SEATS IN "THE GODS."

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIII, Issue 19417, 27 August 1926, Page 13

SEATS IN "THE GODS."

THEATRE QUEUE'S VIGIL. THE PRICE OF ENTHUSIASM. REWARD WHEN CURTAIN RISES. It may not L>c realised in the dress circle and the stalls that the crowded hundreds in "the gods" above, tucked away out of sight for the most part, arc one of the mainstays of the theatre, and, moreover, are quite as discerning musically as any other part of the house. It so happens that the cost of a seat has no relation to the amount of enjoyment its occupant may obtain. It is quite possible that the individual who is sitting on buro boards in the gallery may be winging his way in some high heaven notwithstanding the physical tendency to become a little numb in places, while the individual in the best scat the house can sell is wondering what bo will get for supper. Any good "show," particularly a fine interpretation of such immortals as Gilbert and Sullivan, will fill the gallery with early door-it es, who prefer to see half a dozen pieces at two shillings and ninepence than two at the highest prices. When our "pit party'' joined the queue at 5.30 p.m. it already extended up u lane at the back of warehouses, down what soldier men would call a "T head" and back again to a place where the alley gave up hope at a steep slope above which the windows of ancient houses, links with Auckland's very early days, shone cheerfully. I defy any person in that queue to sit on the narrow footways of that lane at any time when the theatre is vacant without being arrested. Surprising how circumstances alter such cases! There sat Belinda on a newspaper, her feet in the gutter, und as calm, dignified and self-contained as in the big chesterfield. Miss Demure of the bewitching sparkle squatted beside her, oblivious of the incongruity of a bright jewel in an unworthy setting. The place was a "Spager's Lane," a cartway into tin area which the Queen Street fronts fortunately hide, but the people who assembled were so indifferent to their environment that one began to see engaging quaintness in the ramshackle erections. The queue, it is said, was started at half-past eight o'clock that morning by four resolute school girls who doubtless regarded the tiling as no end of & lark, "Holding the Tort." The rush to the queue set in after five o'clock, the system apparently being that one or two "hold the fort" for their friends who must leave to eat. Some, however, brought their meal with them and ate it without a thought for the lurking microbes. Lots of boxes and 'tins appeared from nowhere in particular, as seats. One man had brought a piece of wood with a cross-piece, evidently a homemade seat of the balancing kind. He had laid it on the path and departed. As the night was getting chill a party of youths thought of a fire. They split up the seat and used the pieces for fuel. The by-laws may class the lighting of a fire on a road as a very wicked thing, but what odds on a theatre-queue night! j By the light of the fire they played a 1 game of cards. Good campaigners with-1 out a doubt. Then came the street fiddles and the harp and the music made by tho players who might have been gondoliers was very welcome. An amiable dog drifted in to pass the time of evening with the folk of queer habits, and ho accepted offerings with gratitude. An Unfair Advantage. Suddenly the people in sight jumped to their feet with alacrity. Evidently there has been a signal to the head of the line. And here a confession must sadly be made. No one knows how it started, but the fact is that some members of this highly artistic procession reverted to the primitive—how exceed" ingly easy does a crowd respond to primitive instincts—and dashed to a corner to get ahead of the people of the T head alley. And, of course, they rushed too. It was all very sheep-like and silly. There was a jam in which the thrusters benefited and the retiring folk lost ground. Too late for the losers, a marshal from the theatre appeared and finally produced order while some folk lamented the absence of large quantities of police and the disciplined queue spirit of London and the folly of sitting for early doors and anything else that occurred to them by which annoyance could be expressed. But the queue is moving, moving rapidly, the reason being that as soon as the door is passed, the right thing to do is to gallop up the concrete steps like sheep through a gate. An evening suited stalwart braced himself against the wall at the top, and in a manner worthy of the lock of an All Black scrum changed the struggling mob into single file formation. But the tendency, the very human tendency, to compete for the seats in the best position did not end when tickets were passed over, Those who know their way galloped over the resounding benches which are seats as well as walking places, and so it was that our quiet little party found themselves eventually in a nice- position overlooked by the strivers. It was well back and very high above the stage, but it commanded a full view. Eealm of Melody and Mirth. And thus the "top shelf," which, ono remembers, is never neglected by the best performers, became established and settled down for its hour's wait—a wait unthinkable down below, but not at all wearisome after the footpath vigil. And at last the hour struck, Tho enchanting music rose from the depths. No longer was the gallery dingy. Up went the curtain and the final magic was wrought. The gallery, rio less than the dress circle, was swept away from tho world of reality into the realm of melody and mirth, comedy and colour, to the heights where ordinary mortals are permitted to walk with genius and gaze down in amused toleration upon the petty dignities and trivial conceits with which humanity frets away its little hour.