Omaha Daily Bee Newspaper, February 8, 1903, Page 31

UNPACKING THE (Copyright, 193, by Anna R. Haines.) WO YEARS consumcd in prepara I tion—three short hours required for its pr ntation. Two thou sand artisans to lay its founda tions—300 people to make it sparkle and glitter, and $200,000 expended before the first performan: e Such, in brief, 18 the history of an Eng sh spectacla recently transplanted to America. Months before itse New York managers figured on bringing it across the sea, ar tists were working it out in the dingy old cffices of a London playhouse, in the »f the British metropolis, and in the stuffy workshops of Paris. The managing directer of the historic home of pantomime and the ballet master spent weeks in studying color plates, sorting, grouping, throwing this one out and or- ing that one drawn on different lines When the plans were pronounced good, 1,400 men and women found employment on the 1,200 costumes, costing over $10,000, and as much the Half that number helped to build and paint ten dis- tinct sets of scenery and to manufacture the properties. And during the months in which expert hands wrought, the players and dancers were not idle. English re- heareals move slowly and with strict at- tention detail. The English dancer is not so quick to grasp instructions as her American sister, but once having mastered them, she not to be shaken or confused When all this has been accomplished and Boxing night with its throng of holiday revellers is a thing of the past, the Amer- fcan manager appears on the scene, sur- veying the production with a critical eye and figuring on its possibilities in his own country Accompanying him are his li- brettis‘, his mechanie, his eleetri- cian and his costumer. Gradually the little party scatters, the master mechanic and the electrician to be swallowed up in that mysterious realm ‘“behind the scenes,” not to emerge until they have passed upon the novelties in stage mechanism and have studied the details of their construction. The costumer is lost in the maze of tex- tures and colors known as the wardrobe room, and the manager and his librettict shut themselves up in their hotel to study the book and the lyrics. Then, when the American rights are secured, it is back to New York, and silence on this particular topic for months. b But of si'ence werk is pro- ' gressing steadily. The book is firs' r writ- fog-hung stduios as scenery p master under cover ten to please American theater-goers, for jokes which tickled the London spectators were originally borrowed from American plays and cannot be retained. The dialogue too, must be cut, for English humor % too slow a coming to suit Americans The lyrics have already been heard in America. S0, by the time the librettist and lyrie writer finish their work, only the skeleton of the book remains, on which to hang the n, geous costumes and the glittering scen- y which comes over from England It is in their scenic effects and their cos- tumes that the English stage directors eclipse all rivals They spend not only lavishly, but well, and, in return for an expenditure of £20,000, they have an equip ment so solid and of such excellence of material and workmanship that it will live to dazzle two continents. In the meantime, the new scenes d¢ manded by the American book are beir built, the drawings for the 200 costum: ¢ needed for typically American spacialtio are being made in New Ycrk. This work is pretty well disposed of when the rirst ing lish shipment arrives, under bond, Novem ber 1. The sgecond installment arrives a month later, and both are divided into three lots, The costumes are taken to a big loit In a Broadway theater where 200 men and women, the force of a good sized garment factory, are waliting to recelve thecm and COSTUMES ON ARRIVAL FROM LONDON begin the work of alteration divided between the production is to be made and the stuclo the managers have their American productions built. The properties go to still another establishment, where they undergo The scenery is theater where the where a process which an be described only as Americanization Trick props’ are ro- garded as certain fun-makers by American producers of spectacle Th2 work in the costuming departinent is comparatively simple, because it moves on steadily and without interruption frora the arrival of the importations untii the dress rehearsal. The property man and the mas ter mechanic have more difficult tasks, for the theater ir which the production is to be made is occupied by other attraciions until a few days before the opening. This means two shifts of workmen, who snatch every opportunity, night or day, to install the new &cenery so far as it will not inter- fere with the staging of the attraction 11- ready in possession of the house. The costumes have been sent over from England in perfect condition, so the work in the American costuming rooms consists principally in fitting the wardrobe to the new company. The garments are shipped in huge hampers, lined with heavy muslin. and are acccmpanied by a schedule which dupli- cates the one used by the stage and ballet master. Thc costumer and the stage direc tors confer, and chorus and ballet girls are grouped so as to require as little alteration as possible in the costumes. The girls are then given a first fitting, the alterations are made, and a week or so before the dress rehearsals a final fitting is given. For days, and nights, too, for that matter, in the small ante rooms attached to the costum- ing department can be seen a continual procession of shapely young women and anxious-eyed dressers or wardrobe women. As fast as the costumes are fitted they are +acked back into the bampers, ready for transportation to the theater, and are not pened again until the dress rehearsal. The ihstallation of English scenery in the srdinary New York playhouse is of itself a big task. America ss yet has no theater built to accommodate the English spec tacle, and the