Evening Republican, Volume 17, Number 209, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 2 September 1913 — First Night Critics. [ARTICLE]

First Night Critics.

In an article in the American Magazine, Walter Prichard Eaton writes: “The theater door man is an lmportant person on first nights, because as he passes out return checks between acts he heap the comments of the audience. His ears are wide open on such occasions, and, mingling with the crowd in the lobby are other attaches of the theater, all seeking to overhear the comments, and all rushing to report to the manager. Not long ago the last act of a play in New York was entirely changed after the opening night, solely because the women in th 6 audience, as they left the house, were nearly all complaining of the tragic finish. When a piece hangs In the balance between success and failure, when ‘tinkering’ can perhaps turn the scale, these frank comments overheard in the lobby are of great importance to author and manager. In other cases they are a borameter of success or failure, though the ultimate test, of course, is the subtle attitude of the audience in the auditorium, its spontaneous enthusiasm or its coldness and signs of boredom.”