Month: July 2017

The “Eruption of Mount Pelee” was another one of the models destroyed in the fire in the Harley Merry studio. This Coney Island disaster spectacel opened only two years after the actual event killed 30,000 people in 1902. Architects Essenwein & Johnson designed a structure to hold the “Mont Pelee, the Last Days of St. Pierre” production. Measuring 225 feet by 150 feet, it was the largest amusement structure on Coney Island and employed over fifty individuals to create attraction, many of who were electricians and mechanics.

A hundred and sixty thousand tons of water was used for the production on a stage measuring 160 feet by 90 feet. The audience’s viewpoint was from that of a spectator in a boat off shore. The production opened with an exquisite view of Tampa, Florida, depicting peaceful waters in the bay. Ships and yachts sailed by as daylight gradually transitioned into a glorious sunset. Soon it was dusk and twinkling lights illuminated windows at seaside resorts. Finally the stage was obscured by darkness. Travellers now journeyed all the way across the ocean and were transported to the island of Martinique.

The attraction used a brand new technology with a radium curtain that brought about realistic darkness while the change from open sea to the island of Martinique took place. During their travel they experienced a savage storm at sea with lightning, flying clouds, surging water and rain.

Arriving at Island of Martinque, they were just in time to witness an amazing sunrise and the warm glow spread over the red-tiled roofs in the unsuspecting city. The audience’s “boats” came even closer to the shores of Martinique and the city’s buildings continued to increase in size.

The clouds surrounding Mount Pelee soon begin to darken and ominous rumblings are heard in the distance. Suddenly, fire shoots upward from the mountain and streams of molten lava pour down the mountainside. Masses of rock are hurled through the air, igniting homes as they land. Flames sweep throughout the city and steam rises from the harbor as anchored ships begin to smolder. This horrific scene gradually becomes obscured with black smoke.  As the smoke resides, the scene has changed and the audience now witnesses a devastating view of mass destruction. It was said to be an impressive disaster spectacle!

I had to wonder why the models in Merry’s studio that depicted attractions on Coney Island were the work of Harley Merry or the studio renters E. Van Ackerman and J. Katzer. If we consider the models to be the work of Ackerman, it would be a natural extension of their sideline business that produced both photographic backings and stereoscopic cards. It appeared that Ackerman Bros. was the epitome an early twentieth scenic studio’s attempt to diversify, providing all kinds of painted scenery for various venues.

It the models were part of the studio contents left by Merry it would also make sense as he had died only four months before. Merry’s scenic art and designs had already transitioned from simple stage productions to scenic realism spectacle and film by the turn of the twentieth century.

To be continued…

The January 6, 1911 issue of the Brooklyn Eagle that noted the destruction of “Old Harley Merry’s Studio included destroyed contents included the completed scenery for “The Real Girl,” “Class,” the original models for “The Johnstown Flood,” “The Eruption of Mount Pelee,” “The Deluge” and twenty-two other similar productions.” I realized that these were well known attractions at Coney Island!

Visual spectacles thrilled early twentieth century crowds, allowing visitors an escape from their everyday lives. In addition to the standard amusement park attractions with exotic animals, freak shows, and carnival games were disaster attractions. Visitors would pay to witness emulations of the death and destruction caused by the Jamestown flood, the volcanic eruption of Mount Pelee, the San Francisco earthquake, the Galveston flood, the Fall of Pompeii, the naval battle of the Russo-Japanese War, the Boer War, the Fall of Adrianople, the War of the Worlds, the Battle of Merrimac. There were others that didn’t depict a specific event, but just capitalized on horrific situations titled “Fire and Flames,” “Fighting the Flames,” “Hell Gate,”” End of the World,” and others. These amusements put viewers in a front row seat to relive the death and destruction with vivid dioramas and elaborate technical productions.

The Johnstown Flood show (1902-1905) was an attraction at Luna Park on Coney Island. It had initially made its success at the Pan-American Exposition in 1901, along with “Trip to the Moon.” Both attractions were transported to Coney Island.

On May 31, 1889, a dam near Jamestown, Pennsylvania collapsed and flooded the valley with twenty million tons of water. There was virtually no escape as everything was destroyed in its path and 2,209 people lost their lives. An article from “Snap Shots on the Midway” advertised the Johnstown Flood attraction as “a scenograph, the logical evolution of the cyclorama, the diorama and the scenic theater, accomplishes the illusion, which is set on an ordinary stage and is in reality a performance in pantomime, where all the actors are what would be called in stage parlance, “properties.”

The Johnstown Flood show began with Memorial Day activities, a mere twenty-four hours before the disaster with an army processional crossing a little bridge in the bustling town. As day progressed and lights gradually appeared in residential windows as the stage darkened to dusk. Trains move across the line of vision as the moon gently ascended from the horizon. Night waned and sunrise broke forth on the morning of the disaster. As the hours passed, the wooden foundation of the dam wss undermined by the trickling of the waters from the rivulets feeding the lake of South Fork (fourteen miles away). An avalanche of water was launched down the Conemaugh valley, sweeping away five thousand inhabitants of Johnstown. The article continued, “An electric storm is made to burst in the stage picture before the arrival of the deluge, when the afternoon of May 31st, 1889, was innocent of water from the skies, but under cover of the darkness and in fitful gleam of vivid lightening the spectacular effect is heightened and is convincing. The cry of the talker: “‘The dam is burst!’ his relation of the wild ride of Johnny Baker, a ride between flood and a horse, between life and death, the loss of the horse and the death of the noble boy, comes with startling effect.

