Month: September 2020

Copyright © 2020 by Wendy Waszut-Barrett

P. Dodd Ackerman’s name appeared in dozens of newspapers across the country in 1921. On March 27, 1921, Ackerman was featured in an article entitled “Modern Tendencies in Scenic Vesting of the Theater” (New York Tribune, 27 March 1921, page 48).  The article announced, “‘The day of the trick scenic investiture of plays is over. The futurist, the cubist and other reactionary painters of scenery have had their day, short-lived though it was, and are passing,’ said P. Dodd Ackerman, one of the leading American scenic artists.” The article continued:

“Mr. Ackerman has served a long and interesting apprenticeship in the creation of scenery for plays that have made theatrical history during the last twenty-five years. He was educated in the Georgia School of Technology and had art instruction at the Julian School of Beaux Arts in Paris and in the Huffe School in Munich. Returning to this country he was first associated with the old Lyceum Theater, when Daniel Frohman was its guiding genius. Afterward he was employed at the Empire Theater during the regime of Charles Frohman’s immortal stock company.

“Branching out for himself, he forged to the front and to-day his work is being represented on Broadway by no less than five attractions, among them being ‘The Broken Wing,’ now running at the Forty-eight Street Theater.

Mr. Ackerman as early as 1912 saw the coming of the modern decorative art into the theater of this country, an art that had been in vogue for some time in Germany, Austria, Russia, and to a degree in France and Italy. Feeling that the time would come when scenic painting and theater decorations would respond to the modernist movement and, in order to be fully prepared when this movement came, he went abroad to study.

“The new method, which is a simple one, arrives at an effect that formerly required great quantities of scenery, but which could be done in more artistic and effective way with a few set pieces, some drapes and some new lighting effects,” says Mr. Ackerman.

“In the early days of the theater scenery was given no consideration in the production of plays. The ancient Greeks depended for their background on nothing other than what nature provided. Whether or not the audiences were satisfied with what the author provided through the medium of actors, leaving the scenic environment to be created through suggestion, has not been settled even to this day.

“In the course of time a backdrop, or a curtain, usually of a somber hue, was employed to keep the minds and eyes of the audience from straying further than the limits of the stage before them. From time to time a more adventuresome playwright and produces added a bit of decorative effect, and thus we trace the evolution of stage settings.

“Then came a period when great artists like Raphael, Watteau, Boucher, Servandoni and Stanfield were eager to accept commissions to execute theatrical scenery. Even so great an artist as Alma-Tadema in recent times contributed canvases to the theater that delighted the eye and helped materially in the successful production of plays.

“The interest in scenery became apparent and the desire for absolute fidelity of detail was made a condition precedent to the acceptance of a play by the public. The reaction gave rise to the freak movement in scenic decoration. The aesthetic in art has its admirers where the canvas is small and the galleries are frequented by those who are thoroughly conversant with its aims and are in sympathy with its effects. But not so in the theater, where the audience is a mixed one, recruited from every social stratum.

“The scenic painter’s art is as exact as that of a composer of music. There is harmony of color that is as punctilious as that of music. The jarring note in music offends the ear, the jarring note of color insults the eye. With music the interpreter is secondary to the work of the composer. The scenic artist providing the scenery for a play presents a product that is but a minor detail to the work of the playwright as interpreted by the actor. The scenic artist’s work, however, must lend itself and blend into the effects created by light manipulation, and any scheme of color or form that is not a mirrored reflection of nature falls short of the purpose for which the scenic artist was employed and detracts in consequence from the value of the play to the audience.

“What is the modern tendency in the theater so far as scenery is concerned? To my mind it is toward the modified background. The moment scenery gets beyond a background it becomes scenery, no more, no less – just painted canvas, Yet scenery can be colorful without offending the eye or detracting from the actor in his work in delineating the character he is called upon to play or interpreting the intent of the author by the intonation he gives the lines he is asked to speak.

“As regards the carrying to the extreme the perfection of detail, why not elect the spectator to become a part of the performance by permitting him to use his reasoning process in completing the detail mentally through the germ of suggestion of detail without carrying it out to the extreme? That has been the trouble with our reactionary scenic artists. They have made scenery and color the principle feature of the entertainment, leaving the story of the playwright and the acting as the background. In Europe the suggestion of effect, which is to mind the modern trend, has been held by the great stage directors and dramatists over there as more highly satisfactory and far better than a mass production. This has been created through the use of false prosceniums or, as they are termed in Europe, portals. Through this medium attention is centralized on the artist and not on the scenery.

“Another Modern tendency in the theater has been to delegate to the scenic artist authority to decorate the stage with the essential drapes, rugs, furniture, objects of art and other properties demanded by the play. This will result in a higher degree of the artistic in productions, eliminating the chance of offending those who have good taste.

