be mentioned
a butaca or orchestra circle seat
seville costs something like two
etas seventy-five centimos, OF fifty
It's, more or less, American. That
ludes the tax, which has to be
d everywhere. The Government
gets ten centimos.
The vaudeville houses in Madrid are
many and the shows are very good
and very cheap. A hard worked
comic opera company gives playlets
of one act, filled with dancing and
singing specialties.
There are matinees starting some
times at four o'clock in the after
moon; sometimes at o'clock. They
last an hour.
The same company starts In at
OILS In the evening customarily and
gives three one hour pieces. That Is,
they are designed to last that long,
but with encores they ordinarily go
fifteen minutes longer. That brings
II we'll up to 1880 In the morning
when the theatre gets out.
Tickets for good seats are very
cheap. A butaca in the Teatro de
Price. one Of the best in Madrid.
costs I pesata for single section,
less than 20 cents. The first show
attracts very few, the house being
almost empty. There is therefore
very little coughing done.
Some persons buy tickets for the
three sections at once. Between the
acts the ushers take tickets for the
next show.
For the first two sections, the play
let and the inevitable cinematograph
are the attractions. The star feature
is kept for the final section, because
Madrid is a late to bed town and the
final instalment is always played to
q crowded house.
The calm rudeness Of staring one
another out of countenance differs
from the American variety In that
the men crowd into the aisles and
get short range views by opera glass
OF those near by.
The custom Of standing up between
acts is general in Spain. The
theatregoers stay with their backs to
the stage until the curtain is fairly
up. Then there is crowding. dis
comfort and confusion
The Spanish theatre ticket i q
queer slip OF flimsy paper. One end
has a check for entering the theatre,
the other end one that is to be taken
or when one gets to his seat, The
rest is the property of the holder
The original ticket Is sometimes
eight inches long. Even In the Royal,
Theatre the tickets are like that.
The inevitable vender OF lottery
tickets parades the aisles between
the acts crying his wares. News
papers are hawked in the theatres
too, as well as magazines and can
dies.
The theatres mostly have no gall
leries. There are many seats on the
floor. Then there is horseshoe
ring a few feet above these, on the
outside OF them. whore seats are more
expensive. costing about 7b cents
each. Away in back. and In the rear
or the dearer seats, too, are the pea
ia MT all a.a m tbn