Fire then breaks out in the debris about the stone bridge. Hundreds of dead and other hundreds of living are imprisoned there. They are burned to a crisp. The Catholic Church, the field hospital, also breaks into flames. The rescued perish there. Then the fire dies away and the scene darkens. The turn of a hand measures the time of the change coming with the light which shows Johnstown as it is today, rebuilt and flourishing.”

The Buffalo Times (May 4, 1901) issue published that the Johnstown Flood “scenograph” for the World’s Fair was created by the artist E. J. Austen. Austen was noted “the foremost cycloramic artist of the world” and assisted by a large staff of noted artists, chief among who were Charles A. Corwin, Frank C. Pepraud and Herbert V. Brown. In producing the marvelous mechanical effects, E. S. Shea of New York had a prominent part, being the “originator of many devices now being used in the prominent theaters of this and other countries.” Herbert A. Bradwell, the electrician also stood out at the head of his profession producing novel effects, many that had never been seen before. Bradwell, advertised as a specialist in illusions and a constructor of electric and scenic shows, was located at 28 Lexington Avenue, New York.

In 1906, “The Deluge” replaced the Johnstown flood in the same building. This attraction enacted the story of Noah and the flooding of the entire world. During the final 1908 season, changes were made to the finale include an earthquake and fire in addition to the flood.

To be continued…

Four months after Harley Merry’s death his old studio was destroyed by fire. I find this fascinating as the story reads like a mystery. The January 9 issue of the Brooklyn Daily Eagle reported a substantial loss for the current occupants.

It published, “The Harley Merry scenic studio in Franklin avenue, near Malbone street, in which the scenery for many of the greatest dramatic productions was painted, was destroyed by fire today. The entire contents of the building, including the completed scenery for one production and the partly finished scenery for another play, was lost. The building loss is estimated at $3,000, while the loss of the contents will amount to $10,000. The building and contents were uninsured. The fire was discovered at 10:30 o’clock by Michael Stabile of 27 Coffey street, who, with Frederick Snell of 8905 Fifth avenue, was in the building at the time.

Stabile was in the cellar under the studio when he heard a noise which sounded like the drop of a heavy weight. He ran up to the second floor, and as he opened the door leading to the stairway a cloud of smoke burst into his face. He called for help and a policeman sent in an alarm. Batailion Chief O’Hare, who was in charge of the fire engine companies to arrive, feared that the fire would spread to the adjoining building, which are all of frame construction, and to the Consumers Brewery across the street, and he sent in a second alarm. Six engines and two truck companies were soon on the scene, but the fire was beyond control and their efforts were devoted to saving surrounding property.

The roof fell an hour after the fire was discovered. Ten foremen were in the building when the roof tottered and were warned by the call of Deputy Chief O’Hara. All escaped before the roof collapsed. The flammable nature of the contents and the high wind are given as causes for the building’s rapid destruction.

The building was originally used as a scenic studio by E. J. Britton, retired actor and scenic artist, who painted under the name of Harley Merry. After his death last September the building passed into the hands of his daughter Mrs. George Kennington. It has recently been rented as a studio to E. Van Ackerman and J. Katser.”

I wondered about the history of these recent renters, Ackerman and Katser.

Ackerman sounded familiar to me, so I checked my scenic artist database. I only found a very brief notation about P. Dodd Ackerman, so I started searching newspapers from the period. In 1897 E. Van Ackerman painted a new drop curtain for B. F. Keith’s Union Square Theatre, depicting a “handsome interior with a view of a drawing room and distant conservatory” (New York Times, Dec. 8, 1897, page 4). He also painted the scenery for “The Privateer” at the Star Theatre with P. Dodd Ackerman. In 1913, he designed “Mlle. Modiste” at the Globe Theatre.

I then found an advertisement in 1913 of “E. Van Ackerman, Scenic Studio, successor to P. Dodd Ackerman.” This suggested a split in the partnership, or possible death. The advertisement also noted that the studio was established in 1890. He advertised services for the painting and building of productions at 1576-1578-1580 Bushwick Avenue, Borough of Brooklyn, New York City. It also noted that Ackerman’s studio was only “Thirty Minutes from Broadway.” The “Ackerman Bros. Scenic Studio” had been at the same location, yet the advertisement in Gus Hill’s theatrical directory was from 1914, a year later. This was curious. Ackerman Bros. Scenic Studio, however, mentioned their production of Motion Picture Theatre Settings.

As I examined the production history for both E. Van and P. Dodd, they primarily functioned as a scenic artist and scenic designer, respectively. I was more familiar with P. Dodd as he had numerous entries of designs in the Broadway Database (https://www.ibdb.com/), being listed as a designer for ninety-one productions from 1897-1939. His career really took off in 1908 and I had to wonder if his success as a scenic designer caused the two partners, possibly brothers, to briefly part ways. Obviously, their time apart was short-lived as E. Van Ackerman’s rental of Merry’s studio could have only been for a few months. Maybe the disaster and lack of insurance has caused E. Van and P. Dodd to partner again?

