The New York herald. [volume] (New York, N.Y.) 1920-1924, 1922-09-12
Restoring the Gallery.

Restoring the Gallery.
One of the interesting experiments
which the Equity Players will under
take in their theater is the restora-
ton Of the gallery to favor. They
will follow what is usually the most
effective method by appealing to the
pockets of the former occupants Of
gallery seats. Prices there will be
made lower than they have been in
a score OF years.
The neglect of the gallery has been
one Of the recent phenomena of the
business of amusements. Its former
occupants have lost their zest for
these aerial perches so completely
that number of the new theaters
have been built without them. In
more than one instance an attempt
has been made to WOO back the pub
| lie by means of luxurious appoint
ments and numbered places. There
were coupons in the gallery just as
there were in the orchestra. But the
possibility of occupying a seat near
the stage and on the ground floor,
and, above all, just as good as any
body else's, at the moving picture
theater for the same price had put
an end to all appetite for the pleas
ures of the gallery.
1t is interesting to note that the
recent changes in theater building
have tended to make the edifices as
democratic as possible. Not only did
the most aristocratic detail of con-
struction disappear with the boxes
but the gallery, which had always
been most completely dedicated to
1.-THE Masses" also ceased to be a
feature of the playhouse.
1t is not of course true that the
gallery is always neglected. In the
case of such enduring plays as Light
nin'," THE Bat" "Kiki" and similar
successes 1t is crowded all the time.
It's popularity is the true criterion
OF genuine popular success. Man
ayers used to say in the old days
that the gallery was velvet" other
parts of the theater paid running
expenses, 80 these uppermost seats
represented clear profit. What a
standard to apply in this day of de-
serted galleriesl 1t is not true, more
over, that special kind of play can
alone reconcile the public to the gal
leries. So great is the theatergoing
public to-day that there is but one
test for a drama that will decide
whether or not 1t will have the
strength to I'LL the upper parts of the
house Does the public want to
see it,"
Evidently the gallery has never
| lost its favor with the lovers of
music. The gallery seats in the Met
ropolitan Opera House are sold by
the year. Carnegie Hall fills its top
gallery when there is concert that
appeals to all the public. Indeed, it
is taken by impresarios to indicate
the demand for an opera when the
gallery seats are sold first. AS an
indication of the comparative popu-
larity Of French and Italian opera
it is always said that the Italian
repertory sells from the top and
the French from the bottom, which
means in the idiom of the entrepre-
neur that the Italian works have a
stronger appeal to the general public
than the French, which draw in the
first instance buyers Of the expen-
sive seats.
II the Equity Players find drama
that appeals powerfully to theater-
goers they will fill their galleries.
OF course that will prove nothing,
as the most liked plays all bring the
crowd to the cheapest seats. But IL
with low prices and no more than an
average success the gallery remains
filled 1t may establish the fact that
high prices have kept the public
away from this part OF the theater.