18th Century Overtures from the London Stage
A 'Rage for Music' in London On 24 February 1763, a riot broke out in the Covent Garden Theatre during a performance of Thomas Arne's Artaxerxes, protesting the management's refusal to give half-price admission after the third act. The damage done to the interior of the theatre was significant, and an account in the Historical Chronicle records "the rashness of the rioters was so great, that they cut away the wooden pillars between the Boxes, so that if the inside of them had not been iron, they would have brought down the Galleries upon their heads." Indeed, the theatre could not reopen for business until 2 March. What might seem an isolated act of vandalism was, in fact, symptomatic of strongly-held audience views about the role that musical entertainments played in their lives. ? - Paul F. Rice