Copyright © 2020 by Wendy Waszut-Barrett
In 1919, Thomas G. Moses wrote, “A large curtain for the Alvin Theatre, Pittsburg, gave me a good opportunity to display my knowledge of deep woods again.” Moses delivered the original stock scenery collection for the same venue in 1891.
In early September of 1891, Moses and Ed Loitz left Sosman & Landis’s main studio in Chicago, bound for Pittsburg. Their goal was to furnish all of the new scenery Alvin Theatre in the next two months. They completed the project on November 10, 1891.
The Alvin Theatre was owned by the actor named Charles L. Davis. Davis had made his fortune as a character actor, playing a New England rural farmer named “Alvin Joslin.” He originated in the 1860s and became quite popular.
Charles Lindsay Davis was born in 1848. At the time, his parents were touring with a theatre production. Davis entered the theatrical profession by the age of five and continued performing until 1889, when he retired to build the Alvin Theatre. After spending $225,000 on the endeavor, the Alvin Theatre was considered one of the finest theatrical house in America at the time. Moses described Davis in his memoirs: “He carried a band furnished with the best and most expensive instruments. He wore some fine diamonds. His vest buttons had diamonds in them. A $7000.00 watch was a novelty. He had a body-guard who was close to seven feet tall, while he was only five feet there. On day in Cincinnati while dining, his body guard approached him, begged his pardon for being late, and counted out to Davis thirty $1000.00 bills, and apologized for not being able to get the balance. The table was filled with traveling men and as they opened their eyes at $30,000.00, Davis coolly put it in his vest pocket. As soon as the meal was over, he slipped the money back to his bodyguard who got it back to the bank where he had borrowed it for an hour. Of course, on good security. Just a little advertising. Everyone talked about it. He had many little stunts like that.”
Davis passed away in 1900 at the relatively young age of 52 from complications that arose after a suffering from a severe attack of pneumonia. The “Pittsburgh Post-Gazette” announced “Charles L. Davis will be sadly missed and not alone at his home, for he was known all over the country and had hosts of warn friends. Pittsburghers have every reason to remember him with gratitude. He was instrumental in adding to the city’s attraction a place of amusement, and which remains an appropriate monument to his memory” (2 March 1900, page 4). The Alvin Theater was purchased in 1900 by Benjamin Keith. Keith rented the space to who began renting to Harry Davis. By 1905, the two expanded their partnership to include Pittsburgh’s Grand Opera House.
Little is known of the scenery delivered to the Alvin Theatre either in1891 or 1919. The technical information for the stage, however, was included in numerous Julius Cahn’s Official Theatrical Guides, beginning in 1896. The theater was located on the first floor and the proscenium measured 36 feet wide by 45 feet high, a sizable opening. It was 48 feet from the footlights to the back wall and 78 feet between the side walls. The distance between the fly girders was 50 feet, with 63 feet from the stage to the rigging loft. There were grooves for painted wings that could be taken up flush with the fly gallery and six traps in the stage floor. By 1901, the stage area appears to have been enlarged from 78 feet to 90 feet between sidewalls. All other technical specifications remain constant.
When Moses delivered the woods scene to the Alvin Theatre in 1919, he must have been flooded with memories from his first trip to the space. In 1891, his career was in the midst of shooting upwards. Business was booming and there was a long line of projects on the horizon. By 1919, it was almost thirty years after Moses first visited the Alvin Theatre. The world of theater was changing and there was no longer an endless demand of painted scenery. Although Moses noted the project offered an opportunity to display his knowledge of the deep woods again, it was a bittersweet moment.
To be continued…