Comparatively to P. Dodd Ackerman, E. Van Ackerman had only two productions listed in the Broadway database – 1897 and 1927. That was a thirty- year separation and he had almost a non-existent paper trail for theatrical productions. Very little was published about E. Van Ackerman’s scenic art or designs, but in 1927 he designed the setting for “Tia Juana,” a melodrama at the Schubert Playhouse. The November 5 Morning News (Wilmington, Delaware) reported, “The Company is capable, the scenery elaborate, and there are no dull moments” (page 13). Ackerman’s design for the show was built by the Vail Scenic Construction Company.

In the Old Harley Merry Studio fire during 1911, the newspaper article noted, “The contents included the completed scenery for the production of “The Real Girl,” a musical comedy which is to be produced on Broadway within a few weeks, and also the partly finished canvas for the farcical comedy, “Class,” which also has a Broadway booking.” I have been unsuccessful in finding that either of these productions was finalized. The article also noted “The loss of these two sets is estimated between $6,000 and $7,000.” That would have been a heavy loss at the time.

I then read the last line of the article and experienced butterflies in my stomach. It read, “The studio contained the original models of the “Johnston Flood,” “The Eruption of Mount Pelee,” “The Deluge,” and twenty-two other similar productions.” I knew those productions! But they weren’t Broadway shows – they were disaster spectacles for Coney Island! Maybe E. Van Ackerman’s focus had been producing attractions for amusement parks. They could also have been Merry’s work left over from previous years; items that had not been cleared out of the studio before the renters arrived on site.

To be continued…

Harley Merry secured employment at the renovated Brooklyn Atheneum after being dismissed from the Brooklyn Theatre. Merry painted settings for the venue that included four sets – a parlor, kitchen, wood and garden scene. He also painted a new drop curtain with an Italian scene. The stage carpenter from the Academy of Music (Jonathan Newman) made the alterations to the original space from 1853. One noted improvement in the August 12, 1874, issue of The Brooklyn Daily Eagle (page 3) was that Mr. Newman introduced “a sliding beam, or derrick, which can be rolled in and out through the back wall of the building, near the roof, to the end of which a tackle is rigged sufficiently to hoist up from the ground a weight o several tons. This will obviate the necessity of carrying pianos, heavy baggage and other unwieldy objects up the front stairs, as has heretofore been necessary.”

Merry also painted and performed for the Brooklyn Academy of Music (located at 176-194 Montague Street). He participated in a benefit of the Szegedin Fund at the Brooklyn Academy of Music in a production entitled, “Forty-Niners, or the Pioneer’s Daughter; A Tale of the Great Sierras.” Merry performed in the cast with Adelaide Roselle (Mrs. H. Merry), Josey Brittain (Merry’s daughter, Josephine), and T. W. Hanshaw (Merry’s travel companion to London in 1874). An advertisement noted, “The scenery will be entirely new, covering thirty thousand square feet of canvas, painted by Harley Merry (at his Flatbush Studio) and from sketches made by him in the Sierra Mountains.”

He had an extensive career painting for a variety of venues throughout New York and the eastern region. Here are a few highlights from his career during the late nineteenth century. In 1883, Merry primarily worked from his studio in Flatbush. There, he putting the finishing touches on the drop curtain that measured 27’ x 48’ for a Passion Play. The drop curtain composition was titled “Jerusalem is Holy, noted” in Hebrew characters on the frame. Gold-trimmed crimson draperies surrounded the composition. A second layer of blue draperies included a lily pattern to suggest the verse “Judah shall bloom like the lily.” The exotic composition depicted a seated priestess, sphinx, a tall censor of gold and blue marble, clouds of purplish smoke, papyrus, palm trees, and Egyptian harp, a Jewish psalter, Oriental horns, and an Egyptian scroll. Above, the angel of peace and cherubs ringing golden bells floated high above the cross. His painting was noted as a success.

In 1884 Merry created the scenery for a new Romantic spectacle entitled, “The Devil’s Auction” that was described as a “Dramatic Pantomine and Terpsichorean Artists” with the Grand English Ballet from the Alhambra, London. It Music Hall, the production for a cost of $20,000. Merry entered various partnerships over the years, including one with Henry E. Hoyt in 1888 to create scenery for the new comic opera, “The Queen’s Mate” at the Broadway Theatre.

The same year “Getz, Merry & Reid” was formed and were credited with painting the scenery for Wm. J. Gilmore’s “The Twelve Temptations.” This was extensively advertised as “a scenic, ballet, and pantomimic spectacle.” The settings included sixteen full stage pictures with a moving panorama that cost $35,000 to produce.

By 1892 Merry was painting with John H. Young and creating a new scenery installation for the Columbia Theatre. Merry focused on the stock sets while John H. Young primarily the front curtain. An article in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle noted that the 2,000 electric lights illuminated the new stage (Feb 14, 1892, pg. 20). Merry again joined forces again with John H. Young in 1894, for James W. Harkins, Jr.’s “A Man Without a Country” at the American Theatre (New York Tribune, Sept 23, 1894, pg. 19). The creation of the scenery also involved Lafayette W. Seavey and Frank Rafter. In 1895, Harley Merry, Joseph Clare and E. P. Dodge created the settings for Springer & Welty’s revival production of “The Black Crook.”

In 1897 Harley Merry, John H. Young, Walter Burridge, Richard Marston and Homer Emens produced the scenery for Margaret Mather’s production of “Cymbeline.” An article in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle (September 28, page 7) commented that the group was noted as the “foremost scene painters of their time. They are artists and not mere grabbers after striking effects by cheap and easy means, and that in this instance they have presented a picture of the first century which is well worth seeing.”

