Part 604: Elk’s Temple Theatre in Detroit, 1908
Yesterday, I explored the creation of a drop curtain by Sosman & Landis for the renovated theatre at the Elk’s Temple during the 1908. Here is another interesting article on the opening after the completion f the renovation during July 1908.
Here is the article published in the “Detroit Free Press” on July 26, 1908 (page 7):
TEMPLE THEATER; INTERIOR BEAUTIFULLY DECORATED, READY TO CHARM AND AMUSE
Richly Trimmed in Ivory and Gold, Soft Blues, Massive Mirrors, Hanging with Massive Cords and Tassels, Cosy Little Playhouse is One of Most Magnificent in the Country.
“Tomorrow afternoon will be thrown open to the public one of the most exquisitely, beautiful interiors ever designed to delight a Detroit audience when the Temple theater after having been closed to its patrons for three weeks will be reopened to the thousands of men, women and children who have come to look upon this pretty little play house as one of their weekly haunts.
But if the Temple has for years been one of the most attractive spots to the pleasure-seeker in quest of a few hours diversion, it has in the last three weeks become much more than that – the ideal of the artists and the skill of the decorator has been combined to produce here as a charming an effect as could well be imagined. In ivory, gold and varying hues of soft old blue, the spirit of the Italian Renaissance has been wrought out with marvelous success. The William Wright Company, responsible for the conception and execution of all this dainty, bright, buoyant one-harmony has achieved no small triumph in what they accomplished in the Temple theater interior. If the contention of those philosophers be true, who say that the moral tone of a community is elevated when it is provided with pure beauty in its public buildings, then this little playhouse since it has been converted into a symphony of blending tones ought to expert a happy influence upon the thousands who frequent it every week.
A symphony of color.
It’s difficult to make a pen picture of the effect that long hours f planning on the part of his decorators have produced. From the very light blue and cloud effects of the dome with its heavy escutcheons in gold to the ivory walls with their gold-capped pilasters, to the deeper Italian blue of the brocatelle hangings with their massive cords and tassels, and from these to the still deeper tones that soothe with they vivify.
The very spirit of the Renaissance, especially as it expressed itself in Italy has been reproduced here. The sense of blithe, gay freedom, the genius of the joy of living, the protest against gloom and somber thought is expressed in form and color. The whole place sings with gladness and care-free serenity. That is what the Renaissance means and no thing more fitting could have been devised for a place where thousands go in quest of laughter and song. This spirit of joy greets one as he enters the vestibule, it grips him as he passes into the foyer and bursts upon him in the stream of soft light and subdued color as he finds himself in the theater proper. The walls of the vestibule have been treated in metallic effects finished in soft green mosaic glaze and same scheme carried out in a higher key in the green and ivory of the ceilings with the heavy gold cornices and the Renaissance torches with their crystal globes.
Boxes Elegantly Furnished.
The foyer with its exquisite lights, its heavy rich gold ornamentation, the blue and ivory walls and deeper blue carpets is full of the promise of gaiety that lies behind the gilded arches. As for the massive doors fashioned of bars of thick gold across their heavy plate glass and great laurel wreaths wrought out in burnished gold, they form one of the most striking details that has been added to make up this elegant interior.
These swinging doors lead to the boxes which it is safe to say are unsurpassed for beauty of furnishing anywhere in any playhouse in the country. The daintily designed chairs made on an old, renaissance model are of heavy gilt, the hangings, of thick Italian brocatelle are caught back with cable-like cords of blue silk finished with mammoth tassels.
In the mezzanine boxes, the hangings are a deeper velvet – deeper than the very light tone of the domed ceiling, not so deep as the low keyed blue of the carpet.
New Drop Curtain.
Beyond all this the proscenium arch a mass of burnished gold and set within like a picture in its frame is the new drop curtain – a splendid thing the product of Sosman & Landis scenic studios in Chicago. It pictures an old Italian garden, the spirit of the joy-seeking Renaissance caught here in every other part of the theater. Here too the predominating note is blue with only the suggestion of green in the foliage and a hint of old rose in the costumes of the grand dames, which lend the desired touch of life to the stately old garden. It’s all brightly beautiful and happy thought and ideal as a playhouse should be, and proves with subtle insistence that those responsible for it are artists in a very substantial and satisfying sense.”
Here are the two pictures that were included with the article:
To be continued…
