Tales from a Scenic Artist and Scholar. Part 959 – Musical Acts, 1917

Copyright © 2020 by Wendy Waszut-Barrett

In 1917, Thomas G. Moses wrote, “Another ‘Katz’ show, $1,050.00, and one vaudeville act from Brazee $300.00, and one from Banda Rosa for $445.00, a big act.”

Yesterday, I explored J. C. Brazee’s production of “The Honey Bees” with scenery by Sosman & Landis. Today I am looking at “Banda Rosa.” Moses was referring to  Signor Guiseppe Sirignano’s “Banda Roma” that toured the country with thirty-five musician and soloists during the early twentieth century.

Sirignano was later noted as “the former musical dramatizer of Ziegfeld and Fine-Arts Theatres, Chicago, and of the Banda Roma” (Des Moines Register, 9 Oct. 1918, page 10). Sirignano’s Banda Roma also performed music for silent films. For “Cleopatra,” his 15-piece orchestra played a special overture.

This brings up another type of client for Sosman & Landis – musicians. Many musical acts ordered decorative and distinct scenery for their touring productions.  This demand also drove a new aesthetic for the stage during the second and third decade of the twentieth century.  There was no need to have traditional scenic art provide the backing for a band, or musical vaudeville act.

Decorative painting of specialty fabrics became increasingly popular. Instead of providing a series of painted layers on cotton sheeting that suggested an exterior or interior setting, musical acts used a series of decorative layers that simply suggested a subject, and not realistically represented. There were no cumbersome bottom battens that stretched scenes taut, just fabric suspended from any system. In many ways, this type of painting was intended to work with fabric that would bunch.

The painting of fabric was popular at many new firms, such as the Service Studios, the Fabric Studios and Acme Studios in Chicago.  Studio sales books began to include an increasing number of these decorative scenes for clients. The use of stencils created an interpretive view for both exteriors and interiors.  These soft goods were easy to transport and hang. Many were even interchangeable. 

The downside was that this type of painting was that it altered the type of labor required to staff a shop; these projects did not require the same skill set as those realistically painting a subject.  The use of repetitive patterns and stencil work was quickly taught and did not necessitate years of study or training. Aspects of the scenic industry became a craft, with many projects requiring artists with minimal skill sets.

I look at some of the curtains with stylized donut-shaped flowers, hundreds of them throughout compositions, thinking about the basic instruction:

“Bob, they don’t need to be perfect, they just need to be little circles with dots in the center. Just do your best and paint as many as possible. Remember, it ships tomorrow.”

Foliage painting for stylistic scenes demanded very little from an artist. Instead of building up mass on a branch, there was just repetitive pattern. What once destroyed scenic illusion was now popular.

To be continued…