Expenses of Large Theatres.

Manawatu Herald, 22 March 1892, Page 3

Expenses of Large Theatres.

Kir Augustus Harris has told the Strand Magazine interviewer some i&cts about Drury Lane Theatre. He said that he bad spent £15,000 on dresses this year for the opera alone. Last opera season about balanoed itself. The books show a return of £80,819, but the expenses were so great that little or nothing was left. "The night the German Emperor visited Govent Garden. Theatre the house was worth £5658. His box alone cost £1000 to decorate. When in the Jubilee year I determined to try Italian Opera, somebody remarked to me, * It's dead. 1 * Very well, 1 I replied, ♦ I'll either revive it or give it a decent burial.' I did revive it, but it cost me £16,000 in six weeks. However, the next year opera was living and in a healthier state than ever, and I got my money baok, and had done something * in the cause of art." The pantomime season is approaching, and Sir Augustus Harris confided to the interviewer some interesting particulars of the cost of these entertainments : — " A pantomime costs from £16,000 to £20,000 for dresses, scenery, &c. A big procession costs from £5000 to £6000. A good principal boy means £60 to £100 a week ; a troupe of acrobats, £70 or more; a firstclass clown, £30 or £40; and a sprightly dancer, £80 to £50. Then there are many other salaries of £45, £80, £25, £10 a week' each, while the ballet averages about 80s a we&k with extra for mornings. More salaries for the week: — Carpenters £191 8s 3d ; property men, £129 12s 6d ; gas and electric light men, £26 8s 8d ; limelight men, £26 9s 6d : wardrobe, dressers, and others, £111 4s 10d ; paint-room artist, £884, 10s lid ; orchestra, £160 a week."