New-York tribune., 1912-08-11
COUNTRY SHOWS
The Rush to the 0p'ry House
and What One Sees There.

for the oil lamp in the general store anu
tbe moderate glow I'm a window or tWo'
10 be seen through the trees and hedges
which lead to the doors of the principal
citizens. You can't get very detalleo
idea of the look of the place you have
chosen as the end of your days automo-
bile tour. but you know this Is IT, and
YOU are crawling along Main street with
your engine going as slowly as possible
peering at the signs in the hope of find
ing the hotel. The hotel is desirable Tor
two reasons-there are beds IN its rooms
and food in its larcers. Very likely you
have not noticed that the darkness IS
Full OF voices. nor that there is a mare OF
yellow light before a building down at
the end OF the street toward which peo-
ple are heading But when you ind tho
hotel and tell the keeper Of it-no use
going In for such words as proprietor or
.6nanager-that you want rooms and din
her. he will shake his head solemnly;
I ken bev' YER rooms here, but should
'hey' got yer dinner before yer struck this
Town, There's show down at the hall
1o.night, and they've all gone 10 IT.
nr,n,, ,bere any one around who can
..ron,bla us un an egg?' you inquire
Shungrly.
"ob, 1or'. no! 10 do it myself: but I'm
going to the show
& He leads you 70 some rooms rrom
vhich you escape as soon as possible.
;ts,Is Won where the barn Is, so that you
can put the car away, and then saunters
OFF TO the show.
: "Better comet he calls over MS
shoulder as he disappears.
That's how IL is in country town on
@ show night. You might as well CO. too'
On fact. the hotelkeeper is right; you
might better go-much better. No one
can tell when going TO a village show
that he will not have the red letter night
of his life, theatrically speaking.
{ There was a performance Of BEL
shazzar'' recently given in a Catsdll VII
lase. 1t was the Bible story dramatizea
and set TO music by the church organist'
and played by the most dramatically
yenturesorne of the towns inhabitants.
! 1t would not be right TO say that the
players were unself-conscious, Tor the!
teemed keenIy aware of their consplcu-
nusness. There were a number Of things,
however. that they did not realize about
themselves. and their costumes ana stage
uannuvres, and these things made them
fascinating.
The Three Wise Men. for instance. who
Here called in to read the magic writing
bn the wall. entered one behind the other
a. 1oclr stem They wore short white
Presses, white stockings and lily attacheo
beards as concessions to their parts, out
on the practical end Of them-their Feet
they bore their usual cowhide boots. ot
those white stochnged legs, which were
approximately three inches IN diameter
and unvarying in shape from \base 10
summit they seemed quite unconscious
as they stalked solemnly upon the stage
There were other instances Of certain
Kind Of unawareness among the players
The women who formed the chorus at
Belshazzar's bacchanalian feast, being
ell farmers wives and perhaps not wholly
familiar with the feelings and moods OF
bacchanale, stood about with sort or
Monday morning expression singing
doggedly and with an apparent sense OF
duty fulfilled. Their hair was unbound
and fell In thin streaks around their
prominent shoulder blades They wore
their best white dresses garnished with
whatever they had of laces and ribbons
The whole group gave an effect of petri-
fed Innocence such as possibly has never
been seen before.
N But they could sing. Think OF II, and
IN the Catskills, tool
. Naturally enough, as only the one per-
fornance was given, number of pnre-
hearsed and unexpected things happened
during the action Of 'Belshazzar." The
.ushers, for instapce-no one thought TO
5xehearse them-had unusual theories about
the proper time for delivering TO the
performers the flowers which enthusiastic
friends had brought. The evil spirit OF
the piece, who was TO bring destruction
-upon the characters with whom we were
all siding, was just crawling across the
stage on his stomach to do some foul
deed to our unsuspecting hero, when, In
the midst of tho suspense. the stage dark
ened and the violins shivering, two ushers
raced down the centre aisle with arms
fun Of bouquets for the evil spirit Seeing
what q mistake this was from a dramatic
point OF view, the creeping villain waved
a sign OF protest toward the masses OF
Horticulture extended toward him over the
footligits. But the ushers, thinking he
did not understand that these sweet sur
prises were for him, called softly to him
TO "stop foolin' and come on down for his
how'rs."
with a disgusted exclamation the viii
lain numbered 10 his feet, loped to the
footlights and grabbed the posies without
any show Of qualification at their beauty.
threw them into the wings and returned
70 his business OF surprising the hero.
who had watched the whole flower episode
stolidly.
Pleased with theier successful delivery
Of this first "wad of cabbages," as they
called them, the ushers made their next
sally during Cyrus's dream. This time 1t
was an armful of hollyhocks for the angel
an the vision. There was considerable de-
lay over this incident, because the angel,
for some reason, persisted in her refusals
10 come down TO the footlights for her
gifts. The ushers, however. not TO De
beaten back unsuccessful from their rather
awkwardly conspicuous position, insisted.
and then 1t became clear enough why the
angel had behaved SO ungraciously. Her
halo and wings were pinned partly TO her
and partly to the backdrop, and as she
iaboriously unpinned her spirituality and
finally stepped down 10 the footllghts one
could not help feeling that, after all. 1t
was good deal 10 ask her TO do for a
bunch OF hoilynocks. especially as the
vision was not nearly finished and she
had TO go and pin herself UP again After
xyhfoh rftinoua uracadura uot n ha