Theater

A house in which dramatic compositions are spoken or recited by " actors." 8 Not neces.=iarily more than a stage on which actors play and a room in which acting is done and seen; not, then, necessarily, a place where valuable goods are stored.^ ■ 1 Arch. Pract. 576. = 3 Bl. Com. 275, 282; 1 id.

179; 4 Yerg. 27. » Act 8 May, 1793: E. S. §§ 911-12. « 2 Bl. Com. 508; 2 Story, Eq. § 1516. » 3 Bl. Com. 338. •Ladd 1;. Ladd, 8 How. 36 (1850). ' ShartE v. Com,monwealth, 2 Binn. *519, 516 (1810).

Any edifice used for the purpose of dramatic or operatic or. other representations, plaj's, or performances, for admission to which entrance-money is received, not including halls rented or used occasionally for concerts or theatrical representations. ^ A negro minstrel performance is a " theatrical entertainment; " 2 ballet dancing is an " entertainment of the stage," ^ but tumbling may not be; * and an equestrian pageant or circus is a "theatrical performance." ^ Where the question was whether or not the performance of an opera ra^y properly be regarded as a theatrical exhibition, within the meaning of a statute providing that no " theatrical exhibition shall be allowed without a license first had and obtained," the court said that a theatrical exhibition must be either such as pertains to the theater or to the drama for the representation of which the theater is designed. A drama is a story represented by action, and while it is ordinarily designed to be, spoken, it may be represented by pantomime. An opera is a musical drama. In the former the actor observes the rules of rhetoric and of oratory, in the latter he employs his powers of music, vocal and instrumental. The ordinary theater is adapted to the performance of the opera, and this form of exhibition, especially the light opera and opera comique, in these days is a prominent feature of theater work."* Contracts for the exclusive services of distinguished artists in theatrical representations are personal and peculiar. Damages for violation of such a contract is not capable of definite determination, and a violation may be restrained by injunction — except where the damages have been liquidated by agreement.^ See Drama; Right, 2, Civil Rights Acts; Ticket, Theater,