When, therefore, the Italian opera-houses
close for the season, they are never reopened for the accommodation
of wandering "stars." The consequence of this is, that the drama is
banished to the inferior theatres, and whilst thousands of francs are
spent on the scenery of a new opera or ballet, the poor player has to
content himself with an indifferent stage and wretched decorations. In
short, to quote an observation made to me recently by Signor Salvini,
"Theatrical affairs are just the opposite in Italy to what they are
in America. In Italy the opera-bill is never changed more than three
times in as many months: in America it varies almost every evening. In
Italy the play-bill is renewed nightly, while in this country and
in England a drama, if good, may have a run of over a hundred
representations." Nothing surprised Salvini more during his stay in
the United States than the splendor of the _mise en scene_ of some
of the New York plays, but he accounted for it easily enough. The
managers of most of the New York, Paris and London theatres do not
hesitate to lavish large sums of money upon their decorations and
scenery, because should the piece fail for which they were painted
they can be used in some other. The Italian theatres are nearly always
the property either of some nobleman or of a company of speculators,
whose principal object is to make as much money out of them, and spend
as little upon them, as possible.
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