cost of making room for ccenery alone is an ‘tem to stagger people who view the play from the front. For last season's reigning spectacle rock was blagted from under the theater, and a sec- ond or sub-cellar was built. This year, the entire scenic investiture is worked from the sides and the fly galleries, which neces- sitates the use of tventy-four sete of new lines or ropes in dropping the scenery from the lofts. An iron bridge was also erected on the right-hand side of the fly- door, In mid-air, for working the elec- trical effects, and the electric plant of the theater was reinforced. Forty-eight stage men worked in night aud day shifts fer six laying off only for matinee and evening performinces. During the day re- hearsals were held 'on the stage, but as only stage carpentcrs can, they dodged round the players, the music of their hammers keep- ing time to the strains of the over-worked weeks pianos All of the fitting of scenery is done under the direction of the master mechanic. A cool head and executive ability are as essential to the success of this autocrat behind the scenes as is mechanical ability He must have no more men under him than are absolutely necessary to the staging of the piece, as s e is at a premium, and 80 he must train each man to act promptly and deftly A moment's hesitation on the part of a man high up in the fly gallery will spoil a situation as surely as the fail- ure of an actor to take up his cue. Once the scenery is installed it is rehearsed until each man works with the regularity and promptness of a piston rod in a well oiled engine The stage men guard not only the suc- cess of the plece, but the lives of the actors. In a spectacle, the scenery, ac- cording to the vernacular of the profession is practical, That the huge lily pods, or leaves, used in fern scene are of sheet iron twelve their natural size, and made to hold one of the players. The Mother Goose shoe holds twenty-four chil- 18, the times dren. Both are stoutly built, but careless- ness in their sefting would result in dan- gerous falls to the players The property man, after checking oft every article consigned to his department, and comparing these with the schedule fur- nished by the property man at the Lon- don theater, makes himself thoroughly fa- miliar with the “props” in the order of the scenes in which they are to be employed. He 1is responsible for everything carried onto the stage from a rose for the premier in the ballet to the elephant on whose back Fatima makes her entrance. His system consists of accurately group- ing the “props"” and training his men in such fashion that each employe knowz which article he i{s to carry on and off the stage. In the newest spectacle the prop- erty men handle 3,000 articles of various eizes at each performance, and they would consider it a personal disgrace to have a chorus girl ask, “Where i{s my banner?"’ They are drilled as carefully as the men who handle the scenery, and so deftly do they manipulate the thousand and one breakable trinkets that an accident is al most unknown. In a production of this sort, loss and breakage are serlous, because many of the “props” cannot be replaced on this side of the water, and the artisans are at their wit's end when called upon to ‘“fake’ imitations of the originals American stage mechanics are masters of tr.ck “props,” such as animals, automobiles and flying machines, but trinlkets like arms, fans, banners, crowns and pottery pecu- liar to certain countries are accu- rately reproduced by foreign manufac turers During mechanism have bheen choosing principals more the process of the selected of perfecting the production the actors and rehearsed. In for a spectacle the honors must be divided between men who will make merry and women who will dress the stage. At least two well-adver- tised beauties are deemed essential, while the number of comedians is limited only by the roles. The masculine members of the chorus are selected solely their vocal abilities, but the young women are divided into two classes—the workers and the show girls. 1he latter may have little or no ability as singers, but they must dress the front row and feast the eye by physical charms when arranged in groups The workers are the singers and dancers of whom less pulchritude is demanded The show girls try the soul of the prac tical stage manager, and he swears by the little girl with sharp features who has to be padded to fill a costume, but who never fails to lead her line whither it should go Rehearsals of the 300 actors go on simul- taneouely in as many halls as the manag~- ment can command. The ballet master has one large stage, the director of ensembl specialties another, the director who make a specialty of ragtime numbers a third, and the principals have a smaller hall all to themselves. Each director has his assist ants, varying in number from three to five and several pianists The work is practi cally unceasing—for the director, for ak'l¢ groups and rows are drilled separately, the director never His nasslstants are useful prineipally in keeping order and in drilling what might be termed the awkward squad Rehearsals for rests begin at 10 o'clock in the morning, and, with an hour's recess ot noon, last until 5:30 o'clock. Whenever a hall can be secured for the evening, they are resumed at 7 o'clock, the director mak- ing his announcement in the afternoon something after this fashion: “The ‘butterflies’ meet me at 7 o'clock at SECTION OF THE BUTTERFLY Lyric hall; the ‘mothe’ at 7:46. All of you report at 8:15." It is nearly midnight when the word of dismissal comes The amount of energy expended in one of these preliminary rehearsals is marvelous to behold. The dircctor in his shirtsleeves or, if the weather is cold, In a sweater takes the center of the stage and holas it with unflagging limbs and an ironclad volee all through the day and evening. One hear: much of the exhausted, heavy-eyed youn women who are undergoing