mkm m TOptmtm o PAGES 23 TO 32 ' t; PART THREE VOL. XIX. PORTLAND, OREGON. SUNDAY MORNING, ARRIL 8, 1900. NO. 14. JT ii tt T7 TTi n n- A T7TS. TP "TNsJL D r vjrt 'A 7 EARLY everybody knows that a theater to a place In which to see and hear plays, but everybody does not know that seeing a play from behind the scenes, while It' takes away a great deal of the romance and glamour of the footlights, brings out much that Is of curious Interest. Mechanical ap pliances that lend realism to the play, as seen by the audience, is realism Itself on the other slcje of the big drop curtain. Aside from those who earn tbelr dally bread In this way, few people know much of this stage mechanism. This Is probably due to the fact that little of tho machinery, so to speak. Is visible. If the appliances were exposed to view, the effect would bo entirely different, because best Impressions ore created 'by things that are heard and not seen. in a thrilling melodrama, while a ter- rifle storm Is raging, there come strong dashes of rain and vivid flashes of light, nlng. High winds sweep by, and thunder reverberates In the distance. Any one In the audience, with the least stretch of Imagination, conjures up" an awful tem pest. But if this same Interested auditor could see how these sounds are produced the illusion would vanish, the spell bt broken and the blood-curdling melodrama would fall as flat as the rector's morning prayer. Merexly Rustle of SIlIc The effect would be wonderfully changed, should the audience plainly see that all the noise of rain and wind Is de rived from a cylinder of silk, turned with a crank, which draws the cloth rapidly over the wooden flanges and emits the deceiving sound. When this machine la properly constructed, the Imitation Is al most perfect. When the heavy villain is kicked from the seventh story of a building and six distinct crashes follow each other In rapid succession, as he falls through the sky lights to the court below, the audience Is thrilled and the gallery gods applaud. This feeling Is caused not so much by seeing the actor kicked through the win dow, as by Imagining his fall through six skylights; but the -play could hardly be called effective, it the audience could real ize that the noise of this Imaginary tra gedy is made by dropping a basketful of broken bottles on the floor, as many times as it is desired to prolong the supposed descent. For these reasons it Is best that as much secenry should hover around the mechanism of the stage as possible. The same play is being produced, but the ef fect Is entirely different, according to the point of view. Ye FootllKht Autocrat. The autocrat of the theater is the stage manager There are others who merely think they have some Importance. The star, the leading lady, or the prima donna may arrogate honors to themselves. The manager may believe it xa his show. The man who owns the theater may fondly delude himself Into the belief that he cuts some ice, but the individual who stands behind the scenes and directs the work ings of the hidden forces Is the great "I am." He is really, as well as literally, the power behind the throne, and he is greater than the throne itself. A single blunder in stage management will read lly spoil the effect of the best production ever attempted. Tears ago the narrator witnessed the production of a melodrama, in a small town in the South. Everything was going lovely. The rosy-cheeked heroine had spurned the advances of the villain for the twentieth time. These two were walking on the towpath of a canal. The villain seized the girl, choked her into insensibil ity; threw her into the seething waters and escaped. The effect was splendid. The audience was spellbound, and hisses In the gallery were audible. In the nick of time' the hero appeared on the scene. Quickly he divested himself of coat and shoes and leaped headlong into the turbid waters -of the canal, to rescue the drowning girl, at the peril of his life. Unfortunately his foot caught on the crest of the towpath and brought it down to the level of the stage. There, lying flat on rugs, safe and dry, were the drowning maiden and her . brave rescuer. After that, it was impos sible to revive Interest in the play. It fell as flat as did the towpath. Where Lurid Lightning Flash. One of the prettiest of stage Illusions is theatrical lightning. It Is not an illusion, because it Is lightning. Electricity Is the same, the world over. Formerly stage lightning was made by burning magne sium. Just as amateur photographers do In making flash-light pictures. But now, in all theaters with an ordinary electrical outfit, the lightning is made by touching en ordinary file, at the end of one wire. e oES cP 8 Jy .