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While Wendy Waszut-Barrett is traveling for research and art acquisitions from October 14-29 she is reposting fifteen installments from “Tales from a Scenic Artist and Scholar Acquiring The Fort Scott Scottish Rite Scenery for the Minnesota Masonic Heritage Center.” Here is my first post from February 15, 2017, as we leave at 3AM!

Part 1: Early Contacts with the Valley of Fort Scott

My initial contact with the Fort Scott Scottish Rite began long before any involvement with the Minnesota Masonic Heritage Center (MMHC). I received a call from the Sovereign Grand Inspector General (SGIG) of Kansas during the fall of 2011, asking about the market value of historic scenery. He was hoping that I could provide a complete evaluation of their scenery collection as they were preparing to sell the building and wanted an estimate on what the drops were worth. Due to a lack of funding, the evaluation and appraisal never took place.

By the fall of 2011, I had founded and was actively running a scenery restoration company, Bella Scena, LLC, and had restored over 500 historical backdrops nationwide. From a Masonic standpoint, I was an active Scottish Rite Research Society Member (SRRS), guest speaker at the 2003 SRRS meeting during the Biennial Supreme Council Session in Washington, D.C., and a published author in “Heredom,” “Scottish Rite Journal,” “Theatre Design and Technology” and other publications. Additionally, I had been awarded a Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota, with my doctoral thesis being “Scenic Shifts Upon the Scottish Rite Stage: Designing for Masonic Theatre, 1859-1929.” I was also a freelance scenic artist and set designer.

After 2011, Fort Scott popped up again on my radar during January of 2014 when I assessed water damage at the Yankton Scottish Rite in South Dakota. The Masons told me about an auction being planned to liquidate all of the Fort Scott Scottish Rite assets that coming summer. We spoke of my attending the auction with some of the men as the Yankton Scottish Rite was interested in purchasing the collection and retrofitting it for their space. Unfortunately, the date of the auction coincided with a family wedding on the east coast and Fort Scott once again faded from my radar.

During the spring of 2015, Rick Boychuk, author of “Nobody Looks Up, the History of Counterweight Rigging Systems, 1500-1925,” contacted me after examining the Fort Scott Scottish Rite theatre rigging system.

We discussed the installation as a whole and its historic significance in both the evolution of counterweight rigging systems and the design of Masonic scenery. Boychuk mentioned that the Valley of Fort Scott was contemplating another auction – one to sell their remaining asset – the scenery collection.

At this same time, I had been directed by the CEO of Minnesota Masonic Charities to locate a Scottish Rite scenery collection for purchase and display at the Minnesota Masonic Heritage Center. It was still in the planning and early construction stage. I was looking out of the state, as the Valleys in both St. Paul and Minneapolis would not have folded in time for the opening of MMHC– making those collections unavailable for the space. MMHC was being set up to accommodate both Valleys when they merged and each sold their buildings, as explained by the CEO of Minnesota Masonic Charities.

The Fort Scott collection was one of only two Scottish Rite scenery collections available at that time nationwide that could be restored in time for the opening of the building on January 24, 2016. The other Scottish Rite scenery collection was located in New Orleans, Louisiana.

During the spring of 2015, I contacted a fellow Scottish Rite Research Society member and the SGIG of Louisiana to help me attain images of the New Orleans Scottish Rite scenery collection. The New Orleans collection was posted online as “free,” and advertised through the League of Historic American Theatres (LHAT) page. I had received this information as my company was an allied service provider to LHAT. My contact with the New Orleans Valley Secretary stalled and I never received any information concerning their actual scenery inventory. That is why I turned to the Louisiana SGIG for help. Unfortunately, the entire scenery collection had been already sold for small sum of $1000 without the knowledge of the SGIG. It was sold to a group in Austin during June of 2015.

My search for a Scottish Rite scenery collection to display at Minnesota Masonic Heritage Center resumed in full force with the threat that were only one year away from opening and a space had been designed to accommodate an historical scenery collection.  I focused solely on researching the artistic provenance of the Fort Scott scenery collection, using my previous contact information from the initial call made by the Kansas SGIG in 2011. Luckily, the local representative remembered me and we scheduled an onsite visit to evaluate the collections for possible removal, transportation and restoration. By June 2015, I had also accepted the job as Curatorial Director for Minnesota Masonic Heritage Center.

The General Director of Minnesota Masonic Heritage Center and a local Scottish Rite mason accompanied the CEO and myself to both Fort Scott and Guthrie, Oklahoma. Guthrie was a side trip to do “a little research” for interior decoration pertaining to possible architectural ornamentation for the new building. Previous travels had brought us to Detroit, Michigan for MMHC architectural ornamentation research and to Washington D.C. In D.C. we examined other Masonic museums and fraternal displays. In DC, I also I pitched the Minnesota Masonic Heritage Center museum project to nationally-recognized Masonic scholars as the CEO was interested in hiring someone who could contribute name recognition and credibility to the entire endeavor.

