Sentence:  Miss Phyllis Morgan, as the hapless heroine dressed in the shabbiest of clothes, appears in the midst of a gay and giddy <WSD>throng</WSD>; she apostrophises all and sundry there, including the villain, and has a magnificent scene which always brings down the house, and nightly adds to her histrionic laurels. 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  A group of people crowded or gathered closely together.