1883-11-24ww

The cultured music and theatre critic with the Spectator had enough with the rowdy behaviors he and theatre goers had to endure in and around the Grand Opera House on James Street North:

“The conduct of the street arabs who hang around the Opera house, while performances are in progress is simply disgraceful. Monday night they were abroad in all their glory. They swarmed around the main and side entrances, trying as hard as they could to sneak in, and at every opportunity ran up and down the stairs and passages, shouting and stamping for all they were worth. One lad, more venturesome than the others, threw a brick through one of the windows in the Garrick club rooms, and shattered a large pane of glass. And when any of them go in the gallery, they raise such a racket that it half spoils the enjoyment of the play.

“The presence of one or two policemen would stop all this. If a man was stationed in the gallery to keep order there (and his presence would inspire them with such fear that they would be quiet), another at the main entrance, and another at the gallery entrance, it would save all the annoyance and trouble. It is what  should be done, and at once. It seems strange that this blackguardly conduct should be allowed. In no other city, so show people say, is it allowed to go on this way, and it is full time that a stop was put to it here.”¹

¹ “Music and the Drama : Information Concerning Singers and Players”

Hamilton Spectator.  October  24, 1883.