FREE BOOKS

Author's List




PREV.   NEXT  
|<   121   122   123   124   125   126   127   128   129   130   131   132   133   134   135   136   137   138   139   140   141   142   143   144   145  
146   147   148   149   150   151   152   153   154   155   156   157   158   159   160   161   162   163   164   165   166   167   168   169   170   >>   >|  
damage suits, from the two cities in which the company had been booked for the two past weeks. Had Bobby not bound himself irrevocably to contracts which made him liable for the salaries of every member of this company for the next twenty weeks, he would have withdrawn instantly at the first hint of these suits; but, now that he was in for it, he promptly compromised them at a rate which made Spratt furious. "If I'd thought," said Spratt angrily in the privacy of the Orpheum office, "that you were sucker enough to get roped in for the full season, I'd have tossed you out of the running for this week. This game is a bigger gamble than the Stock Exchange. The smartest producers in the business never know when they have a winner or a loser. More than that, while all actors are hard to handle, of all the combinations on earth, a grand opera company is the worst. I'll bet a couple of cold bottles that before you're a week on the road you'll have leaks in your dirigible over some crazy dramatic stunts that are not in the book of any opera of the Neapolitan repertoire." The prediction was so true that it was proved that very night, which was Friday, during the repetition of _Carmen_. It seemed that Biff Bates, by means of the supreme dominance of the Caravaggio, had been made free of the stage, a rare privilege, and one that enabled Biff to spend his time, under unusual and romantic circumstances, very much in the company of the Celtic Signorina; all of which was very much to the annoyance, distress and fury of Signor Ricardo, especially on _Carmen_ night. At all other times the great Ricardo thought very well indeed of the Signorina Nora, only being in any degree near to unfaithfulness when, on _Aida_ nights, he sang to vivacious little Madam Villenauve; but on _Carmen_ nights he was devotedly, passionately, madly in love with the divine Car-r-r-r-avaggio! Else how could he sing the magnificent second act aria? Life without her on those nights would be a hollow mockery, the glance of any possible rival in her direction a desecration. Why, he even had to restrain himself to keep from doing actual damage to Philippi, who, though on the shady side of forty-five, still sang a most dashing Escamillo; nor was his jealousy less poignant because Philippi and Caravaggio were sworn enemies. Thus it may be understood--by any one, at least, who has ever loved ecstatically and fervidly and even hectically, like the great Ricardo--
PREV.   NEXT  
|<   121   122   123   124   125   126   127   128   129   130   131   132   133   134   135   136   137   138   139   140   141   142   143   144   145  
146   147   148   149   150   151   152   153   154   155   156   157   158   159   160   161   162   163   164   165   166   167   168   169   170   >>   >|  



Top keywords:
company
 

Ricardo

 

nights

 

Carmen

 

thought

 
Philippi
 
Caravaggio
 

damage

 
Signorina
 

Spratt


understood

 

degree

 
unfaithfulness
 

Villenauve

 
vivacious
 

enabled

 
circumstances
 
fervidly
 

ecstatically

 

Celtic


hectically

 

romantic

 

unusual

 

devotedly

 

Signor

 

annoyance

 

distress

 

direction

 

desecration

 

glance


dashing

 
Escamillo
 

hollow

 

mockery

 

actual

 
restrain
 

poignant

 
avaggio
 

divine

 
passionately

jealousy
 

magnificent

 
enemies
 
Friday
 

sucker

 

cities

 
office
 

angrily

 
privacy
 

Orpheum