- Ss, m MwlmwmBmmMiimLM Jwc M , mzzfr "5f f R 111 ' J 1 V 1 11 '-;-'I MI RS ' VMl ; Ik wA Ife Wmm, Y NKKfffBS ' ". Wtmvm 111 u IfSBsSs to a piece of carbon, at the end of another wire. Of course, the carbon burns bright ly during the contact which may merely be a touch, or It may be prolonged, with the requisite Irregularity, by rubbing the Ignited carbon along the roughened edges of the file. A necessary accompaniment to stage lightning is stage thunder. The time honored thunder-maker Is a sheet of iron, suspended by a rope, shaken hard or gently, according to the exigencies of the case. But this contrivance has been,. in a large measure, supplanted by a long, nar row trough, with a cannon Ball rolling in it, similar to the trough that carries the balls home in an old-fashioned bowling 'alley. Wooden cleats Impede the progress of the ball, which may be rolled very fast for a loud peal of thunder, or very slow for a long, low rumble. This trough Is placed high over the stage, and. in some theaters, extends above the auditorium. This heightens .the effect. To Produce Rain. With lightning and thunder, it is often desired to produce rain. The appearance of falling rain is sometimes caused by sus pending many fine, polished wires and vi brating them in a glaring light. This Il lusion Is a fine one, if continued but for a few seconds. The sound of rain is usually made by shaking shot on a drum. Bits of paper, gently dropped from above, are used to Imitate falling snow. These pro ductions of rain, thunder, wind and light ning are tha most realistic of the Illu sions of the stage. A splendid example .of this was shown In Portland In the recent magnificent scenic production of "Anthony and Cleo patra." by the Walsh-McDowell Company at .the Marquam Grand Theater. With the1 exception of a .few flashes of lightning, nothing was seen; but enough was heard to make tha storm scene won 'cWi vsl miminmC nMMfc. ' J rs t r- jTL r derfully realistic No big Eastern, theater could surpass this effort. In splendid scenic effects. The illusion of sound Is very frequently brought into use In the production of a play. It Is dften essential that 'the arrival of persons on horseback, or In carriages, shall, be heard before the persons are seen.. Humbling of wheels, either of a light buggy, or of a heavy ordnance wagon. Is Imitated with a small vehicle, which looks like a railway freight car. In miniature. This Is run along a wooden track and Is left empty or loaded with weights, to suit the requirements of the Individual case. Sometimes, the requisite noise Is made by using oblong. wheels, or cutting sections out of the round ones. The clatter of horses' feet Is made by a man striking soft or hard substances with a mallet. Artillery and Rifle Fire. The real thing Is brought Into use when single shots from a gun or pistol are re quired. In 'military plays, like "Shenan doah," where cannon shots and volleys of musketry are used, the powder smoke obscured the view of the stage and the Invention of smokeless powder was conse-. quently hailed with delight. In produc tions where loudness Is not especially de sired, a hard blow on a. big bass drum represents the discharge of a cannon, and a volley of musketry is made by rapid strokes with rattans on a dried calf skin. The operation of these devices ,1s ordi narily left to the stage hands, but some well-known actors have been known to perform these duties, if they are connect ed with their own roles, that they may guard against blunders. Sometimes a very small mistake In stage setting or In the operation of stage mechanism would make the best work of a Booth or a Barrett appear Inane, and even ludicrous. A glaring Instance' of this was noticed in -i - v ; r Portland, when Frederick Warde last vis ited this f It) In his excellent presenta tion of "The Merchant of Venice," In the trial scene, the Judge's desk was loaded down with modern law books, bound in sheep. Codes of Oregon and copies of Blackstone and Kent were on every side. By a slight mistake, the entire tragedy was made supremely ludicrous. Fntttna; on Comic Opera. One of the biggest Jobs In a theater Is putting on a comic opera. Twenty min utes before the time to ring up the cur tain, many queer things are In evidence. None ofthe singers are In view. The regiment of principals, chorus and ballet Is yet In Its dressing-rooms, bard at work "maklng-up," pulling on sHk tights and getting Into their silks and spangles. The. stage Is turned over to the "hands," but do not Imagine for an Instant that the boards are empty. Scene shifters are down below: men to work the ropes are up In the files; electricians, limelight men, carpenters and other stage men of one kind and another are here, there and ev erywhere. It takes lots of hard work bj these men, who are never seen by .the audience, to get the thing going before the first one of the dozens employed, as principals, coryphees, ballet and chorus sets foot on the boards. They run about carrying furniture or properties and de positing them wherever they like, .and shove wings and bits of scenery here and there In, an .apparently haphazard fashion. While this is going cm, men begin letting dowm huge drops, from away up aloft and pulling up others. Fragments of pal aces on tha Rhine, whole sections of farm ing country, lots of city real estate, thou sands of square miles of sky, a whole peach orchard, a river and a mill, are see sawed up and down from the stage to the files and back