. Recollections of a player. er re- 5 6 Recollections of a Player. fused. She was a great favorite with the pubHc,and had an archness of manner, a daintiness andtrimness of figure, and a skill and taste in adorningit, that were very captivating. During my last season at the Casino, becomingconvinced that I had attained sufficient popularityas a player to warrant such a move, I made upmy mind to have a comic-opera company of myown. As soon as my contract expired, activepreparations were begun for the appearance ofmy company at the Broadway Theater, New York,in The Oolah. The first night of The
. Recollections of a player. er re- 5 6 Recollections of a Player. fused. She was a great favorite with the pubHc,and had an archness of manner, a daintiness andtrimness of figure, and a skill and taste in adorningit, that were very captivating. During my last season at the Casino, becomingconvinced that I had attained sufficient popularityas a player to warrant such a move, I made upmy mind to have a comic-opera company of myown. As soon as my contract expired, activepreparations were begun for the appearance ofmy company at the Broadway Theater, New York,in The Oolah. The first night of The Oolah came, andwith it a fit of nervousness such as I had never feltbefore. I did not dare to be confident of just shut my eyes and prayed for it. Surrounded by my friends, the performanceseemed to me to pass off very successfully; butwhen Tuesday morning came, and I had read thepapers, damning me with faint praise when theypraised at all, it took me several hours to dis-cover any interest I had in life. My friends. O^vA^i/VW Recollections of a Player, 57 were considerate, but there was no doubt about afeeling of downright disappointment existing onall sides. So many peoples opinions are made upor broken up by the morning papers ! There was, too, a difference of a thousand dol-lars in the receipts from the first to the secondnight, and a corresponding difference in enthusiasm. Before the production I had kept sacrilegioushands from M. Lecocqs score, and chortled overthe belief that a perfect ensemble performance waswhat the public would praise and flock to adapter, Mr. Sydney Rosenfeld, with muchshrewdness, had assured me, too, that if hislines were not received with howls of delight itwould be because of my failure to deliver themproperly. This last opinion shifted the responsibility mostadmirably. If I failed, I would be blamed; if Isucceeded, the adapter would come in for thepraise. I failed, and took the blame. I also took alarge blue pencil and stabbed ho
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Keywords: ., bookauthorwilsonfrancis18541935, bookcentury1800, bookdecade1890
