Theatrical and Circus Life: or, Secrets of the Stage, Green-Room and Sawdust ArenaJennings, John J. (John Joseph)
History
Theatrical and Circus Life: or, Secrets of the Stage, Green-Room and Sawdust Arena
Jennings, John J. (John Joseph)
Circus; Theater -- United States
"Then when you come to 'The girl I left behind me,' put in la la tum
liddle la la tum liddle ah--see?"
But without waiting to see whether the leader saw or not the manager
turned to the company with: "Now, boys, get down to business and we'll
rehearse that first part finish."
[Illustration: JIM CROW.]
Then there was a rush of the "40-count 'em" down to the foot-lights,
and everybody began to talk. Each man struck a different subject and a
different key apparently, and the finish appeared to be so thoroughly
jumbled up that it seemed an impossible task to straighten it out
again. But the performance appeared to be an adjunct of the rehearsal,
for when it was finished Mr. Gulick took his seat at the foot-lights,
while the company arranged itself in the usual semi-circle, with E. M.
Kayne, the interlocutor, in the centre. More instructions were given by
the manager, when a young man rushed in and performed the pantomime of
handing Mr. Kayne a telegram, which the latter pantomimically opened
and calmly announced that he had just received news that he had just
won the prize of $50,000 in the Kentucky State lottery. He didn't make
as much fuss over it as any other man would over finding a half-dollar
on the street. The news must have pleased him, for he remarked:--
"Boys, I'm in luck."
"What is it?" said Billy Rice.
"Fifty thousand dollar prize," replied Mr. Kayne.
"What did I tell you?" said Rice.
"Take us out and treat us," said Cushman.
"Didn't I tell you I was a Mascot," said another. They all called
for lemonade, and Mr. Kayne compromised the matter by agreeing to
take them all to Europe on a pleasure trip if they would pack their
trunks in five minutes. A chorus was then sung and the trunks were
announced packed. Jimmy Fox then came forward and announced that he
was captain of the Pinafore. The other members of the company must
have been looking for him, for they shot him dead with a vociferous
"bang!" and then proceeded to sing "Glory Hallelujah," over his corpse.
This brought him to life again and he was readmitted to the excursion
party. One of the vocalists then sang "Old Folks at Home," and at its
conclusion Mr. Kayne asked if there was no one else to whom they wished
to say "good-by," but all responded, "No, not one."
"Yes, there is," said Mr. Kayne, and the orchestra opened with "The
Girl I Left Behind Me."
The rehearsal was interspersed with very sweet little melodies, which
redeemed such verses as this:
Our trunks are packed and our passage is paid,
Sail o'er the ocean blue;
Of the briny wave we're not afraid,
Sail o'er the ocean blue.
Then Cushman sang:--
Oh, fare you well, St. Louis girls,
Fare you well for awhile;
We'll sail away in the month of May
And come back in July.
Rice retaliated with:--
Fare you well, you dandy coons,
We'll show you something grand;
We'll sail away o'er the ocean blue,
Till we reach the promised land.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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