Start Spreading the News, I’m Leaving Today
Thomas G. Moses traveled to New York while working for David H. Hunt in 1894. The touring show was a production that replicated parts of the Midway Plaisance from the Columbian Exposition. In New York Moses met up with the actor and producer William Haworth (1860-1920). Haworth needed a scenic artist to design and paint the scenery for his new production “On the Mississippi.” Two years earlier, Moses, A. J. Rupert, Harry Vincent and Frank Peyraud had all worked together to create the settings for Haworth’s production “A Flag of Truce.” Moses was a well know commodity to Haworth. He closed the contract for $3,000, today’s equivalent of $83,000.
This was NOT a job secured through Sosman & Landis. Moses wrote that on his return to Chicago, he leased the frames at the Schiller Theatre where he immediately went to work on the project. The show later opened at the People’s Theatre on February 4, 1895, in New York and immediately went on tour across the country. “On the Mississippi” was advertised with ”a wonderful panorama of gorgeous spectacular effects” (Quad City Times, 27, Dec 1895, Page 1).
It was another perfect opportunity for Moses to paint what he did best – landscapes. The production was set in the Walden Mountains of Tennessee. The action took place during the “villainous Reconstruction” period after the Civil War. The plot involved the Ku-Klux Klan and their attempts to execute an innocent man. Haworth played the leading role.
During this same time, Moses made another contract with Thomas Prior in Chicago. Prior was now the manager of the Schiller theatre. He offered Moses the position of scenic artist at his theatre to paint the weekly opera sets for $50.00 per week, the equivalent of approximately $1400. This was in addition to working for Sosman & Landis and painting the Haworth scenery. Prior had worked for Dr. F. Ziegfeld as the assistant manager of the Trocadero, before the venue promoted vaudeville acts and Ziegfeld Jr. took over. Prior was familiar with Moses and his painting from when he created scenery for the Trocadero.
The Schiller Theatre was in a 17-story building that opened in 1892. It was originally funded by German investors to be used for German-language operas and cultural events. The building was designed by Louis Sullivan and Dankmar Adler of the firm Adler & Sullivan for the German Opera Company and had a 1,300 seat house. It was briefly known as the Dearborn Theater from 1898 to 1903, until finally settling on the name Garrick Theater. The building was demolished in 1960 and replaced with a parking structure.
And this was the turning point for everything. Moses wrote “Sosman and Landis did not think I had given them a square deal. They thought that I had made so much money during the summer that I didn’t care to do any more contracts. To show me they were game, they gave me a contract for $1,500.00 to fit up the Masonic Temple Roof Garden. They didn’t want to let me go entirely. I pleased them on this work.”
So, Moses was drumming up enough business for himself that he was now competition for Sosman & Landis. He was an expensive employee, but they need to keep him close so they offered the two electric scenic theatres that would grace the top of the Masonic Temple on Randolph and State Streets (see past installment # 264).
Each electric scenic theater was designed with a seating capacity of 75. The first theatre replicated the Columbian Exposition’s “Court of Honor” as viewed from the agricultural building, looking northwest. The second theatre featured “A Day in the Alps” from the Columbian Exposition’s Midway Plaisance, presenting an alpine scene that transformed from dawn to dusk. Moses used the Academy of Music’s paint frames to create another “Day in the Alps” show (for more information on this production, see installments # 262-265).
Regardless of the Masonic roof top scenery offer, Moses was getting restless. Some of it was financially based, as he knew of potential profits just out of his reach. Until this point, he was working for Sosman & Landis, but also received much of their subcontracted work such as the Temple roof theaters. I think the creation of the west side studio, or Sosman & Landis annex studio, was to kill two birds with one stone.
The first was to ensure that Moses remained associated with Soman & Landis; having all work funnel through them. This prevented Moses from becoming even further competition. He worked only so many days on Sosman & Landis projects each week. The remainder of his time was spent on subcontracted projects in the annex studio or elsewhere. I believe that Moses began to realize this situation was much more beneficial to Sosman & Landis than himself. He would leave the studio by the end of 1894 and strike out on his own – again.
To be continued…
On a separate (and artistic) note:
The front curtain created for the Schiller Theatre used a unique design that I have only encountered for Scottish Rite theatre’s under Thomas G. Moses’ supervision as head of the paint studio. It used decorative slits, such as those still hanging at the Tucson and Grand Forks Scottish Rite Theaters, as well as the one remaining at the City of Winona’s Masonic Theatre.
