WHAT TEE GALLERY BOYS SAY.

Otago Witness, Issue 2293, 10 February 1898, Page 49

WHAT TEE GALLERY BOYS SAY.

KBPEOVING A FAMOUS ACTKES&

A well-known " fanny man " is the galkry boy. He sits up aloft with one eje on the actors and the other on fcha audience, and time out of mind has he made observations to one or the oshsr the humour of -which has earned them a place in print. Some have not yet attained that honour — here are a few that have come under the immediate notice of the writer. He was present at the 11 first night " of Miss Mary Anderson in London at the Lyceum Theatre. The youiag and beautiful actress had not quite grasped the acoustic properiies of tho house, and was almost inaudible afe first. Everybody in the theatre smiled when a voico from ths gpllsry gently, but firmly, called oub, *' Spnuk up, Mary 1 " and our charming American coneia proceeded to do so.

A recant performance in London mast ba still fr«sh in the miads of many where there was a similar happening. Several actors in the pieca were delivering their lines in art,; irritating undertone in a most important) scene, when a diversion was caused by »,

sarcastic galleryita politely inquiring : " Are we supposed to hear this 1 " JUST A TOUCH OF SAKCASM ABOUT IT. Some years ago at thß old Holborn Theatre an actor playing a principal part relied not so much on his own abilities as on .copying the manaer of onr leading tragedian in a very pronounced fashion. It was during the summer vacation, and the Lyceum was closed. The audience endured r the performer's mimetic entertainment patiently till his second appaaranca in the piece, when a strident voice from the gods exclaimed : " Wot cheer, 'Enery Irving. I thort you'd gorn for your 'oliday I " Sometimes the interrupter is spoken to from the stage, as on the memorable occasion when Mr Charles Wyndham addressed some pertinent remarks to the " man in the white hat " (another gallery boy) at a Criterion firs!; night; and the late Mr John Clayton once exercised his gift of sarcasm on some rude members of hia audience who were beeping op a loud conversation during tha course of the play. Skipping down to the footlights, and addressing the offenders, he said : " I'm afraid our acting is interrupting your conversation. I'm very sorry. When you have finished your argament we will go on with the play." He was interrupted no more after that. j As a rule, thong h, replies to interruptions are more in favour at music halls. | HE WAS SINGING AS FAST AS HE COULD. The late Mr Fred Albert, a well-known and highly popular extempore vocalist in his j time, used to tell a funny story of bis first appearance in Glasgow. At a certain hall in that city, if the gallary boys did not care for an artiste, they had a way of sigaifyicg the same by crying out " Oory oop ! " (hurry up), meaniog thereby "Be quick and get off the stsge," or, in other words, "We don't care for you, so let's have the next turn." Albert, it may be mentioned, used to rattle his extemporaneous verses off at lightning speed, and when in the middle of his first bodj? be jheard the strange directions from the gallery, " Oory oop I " stopped singing in amazement, and in an apologetic voica he said : " 1 can't jsing any faster." ONE VERSE WAS QUITE ENOUGH FOB THEM. ' Daring the progress of a drama at a provincial playhouse not so long ago one of the artistes came forward to sing an interpolatsd It. was raC3 week, and oae or two followers of the turf were " among the gods." .The singer did not possess a very melodious Voice, but got through one verso without Interruption. When, however, he prepared ;to sing verse number two, a sabduad groan came from the gallery, followed by a husky, pleading voica sayiDg, •' Owe it us ! " At a metropolitan theatre not so many weeks back a drama of London life was the attraction, and each scene was a remarkably [well- pain ted reproducsion of a well-known locality. In one act a picture of Trafalgar 'Square was shown complete in every detail, hhe realistic effect being enhaccsd by a .peb'ceman walking across the stage — the opoliceman. being a supernumerary, not a «• speaking part." The eoene immediately following was another part of Ijondon far distant— viz , the Mile-End Road. Here, too, .the touch of reality was completed by a policetnan walking across the stage — but it was the came super 1 One of the galleryitc-s noticed this fact, and in a " stegs whisper " exclaimed to his friend beside him : " Bill, ain't that bobby got a long beat ! " MYSTEEIOUS PAPERS AND A BUCKET. Perhaps the raost humourous interruption from the gallery — and may we hope pardonable in all the circumstances — occurred in a vreil-kaown London playbouge on the production of a drama which need not be mentioned by namg — it died a sudden death after a few nights' run. The drama had limped along to a realistic scene representing a ruined mill, which was " built up " on one side of the stage, on the other eicie being an old-fashioned disused well, with buckets, &c. .Some mysterious " papers " figured largely 5n the plot (they generally do in pieces of this kind) which were supposed to be of priceless value, and hud been stolen by the ■villain of the piece, who had concealed them for purposes of his own &t the commeaceznent of the scene in one of the buckets down the well. EIIX WAS GETTING "WARMER AND WAEMBS." When the leading character, played by a higfaiy popular actor whom wa will call William JB , came on to find these papers the fun began. " I must hare those papers," eaid he, and he strode towards the plaoa wfc*ie they were concealed, then paused a mom-eat irresolutely, and again want a step forward. At this es<ating moment an e&couragkig voice came from tfce gods. " Warmer, Bill," ■was all it said, and the audience titterad. The player heeded not the interruption, bufc continued to soliloquise, and also continued the search. " Warmer, Bill," spoke the voice again, and when the actor sat down on the side of the well, the obliging gallery ite exClaimed, "Burning, Bill, burning 1 " Toe laugbtsr bacame general, but the player scowled. It was not in his part to find the papers after all. Still intent on tha search, he rose from his seat on the well a»d walked towards the mill. A disappointed and long-drawn "O hi" came from tbs gallery, followed by " Colder, Bill, colder 1 " then " Icy cold 1 " and as the actor opened the door of the mill and disappeared with ths words " I'll search within," the gallery boy completed his joke by murmuring ♦• Freezing ! " and a shriek of laughter went op from the house.