Year: 1872

the last managerial engagement Is signed; the
halls OF the Grand Central are deserted the rooms
Oi the dramatic agents are no longer the point Of
attraction for managers and actors; there's q
hurly-burly OF preparation and winging home OF
summer birds from Europe and the watering places
the ceaseless din Of hammers minges with the by
no means dulcet tones Of the stage manager, who
is conducting rehearsal, and faring posters on
every side announce the glad news that the season
is about to begin Let US take peep at the prepa-
tons going on In this grand opera house for the pro-
ducton OF gorgeous spectacle, In which there Is an
Ola pod1idd Of everything that the stage can boast
of-opera, ballet, pantomime, extravaganza spec
tacle, comedy, &c. There Is not much, II
any enjoyment in witnessing rehearsal
beyond the mere qualification Of the
curiosity Of the uniniriated An EXTREMITY disagree
able odor OF fresh paint greets US on entering by
the stage door, Crossing the stage what scene
OF confusion is before US 1t looks as II chaos had
come again, or like the ruins of old building
which the wind, with one blast from his lusty
lungs, had blown over Scenes, WINGS borders,
carpenters benches and tools lie around in ad-
mrabe disorder. The stage manager IS sitting
beside q small table near the footlghts expoundng
the arcana Of the text to half dozen members of
the company; group of ballet girls, looking very
unromantic and seedy In old calico gowns, are
being marshalled under one of the proscenium
boxes by the dark-visaged neattre de
ballet; the Oon,tns who are to figure in
the monkey scene indulge In somersaults
and other pranks the cher dorchestre is in the
green room wrestling with refractory chorus,
and ruby-faced ladies OF Hibernian descent are
scrubbing, dusting and washing in every direction.
II we dive into the depths beneath the stage we
find machinery Of the most ponderous and SEEM
ingly complicated kind, but 80 cunningly arranged
that one man can do the work that twenty would
be required to do by the old method. Here are
wheels and levers for sinking or elevatng the
heaviest scenes, traps in abundance, and perfect
labyrinth OF passages In which the uninitiated
would soon lose themselves. Emerging from this
labyrinth and mounting the broad lin other the.
atres you can hardly squeeze your way through
stairway leading to the ''nies' we encounter half
dozen painters frames, with small army OF
artists brushing away for dear life. Mounting still
higher we find ourselves in an extensive apartment,
which contains as much cordage and rigging as an
old line-0f-battle ship. Here the "nies" are re.
vealed in all their bewildering variety, and none
but practlsed eye can evolve anything like order
out Of such chaos. Another flight of stairs and we
are among the carpenters shops, and, leaning over
the magnificent dome, an indescribable coup d'Pu
Is unfolded Descending to the stage we find the
property rooms and the sanctum OF the cOstumer
crammed full of the most heterogeneous articles.
Heads Of insects, armors rich satin suits, royal
regalia, peasant dresses and monkey skins are IT.
tered around. We escape from this palace OF
wonders deeply impressed with the responsibility
skill and untiring energy OF the manager who
superintends such little world of extraordinary
interest.


There has been remarkable change OF late years
in the prospects OF the stage. The public are be-
coming gradually weaned from those idols that
hnxvn Imam t,A ne
and an insult to all intelligent and educated minds.
Mere sensation, unaccompaned by positive merit
will receive the cold shoulder this season, and o
higher standard Of talent is demanded. The people
are taking greater interest In the stage than they
have ever done BEFORE and the theatre Is now
subject Of intelligent criticism In quarters where
one would scarcely look for It. Even politics no
longer has prominence before amusements, and
the Presidential election ceases to be bugbear in
the treasurer's ofice. Managers are making un
usual preparations for the coming season.
confident in the interest taken by the pub
lie In affairs of the stage, and careless
as far as their theatres are concerned
who wins In the Presidential race. There was a
time when the stump overshadowed the stage-on
such an occasion when "Tippecanoe and Tyler too''
drew better than "D Quella Pira,' and when bar
becue left an opera, comedy or spectacle with
empty benches. Nous arons change tout celia, and
people go the theatre nowadays with the same
fidelity as to church or to the counting house or
workshop The country districts are also progress
ing in this respect as number of new theatres are
springing up in towns and villages where the sock
and buskin the fiddle and bow or the voice Of the
warbler were unknown before. Preachers may
declaim as they please against the stage tbet-
ter for them to try and reform some Of It's
abuses, but the people, one and ALL want 1t.
and close their ears against the rawlings Of fanatcaf
parsons AS long as the stage Is properly conducted
there can be no reasonable objection urged against


IT, On the contrary, 1t can be made the means ofdo-


ing more good and intoxicating sounder principles of
Christianity, charity and real religion than the
anathcmas OF the parsons who decaim against 1t.