Velvet-cushioned bars have to this
end been secured at convenient points, and the floor has been given
the same slope as that of the stage, so that the labor expended
may be thoroughly profitable to the performance. The singers' foyer,
on the same floor, is a much less lively resort than the
foyer de la danse, as vocalists rarely leave their dressing-rooms
before they are summoned to the stage. Thirty panels with portraits
of the artists of repute in the annals of the Opera adorn this foyer.
"Some estimate...may be arrived at by sitting before the concierge
an hour or so before the representation commences. First appear
the stage carpenters, who are always seventy, and sometimes,
when L'Africaine, for example, with its ship scene, is the opera,
one hundred and ten strong. Then come stage upholsterers,
whose sole duty is to lay carpets, hang curtains, etc.; gas-men, and
a squad of firemen. Claqueurs, call-boys, property-men, dressers,
coiffeurs, supernumeraries, and artists, follow. The supernumeraries
number about one hundred; some are hired by the year, but the
`masses' are generally recruited at the last minute and are
generally working-men who seek to add to their meagre earnings.
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