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January 27 1874 William Suter's Incompatibility of Temper and Tom Taylor's Masks and Faces or Before and Behind the Curtain opened the season in the New Lyceum Theatre. This one lasted much longer than its predecessor, indeed, until 1929 when it was sold to be resuscitated in the French Concession in 1931.
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But to return to pre-1867 conditions, some final notes should be added. Shanghai saw its first tentative steps in lighting its streets with gas in 1865 which was no luxury as the state of the roads was often rather dubious. Lighting in the theatre therefore, both the auditorium and the stage, was by means of either candles or oil lamps, the danger and inadequacies of which require no further comment.
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Regulation of the climate in the hall was also difficult. Temperatures in Shanghai can be as low as 12°C in January and as high as 40°C in June-August. In order not to deter the audience, heating had to be provided in winter, which was duly advertised: "Thoroughly warmed with splendid stoves", whereas in summer which was certainly in the early years an unusual time for entertainment - one could read that "to obviate the excessive heat of a crowded house, the Company beg to state that they have had two large Punkahs hung and have otherwise improved the ventilation" (a punkah was a large rectangular fan suspended from the ceiling and moved by servants).
Performances started generally at 8 o'clock or 8.30 (even 9) (1864-1865) and entry prices were $3 for the best seats and $2 for the other ones (back seats and gallery) (The Mexican dollar, one of the currencies used in Shanghai, fluctuated in value, but may be said to have been worth about 4/6 during these years — so no "shilling gallery" here).
In addition to the godown theatres there were a number of other localities where artistic entertainment occurred in 1865. On February 23 1865 a concert was given at the Astor House Hotel. This hotel had been founded by an American, D.C. Jansen, in 1860 and it was situated in a part of the Settlement known as Hongkew (or American Settlement), north of the Soochow Creek, near the bridge. It was destined to become one of the most famous hotels in Shanghai and it was rebuilt several times. But in 1865 it was still a low construction. Other concerts, on October 17 1864, February 15 and March 1865, were given at the Shanghai Club, a redoubtable pillar of society located at the southern end of the Bund where it was opened in 1864. It was built in a neoclassical