human
His Majesty had ordered that the representation should begin at twelve o'clock at night, she tells us. All that was to be seen through the peephole was the brightly lighted proscenium. Absolute silence reigned; even the workmen wore felt slippers. At the stroke of twelve a bell was rung; the King was leaving the Palace. He passed along the corridor to his great box. A new ringing of the bell announced that he had entered it, and immediately the curtain rose! The singer became the victim of a nervous trembling, and required all her presence of mind to perform her part before a single witness, at such a strange time, and in such romantic stillness....
gpt
The opera concluded, and the artists having washed the paint off their faces, they are frequently ordered to re-dress, and singers and orchestra have to go through the opera a second time for the King, he writes in one of his books.
human
There is in the great Hof Theater an apparatus which, in case of fire, can put the whole stage under water. A violent storm was represented at one of these private performances. The theatre tempest howled, the thunder rolled. In a loud voice Ludwig shouted from his box: 'Good, very good! But I want real rain. Let the water flow!' The scene-shifter ventured to demur, representing that the decorations, no less than the silk and velvet curtains, would be destroyed. 'Never mind,' said the King; 'do as I bid you!' The water poured out over the stage, over the artificial flowers and houses. The singers were drenched; they put a bold face on it, and sang away bravely. The King applauded, and shouted 'Bravo! More thunder, more lighting!' he ordered. 'Bad luck to him who dares to leave the stage!'