Opera hat characteristic snapping sound heard upon opening a gibus suggested a third name, the "chapeau claque", "claque" being the French word for "slap". Opera hat An opera hat, also called a chapeau claque or gibus, is a top hat variant that is collapsible through a spring system, originally intended for less spacious venues, such as theatre and opera visits. Typically made of satin in black colour, its advantage is that it folds vertically through a push or a snap on the top of the hat, in order to be conveniently stored in a wardrobe or under the seat. Invertably, it opens
Claque the jokes. "Pleureurs" (criers), generally women, feigned tears, by holding their handkerchiefs to their eyes. "Chatouilleurs" (ticklers) kept the audience in a good humor, while "bisseurs" (encore-ers) simply clapped and cried "Bis! Bis!" to request encores. The practice spread to Italy (famously at La Scala, Milan), Vienna, London (Covent Garden) and New York (the Metropolitan Opera). Claques were also used as a form of extortion, as singers were commonly contacted by the "chef de claque" before their debut and forced to pay a fee, in order not to get booed. The staging of the opera "Tannhäuser" was withdrawn by its