In his later years, Merry became a collector of pictures and a “student of art,” residing at 949 Franklin Avenue. He passed away in 1911 and a September 3 issue of the New York Times reported, “Harley Merry, a well-known scenic artist and forty years ago the well-known actor, died yesterday at his home, Avenue Z and Ryder Avenue, Brooklyn, from causes due to old age.”

Merry’s wife passed a mere three years later. Her obituary was published in “The Sacramento Union” (No. 59, February 28, 1914). It noted, “Louise M. R. Brittain, widow of E. J. Brittain, known as Adelaide Roselle to theatre goers of a generation ago, who was the first woman of English birth to take out naturalization papers here died yesterday at the home of her daughter in Flushing, aged seventy years. Mrs. Brittain was leading woman with Edwin Booth, William H. Crane and John McCullough.” Her stage name was noted as Adelle Roselle Merry in The Sun (NY, NY), June 9, 1914 page 9.

To be continued…

Both Ernest Albert and Walter Burridge worked for Harley Merry at his Brooklyn Studio. Burridge started in 1870, just prior to Merry’s involvement with the Brooklyn Theatre. Albert started in 1877, after Merry had been let go from his position at the Brooklyn Theatre.

Merry was well-known as both a performer and scenic artist in England and Scotland. His birth name was Ebenezer J. Britton, and he performed with his wife Louise M. R. Britton (1844-1914). There is some confusion about the spelling of their last name as historic records use both Britton or Brittain. Louise used the stage name of Adelaide Roselle, and also later Adele Roselle Merry.  She was a fairly successful actress, having performed with many well-known personalities, including James O’Neil and William Crane. Merry first traveled to the United States in 1869, permanently moving his family by 1871.  He initially worked in  New Orleans and Chicago before settling in Brooklyn, New York, where he became associated with the Brooklyn Theatre and Academy of Music. He produced scenery for a variety of well-known actors and producers in New York, including Conway, Sothern and Marlowe.

Merry became known for his painted illusions and spectacular stage effects the included the 1872 production “The Son of the Night.” It was advertised as a “Grand Marine Panorama and Sea Fight between the Pirate and the Spanish Fleet, painted expressly by Harley Merry, covering 5,000 square feet of canvas” (The Brooklyn Daily Eagle, Vol. 33, No. 287, pg. 1). He also provided all of the new scenery for “The Naiad Queen, or the Mysteries of the Lurleiburg,” a production that ended with “the grand transformation scene [that] designated the Silver Temple of Brilliant Plummage in the Elysium of Air Songstresses” (The Brooklyn Daily Eagle, vol. 33, No. 135, pg. 1). This design was dedicated to Conway “as a farewell souvenir” prior to Merry’s departure for London. He returned the following year and resumed both his acting and artistic career, performing as Mr. Barnaby Bibbs in the farce, “The Quiet Family.”

From 1871 until 1874, Merry designed for Conway at the Brooklyn Theatre. The company had initially performed at the Park Theatre, but early in 1870 Kingsley, Keeny and Judge McGue (who owned the property on the corner of Washington and Johnson Streets) decided to build a theatre.

The Brooklyn Theatre was designed by the architect T. M. Jackson and opened on October 2, 1871 with the comedy “Money.” We know much about the history of the theater from an article published after its fiery destruction in 1876. The Brooklyn Daily Eagle described the interior and those who contributed to the ornate structure during its 1871 opening (Dec. 7, 1876, pg. 2). Five years later, a horrific fire took the lives of 238 individuals when the scenery quickly ignited during a performance of “The Two Orphans.”

The paper recorded that “one of the pieces of canvas out of which trees and so forth are made was broken from its fastenings and hung from the flies immediately over the border lights near the center of the stage. The canvas had begun to smolder and the paint on it to crackle, and the carpenter was directed to ascend to one of the grooves and remove the dangerous object. He could barely reach it with his hand and he drew it hastily up. The rapid motion through the air of the half ignited and highly inflammable canvas, caused it to burst into flame which rapidly spread to the adjoining material, equally susceptible. All efforts to extinguish the flames were aborted, and the carpenter had to retire to save his own life.” Although the actors became aware of the fire, they continued to play their parts, hoping it would pass. This makes me wonder how many fires spontaneously occurred during performances at that time. History records that Mr. Studley, Mr. Farren and Miss Claxton went on with their parts even after flames became distinctly audible. However, sparks began to show overhead and the “unmistaken crackle of fire was heard. Then an ember dropped to the stage, and the canvas which formed the roof of the hut in which the scene was enacted burst into flames.”

Miss Claxton was reported to have crawled over the heads of audience members to later escape. There were 1,200 people in the house before panic ruled and bodies became crushed in the corridors.

Luckily for Merry, he was no longer painting for the venue. His position as scenic artist was terminated upon his return from London in 1874. This incident is an interesting story in itself, one that probably altered his perception of the industry, stage managers, and the artists’ need for representation. Merry brought action against the Brooklyn Theatre’s stage manager Edward F. Taylor. He was attempting to recover $5,000 in damages, stating that Taylor had procured his discharge by false representations that he made to Mrs. Conway of the Brooklyn Theatre. A February 19, 1875, article in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle reported, “Harley Merry, late scenic artist at the Brooklyn Theatre, has begun an action through Messrs. Carson & Hirsch, against Edward F. Taylor, stage manager for having procured his discharge by complaining to Mrs. Conway that he neglected his duties” (page 4).

