ng to these
costumes until they literally fall apart.

The Witches' Song is Side-Stepped.

The older members of the profession have always considered the witches'
song in Macbeth to possess the uncanny power of casting evil spells, and
the majority of them have strong dislikes to play in the piece. If you but
hum this tune in the hearing of an old actor, the chances are that you
will lose his friendship.

An actor who has been on the stage long enough to acquaint himself with
its superstitions, will not repeat the last lines of a play at rehearsals,
nor will he go on the stage where there is a picture of an ostrich
displayed if he can help it.

Some actors believe that if they accidentally try the wrong door of an
agent's or manager's office when looking for an engagement, their mission
will be a failure. It is also considered bad luck to change the position
of any piece of furniture or "props" of any description whatever, after
the stage has once been set, and before the rise of the curtain.

Whistling is Tabooed.

It is considered by all theatrical people to be the worst luck in the
world for any one to whistle in the theater, and there is no offense for
which the manager will scold an employee more quickly.

The players are not the only ones in the theater having superstitions. The
"front of the house" have their pet ones as well.

In the box-office, if the first purchaser of seats for a new production is
an old man or woman, it means to the ticket-seller that the play will have
a long run. A young person means the reverse. A torn bank-note means a
change of position for the man in the box-office, while a gold
certificate, strange to say, is a sign of bad luck.

The usher seating the first patron of the evening fondly imagines that he
will be lucky until the end of the performance, but if the first coupon he
handles calls for one of the many thirteen seats, he is quite sure that it
will bring him bad luck for the rest of the night.

To the usher, a tip from a woman for a program also spells misfortune, and
few of the old-timers will accept it. A woman fainting in the theater is
sure to bring bad luck to the usher in whose section she is seated. Not to
hear the first lines of the play is to invite misfortune, so he believes.

An usher feels sure that if he makes a mistake in seating the first person
in his section, it is sure to be quickly followed by two more. The first
tip of the season is always bri