Another section of the article “Well-known Drop Curtain in Philadelphia Theatres” discusses the drop curtain painted by Russell Smith for the Park Theatre in 1889. The venue at 701-705 N. Broad Street near Fairmont Avenue opened that year. A description of Smith’s curtain was published in “The Philadelphia Inquirer on Dec. 18, 1894:
“Another beautiful curtain from the brush of Russell Smith is the handsome “drop” at the Park Theatre. Painted in 1889. The scene is an ideal one, and represents the Water Palace of the Princess Agiroum, a remarkable character described by that celebrated traveler, Marco Polo. The lower border of the curtain is ornamented with seven medallions, representing personages and scenes taken from the plays of Shakespeare, while in the lower corners are square panels showing the masks of comedy and tragedy. The same bright coloring, fleecy clouds, glorious autumnal tints to foliage and trailing vines, exquisite flowers that seem to exhale a delicious fragrance all their own; the opalescent waters of the lake reflecting back the images of the gondolas that float on its placid bosom, beyond Moorish-looking palaces, back of which rise in majestic grandeur the craggy peaks of high mountains tinted with the richest of coloring. All of the decorations and furnishings within this popular playhouse are in keeping with the artistic taste displayed in the painting of the curtains and it is custom here, between the acts, for the ladies as well as gentlemen to leave their seats and wander about the beautiful lobby.”
The building was designed by John Bailey McElfatrick. The architectural firm of J. B. McElfatrick & Son was chiefly known for its theater designs. By 1896, the company advertised that they were responsible for the design and construction of seventy-one theaters in New York, Washington, D.C., Massachusetts, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Ohio, Georgia, Alabama, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Missouri, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, Michigan, Nebraska, Washington and Texas. They also designed theaters in Canada. Started by John Bailey McElfatrick, his two sons soon joined the business. John Morgan McElfatrick (1853-1891) and William H. McElfatrick (1854-1922) became architects to establish J. B. McElfatrick & Sons. John passed away in 1891, but his brother William continued as an architect throughout the remainder of his life, continuing the family business after his father passed away.
J. B. McElfatrick (1826-1906) is credited with designing over one hundred theaters over the course of his career, changing audience expectations of the physical structures. Born in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, he studied architecture and engineering with his own father Edward McElfatrick. By 1851, J. B. soon started his own architecture business in Harrisburg, and then established his business in to Philadelphia. From there, he continued to journey west, opening offices wherever he moved to on his journey – Cincinnati, Cleveland, Chicago, and St. Louis. He finally returned to New York where he ran the main firm.
His focus on theater design began in approximately 1855. It was a subject that would remain his specialty throughout the duration of his career. Architectural historians cite his innovations concerning auditorium seating and the implementation of ground-floor performance venues. In the 1917 publication, “Modern Theatre Construction,” Edward B. Kinsila wrote, “The greatest individual strides in American theatre construction have been effected through the personal endeavors of a single architect, Mr. J. B. McElfatrick of New York City, who should be revered as the Father of American theatres.”
Kinsila’s publication describes that in the 1880s American theaters were designed and constructed in a similar manner to their English prototypes; specifically, they shared a comparable subdivision of main floor seating. The American use of “parquet” and “parquet circles” were the equivalent to the English use of “pit” and “stalls.” He notes that they both shared the “same lyre-shaped balcony, the same stage projection or apron, and the same extravagant and distracting ornamentation.”
McElfatrick, is credited with improving the sight lines by arranging continuous front-to-back seating on the main floor, without, and balconies that were flatter and deeper.
He also greatly reduced the “projecting apron,” a common nineteenth-century stage feature at the forefront of the stage. In terms of another significant characteristic of McElfatrick’s theater designs is the placement of the theatre on the first floor of a building. His designs also included multiple exits, sprinkler systems, and improved dressing rooms. For more information about McElfatrick, see past installment 333.
To be continued…