I thought back to Merry’s involvement in establishing the Actors’ Order of Friendship and the American Society of Scene Painters, specifically their complaints against stage managers. Did his involvement all stem from this particular incident?

UPDATE: Since my initial posting, I have been in contact with Merry’s descendants. Here is a wonderful article about the the Merry’s stage name:

https://heritagefound.com/tag/http-heritagefound-com-harley-merry-lousia-rowe-merry-article-ancestors-with-multiple-names-a-case-study-of-an-19th-century-theatrical-family/

To be continued…

Ernest Albert was also involved in the establishment of a nineteenth-century theatrical organization called the American Society of Scene Painters. On June 26, 1892, the Pittsburg Press noted that that this movement was “first put in motion” by Harley Merry – a mentor of Albert’s. Its membership included some thirty of the most prominent and representative men in the profession. The author of the article further wrote, “The objects of the society are to promote the artistic and practical efficiency of the profession, and consolidate as a whole the dignity of the profession hitherto maintained by the individual artist. Practical reforms in the conduct of the professional business are anticipated.”

Organized in Albany, New York, the executive staff included Richard Marston (Palmer’s Theatre), Henry E, Hoyt (Metropolitan Opera House), Homer F. Emens (Fourteenth Street Theatre), Sydney Chidley (Union Square Theatre), Harley Merry (Brooklyn Studio) Brooklyn and Ernest Albert (Albert, Grover & Burridge).

On July 2, 1892, the Chicago Tribune (page 4) published, “The prominent scene painters in New York have organized under the State law to promote the artistic and practical efficiency of their profession. Their new combination is known as the American Society of Scenic Painters, and they promise that many reforms will result from their united efforts. Their chief grievance, however, borders on the unique, and the scenic painters have adopted an effective way of remedying it. The members of the organization, particularly those who work by the job, as is the case with the best of them, claim that the stage manager is their worst enemy. They say that scenes are set nowadays not with painters direct, but in accordance with the off-hand wishes of the managers, and accordingly much of the most artistic effects of the scenes are lost by the failure to properly display them.

The plan of the new organization is for its members to accept no work from the theaters except on an agreement that the scenes are to be set exactly as they dictate. Harley Merry planned the organization, and among its officers are Richard Marston, President; Henry E. Hoyt, Harley Merry, and Ernest Albert, Vice-Presidents; Homer F. Emens, Treasurer, and Sydney Chidley, Secretary.

Merry was also involved in another theatrical association – the Actors’ Order of Friendship. In 1888, the New York Tribune (Dec. 16, pg. 5) reported Merry’s involvement in the AOOF as the group sought to protect the American actor against foreign competition. He and others instigated a discussion among leading theatre managers nationwide and sought to alter foreign contract labor laws.

The AOOF is often considered to be the first “theatrical club” in America, founded in Philadelphia during 1849. The Edwin Forrest Lodge in New York quickly became the dominant branch of the organization with 187 members by 1890. Joe Jefferson even donated a library to the branch’s 47th Street location where the order met in a residential home. Like many nineteenth-century fraternal orders, it also provided benefits to members and their families if they became incapacitated. The AOOF Shakespeare Lodge of Philadelphia came in as the second largest branch with approximately 30 members. In 1888 an AOOF committee composed of Merry, Louis Aldrich and Frank Sanger not only brought the order to Washington, D.C., but also sought to pass an amendment to the foreign contract labor laws.

A newspaper article noted that there were over 300 dramatic companies that employed about 4,500 professional actors, “who, with their dependent families, may be estimated at 20,000 persons, all looking for their support.” At the time numerous companies played at leading theaters with troupes completely composed of foreigners, brought over by contracts made in Europe. The AOOF complaint was that foreign contracts were contributing to the unemployment of more than 1200 American performers and that they were seeking an amendment of the Foreign Contract Labor Law.

Merry, Aldrich and Sanger appeared before Congressman Ford’s Investigating Committee in Washington D.C. and asked for an amendment that would bring all foreign actors, except “stars,” under the provisions of the statute. New York’s “The Evening World” (Dec. 15, 1888, pg. 2, NY, NY) published that “Actors, managers, agents and everybody connected with the theatrical business in any manner, are discussing the matter at the Rialto, at the dramatic agencies, in the Actors’ Fund rooms, and in the hotels and resorts on ‘the Square:’ and there is but one sentiment among theme – that the foreign actor who comes over here under contract made in Europe must go.”

The order gave rise to the later Actors’ Fund of America, just as the American Society of Scene Painters gave rise to a later Protective Alliance of Scene Painters of America formed in 1895. It prevented stage employees from handling any scenery except that painted by members of the Alliance, stirring up excitement among English managers. George Becker, Moses Bloom, Harry Byrnes, Sydney Chidley, James Fox, W. Crosbie Gill, Frank King, Richard Marston, Harley Merry, John A. Merry, Thomas G. Moses, Arthur Palmer, Seymour D. Parker, Frank Platzer, W. T. Porter, Adolf T. Reinhold, John Rettig, John W. Rough, Horace N. Smith, Orville L. Story, Howard Tuttle, A. G. Volz, Harry Weed, and David W. Weil were just a few of the participants actively involved in the establishment of the alliance.

