A quarter before eight
Then it prevents any troublesome inquiries or explanations about employment and pursuits ; everybody is a gentleman at large , for the occasion , and there are none of those unpleasant and unnecessary distinctions to which even genius must occasionally succumb elsewhere . As to the ladies -LRB- God bless them -RRB- , they are quite above any formal absurdities ; the mere circumstance of your being behind the scenes is a sufficient introduction to their society -- for of course they know that none but strictly respectable persons would be admitted into that close fellowship with them , which acting engenders . They place implicit reliance on the manager , no doubt ; and as to the manager , he is all affability when he knows you well , -- or , in other words , when he has pocketed your money once , and entertains confident hopes of doing so again . A quarter before eight -- there will be a full house to-night -- six parties in the boxes , already ; four little boys and a woman in the pit ; and two fiddles and a flute in the orchestra , who have got through five overtures since seven o'clock -LRB- the hour fixed for the commencement of the performances -RRB- , and have just begun the sixth . There will be plenty of it , though , when it does begin , for there is enough in the bill to last six hours at least . That gentleman in the white hat and checked shirt , brown coat and brass buttons , lounging behind the stage-box on the O. P. side , is Mr. Horatio St. Julien , alias Jem Larkins . His line is genteel comedy -- his father 's , coal and potato .