Copyright © 2019 by Wendy Waszut-Barrett
On September 1, 1915, Thomas G. Moses wrote, “I went to Pittsburg to set up ‘Fall of Antwerp.’ We were behind with our work and I had to allow them for two performances. I settled for $1,300.00.”
I have never understood the public’s fascination with horrific events. It is even difficult for me to read about natural or man-made disasters, because I feel as if my entire being absorbs the sorrow, and I feel utterly helpless. This post was especially difficult write, as we know the duration of WWI, and how long it took for the United States to help. America stood on the sidelines, watching in fascination. We even created a scenic spectacle about the Antwerp’s destruction. Only a few years prior to Antwerp’s fall, my grandfather left to city to sail to America, hoping to
The final siege of Antwerp began on October 9, 1914, as German artillery weakened the city’s fortifications and the city fell. Here are two links for more information about the historical event for context of the stage spectacle: https://www.britannica.com/event/Siege-of-Antwerp-1914 and https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/59426/wwi-centennial-fall-antwerp
By Oct. 11, 1914, American newspapers reported, “Press Bureau issued the following at 12:10 p.m. yesterday: – The War Office announces that Antwerp was evacuated by the Belgian forces yesterday.” The London “Observer” stated, “Antwerp has fallen. The Belgian Army has succeeded in slipping out, and the town is now practically undefended. Great damage has been done to the city by shellfire and incendiary bombs. Many public buildings are badly injured, among them, is said, is the Cathedral. There is much rejoicing in Germany. German official news, received by wireless, states that many German vessels, including a number of large liners and some Rhine streamers, were blown up before the Belgians evacuated Antwerp. This followed the Dutch Governments refusal to allow the refugees to escape in them by Scheldt waters. We publish several stories told by refugees from Antwerp, including one by a lady doctor who had charge of a hospital there. On the battle line in France the Allies are holding their own, and north of the Oise they have gained considerable advantages” ” (11 October, 1914, page 7).
This historic event soon became a stage spectacle that toured American theatres. Unlike the WWII newsreels, this was more like the Johnstown Flood attraction at amusement parks across the country. Baltimore’s Garden Theatre advertisements announced “The Fall of Antwerp” as a new vaudeville spectacle. The production promised, “An unusually good vaudeville bill with a scenic production depicting ‘The Fall of Antwerp’ as the top liner and many other excellent numbers” (23 March 1915, page 4). Within six months of Antwerp’s devastation, Americans were watching a “realistic electrical reproduction of ‘The Fall of Antwerp’ (The Times-Tribune, Scranton, Pennsylvania, 20 April 1915, page 15). The vaudeville spectacle was advertised as “the greatest electrical scenic war spectacle of modern history” (Tribune, Scranton, Pennsylvania, 19 April 1915, page 14). The “Times-Tribune” described, “Raymond O’Malley and George M. Cohan, scored unusually big at the opening day performances. The act is staged in splendid style and is one of the season’s best. ‘The Fall of Antwerp’ is a marvelously well presented novelty. The scene represents the Belgian city by day. When night comes, the attack of the Germans is shown. Houses are fired and the town is soon reduced to smoldering piles of debris.”
“The Bridgeport Times and Evening farmer” reported, “Realism in stagecraft attains its perfection in the mammoth production of the Fall of Antwerp which is featured in the big bill at Poli’s the first half of this week. Not a motion picture, but a most realistic spectacle requiring a carload of scenic and electrical effects, the Fall of Antwerp, is an absolute novelty in stagedom. The beautiful city is pictured in trueness of detail as it stood before the siege. Beautiful electrical effects show twilight fade into dusk as the moon and stars appear. There comes a roar of a distant cannon. A whirr of Zeppelins forewarns the aerial attack. The sky becomes afire and airships drop bombs and the aerial batteries answer the attack from above. A bomb hits the oil tanks and they blow up with a thunderous report, scattering fires to all parts of the neighborhood. The climax is reached as fire sweeps the city, razing the buildings left intact throughout the fusillade of shells. An interesting lecture by Miss Margaret May Lester, who recently returned from the stricken city, accompanies the spectacle and adds much to its interest. In addition, there is a big bill of vaudeville and photoplay features.”
While reading about this particular spectacle, I could not help thinking about other spectacles that depicted tragic events, such as the Flood of Jamestown and the Eruption of Mount Vesuvius. Both of these disasters had been popular attractions at Coney Island, as well as featuring the scenic art and illusion. For the Eruption of Mount Vesuvius, the audience was transported across the sea to the shores of the doomed town, as they waited at dawn for the destruction that would soon rain down on the sleepy town and into the sea. The Fall of Antwerp combined both water and fire effects for the war spectacle, using tried and true illusions. The scenic art and stage machinery was a fine-tuned product manufactured at the Sosman & Landis studio by this time.
To be continued…