“Another trend of the times is to improve the lighting of stage productions. Our present methods have made little or no advance from what was obtained when gas was the illuminant in the theater. Our modern footlights, even though electricity is employed, are scarcely one pace forward from what was used in the theaters fifty years ago. It may shock you to known that there is not a perfect theater in America to-day – that is, a theater that gives to such lighting the perfection it derives – and this is because the inadequate and antique appliances to be found therein. The only theaters in New York that in a way approach a proper equipment for lighting are the Booth, Century, New Amsterdam and Metropolitan Opera House. However, the new Sheridan Theater, which is soon to open, will be the first theater in New York where it will be possible to get any light effect desired. The system to be employed is obtained through a switchboard, where the light effects are all arranged beforehand and by merely touching a push button they automatically change as desired and thus colors will melt into each other, creating effects that heretofore have only been seen on the Continent of Europe.”

To be continued…

Copyright © 2020 by Wendy Waszut-Barrett

In the midst of both global and personal strife, P. Dodd Ackerman explored a new stage aesthetic at home and abroad.  Newspapers would later report, “Mr. Ackerman, as early as 1912, saw the coming of the modern decorative art into the theater of this country, an art that had been in vogue for some time in Germany, Austria, Russia, and to a degree in France and Italy. Feeling that the time would come when scenic painting and theater decorations would respond to the modernist movement and, in order to be fully prepared when this movement came, he went abroad to study” (New York Tribune, 27 March 1921, page 48). 

By 1920 Ackerman remarried and was on a different trajectory with new wife and young son in tow; he was becoming part of a theatre movement.

On May 1, 1921, the “New York Tribune” included an article about color theory for the stage, interviewing P. Dodd Ackerman (page 4).

“Colors Vibrate Same as Music, Designer Says” was the heading for the article.

Here is the article in its entirety:

“P. Dodd Ackerman Explains How Scenic Art is an Accessory to the Drama.

“There have been more radical changes in scenic painting for the stage in the last three years than in fifty years previous,” says P. Dodd Ackerman, who painted and designed scenery for “The Broken Wing,” now running at the Forty-eighth Street Theater.

“Where in the past color was thrown indiscriminantly on canvas and shadow lights were employed to give the outline of figure, all of which seemed to produced the illusion of naturalness, this situation no longer holds. Psychology, that science of mind which but a few years ago was understood by only the elect but to-day is understood by millions, has exerted an influence on the painting of scenery for theatrical use. It has brought about a realization that color affects human beings and synchronizes with human emotions if properly applied, and by this same token can create a disturbing element that makes for discord.

“Colors vibrate the same as music tones. The effect of color on the emotions of an audience is a subject that has long been a problem for serious study by the producer of plays, the costumer and the scenic artist. Why red should be the color to indicate danger or green safety no one knows, but still the fact remains that such is the case. Whether red, with its suggestion of fire, or green, of verdant fields, has anything to do with this still remains a matter of speculation. The emotional vibration sent out by red of the prismic ray is known to scientists to be the most powerful and excitiative, while the blue and violet are the most sedative. Lumière, the greatest of all authorities on color influence, after a series of tests covering many years, described the effects of color as the engine that propelled the various phases of human emotion to a perfect consummation of desired results.

“With the stage production reaching its present state of artistic perfection, the scenic artist can no longer paint his scenery merely to represent the outward appearance of the requirements in the manuscript. He must read the manuscript as carefully as the producer, who determines on his reading whether he is willing to make a presentation of it. The artist must make a serious and analytical study of the script and determine the predominating emotion of each act and choose his color scheme for the scenery in order to attain a perfect synchronization of color and emotion. By this means alone can a happy blending of scenery and dialogue, together with the acting of the company, produce the effect hoped for by the author and the manager to obtain complete success for their efforts.

“Speaking in an elementary way, for the purpose of providing simple experiments of color influence, the reader can easily determine the effect of amber in creating depression. By the use of pink exhilaration is promoted. A room done entirely in green simulates morbidity, while on the other hand blue is soothing. It has been discovered that the deeper and darker the tones of blue used as a decorative color scheme the more soothing and peaceful and cam is the influence on human emotion. Brown is a non-emotional color. It creates a sense of firmness and solidity. These suggestions can be utilized to as good advantage in home decoration as they have been in stage scenery. A sombre setting, with a flash of color, upsets synchronization of emotion, with the color scheme of a setting, just as awkward words clash in a musical score with notes intended to be complementary thereto.

“Lighting is so closely allied with stage settings that if there is not a unity of purpose between the two the audience gets the discord, which in this instance is unpleasing to the eye. In consequence thereof the play fails to satisfy and good acting is curtailed of effect.”

