He interchanges mute remarks,
enlivened by surprising grimaces, with the lady of the ballet, in the
shabbiest of ball dresses, who hangs affectionately upon his arm. The
limited amount of his stipend naturally asserts itself in his costume,
which will not bear critical investigation. His boots are of the
homeliest and sometimes of the muddiest; coarse dabs of rouge appear
upon his battered cheeks; his wig--for a "super" of this class almost
always wears a wig--is unkempt and decayed; his white cravat has a
burlesque air; and his gloves are of cotton. There are even stories
extant of very economical "supers" who have gone halves in a pair of
"berlins," and even expended rouge on but one side of their faces,
pleading that they were required to stand only on the right or the
left of the stage, as the case might be, and as they could thus be
seen but in profile by the audience, these defects in their appearance
could not possibly attract notice. Altogether the "super's" least
effective performance is that of "a guest."
It is a real advance for a "super" when he is charged with some small
theatrical task, which removes him from the ranks of his fellows.
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