To be continued…

Moses painted scenery from Pennsylvania to the Pacific Coast during 1890. One of his many theater projects was in Altoona, Pennsylvania where he worked in 1888 for Louis Plack’s Mountain City Theatre. Located on Eleventh Street and Twelfth Avenues, it opened in February, 1888 with a production by Emma Abbott’s Opera Company. Plack managed the theatre until it was destroyed by fire on March 5, 1889. This was to be the first of Altoona’s many theatre fires. Plack then built the Phoenix Block, a business building, on the Mountain City Theatre site. By 1906 the complex was remodeled to include the Lyric Theatre. This building was also destroyed by fire on February 24, 1907. Again, it was rebuilt and subsequently named the Orpheum Theatre, the Embassy Theatre, and then the Penn Theatre.

It was also in Altoona during 1888 where Moses reconnected with Perry Landis while each was hoping to secure the same scenery contract with J. T. Baltzell and Charles B. Rouss.

They were the owners of the Eleventh Avenue Opera House. Moses and Landis’ chance meeting in Altoona resulted in Moses returning to the Sosman & Landis studio. He had originally left the studio to found “Burridge, Moses, and Louderback Studio.” In Altoona, Baltzell only awarded Sosman & Landis the scenery contract with the terms that Moses would paint all of the drops. Moses was a very well-known scenic artist by 1888 and would prove to be a valuable asset to Sosman & Landis. He had worked as a scenic artist all over the country and was greatly respected for his work after having been in the profession for 14 years by that point.

This background for Baltzell & Rouss’ Eleventh Avenue Theatre on Opera Block is worth mentioning as it was Altoona’s leading playhouse for a quite a period of time. It also parallels the construction Plack’s endeavor, the Mountain City Theatre that was undergoing a similar change about the same time.

The Eleventh Avenue Opera House was originally built in 1868 as a market house. In 1874 it was purchased by William T. Marriott and later sold to Rouss during the spring of 1888. Prior to Rouss’ ownership, however, a theatre had been constructed on the upper floor. It was Rouss, who practically rebuilt the entire building. The Opera House was four stories high, but only the upper portion was devoted to a theatrical enterprise. The reconstructed theatre opened on October 1, 1888 with an opening night performance featuring Mr. and Mrs. W. J. Florence in “The Mighty Dollar.” Baltzell & Rouss initially occupied the lower floor as merchants. A later tenant was the Imperial Dry Goods Company. The theatre itself was large, with a main floor furnished to include cane-seated chairs and a gallery.

The theatre’s first manager, E.D. Griswold, was succeeded by I. C. Mishler and Charles S. Myers as managers, who brought in many notable productions.

The Eleventh Street Theatre was destroyed by fire on June 14, 1907. A few months prior to its destruction, a law passed by the Pennsylvania Legislature prohibiting the use of any but a ground floor for theatrical purposes, ending this property’s use as a theatre.

Ok. So those are the two theatres outfitted by Moses in 1888. For Plack’s he was representing his own studio and for Baltzell & Rouss’ he was representing Sosman & Landis. Why was he back in town during 1890 and what were the two theatres that he was working on?

There were two theatres that were being planned simultaneously in 1890, the East Side Theatre and the World’s Museum. The East Side Theatre, later the home of the Frohsinn Singing Society (German Singing Society), was located on Ninth Avenue and Twelfth Street (1108 N. 12^th Ave.) The building was completed in 1891. The hall was located on the second floor and had a seating capacity of 1000 people. During the first few years it was regularly used as a theatre with Cloyd W. Kerlin as the manager and Fred Schneider as the manager of home theatricals. The East Side theatre was also mentioned as the location where the installation of Grand Lodge Officers for the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania was on Feb. 3, 1914 (Proceedings, 1914). So the Freemasons continued to use this venue too.

The other theatre that would have been in the planning and construction phase during 1890 was the World’s Museum in the Woodcock Arcade on Eleventh Avenue near Fifteenth Street. It was completed in 1891 and was in operation until it was leveled from fire on January 30, 1893.

The only other possible commercial entertainment venue candidate would have been the Eden Musee, Menagerie, Curio Hall and Theatorium, located at Green Avenue and Eleventh Street. It opened on September 5, 1892 by Harry Davis, manager of the Fifth Avenue Museum in Pittsburgh.

But seeing the Masonic use of the East Side theatre made me rethink my line of research. There was another potential venue where Moses painted scenery – the Masonic Temple or any of the many other fraternal spaces with small stages in Altoona. So what was being constructed in 1889-1890? The Masonic Temple. That will be my next post!

