The New York herald. [volume] (New York, N.Y.) 1920-1924, 1920-11-28


uees?
The rule governing the seat the
)arterre hostess should occupy at all
performances of opera in the Metro
)olitan does not apply to the host. He
-ctires by polite instinct to the bro
AIDED gloom of the box, but the host
,ss. by inherited instinct, always sits
away from the stage, which means
that, from a view obtained from an
orchestra seat, she invariably appears
at the left Of the guests in the right
land boxes and at the right OF them
on the left hand side. The invisible
inc of demarcation between left and
light is between boxes Nos. 80
and 81.
If this rule Of procedure were based
upon some ancient system Il logically
would be inferred that the dividing line
ehould be between boxes 81 and 30.
which marks the exact centre of the
larterre semi-circle. At the premiere,
Tor instance, Mrs. James Il. Haggin sat
ut the right of her guests in box 80
and Mrs. Luther kountze at the left or
ners in box 80. The bylaw was SINH
larly carried out by Mrs. Pierpont Nor
gan In box 35 and Mrs. Harry Payne
Whitney in box so.
Custom Goes Far Back.
When a man who has been a consist
cnt patron of grand opera in New York
Tor fifty years was asked II he had
made mental note of this parterre by
law he replied:
mot until you spoke Of IL. Yet Il has
been a custom as long as / can remem-
Der. 1t was so In the operate days OF
the Academy of Music. Let me see.
Can the rule have had its foundation in
the understanding that a hostess should
never turn her back upon her guests?
n she sat in the chair nearest the stage
she would be doing just that"
But even he was not sure.
Plenty of women who help make
vogues in this city have expressed their
regret that they are for some mysteri-
Gus reason eliminated from the anil
mated crush during intermissions in the
Metropolitan at night performances be-
cause they sit IN the partcrre boxes. but,
as victims of an unwritten law. they do
not feel at liberty TO Join the throng.
The few daring exceptions in the course
of season in the Metropolitan only
sorve TO make such parterre impTison-
ment the more marked
To persons whose experiences have
included a night at the opera in Paris
or in Covent Garden in London the
rule that prevents the superbly dressed
parterre prisoners from Joining the
nightly promenade in the Metropolitan
breeds anazement. Its violation would
make for gayety, but the feminine par
ierreites sit rigidly in their crimson
loges through three modish hours,
while the other thousands mix for
noisy and merry fifteen or twenty
minutes In the grand tier foyer facing
broadway or in the pillared salon at the
Thirty-ninth street corner. There the
ultra modern woman even lights an
irtermission cigarette.
Rule on Mt Matinees.
But the rule is OFF at matinees.
Saturday afternoon intermssions in
the parterre corridor furnish the most
animated scenes Of any day in any
week during any winter season in New
York society
The person who finds interest in the
social side OF any public performance
sends his or her memory back willingly
to the best days OF Days Theatre
urder the iatc Augustin DAILY. That
theatre was one Of the very few that
bcasted large foyer and It was
crowded with persons worth talking 20,
of ~ least looking az, during intcrmis-