the drilling process, but anyone who penetrates th darkened theater during a rehearsal wil stumble over young women in short skirts knickerbockers, shirt waists, dressing jack ets and every form of negligee imaginable practicing as if life depended upon it These young women have been dismissed temporarily by the director for rest, but so long as they are within reach of the mu sic they are in motion. Instead of sighs and complaints, one hears exclamations which betray their indomitable determinu- tion to win out. There i{s no hint now of glittering footlights and flashing spangies no impetus of applause, but they work with unflagging zeal. A rehearsal is a most businesslike pro ceeding. There {8 no system of fines. Few regulations exist. Every actor knows that lack of attention, tardiness or frequent absence means a curt dismissal. There is no court of inquiry, and no apologies are accepted. If a girl wants to hold her place she shows this in actions, which mean more to the manager than recommen- dations or press notices The children are rehearsed with the rest of the ballet. For them a matron is pro vided, who watches over them when they are waiting for rehearsals, and accompanies them from their own hall the large theater for the ensemble rehearsa’s Ensemble rehearsals are not held until each section of the chorus has been thor- oughly drilled by f{ts director For in stance, the chorus of a certain ragtime specialty was rehearsed separately for six weeks hefore the principals joined in the to work. When at it each section is ready for a full rehearsal they fit together like clockwork and each group or chorus I8 so perfectly trained that it is not confused by those who come before or after The dress rehearsal is the occasion which tries the soul of every participant, from managers to humblest stage hand The preceding rehearsals may have bheen al most perfect, but small defects will crop out at the dress rchearsal until every man, woman and child is fairly on edge with nervousness This rehearsal frequently lasts until the esrly morning hours, when the company is dismissed to the day, reporting in t opening performance As for the managers, the stage directors and the ballet master, there I8 neither rest nor sleep for them until the verdict of th public is heard. An investment of $200,00 is practically at the mercy of the few hun dred who gather to see the curtain roll u; the first time on the imported spectacle gleep during me to dress for the night at Early Day Freighting (Continued from Fourth Page.) una'med or resign their positions. Ther¢ is one man in Nebraska who acted for an Omaha company for several years who carried a revolver on every trip and never had occasion to draw it from its holster The prineipal camping place for trains getting ready to 1eave Omaha was a point near the corner of Twenty-fourth and Cuming streets, where creek ran toward the river, and there was grass in abund ance From the camp the wagons would come town for their loads, and then to start on the long journey across the plains. | The first camping place on the road was at Elkhorn creek, about twelve miles out of Omaha, and by stages such as these the BALLET REHEARSING trip was made through the eastern part of the state. Fort Kearney and Fort Stdney were the principal stopping places en route but the wise trainmaster never stopped near the station A journey across the plains was much like a voyage at sea to the men engaged, and when they came across humankind they were, In their re- joicings, lkely to go to excess. Many a day has been lost to the company after one of these orgles, and to avold them ‘vas one of the chief duties of the trainmoster The worst part of the journev was after the reached the “sand hills* Thes¢ hills stood hare bald knobs encireled with ever-shifting sands when the wagon trains moved along the valleys between them. In these valleys the sand was so deep that the wagons settled to the hubs of the wheels, and at times it would become necessary to attach half of the oxen in the train as train to one wagon to pull it out of the sand. Here moving w.s slow and difcult One man endeavored to reduce the time between Omaha and Denver by using mules instead of oxen. When he reached the sand hills his wagons sfuck: his mules sank to thelr knees and refused longer to pull, sn that he was compelled to wait until a fol- lowing train arrived to pull him out of the sand. This ended the attempt to use mules on the overland trail With the bullding of the Union Pacifie the old trall was bhroken up, but a few vears later the hauling of freight from the Missouri river to the Black Hills started On this route mules were used to advan tage the sand was not so deep. The “Conestoga’ wagon had gone from the Iand, but In all other respects the work was much the same. The construction of the Elkhorn road to Valentine threw the freighters further west, but it was not un- til1 after 1885 that the raillroad finally drove the last vestige of the old Overland trall and freighters from the state of Nebraska a8 Carpenter’s Letter (Continued from Sixth Page.) any of the ports of the west, hut so far the western ports are getting the trade. You can go by boat from Rotterdam to the Rhine and by canal to Paris. You ean also go to Vienna by way o* the Rhine, the Main and the canals into the Danube and thenee on to the Black sea, or you ecan connect by canals with other rivers which will take you to almost any part of north- ern Europe. Among the canals projected are some connecting the Elbe with the Danube and also the Oder and the Vistu.a with that river, so that in the future it will be possible to send our goods to almost any part of Europe by water. FRANK G. CARPENTER. The Strength of the coffee you buy adds to its value in the cup. Lion Goffee comes to you fresh and of full strength, always in sealed, air-tight packages. Bulk coffees lose their strength, deteriorate in flavor, and also gather dirt,