"
At one time Elliston, engaged as an actor at Drury Lane, had the
additional responsibility of two theatrical managements, the Surrey
and the Olympic. His performers were required to serve both theatres,
and thus frequently appeared upon the stage in two counties upon the
same night. In 1834 the two patent theatres were ruled by one lessee,
whose managerial scheme it was to work the two houses with a company
and a half. The running to and from Drury Lane and Covent Garden of
actors half attired, with rouged faces, and loaded with the
paraphernalia of their art, of dancers in various stages of dress, of
musicians bearing their instruments and their music-books, was
incessant, while the interchange of mysterious terms and inquiries,
such as "Who's on?" "Stage waits," "Curtain down," "Rung up," "First
music," &c., was sufficiently perplexing to passers-by. At the season
of Christmas, when the system of double duty was at its height, the
hardships endured by the performers were severe indeed. The dancers
were said to pass from one theatre to the other six times during the
evening, and to undergo no fewer than eight changes of costume.
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