After painting the Alvin Theatre in Pittsburg, Thomas G. Moses briefly returned to the studio. Almost immediately he was sent back on the road again. This time, he traveled to Joliet, Illinois, for another painting project. Although the project is unidentified in his typed manuscript, I believe that Moses was in Joliet to create scenery for the newly constructed opera house.
In March 1891, the first Joliet Opera House was destroyed by fire. As in many towns, the owners wasted no time before rebuilding. The new opera house opened the following year in 1892 at the same location, on the corner of Chicago and Clinton Streets. Patrons entered the theater through the arched entrance on Clinton Street, just below the exterior stairs. A decade later, the Joliet Public Library was constructed on the west side of the opera house.
The original Joliet Opera House had opened in 1873 at a cost of $60,000. The venue hosted a variety of hosted a entertainments besides theater and opera. Other events ranged from burlesque shows to religious revivals. During the financial panic of 1873, the popular “Parlor Music Club” gave benefit performances to raise money for the city’s poor.
In the summer of 1890, an expansion project was unveiled to provide more seating and an improved stage area. The loss of the building to fire was blamed on the local fire and water departments. They were criticized as the fire department was slow to arrive on the scene and indecisive about handling their equipment. Furthermore, insufficient water pressure at the hydrants compounded the problem, making it almost impossible to fight the fire effectively. The local newspapers also reported that fire chief arrived long after his men, and then directed what little water was available to the wrong areas of the building.
A few city councilmen also criticized the fire department, saying that the men looked fine on parade or playing checkers, but some new toot little about extinguishing fires. Later an investigation committee reported that the fire department was blameless and the responsibility was placed on a pump at the waterworks that had lost vacuum and failed to provide sufficient water during the blaze.
The space for the new auditorium was designed by architect G. Julian Barnes, and built from local Joliet limestone.
Moses’ diaries record that one evening in Joliet he met an actor in their hotel. They took up scenic art as a topic. The actor was well versed and made a bitter attack on Sosman and Landis, saying that they only did small houses – nothing big. Moses replied, “I think you are mistaken, I know they did a number of theatres on the Pacific Coast and they are now doing the Alvin in Pittsburg.”
The actor didn’t know Moses and replied, “Oh! Well, they could only do a few as they only had one artist that could do them, and that was Tom Moses.” The actor only knew Moses by reputation. Moses played along and said that he didn’t think “Moses was capable of holding down one of those big jobs,” explaining that they were all done in the studio. The actor continued to stick up for Moses. He enjoyed it for a while, then handed him his card. In the end, the actor laughed and they both had a smoke on the joke.
To be continued…
For more information about the history of Joliet, see “Joliet” by David A. Belden.
