The San Francisco call., 1908-09-27
By Walter Anthony

- WO terTorx OF the actor are pass
Ing away The death watch IS
doomed and the ticket speculator
IS also likely TO get his ouietns
soon OF these two evils that most feared
and dreaded by the player IS the death
watch" What IS the death watch"
1heAtr3ca1ly spezk1ng2 We have them
n San Francisco sometimes, and no
doubt yoG have sat II the lugUbTious
sCoupzly and never knew st The
: y az Ness thezteT has dispensed with II,
and now comes word from New York
that the metropolitan managers have
concluded 70 abolish IL there as well
The death watch" then. is the fanci-
1ul and suggestive title applied to the
gathering % the play hardened first
oighte-s VINO are always IN their seat
usually the seat OF the scornful-at
every hrSr performance Individually,
he has seen 'em all, and an angel sing
ing out OF heaven would inspire no
comment more complimentary than that
his halo didn't 1T Salvini would
be sure 70 be less worthy than he was
IS years ago, and Bernh2rdt would be
found TO be old and cold
The 6rst nighter, who sits down 20
obseou Ties prematErely arranged. casts
q chin over the entire house They
used 10 call the old Baldwin theater
the ice box on first nights, for there
were always al least 400 seats reserved
week IN and week out for every pro
cuct1on that came along, and the per
sons that filed the seats were inclined
10 act as though they were public
monitors o1 good taste; assumed a ju-
dicisl expression. and. Il IL was a com
a. defed the funny man 70 make them
THAT'S just why we discontinued the
--sbit Of ressrving seats for every first
performance. and that is why we de-
stroyed the list OF names Of those who
received their seat coupons every
week" said Jake GottlOb at the Van
Ness theater-
The death watch" crowd comes from
Missouri Each member must be shown
They steal the critics immobiiity OF
coUntensnce- but are without his sense
or responsibility and are Indifferent 10
the fact that success or failure means
much 10 many persons-the actor, the
playwright, the producer Such habit
OF mind as comes Of long theatrical
visiting IS inevitable to the professional
play goer He can not bring to his at
tendance the keenneSs of anticipation
which the pleasure seeker carries
through the foyer IT has become a
duty, this going TO the theater. and he
goes whether he wants TO or not
I can pick 'en out" Willie Collier
said 20 me when he was here, referring
20 these death watchers. And they
give me q chill Especially IN New
{ York James X Hackett recently de-
livered himself OF the following in New
York;
The theater Is essentially a place Of
entertainment, and the presence Of a
, Few melancholy Danes should not be
: permitted to turn IL into a morgue- II
is true that the professional critic is
frequently in quite serious mein at the
4 thester, but that / believe, is because
he appreciates how important is his
: task in rendering honest judg gment to
: the people whom he is supposed TO
serve
In imitation OF the supposedly cold
attitude Of the critic there has grown
r up class Of persons who believe that
they acquire a reputation for intel
lectuality by refusing to become en-
fhusiastfc over anything.
The theater belongs 10 those who
loFc Il; not to those who go TO mock
! sueer or deride- II the first nighters
- Who see only in serious effort a jest
ana who believe that cold water is a
return for honest effort can be rele-
gated to their proper and inconspicu-
Gus place a big thing for the theater
viii have been accomplished ] am
sure that, aside from managers, authors
and actors, who will welcome the
change. there viii be a large public
who viii rejoice that they can sit
through a first night performance with
out continuously hearing the dispar-
aging observations of some blase, would
be cynical critic"
For the habitual first night the
ater goers there can be no price
put on tickets which would prove
prohibitive- 1t becomes a fashion
able function IN the higher priced
piavhouses and that is another rea-
son why the lists are being with
drawn and the ticket racks exposed for
business with every compartment car
rying a coupon Persons go on first
nights 10 be seen as well as to see
and the merits OF the production are
inconseQuential details in comparison
with the more important considera-
tiOns OF clothes and the blue book
They come in late; calmly survey the
house before sitting down, as though
the place belonged TO them; remove
tbefr wraps noisily and with much
ostentation, and then. having finally
subsided IN their chairs, proceed to dis
cuss the pertinent subject of the
weather or the latest scandal
So there Is no list of names any
more at the Van Ness theater. II you
want a seat you have 20 buy Il for each
performance You may not send your
name and a check at the beginning OF
the season with instructions that you
want q box for every first performance
0r two seats in the fifth row. The ex-
per1ence OF the Baldwin theater man
ageuent Is still fresh in the minds of
old thester goers. The playhouse was
n sort OF q family affair. so TO say, on
s6rst nights. Always there were the
same faces glowering from the same
seats always there was frost ON the