On April 3, 1896 members gathered in the lodge rooms at 153 West Twenty-third St. for the installation of officers. Six trustees were installed representing New York, Boston, Pittsburg and Buffalo with corresponding secretaries from San Francisco, Cincinnati, Boston, Milwaukee, Chicago, and Philadelphia. During the meeting, the following statement was recorded: “If George Edwards brings a shipload of scenery from England to America he will not be able to get a scene shifter or carpenter in New York to handle it, and the orchestra will not even play slow music. For that matter, no piece of scenery painted by a non-union man will be handled in any of the large cities in this country. We have to protect ourselves against the hordes of fresco men who dabble for a farthing, and some of the managers who care nothing for the art, but only for making money.” They all banded together, but it was not a movement without condemnation and protest.

The American Society of Scene Painters, the Protective Alliance of Scene Painters of America and the Actors’ Order of Friendship were more than just benevolent societies, providing benefits and funeral services for its members. Each organization sought practical reforms in the conduct of their professional business.

To be continued…

After Albert, Grover & Burridge closed their studio in 1894, Ernest Albert returned to New York where he opened up his own shop – Albert Studios. By 1896, he moved to New Rochelle and continued an active scenic art career, producing stage designs for Booth & Barrett, Helena Modjeska, Edward H. Sothern, Julia Marlowe, William H. Crane, Nat C. Goodwin, Maxine Elliot, Fanny Davenport, Ethel Barrymore, Minnie Maddern Fiske, Klaw & Erlanger, and for Charles Frohman.

He was a prolific artist who designed 113 shows for Broadway between 1895 and 1919. New York venues included the Fifth Street Theatre, Casino Theatre, New York Theatre, Greenwich Village Theatre, Cort Theatre, Booth Theatre, Globe Theatre, Hippodrome Theatre, 44th Street Theatre, New Amsterdam Theatre, Grand Opera House, Longacre Theatre, Knickerbocker Theatre, Moulin Rouge, Astor Theatre, Jardin de Paris, Maxine Elliot’s Theatre, Weber’s Music Hall, Herald Square Theatre, West End Theatre, Broadway Theatre, Wllack’s Theatre, American Theatre, Liberty Theatre, Bijou Theatre, Hudson Theatre, American Theatre, Liberty Theatre, Majestic Theatre, Murray Hill Theatre, Thalia Theatre, Academy of Music, Weber and Field’s Broadway Music Hall, Berkeley Lyceum Theatre, Manhattan Theatre, Lyric Theatre, Victoria Theatre, Harlem Theatre, Criterion Theatre, Daly’s Theatre, Hoyt’s Theatre, and Theatre Republic. He also created the scenery for Ziegfield Follies productions in 1911,1912, and 1913. At one point, Albert had eight productions running simultaneously with scenery that he had designed and painted. Some of his more famous designs include “Ben Hur,” “Kismet,” and “Herod.”

In a 1913 issue of “The New York Dramatic Mirror, ” Albert explained his own design process for the stage in an interview with Arthur Edwin Krows. He began a design after receiving “a commission for a scenic investiture in a play. ” The artist was first called into a meeting with the manger and author. He noted that the author usually knew what he wanted and would make a simple sketch “with some angles to represent the walls of a room perhaps, leaving open spaces for windows and doors, and if his artistic education has developed since his previous play, with some queer marks to represent tables and chairs.” Albert continued, “So the artist receives his instruction, act by act, for four or five acts.” He also added that it helped if the artist actually read the entire play manuscript as the author might overlook important details. This was not standard for the artist to read the play, but Albert insisted on it.

After the initial discussions, the artist would refer to his extensive library of clippings, plates and descriptions of every conceivable thing that was relevant to supply the correct details. As an example, he explained spending six months researching the particulars of “Ben Hur” stating, “When the production went on, I knew the exact height of every arch and gateway in Jerusalem.”

Albert then explained that the artist made first sketches of the scene and then a half-inch scale model. The prevailing colors for the each setting were determined, specifically “the general tone of the act for which the set is used.” The completed model would be submitted to the manager and author for final approval. Adjustments were not made to the model, but careful notes were taken and filed away for the actual construction.

It was at this point that the carpenter was sent for to begin construction of the frames for various settings. He would take special care so that they could be readily handled when the set was struck for transportation, especially if the show went on the road. All scenery must be constructed to fit in a railroad car. Once the frames were constructed, the canvas was stretched over and sent to the paint studio. Typically, flats were designed to be folded, with the painted surface inward.

Albert explained that an artist’s function did not cease until the scenery was all installed and the lighting arrangements completed. He commented, “Lighting is within his province, just as groupings are in a measure. An unexpected orange light on violet, for instance, will produce a russet brown that will make everything look dirty. It is true that in the days of gas lighting much softer effects were possible, but I will sacrifice all of the advantages of mellow light for safety. I am a crank on fire regulation. It was very dangerous in the old days with the exposed rows of hot gas lights. It used to be amusing too, to see lights go out every once in a while when an actor would accidentally step on a soft gas pipe. Anyway, we are now avoiding many of the hard qualities of the electric light by greater use of ambers, straw colors, and pinks.” Wow. The artist controlled the lighting and this was still Albert’s standard practice in 1913.

Two years later, he designed a winter scene for the New York Hippodrome’s ice skating ballet under director Charles Dillingham. The painted composition was titled “Flirting at the Saint Moritz” and measured 243’ x 70’ for the attraction “Hip-Hip Hooray.”

