Moses painted scenery from Pennsylvania to the Pacific Coast during 1890. One of his many theater projects was in Altoona, Pennsylvania where he worked in 1888 for Louis Plack’s Mountain City Theatre. Located on Eleventh Street and Twelfth Avenues, it opened in February, 1888 with a production by Emma Abbott’s Opera Company. Plack managed the theatre until it was destroyed by fire on March 5, 1889. This was to be the first of Altoona’s many theatre fires. Plack then built the Phoenix Block, a business building, on the Mountain City Theatre site. By 1906 the complex was remodeled to include the Lyric Theatre. This building was also destroyed by fire on February 24, 1907. Again, it was rebuilt and subsequently named the Orpheum Theatre, the Embassy Theatre, and then the Penn Theatre.
It was also in Altoona during 1888 where Moses reconnected with Perry Landis while each was hoping to secure the same scenery contract with J. T. Baltzell and Charles B. Rouss.
They were the owners of the Eleventh Avenue Opera House. Moses and Landis’ chance meeting in Altoona resulted in Moses returning to the Sosman & Landis studio. He had originally left the studio to found “Burridge, Moses, and Louderback Studio.” In Altoona, Baltzell only awarded Sosman & Landis the scenery contract with the terms that Moses would paint all of the drops. Moses was a very well-known scenic artist by 1888 and would prove to be a valuable asset to Sosman & Landis. He had worked as a scenic artist all over the country and was greatly respected for his work after having been in the profession for 14 years by that point.
This background for Baltzell & Rouss’ Eleventh Avenue Theatre on Opera Block is worth mentioning as it was Altoona’s leading playhouse for a quite a period of time. It also parallels the construction Plack’s endeavor, the Mountain City Theatre that was undergoing a similar change about the same time.
The Eleventh Avenue Opera House was originally built in 1868 as a market house. In 1874 it was purchased by William T. Marriott and later sold to Rouss during the spring of 1888. Prior to Rouss’ ownership, however, a theatre had been constructed on the upper floor. It was Rouss, who practically rebuilt the entire building. The Opera House was four stories high, but only the upper portion was devoted to a theatrical enterprise. The reconstructed theatre opened on October 1, 1888 with an opening night performance featuring Mr. and Mrs. W. J. Florence in “The Mighty Dollar.” Baltzell & Rouss initially occupied the lower floor as merchants. A later tenant was the Imperial Dry Goods Company. The theatre itself was large, with a main floor furnished to include cane-seated chairs and a gallery.
The theatre’s first manager, E.D. Griswold, was succeeded by I. C. Mishler and Charles S. Myers as managers, who brought in many notable productions.
The Eleventh Street Theatre was destroyed by fire on June 14, 1907. A few months prior to its destruction, a law passed by the Pennsylvania Legislature prohibiting the use of any but a ground floor for theatrical purposes, ending this property’s use as a theatre.
Ok. So those are the two theatres outfitted by Moses in 1888. For Plack’s he was representing his own studio and for Baltzell & Rouss’ he was representing Sosman & Landis. Why was he back in town during 1890 and what were the two theatres that he was working on?
There were two theatres that were being planned simultaneously in 1890, the East Side Theatre and the World’s Museum. The East Side Theatre, later the home of the Frohsinn Singing Society (German Singing Society), was located on Ninth Avenue and Twelfth Street (1108 N. 12th Ave.) The building was completed in 1891. The hall was located on the second floor and had a seating capacity of 1000 people. During the first few years it was regularly used as a theatre with Cloyd W. Kerlin as the manager and Fred Schneider as the manager of home theatricals. The East Side theatre was also mentioned as the location where the installation of Grand Lodge Officers for the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania was on Feb. 3, 1914 (Proceedings, 1914). So the Freemasons continued to use this venue too.
The other theatre that would have been in the planning and construction phase during 1890 was the World’s Museum in the Woodcock Arcade on Eleventh Avenue near Fifteenth Street. It was completed in 1891 and was in operation until it was leveled from fire on January 30, 1893.
The only other possible commercial entertainment venue candidate would have been the Eden Musee, Menagerie, Curio Hall and Theatorium, located at Green Avenue and Eleventh Street. It opened on September 5, 1892 by Harry Davis, manager of the Fifth Avenue Museum in Pittsburgh.
But seeing the Masonic use of the East Side theatre made me rethink my line of research. There was another potential venue where Moses painted scenery – the Masonic Temple or any of the many other fraternal spaces with small stages in Altoona. So what was being constructed in 1889-1890? The Masonic Temple. That will be my next post!
To be continued…
