The Yale expositor., 1909-01-01

that such settled Paris engagements
carried valuable perquisites. When
Faure sold his paintings, for example,
they produced fortune. and all had
been given to him by admiring art
lists! Coquelin's house to-day is a
museum OF precious objects mostly
gratis-"Half their charm" says
Coquelin.
They say Melba mourns the coming
day wher her great voice must go. Her
life has been a fairy tale of gold and
honors. and her last engagement was
$4,000 for ten representations. Yet
few can hope to hold the splendid
voice as Patti held hers; 1t goes crack!
and suddenly the world-famed operate
star goes out, not pales down! Who
remembers Capoul? Recently he was
glad to get the position of stage man
ager at the Paris Grand Opera.
Actors Have Advantage.
Yet the golden voice of Sarah
Bernhard draws to-day as ever-she,
a long-experienced grandmother! Here
is where the actors have their splen-
did advantage. Life, for them, goes
on "all Christmas" quite indefinitely.
Sarah Bernhard is as lucky, happy,
feted and fete-giving at this hour as
when she first discovered America
with Grau. the impresario.
That first American trip OF Sarah's
lasted four months and put $4,000
into her pockets. Grau gave her
81 900 per evening and paid all her ex-
penses, to a special railroad car; but 1t
panied the great artistic to see a sim
pie impresario making money; and
thenceforth she organized her own for
eign tours. Once she took CoQuelin
with her to play "L'Aiglon" at 5000 per
representation. At the Gaite and
when he played "Cyrano" In Paris, his
pay was only $500 per night.
They say that her own pathetic voice
so affects Sarah that the tears come
naturally, when wanted In Camille"
she sheds 20--which is $50 per tear.
Coquelin counts speeches that bring
down the house; he calls them
words" In "Cyrano" there are 20
such-$30 per word"
And the tragedian, Mounet-Sully,
who had 5000 per night in America,
$3.50 in London and Vienna, and draws
$500 in Paris. where he is high stock
holder in the Theater Francois. counts
by roars. In "Oedipe Roi" he roars 20
times-$30 per roar!
Have Retained Power Long.
After Sarah, the two luckiest ac-
tresses in Paris are Jeanne Granier
and Rejane. Both grandmothers (born
respectively in 1852 and 1850, both
continue playing the grande amour
euse, love, passion, stars, flowers, little
birds, to the delight of everyone who
sees them. In her American tour
organized by the Vicomte de Braga,
Rejane had $500 per highland, acct
dentally the honor of initiating vast
reforms and a financial crisis! For ii
was the story of her dancing on table
after a dinner given by the vice-presi.
dent of an insurance company that
brought about the insurance investiga-
tons; but her grandchildren in Paris
never knew it.
To arrive at her present happy posi-
ton as proprietor of her own Paris
theater, Rejane first married her man.
ager, then divorced him. During the
struggle with Porel for possession of
her liberty and the Vaudeville, she
played rival engagement at the Vari-
cites that actually ate up all the re-
ceipts, but that was a detail; her chief
solace was to tell the public nightly
in lines altered for the purpose the
woes of lovely star whose husband
manager desired part profits!
Jeanne Granier, on the other hand,
declares that business details would
spoil all her pleasure. If anyone wants
to take her on tour her price is $500
per representation. In Paris she takes
$160 per night-with a minimum guar
antee of 100 representations. Above
all, however, she is a perfect example
of a queen Of opera bouffe, wise in her