midnight
But the nightmare thickened . Hamlet and his mother opened their mouths and sang . Their songs were light and gay , and held encore verses to reward the enthusiastic . The actors , like the audience , were leisurely ; here midnight and the closure were not synonymous . When there were no more encore verses , Ignatz Levitsky would turn to the audience and bow in acknowledgment of the compliment . Pinchas 's eyes were orbs straining at their sockets ; froth gathered on his lips . Mrs. Goldwater bounded on , fantastically mad , her songs set to comic airs .