Albert was the founder and the first president of the Allied Artists of America (1914-1920). By 1916, he moved to New Canaan, Connecticut, where he began to focus on fine art. His stage design output began to gradually decline. In terms of fine art, Albert initially specialized in autumnal and winter scenes, later focusing on still life subjects. He held exhibitions across the country in New York City, San Francisco, Chicago, and Los Angeles. Albert’s fine art credentials are quite impressive. He belonged to New York’s Salmagundi Club, the Player’s Club, the Paint and Clay Club, the Silvermine Guild of Artists (New Rochelle), the Connecticut Academy of Fine Arts (Lyme, Conn.), the National Academy of Design, the American Watercolor Society, the National Arts Club, and the Grand Central Galleries. He also belonged to the Chicago Art Association and the Chicago Society of Fine Artists, where he served as President.

Albert’s first wife Annie passed away in 1925, but he found love again and married Lissa Bell Walker two years later. He died in New Canaan, Connecticut, at the home of his daughter and is buried in Lakeview Cemetery (New Canaan).

To be continued…

Horace Lewis recalled a visit with Burridge in 1900 writing, “every object, from his devoted wife to the pictures upon the walls, and his den in the garret, is indicative of the genial, most modest nature and simple poetry of the man who finds his greatest wealth within that home.” Burridge was well liked by many, including Thomas G. Moses. Despite the ups and downs of their business relationships, this friendship lasted for decades.

In Chicago, scenic artists constantly swapped partners and painting positions. One might think that this would have caused strained relations in the workplace, but work was plentiful and life was good. Regardless of where they were employed, scenic artists also continued to escape with each other on numerous sketching trips across the country. After two failed business partnerships (Burridge, Moses & Louderbeck and the Albert, Grover & Burridge), Burridge started one more partnership that it may also have been short-lived. They painted “An American Heiress,” “New Blood,” and the new McVicker’s drop curtain that depicted the World’s Fair Court of Honor.

Burridge later received a solo commission to make sketches for Margaret Mahler’s production of “Cymbeline,” travelling to London for historical research. His accuracy for many of the notable scenes received praise. I wonder if the quality of his work eclipsed those around him, to the degree that maintaining any successful business relationship was difficult. He was obviously a strong personality, visionary and leader. These traits may have become challenging for any business partner.

By 1900 we know that Burridge was the Chicago’s Auditorium scenic artist. He was also engaged by Henry W. Savage to prepare the scenes for the Castle Square Opera Company at the Studebaker Music Hall.

Studebaker Hall had opened September 29, 1898 and was primarily used for popular music, meetings and plays. It was noted as exceptionally beautiful and acoustically superior. Originally, it had an arched proscenium like the neighboring Chicago Auditorium Theatre with 34 box seats across three levels. In its early days it was used for light opera by the Castle Square Company of Boston.

We also know that Burridge designed the scenery for the premiere of “The Wizard of Oz” at the Chicago Opera House. This production later moved to the Majestic Theatre in New York. A show with a tornado scene, the glittering Emerald City, a lovely all-girl poppy field and more! In looking at pictures of the original scenery used at the Grand Opera and Majestic, you can see some metallic foil strips glittering on the drops.

It reminded me of the foliage scene and metallic foils that I had encountered at the Wichita Scottish Rite during 2015 and the St. Louis Scottish Rite during 2017. Although both were used for Scottish Rite degree work, the designs were possibly intended for another non-Masonic venue.

The original “Wizard of Oz” program notes are as follows:

Act I
Scene 1: A Kansas Farm (Painted by Fred Gibson from designs by Walter Burridge)
Scene 2: The Country of the Muchkins (Painted by Herbert Martin from designs by Walter Burridge)
Scene 3: A Road through the Forest (Designed by Walter Burridge, painted by Fred Gibson)
Scene 4: The Poppy Field (Painted by Walter Burridge)

Scene 5: (Transformation) The Poppy Field in Winter (Painted by Walter Burridge)

Act II
Scene 1: The Gates of the Emerald City (Designed by Walter Burridge, painted by Daniels Scenic Co.)

Scene 2L Courtyard of the Wizard’s Palace (Painted by Walter Burridge)

This program and others are available online at the Chicago Public Library site. Here is the link: http://cdm16818.contentdm.oclc.org/…/Grand%20Ope…/mode/exact

Interestingly, images of a toy theatre model based on the 1903 production have recently posted online. Although it is not quite there stylistically, the compositions give you a sense of what Majestic audiences might have experienced. Here is the link: http://theozenthusiast.blogspot.com/

Burridge tragically died during a trip to Albuquerque, New Mexico ten years later, in 1913. He was visiting the area to make sketches for the upcoming 1915 Panama-Pacific Exposition. His funeral was at Grace Episcopal Church in Oak Park, Illinois. He is buried at the Forest Home Cemetery in a family plot that contains his wife Jane Anne (1860-1938) and son Walter C. (1886-1916). Jane Burridge lost both her husband and son in only three short years of each other.

To be continued…

The Beckwith Memorial Theatre of Dowagiac, Michigan, was built in 1892 for the cost of one hundred thousand dollars. Today’s equivalent would be $2,588,925.36! Albert, Grover & Burridge directed the plan and installation of all stage fittings, the wall decorations of the auditorium and painted décor throughout the entire building. This was a major extravagance for a small town that numbered less than seven thousand people.

