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Show 'SHARLIE'S' PAL TURNS LIGHTS ON AUDIENCE Jack Pearl, the "van yon der, Sharlie" of the air waves, substitute) for Walter Winchell today. Wednesday vacation columnist will be Floyd Gibbons. By JACK PEARL . Ever ince the day when a flag was hoisted to the topmost battlement bat-tlement of old English town to let the near-by burghers know that the how wa on, actors have been dicused pro and con by their public. , , . Wa ve been heckled, praised, torn apart, put together again, bisected, trisected, Irritated no end in short, we'v been through the wringer. But this is no whining critique. Th wage are good and th company com-pany excellent, so th scale even up in th end. Actor and actnan. it earns to me. take criticism in a pretty aporting fashion, What I should Ilk now I to talk a little about those on th other lid of th footlights. Hav a look at yourself. your-self. Ther I th gay ninety couple. You've seen them around, although their theatergoing evenings ar rare one. Watching them, you think of sprig of rosemary, an attic trunk, a pressed rose In a dust-covered book you know, th kind of nostalgic nos-talgic Items a Noel Coward can tell about so charmingly. Ths man 1 aportlng an Inverness cape, a newly polished topper, one of those mauve decade wing collar and high button shoes brushed into an impressive im-pressive sheen. Hla companion they probably ar celebrating another milestone in their marital collaboration usually Is attired In a black lace dress with lots of bead. If there I a nip In th air, this charmer of another era keeps off th chill with a big fur evening hawL They're really charming people, but they ar just a trifle reserved In their indorsement of modern day player. They can't forget Mr. Flsk in "Te of th D'Urtxrvllle," Richard Rich-ard Mansfield in "The Misanthrope" or Georgia Cohan when ha appeared with hi mother, dad and sister, Josle, down at Keith Union Squar. For them, that was th theater the-ater 1 Then ther ar th pew-holders who ara all part of a festive group. No matter whether It' th celebration celebra-tion of a fraternity inception, a wedding or an engagement, the conduct la th same. All ara beaming beam-ing over with good will. When Uncle Un-cle Harry croaeea hi knee, everybody every-body I convinced he ia completely uncomfortable and really can't see a thing on the stags. So after a whispered consultation, which 1 heard by even the box office man out front. Cousin Msrjoris squeezes through an entira aisle to exchange seats with him. Naturally, this switch takes place during your funniest fun-niest or most Important bit of business. busi-ness. Now Unci Harry and Cousin Marjori ar both uncomfortable and take it out on th performer with stony silenc. Then there's the gay prop school and col Ufa freahman mob. Pert young lasses, they get their ticket at th cut-rate counter. After a thorough sifting eut of all artistic and financial considerations, thsy finally aelect one of the lea opulent hit. A percentage of their loot goes toward th purchase of a large box of gooey chocolate they munch during dur-ing the performance. They laugh and applaud In the wrong spots but, say, a laugh at any point is not t be scorned. Then there ar th standees at the rear of an auditorium harboring a hit. Most of them probably could get seats, but it seem they have strong arches and prefer their entertainment en-tertainment from a completely upright up-right position. They attend for Just on or two scenes or bit of business busi-ness which, to them, are th production' produc-tion' highlight. You can tell when their favorite moment is coming. They lean forward over the railing back of th last pw and whisper to a friend that th time i now at hand. Be for and after th scene, their attention has obviously relaxed re-laxed and they atp out In th lobby for a amok or across th street for a Scotch-and. Their theater Is on of quick take. Somebody in th trad ha tagged thee boy "th nibble patron," pa-tron," which I a apint description. descrip-tion. More audience th people who work in th house. I mean th fireman fire-man who usually (it in th wing on a camp chair. Or, if th proceeding proceed-ing ar unusually Interesting, he grabs himself a spot in th back of the house and ia an alert auditor. audi-tor. When th offering to which he has been assigned i a weak, flabby one, he chat with the candy concessionaire con-cessionaire or press agent, or go upstairs to th balcony to hav another an-other gander at that usherette the cut redhead with th trim ankles. The gala whe guide you to your at ara interesting to watch, too, from behind th footlights. A wide-eyed wide-eyed listener is th on who 1 taking tak-ing dramatic lessons and. because ahe couldn't get in to see any producer, pro-ducer, ha accepted a post aa usherette. ush-erette. Across from her on th other aisle is a gal who never watches the stag one th curtain ia up. She got tha Job becaua her uncle friend works In th producer's office of-fice and her family insisted It was better than knocking around without with-out portfolio. So she stands out front hating th poor actors and thinking how nice it would be walking walk-ing in Central park, with Joe tonight. to-night. Aa for th prop boy, house car-psntera, car-psntera, electrician and aceneshift-ra. aceneshift-ra. If they've ever laughed at a ahow or been visibly effected by any of it dramatic business, I haven't heard about it as yet. So there you ar. And pleas don't think m ungrateful. I couldn't be. after being treated s swell for these last 20-odd years. |
