Travels of a Scenic Artist and Scholar: The Austin Scottish Rite, a theatre within a theatre
Rick Boychuk and I met at the Austin Airport on Friday, June 13, 2018, for the League of Historic American Theatres national conference that would begin on Sunday, July 15. By that evening, Boychuk was streaming live on Facebook from the flies of the Austin Scottish Rite theater. He was accompanied by FB friend and local IATSE stagehand, another history buff who occasionally works for the Austin Scottish Rite – Frank Cortez. Braving excessive heat, the two navigated three galleries above the stage, two of which date from 1871. Fortunately, I wore completely inappropriate footwear and had to stay on stage level, conversing with the director of the space and looking for hidden treasures.
The Austin Scottish Rite was originally constructed in 1871 and opened in 1872 as a Turner Hall for the German social organization Turn Verein (pronounced toorn –fair – ine). This group was similar to the SOKOL halls in America for the Czech-Slovaks; each organization provided a home for immigrants to socialize and celebrate old world traditions. The Turner Hall members congregated to study the German language, celebrate exercise and carry on a variety of revered German customs that included musical performances and theatrical productions.
The Scottish Rite in Austin has a very convoluted history that is intermingled with the Ben Hur Temple of the Ancient Arabic Order of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine; too complex to discuss at this time. What is significant about the Austin Scottish Rite theater is that in 1914 the Masons retrofitted the 1871 Turner Hall for their degrees productions. This was a common practice for Scottish Rite Masons throughout the late nineteenth century as the renovated cathedrals, synagogues, and even a previous pork slaughter house, included theatrical stages, auditoriums, dressing rooms, properties areas and other performance spaces to produce Masonic degree work. This historical practice of the Fraternity is covered in many of my past installments.
I previously visited the Austin Scottish Rite during the fall of 2016, after the photo shoot for the Santa Fe book. My desire to have Boychuk look at this particular venue was due to the artistic provenance and my understanding of used stage scenery in Masonic theaters. My research suggested that a portion of the Austin scenery collection, and possibly the accompanying stage machinery, was purchased used from Guthrie, Oklahoma, and installed in Austin during 1914 or 1915. However, early communications between a theatrical manufacturer and two Austin Scottish Rite Bodies commenced in 1912. So, lets look at some of the facts that surround the transformation of a German social space into a Masonic performance space.
In 1910, the Guthrie Scottish Rite bodies began enlarging their Scottish Rite stage in the original building. This is not the massive complex that is a popular travel destination today. The enlargement of an existing stage occurred in a variety of Southern Jurisdiction Valleys, including Little Rock, Arkansas; Wichita, Kansas; and McAlester, Oklahoma. The original 15’ x 30’ scenery for the Guthrie Scottish Rite was replaced with new scenery measuring 19’ x 36’ in 1911.
Although enlarging scenery was a commonplace practice for growing Scottish Rite Valleys, the regalia and paraphernalia supplier (M. C. Lilley) did not recommend an alteration of the original scenery due to the amount of fabric and labor needed to enlarge the entire collection. This was solely a sales tactic to sell new merchandise, as I own a Scottish Rite collection that was enlarged from 14’ x 28’ to 20’ x 40’; it was certainly possible to do without making it noticeable from the audience.
Going back to the Austin Scottish Rite story. The Guthrie Bodies acquired their 1900 Scottish Rite scenery collection for approximately $7,500. This same scenery was returned in 1910 to the same company that sold it to them – M. C. Lilley – for a $1,400 credit on their purchase of new scenery. Around this same time, negotiations with the Austin Scottish Rite began, even thought the final purchase of used Scottish Rite scenery would not occur for a few years. This is the same year that the Santa Fe Scottish Rite was being completed. Both projects were contracted by M. C. Lilley & Co. of Columbus, Ohio, and all scenery and stage machinery subcontracted to Sosman & Landis. This was a very solid partnership with the western sales representative for M. C. Lilley, Bestor G. Brown, and the president of Sosman & Landis, Joseph S. Sosman, being well-known Scottish Rite Masons.
Many of the technical specifications for the new Santa Fe Scottish Rite lighting system were recommended for the Austin Scottish Rite, carefully described in a series of letters exchanged between the Valley of Austin and M. C. Lilley. Tensions were high as the Valley of Austin did not understand the complexity or the skill required to produce and install a Scottish Rite scenery collection, complete with an entire counterweight rigging system. The negotiations for the used scenery and the communications with the architects could be a book in itself – or a fabulous doctoral dissertation.
To be continued…
