Part 367: “How Theatrical Scenery is Made,” 1898 (profile pieces, part 4)
An article depicting Joseph A. Physioc’s studio and his art was published in “The World” (New York, 6 March 1898, page 43). It provides some insight into the construction of wings and profile pieces at the end of the nineteenth century. Here is the fourth of four installments describing Physioc’s studio and his artistic process:
“The profile pieces or wings are painted after the carpenter has made the frames. He takes the designs and works out the best manner of making them strong and at the same time easily handled. Every thing must either fold up or roll up, and everything must be able to stand a strain and be light at the same time. In the hurry of scene changing and of loading and unloading, the scenery doesn’t receive the most delicate treatment.
The skeleton work is made of strips three inches wide by one inch thick, and the joints are all braced. The background for the painting is in thin pieces of wood covered with flimsy, loose-metal material, which is glued on and which makes it very strong. Over this the canvas is stretched and the painting is done. The foliage of trees is carefully sawed out, and this is tedious work.
It may be remarked that a tree is never made all in one piece. The profile piece ends some nine or ten feet from the floor. The upper part of the tree is a fly. They are joined together so that the division is not seen.
The making of these flies, which must be perforated, is rather delicate. Not having any background support the Russian linen would soon tear. Therefore the foliage is glued onto stout netting with rather large meshes, and this must be done carefully or the whole fly will be ruined.
There are ever so many more mysteries in Physioc’s studio. You can see there how locomotives, old fashioned clocks, logs, books and ever so many things that look true to life on the stage are manufactured. You can see how rocks and waving grain are cut up in nine-foot sections that look like nothing in nature when they are not in position on the stage. But nothing is quite so extraordinary as that little stage where the models are tested.”
Side note:
A touring production of “The Bonnie Brier Bush” opened at the Theatre Republic in 1901. It also had scenery by designed by Physioc. This production is listed in the Internet Broadway Database. There is additional information about this show, here is the link: https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-production/the-bonnie-brier-bush-5495
To be continued…