To be continued…

Copyright © 2020 by Wendy Waszut-Barrett

P. Dodd Ackerman married his first wife Margaret 1897. He listed May Ackerman as his second wife in 1918. Two years later, the wife that Ackerman listed for the 1920 census was Harriet Mary Smith (1890-1936). It is possible that Miss May Smith was Miss Harriet “Hattie” Mary Smith, but there is a discrepancy in age between the two. May Smith was a school mate of Ackerman’s daughter Emma. Emma was born in 1898. Miss Harriet Smith was born in1890; hardly the “child” that the newspapers during the 1916 scandal. In 1916, Harriet Smith would have been twenty-six years old. Interestingly, both Miss May Smith and Miss Harriet Smith worked as stenographers, but there was still the eight-year age gap between the two. In 1916, May Smith was either seventeen or eighteen years old, with P. Dodd Ackerman aged forty-one.

Harriet Mary Smith was one of two children born to Albion W. (1861-1924) and Anna M Smith (1861-1936).  She went by “Hattie” most of her life. The 1910 census listed that the Smiths had been married for 23 years, and their two adult children still living at home. Hattie was 20 yrs. old and her brother Arthur H. was 21 yrs. old.

In 1915, at the age of 25, the New York State census listed Hattie’s occupation as a stenographer, still living with her parents. She was not going by any name other than Harriet or Hattie at the time.

By 1920, Harriet was listed in the US Federal census as 30 years old; Philip was 43. As many women at the time, she ceased working after getting married. Ackerman was the sole breadwinner with “stage designer” listed as his profession in the theatre industry.

They couple celebrated the birth of a son, Philip Dodd Ackerman, Jr. in October 23, 1921. Philip Jr. passed away only two years ago in 2018. The same year that he was born, the elder Ackerman contributed to an interesting exhibit hosted by the N.Y. Drama League.  “Brooklyn Life” reported, “An interesting exhibit of stage scene models has been arranged by the New York Drama League to be held from Dec. 5^th to December 10^th at the League headquarters, 29 West 47^th Street. Among the contributors are: Robert Edmond Jones, Norman Geddes, Boris Anisfeldt, Joseph A. Physioc, Sheldon K. Viele, Willy Pogany, Claude Bragdon, John Wenger, Dorothy McDonald, Warren Dahler, Carmine Vitolo, W. Herbert Adams, Lee Lash, P. Dodd Ackerman, Edward H. Ascherman, Novelty Scenic Studio, and others” ( 3 Dec 1921, page 16). By this time newspaper article identified Ackerman as the “famous scenic artist, “that famous master of scenic art,” “master scenic artist” and “scenic genius”. The “Standard Union” added, “The novel ideas as to the lighting, stage setting, etc., which are being used on the stage to-day calls out much originality and individual work and should make the collection by these well-known designers of marked interest” (4 Dec. 1921, page 35).

This was a turning point for Ackerman. In 1920 On Feb. 29, 1920, Ackerman announced, “Work of the Scenic Artist Has Advanced Materially” (New York Tribune, 29 Feb 1920, page 34).  In an interview Ackerman was quoted, “Theatrical managers are now accepting designs from men who do not make the scenery…Ackerman does not believe in this and has come to be one of the pioneers in coming out against the practice. He believes that the man who is the artist, who is practical, who understands stagecraft and has education can do the type of work now required in the theater, although he has been a member of the old school of stage design.” The following year Ackerman was quoted as saying, “The day of the trick scenic investiture of plays is over. The futurist, the cubist and other reactionary painters of scenery have had their day, short-lived though it was, and are passing” (New York Tribune, 27 March 1921, page 48).

He was hanging with a new crowd; no longer part of the Thomas G. Moses and Lemuel L. Graham crowd. During the 1920s, the Ackermans were often in the company of stage stars and Senators. The attended many social gatherings, including the housewarming party for Mr. and Mrs. Alf T. Wilton, the well-known vaudeville representative (The Standard Union, 7 June 1925, page 7).

By 1923, Ackerman was also among an interesting group of studio owners who joined the Scenic Artist’s Union. On July 14, 1923, the “St. Louis Star and Times” reported, “Joseph Urban. Robert Law, P. Dodd Ackerman, Joseph Wickes, Joseph Physioc, Frank Gates, Walter Harvey, Evna Ackerman, Walter Street, William Castle and Edward Morange are among the scenic studio owners recently joining the Scenic Artists’ Union. Robert Edmund Jones, Lee Simonson, Livingston Platt, Norman Bell-Geddes, Cleo Throckmorton and Watson Barratt will join. The action follows the failure of the International Theatrical Association to back up studio owners” (page 4)

By the 1925 NY State Census, Harriet was now listed as “Mary” S. Ackerman, suggesting that Harriet also went by her middle name, with the “S” signifying her maiden name of Smith. Most often, however, Harriet went by “Mrs. P. Dodd Ackerman.”

The 1930 US Census listed the couple living at 20 Circle Drive in North Hempstead, New York, with Harriet’s mother, Anna Smith” and their nine-years-old son Philip Jr.

Harriet passed away on Aug. 1, 1935, at the age of 45. I have been unable to uncover any information about the cause or circumstances.  What makes this confusing is that another Harriet Ackerman, born in 1893, who died in 1936 was buried on Nov. 13, 1936 in Green-Wood cemetery

To be continued…