Part 370: The Machinery of the Grand Opera, 1897 (third section)
Here is the last of three posts concerning “The Machinery of the Grand Opera” by E. F. Keller:
“This work, in any one of the heavy operas produced at the Metropolitan, requires the services of thirty-six stage hands. The entire force of men who work behind the scenes, out of sight of the audience, including property men and electricians and gas men, brings the number up to sixty persons. There are eight rows of border lights – namely, the lights across the stage behind the proscenium arch – and all of these, together with the remaining lights in the entire house, are worked from a single switchboard at the side of the stage.
Of “drops” – which are the pieces of canvas upon which the scenes are painted – there are over three hundred in use in this establishment. Of set pieces, such as wings, rocks, pillars, outlined trees, and other examples of profile work, there are probably more than one thousand. When the scenic artists and carpenters began to make these pieces they were numbered and indexed systematically. But after the total reached six hundred or more the numbering process was abandoned, so that there is no definite knowledge at present on that score.
The regular day force of carpenters employed as the Opera House numbers fifteen men, whose work consists of building new scenes and repairing old ones. In case there is a big production on hand, requiring entirely new scenery, this force of men is materially enlarged and often doubled.
Another exceedingly vital department is that which involves the manipulation of the light effects. This does not merely require a knowledge o the part of the operator as to whether the illumination in the auditorium or on the stage is at a proper height, but it also demands an intimate knowledge of the shades and colorings necessary to the production of atmospheric effects.”
Tomorrow we will continues with the life and times of Thomas Moses as he makes the decision to accept work in New York.
To be continued…
