Life — December 10, 1896 — page 14: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

> LIFE: THE METROPOLITAN STAGE. HE drama is nowhere in the wide world presented as it is in New York, and the young and ardent \\ politan stage. stranger, with a love of art burn- ing in his bosom, can here slake his thirst at that fountain of re- finement and purity, the Metro- For the paltry sum of $2 he can secure a good seat in the orchestra, where, gazing above the flora and fauna of the hat in front of him, he can read upon the curtain be- tween the acts the thrilling announcements of some of our leading tradesmen ; or, when the play is on, he can at times hear snatches of the conversation carried on in low monotones by the principal actors, or even catch brief glimpses of the stage at unexpected intervals. There are, of course, various degrees of Thespian art as exemplified by the Gotham stage, from the unexampled purity and supersensitive refinement of Hammer- right down to the sating periods of Daly’s, where lay figures are pro- vided at great expense to cater to the requirements of readers of the New York Tribune, who throng the lobby during the brief periods of recreation be- tween the acts, and. gaze with rapt admiration upon pictures of Ada Rehan in her youth. Between these two extremities of art we have all the various degrees of excellence. One can pass a pleasant evening at the Harlem Opera House, where the guests of the evening, flecking flies from their imaginary dress suits, sit and spell out with their fingers upon the pro- gramme the names of the actors with an case that comes only from long prac- tice. One can join ‘the pleasant little family gath- ering atthe Lyceum, where only plays with pedigrees areallowed, and where pure rain water from the roof is FROM ROMEO AND JULIETTE. THE COSTUME OF JU TO SATISFY A LADY MACBETH. AS WE SEE HER IN THE METROPOLIS, furnished at regular intervals to all ladies be- tween the ages of fifteen and thirty-five. “One can go to the Empire, where realism is carried to such a point that real fruit is exhibit- ed on the tables at meal times, clothes are worn by the participants, and at the end of the performance Mr. Drew is only too glad to fur- nish the address of his tailor. Provided with an overland lunch basket and a change of clothing, one can fritter away his life at the continuous performances placed at convenient intervals throughout the city, or spend profitable evenings at the Metropolitan Opera House waiting through the long anxious interval between midnight and dawn for the curtain to rise, and gazing at the pristine out- lines of the few members of the four hundred left over from the last financial frost. With these places of amusement, and many more always open every night during the week, there is no excuse for the visitor to be idle in the great metropolis, and even on Sunday there is always Dr. Parkhurst. There are a few carping critics who claim in subdued whispers that the Drama in New York is not what it used to be, that it suffers comicbooks.com