Tales from a Scenic Artist and Scholar. Part 1188 – Thomas G. Moses and the Memphis Auditorium, 1924

Copyright © 2021 by Wendy Waszut-Barrett

In 1924 Thomas G. Moses wrote, “During July, we had a number of designs to make.  We closed an $18,000.00 contract at Memphis for the Civic Auditorium; very big drops and asbestos curtains.”

This was the new Memphis Municipal Auditorium in Tennessee. The facility had been in the planning stage for quite some time, with early committees forming in 1912. By 1919, the architect’s drawings were published in local newspapers. The idea was to not only build an amphitheater that could accommodate eleven thousand people, but also design one that could be converted into an opera house that could accommodate between two-thousand and seven-thousand audience members. There would be a stage, orchestra pit, tickets offices and all other requirements for a modern theater. The first public gathering of the auditorium was on June 3, 4, and 5, 1924 for the United Confederate Veteran’s Reunion. Although the building was not complete, visitors were able to gather in the main auditorium. The formal opening was on October 17, 1924 with two free concerts conducted by John Philip Sousa, one in the afternoon and one in the evening.  Dedicatory exercises as part of the evening’s entertainment.

The auditorium was located in downtown Memphis on the corner of Poplar Avenue and Main Street, right next to the railroad.  The facility had a seating capacity for 11,000 and boasted 30,000 square feet of display space.  It was a massive undertaking with an electric movable stage.

In 1926, “The Story of the Memphis Auditorium” was published and described building. One section thoroughly described the auditorium and stage: “The history of the large auditorium in America has been one of steady progress from the armory and amphitheater type of structure to the modern convention hall and opera house of today. The program for the Memphis Auditorium was an ambitious one, calling for a large convention hall seating about twelve thousand, with arrangement to be provided for converting it into an opera house of considerable size, with provision for a stage to accommodate the most elaborate scenic effects” (page 39).

Later in the book, the stage house and mechanics were described in detail:

“The stage is forty-two feet wide by the entire width of the auditorium back of the arena wall behind the circle of boxes and seats, which is one hundred thirty-five feet on the floor and one hundred thirteen feet between the fronts of the balconies above, the latter being the actual width of the enclosed stage house. Among the many peculiar problems of this building was the design and construction of the stage house. A stage house must be a fireproof structure, generally built of concrete or brick walls, be provided with gridiron arrangement for raising and lowering scenery and for hanging same when it is not needed on the stage. It must have a steel asbestos curtain to cover the entire stage opening which will automatically close in case of fire, and in an ordinary theater has a rear stage door for taking scenery in an out. Dressing rooms are generally arranged on either side of the stage. 

“It was found necessary to build the upper part of this stage house of structural steel with reinforced concrete upon the inside from a height of forty-five feet to the arena floor to the roof of the building. This necessitated dropping the ceiling of the north hall at the point noted one hundred sixty feet from exchange street wall, and designing that part of the building in a separate unit as a large auditorium for the giving of operas, fetes, etc. from the stage. The stage house proper, then, is a solid concrete wall under a concrete roof one hundred and thirteen feet long by forty feet deep long and forty feet high at its highest point. This was ample height to install all machinery, gridirons, etc. When the stage is in use from wither hall, walls of special fireproof construction are let down by machinery from above, making a hollow wall below built up of steel and asbestos products, with a large air space in between. When these walls are in place for a theatrical production the stage house is similar to that of any other theater, with the exception of the method of construction and the fact that the stage has a proscenium opening on either side.

“The curtain openings are each seventy by thirty-two feet. The stage is deep enough to receive one hundred and twenty lines of scenery, which is all that could be required in present day theatrical performance, and up-to-date opera company using only about eighty. The stage house and openings are as large if not larger than in any other country. All of the fireproof walls, etc., which can go below permanent stage house can be raised into the latter by means of motors located on the gridiron level by the turning of a switch. The stage walls may be raised slowly in at this manner in forty-five minutes; while a complete change from two halls with stage into a large amphitheater may be made in eight hours.

“The large truss at the north side of the stage house, which carries a large part of the load, has a span of two hundred feet and weighs sixteen hundred tons. All of the steel work in connection with the stage house is fireproofed with hollow tile or concrete. The stage itself when in position is five feet above the arena floor and three feet above the floor of the concert hall. This stage is set on a series of screws which operate by motors to raise or lower it to any  desired height. When the stage is lowered to the arena floor and all walls are raised to the attic, a fireproof collapsible ceiling is suspended over the opening of the stage house and below the hanging scenes, asbestos curtains, suspended walls and border lights. When this is done the auditorium is open for its entire length. The boxes, circle seats, and balcony seats continue south below and at each end of the stage house, so that the amphitheater is two hundred feet wide for a distance of two hundred and twenty feet from the north wall and one hundred and thirteen feet wide from this point to the south wall.

“At each side of the stage house above the balcony and on a level with the bottom of the permanent stage house – that is, forty-five feet above the arena floor – is a space forty-two feet wide by fifty-five feet long, designed to be used as an organ loft. These is also a connecting space eleven by one hundred and thirteen feet south of the stage house at this same level, which will be used in distributing the sounds from the two parts of the organ into the concert hall when the music is wanted there. The organ blowers and motors are all on this same level. Baffles will be used to direct the sound room from the organ to either the north hall or the south hall as desired. The organ is not installed at the time the building was built, but is  now being provided for.

“Another very necessary feature of an auditorium which has full theatrical equipment is ample dressing room area. This is provided for in a unique way. On the stage floor level at either side are two star dressing rooms with private toilets, a stairway up to ta mezzanine dressing room section and a door to the main corridor thirteen feet wide, into which auto trucks can be driven with scenery, equipment and trunks. The larger pieces of scenery are brought in through the center, north or south doors, as the case may be, to the back of the stage. The orchestra pit has the usual connection to men’s chorus room and retiring rooms in the basement.”

By 1930, the building was renamed the Ellis Auditorium after the passing of Robert E. Ellis.

To be continued…