again. When the men aloft and their partners on the stage get through with all this seemingly aim less, but. In reality, orderly proceeding, the last piece of scenery has been shifted and everything has disappeared, except, for example, the Interior of a Venetian palace. In five minutes, order has come out of, chaos; what looked to be worse, than three Spring -movlngs has been ac complished, and the stage Is ready to "ring up." Giddy Girls Come In. By this time the ballet, the chorus and some of the lesser characters of the east have begun to put In an appearance, pop ping up from their dressing-rooms below the stage. The main portion of the fem inine chorus Is packed very much like sardines In a box. While all this para doxically quiet row-de-dow Is proceeding, the self-possessed stage manager, unruf fled by the seeming confusion. Is strolling around, looking at the men at work, tak ing In everything at a glance. He orders this bit of scenery shifted up six Inches: then he has that one set back a trifled this) bunch of electric lights is moved to the right a bit, and so on. Every one of the stage hands Instantly does what ho tells him. . A. few minutes more, and they begin to get .ready for action. The orchestra is tuning up on the other side of the curtain, and the stage manager gives the order to "call. everybody." Up they come from tho dressing-rooms. In pairs, groups and dozens, and In all sorts of costumes bal let, chorus- and everybody, except the principals, .who. In a dignified way, keep to the 'dressing-rooms until their "cues" are near. All the girls wander In, whether' they are In the first scene or not, and perch themselves on anything that comes handy for a resting place. Some of them sit down so readily that their shoes must hurt their feet, and they stretch their legs out In front of them, so as not to bag their tights at the knee. It Is a crush and Jam of ballet girls, chorus people and act ors; a kaleidoscopic array of color In satins and silks; a maze and tangle of elaborate costumes and bright ballet skirts, a superb confusion. Then the au tocrat gives the order to "clear the stage." The "Invisible Chorus." "Of all the operas that Verdi wrote, the best to my mind Is 11 Trovatore. " sang Owen Meredllh. Well. In that pret ty opera, the prettiest scene Is where tn Invisible chorus sing "Miserere." This was rendered with fine effect last week at Cordrays by the Boston Lyrics. Noth ing could be seen from the front; but were the members of the chorus singing those beautiful words, with classed .hands and agonizing glances, as1 the unsophis ticated may have fondly supposed? Not much, my Mary Ann I The "Miserere" comes after all but, the principals ore off the stage, and the ten der song la not given In costume. The chorus and the ballet are grouped awk wardly la the wings, in their street clothes and wraps, and are Impatiently waiting for the oysters and hot coffee that will come. a little later, down the street. Lots of Illusion Is knocked out of one, when he sees, from behind tha scenes, the "Invisible chorus" at work. Thd fellow who' constructed the line, .!DIstance lends enchantment to the view," probably spent an evening' behind the scenes. Looking at the chorus and ballet, at close range. Is an llluslon-klller. A good "make-up" will make an ugly girl look pretty at a distance, but, near by, the effect is something terrible. It would not be fair to say all chorus girls are ugly, for some of them aro pretty enougS to look welL In spite of the make-up, but It Is only charitable to maintain a discreet silence on the subject. Nearly everybody Knows something of "make-ups," and little will be said of them In this article. Grease paints which have held their own for years are Mill in vogue, and, paradoxical as the state ment may seem, the poorest "make-up" an actor can have Is no "make-up" at all. That Is the way a corpse Is "made up." Pandora's Box. The greatest show behind the scenes is the property-room. This Is a veritable 'Pandora's box. It Is a horn of plenty. Everything Imaginable can be found here. A well-regulated property-room is a Junk shop, where everything has been bought and nothing sold, from medieval times down to the present day. Guns, pictures, skulls, a throne, old clothes, bottles, fur niture, paintings and bric-a-brac galore, are plied up in endless confusion. The larger theaters have nearly every thing required in the production of a play In the "make-up" room, but in tha provincial towns, where plays are Infre quent "and ' good plays never come, very little stock is kfept on hand. When the aggregation of barnstormers does come, the property man, who is also ticket-seller and stage carpenter, has to rustle all over town to procure enough "properties" to give a third-rate performance of "Uncla Tom's Caoiii." Uffbtlnar the Stage. The lighting of a stage is a matter of the greatest Importance. It is an art and a profession In Itself. Of late years, elec tricity has generally taken the place of gas. A complete modern outfit Includes three rows of footlights across the front, shaded from the