Roger E. Greeley’s “Best of Robert Ingersoll, Immortal Infidel: Selections of His Writings and Speeches” (1977), includes a tribute delivered by Ingersoll to the beloved memory of Philo D. Beckwith. Greeley became intrigued with the history of Beckwith and his theater, a structure advertised as “the finest theatre in America.” I can see why as I am now fascinated with the story and the building too.

Beckwith Memoial Theatre was a sizable house that had a capacity to seat 700. There were 499 overstuffed mohair chairs with 170 in the balcony. For the grand opening, thirty-six hanging drops could be combined in various combinations for seventy-six set possibilities. These settings were all painted by Albert, Grover & Burridge. The size made me think of early installations for Southern Jurisdiction degree productions.

Beckwith was an interesting character, beginning his career as a manufacturer of an agricultural implement that improved the round seed drill. He then focused on the mass-production of cast iron wood-burning stoves and furnaces, founding the company Round Oak Stove. His business prospered and so did the town. Beckwith desired to construct a grand theatre for his bustling town. Unfortunately, he never lived to complete his dream and died unexpectedly in 1889. His family decided to complete his vision and build a fine theatre for his memorial, sparing no expense. Greely stumbled across a front-page story in the Dowagiac “Republican” from January 18, 1893. The article’s heading proclaimed: “The Beckwith memorial Theatre Building. The finest theater in America.” As I read the article, I thought of that Rick Boychuk emailed to me concerning the Crump Theatre. This article was intended to make its way to you, Rick.

Let’s start with an excerpt from the “Republican” article:

“It is the fitting and arrangement of the stage in the Beckwith Memorial Theatre, that the greatest care has been exercised to obtain the best possible results, and a great degree of success has been obtained. To go into technicalities and the use of stage terms would not be perhaps intelligible to our readers generally, so we will note only the main points. The stage is fifty by thirty-eight feet. Up to the gridiron, from which is suspended by an elaborate system of lines and pulleys all of the stage settings it is possible to use in the form of drop curtains, is fifty feet, allowing ample room for hoisting out of sight a whole screen in a few seconds, and allowing rapid changing of scenes so necessary to the continuing of the action of a play and effects are made possible that were unknown in the old days of sliding flats. To those acquainted with and interested in things theatrical and matters pertaining to proper stage fitting we think it is sufficient guarantee of the success of the stage to say that Albert, Grover & Burridge, of Chicago, had the direction of the stage fittings and the wall decorations of the auditorium and the entire building. Ernest Albert, of A., G., & B., under whose direction the art glass, colorings, the selection of draperies, and the furnishings of the theater were made, had succeeded admirably in producing the most beautiful and harmonious whole.”

The author credits all of the original designs used in the decoration to J. Frederick Scott and the drop-curtain to Oliver Dennet Grover, both of Albert, Grover & Burridge. Does this mean that Scott designed the building murals or the actual scenery? It remained unclear to me. Grover’s drop curtain was described as “a dream of loveliness. It was monumental in character with male and female figures and cupids representing the different elements of drama, in a Grecian landscape, where splendid temples set amid cypress and acacia backed up by the faint lines of distant hills from the background.” The image was published in volume fifteen of “Building Age” (Jan. 1893, page 267-271).

I also stumbled across another interesting statement about the Beckwith Memorial Theatre scenery in “W.A. Norton’s Directory of Dowagiac, Cassopolis and La Grange, Pokagon, Silver Creek and Wayne Townships” (1899). On page 159, the author writes, “The scenery is designed for the cyclorama effect which has been found so effective, and which was first used in the Auditorium in Chicago. By this arrangement a scene can be set as a street or garden by simply moving the scenes which are profiled on both sides and top, anywhere desired. Every set of scenery is a finished piece of art. It is, after the latest fashion, lashed together with ropes and is capable of being made into seventy-five distinct stage dressings.”

Scenes that are “profiled on both sides and tops” would be the leg drops. The cut opening would designate the street or garden scene with information painted on the leg drops. The various combinations of leg and backdrops would create incredible variety for potential stage compositions, all easily lowered to the stage floor for instant configurations. This was just like the new scenery for Scottish Rite theatres. There was no longer the complicated and noisy transitions of flats sliding in their respective grooves.

Norton’s Directory discusses the electric lighting for the stag, writing, “The problem of electric lighting of theatres has been solved in this house, by the use of a large switch-board, I which there are twenty-five levers, and nine powerful resistence coils. The lighting of the stage itself is exceptionally complete, four hundred electric lamps in three colors being utilized for this purpose.” Wow. Beckwith may be a significant “missing link” in the evolution of stage design, counterweight systems and lighting. This places Albert, Grover, & Burridge on the cutting edge of innovation and I couldn’t help thinking of the Electric Theatre spectacle title “A Day in the Alps” at the Columbian Exposition. This scenic spectacle utilized 250 electric incandescent lamps that were operated in full view of the audience with thirty-six switches controlling red, white, and blue lamps.

Albert, Grover, and Burridge were all close friends to Thomas Gibbs Moses. Numerous sketching trips were planned to capture lovely landscapes and improve their skills. In 1890, Albert and Burridge called on Moses as they were all in Pueblo, Colorado, at the same time. Moses was there for work and Albert and Burridge were on a sketching trip. Could they have discussed the Chicago Auditorium’s new scenery, the creation of an innovative painting studio, or any of potential technology waiting to be marketed to a variety of clients? There were so many ideas waiting to be explored and implemented across the country

The Beckwith Memorial Theatre stopped featuring staged entertainment in 1928. The building was demolished in 1966.

To be continued…