The New York herald. [volume] (New York, N.Y.) 1920-1924, 1920-12-22
Caste in Opera Boxes.
Praise for Mrs. WhartOn's Picture Of
New York Society as 1t Was.

To THE NEW YORK HERALD: Mrs.
wharton's descriptions of old New York
in her recent book 1.-THE Age of limo
cence," are enurely correct
As remember the arrangement of the
old Academy of Music. there were eigh-
teen stage boxes: nine on each side,
three in a row, three rows. The par
terre. that is, the first balcony. was di-
yided into two rows Of open boxes. one
row slightly above the other: and one
row of closed boxes with dressing rooms
in the rear which opened on passage
way which led to the main entrance, and
two open boxes located on each side OF
the house and extending between the
first of the middle row of stage boxes to
a passageway between these boxes and
the row of closed boxes. These last
mentioned boxes contained no seats and
were generally spoken of as the Shake
spearian galleries.
The stage boxes, middle row, were oc-
cupied by people holding considerable
position in society and of large wealth.
the two rows of open boxes by people
having the same position in society but
of lesser wealth. the closed boxes by
new people making their way in society.
but who had not been admitted to the
holy of holes. These boxes correspond
to the boxes in the grand tier of the
present opera house. and their occupants
are generally referred to. in the language
of Mr.. Kipling. as "the legion of the lost
ones, the cohort Of the damned"
The young men unprovded with seats
viewed the performance from the Shake
spearian galleries. and in the interval
between the acts circulated among the
stage boxes, the open boxes and semi
occasionally found their way into the
closed boxes.
The closed boxes were small. Women
hated them. No woman ever looked well
In them, as they were badly situated,
badly lighted and so proportional as TO
make almost any woman look larger
than she really was.
NV family had seats in the orchestra
and I was taken TO the opera every
Saturday. My first recollection is OF
hearing Blgnon in ''Trovatore," and l
have heard every singer from that time
to the present.
/ remember Ada Dyas very WELL l
saw her both on and off the stage. She
had dark hair and was a brunette.
notice that some people in the letters
which you have published say she had
light hair. Possibly she wore wig at
| the time.
I remember Lester Wallack very well.
first saw him on the stage in Rose
dale" which was at that time playing
at Niblos Garden, near the corner OF
Prince street and Broadway. Talking
with him some years later, he said that
In his opinion "Rosedale" was the best
put on performance that New York had
ever seen.
saw Boucicault az Con in "The
Shaughraun" at wallack's Theatre nj
Broadway and Thirteenth street. IL GER
tainly was very we'll put on. but IL die
not equal "Rosedale."
Mrs. Wharton knows her New York
and there is no reason why she should
not. She has always lived and associ'
ated with the people about whom she
writes in her book. Scry many OF Tn,
characters of the bcssT can he identified
In certain characters of the book she
has consolidated two individualitics. bu
TO those who knew the people these in
dtvidualities can be easily separated
Many books have been written regarding
New York society, but no one That car
recall Is so near the truth and the con
dItions which existed in the period de
scribed in THE Age Of Innocence"
GEORGE III. BENJAMIN.
New YORK, December 81.