audience. When a strong light Is desired on the scenes, reflectors are brought into use. One of tlie rows ot footlights Is In clear bulbs; one Is In red, and ono Is blue. They can be used sep arately or In combination. Over the stage are from three to five adjustable rows of border lamps, ar ranged to be raised or lowered to fit tha scenery, but always screened from tha front. Behind the side edges of the stags opening are other lines of them. The en tire number In a well-appointed houso Is from two to three hundred. All these lights are connected with a keyboard at the prompter's desk. A bunch light Is a cluster 'of from seven to 30 electric bulbs on a standard,' with a polished reflector behind them like the beacon of a locomo tive, and a holder for sheets ot colored gelatine, in front. Of course, the light! can be set wherever needed. If it is desired to throw a still stronger glare, a calcium light, consisting of. a piece of calcium, burning In combined Jets of hydrogen and oxygen. Is used. Two gas. cylinders and a man to operate them rea der this apparatus somewhat expensive. Nearly as good results can be obtained from an electric arc light, placed In a box, open in the front and mounted on a tri pod. Designs Adhered To. The original designs of the scenlo art ist are adhered to more or less faithfully, In the practical workings of all the lights. The effect of moonlight is gained with a light blue shade. Various kinds of sun light require amber or yellow mediums. Firelight calls for a tinge of red. In the case of a conflagration, the red glows ara Increased by throwing the lights on clouds of steam, emitted from pipes. There are flashes of the same kind of red. Are tha boys set off on Fourth of July nights. Actual flames are blown from a torch' with a hand bellows, but are little used. Then, on the other hand, are scenes- eo dark that the moving figures la them ars scarcely discernible. Tho Importance of mechanical appliances? to the profession, or rather the business, of theaters is growing. Tears ago. In Shakespeare's day, and even in a much, later period, scarcely any scenic effects) were attempted. Acting was merely a reading of lines. At best, it was a kind of elocutionary concert. For this reason. Skakespearlan dramas and all plays of the Elizabethan era have to be divested oC much of their tedious dialogue before they aro acceptable to the modem manager Should "Hamlet" or "Richard the ThlnH be produced In their entirety In this age nothing but empty chairs would witness) the closing scenes. Many successful playsjj have been launched In recent years, playa that have made fortunes alike for man ager, actor and playwright, that have, little or no literary merit. Their success depended almost wholly on the art of tha scenic artist and the stage manager. As the seasons go by, the "business" of tha stage Is more and more recognized as im portant. It may be harrowing to the soul of the dramatist to have whole para graphs and even pages of his most poetla and beautiful lines ruthlessly cut out, ant its ttmo and place on the programme given over to mere mechanical effects, but suci occurrences come often and may be cata logued In the "seamy side of the profes- slon." Not all theater-goers care fop blank verse ant' epigrams; but few peopls exist whose souls are not In some degrees stirred with red fire and glittering tinsel. Moralists and preachers may lay this down to the general decadence of tha stage, but the fact remains that when only a simple story Is desired, people read It. They attend theaters to sea things. On the Other Side. It may not be commonly known, but it is; given out as true, that in many of the most elaborate and perfectly constructed the aters built In modern times more money la spent In the cost of construction of that part of the playhouse behind the drop) curtain than the other and more frequent ly seen port cost. The acoustics and the seating qualities of the auditorium must be nearly perfect, tho decorations and tho furnishings must be the most artistic that money can procure; but It is on the staga itself and on the wings, flies and dropa that the most careful work of archltecta and draughtsmen are employed. Studies men are sent to all parts of the world to. study stage effects, and the mechanical appliances for producing them, that tha illusions that are produced on tha other) side of the footlights may be as nearly natural as human Ingenuity can concelvu, in In an Old Volume. Roao-leaven who preased Tout Was It some pale lover. Who smoothed you ana carased yat Tou who could not more hert Bid he steal and bold you (Burning Uks a lover), Sid he keep and fold you Over and overT Roee-leavee; who hid you 'Neath a leathern coverT Some coquette who chid 70a To deem her heart no rovert Did she smlleT Or, elrhlng. Over and over, Sid eha kiss yots. drlnc. Lut gift of her lortrT Roee-Ieavea, I care not If coquette or lover. Almost I dare not Let my warm Up hover Bound rou. so sad seeming. There! I drop tho cover 'And leave you to your dreammg. Over and over! Post Wheeler lb New Tortt Si. -.. .' -v