To be continued…

At the end of 1890, Thomas G. Moses wrote, “I did better this year, financially – a little better than $4500.00, but when I think of the miles that I had to travel and the long hours and the separations from my family, I should have, and am entitled to, double the amount.” He had his regrets. We all do when extended absences for work separate us from our loved ones. In between trips, Moses would briefly return to Chicago where he would work on a number of specialty projects. After his seven month absence in the Pacific Northwest, Moses continued with other projects in Denver (Broadway Theatre), and Pueblo, Colorado; Altoona, Pennsylvania (two unnamed theaters); and Evansville, Indiana (an opera house). He was constantly on the road, both securing future contracts and painting scenery – salesman and scenic artist. He knew all the numbers, the competitors, and the profit margin. He received a weekly salary from the studio, knowing that his name and reputation were landing many of the jobs.

Of Evansville, Moses wrote, “The town was very picturesque – beautiful sunsets on the river.” The 1890 census, ranked Evansville as the 56^th largest urban area in the United States. The city was a major stop for steamboats along the Ohio River, and it was the homeport for a number of companies engaged in river trade. The Evansville Opera House opened on Sept 9, 1868 and was a popular social gathering place on Sycamore Street, located across from the St. George Hotel.

The 1875 Evansville directory noted the new Opera House as having a dress circle, family circle and galleries, seating 957 people with a 50’ deep stage and complete set of scenery. This was the first space before renovation by millionaire David J. Mackey in 1890. The directory continued that this first stage used “flats” that were 25 feet in breadth and 18 feet in height. This was the “shutter” part of the wing and shutter system for the venue; large flats that slid together to form a painted background, instead of using a drop. Shutters and roll drops were used when the theater did not have enough height to accommodate a fly system that would raise, or “fly” drops out of sight. This directory also noted that the theater was lit by gas and heated with a furnace.

In 1890, the year Moses went to Evansville for work, the opera house had just been acquired by Mackey and he was in the process of renovating the space. Mackey remodeled the performance venue and moved the stage to first floor from an upper level. After the renovation, various publications promoted that it was “the finest theater south of Chicago” in 1890. The building was located at 215 Sycamore Street, between the Vendome Hotel and the Business Men’s Association.

The building was designed by James William Reid and Merritt J. Reid of Reid Brothers Architects. The firm designed buildings across the country, including the Willard Library, many buildings for the Evansville and Terre Haute Railroad, and the Hotel Del Coronado in San Diego.

Sadly, Mackey’s grand opera house was destroyed by fire less than a year after opening, on February 23, 1891. This was one more venue where Moses’ work was destroyed by fire, leaving today’s extant collections even more significant.

The theatre was rebuilt and in 1893, the Grand Opera House and the People’s Theatre consolidated in the same building. In 1909 the Grand Opera House was renamed the New Grand Theatre, and later simply called the Grand Theatre, or the Grand.

The Grand was home to a variety of entertainments over the years. It housed musicals, operas, melodramas, and performances by traveling stock companies, dancers, acrobats, clowns, and magicians. The building later hosted silent movies, and then the “talkies.” The theater was also used as a community space for town hall meetings, school commencements, political rallies, convention sessions, and talent shows. By 1930, the Grand Theatre regularly featured motion pictures and hosted community events.

The venue was sold to the Fine Brothers in 1938 and later to Producers, Inc. The building was demolished in 1962 with the intent to use the lot for parking. A parking garage now sits on the original site of the Grand Opera House.

To be continued…

The Ogden Grand Opera House was partially funded by the Browning Brothers and opened with Emma Abbot’s performance of “Carmen.” A full-page review about this new entertainment venue was published on the December 30, 1890, in “The Standard” (No. 308, Vol. 3, front page). Here are some details from the article pertaining to the stage space and painted front curtain by Thomas G. Moses:

The auditorium was 65 feet between the walls in width and 72 feet in length. Seating accommodated 1700 people with was overflow available in the foyer and other rooms that could accommodate another 100 people. The first floor of the auditorium was divided into orchestra and orchestra circle, while the gallery was divided into a balcony and family circle with a second gallery above. The proscenium arch measured 32 feet in height by 38 feet in width. The distance between the curtain line to the footlights was five feet. The distance from the footlights to the back wall was 45 feet.

A sounding board with “artfully painted figures,” measuring 11 feet by 65 feet above the proscenium arch. This reminded me of the proscenium arch that I just saw at Matthews Opera House in Spearfish, South Dakota. In Spearfish, the painted figures above the sounding board by the Twin City Scenic Company depicted portraits of Shakespeare, Joseph Jefferson, and Edwin Booth.

Ogden’s stage measured forty-two feet in width by seventy feet in height. There were with four sets of “modern grooves hanging twenty-feet above the stage.” The height to the fly girder was twenty-seven feet and to the rigging loft fifty-six feet. At this same time, the proscenium arch would increase from 32 feet high by 38 feet wide to 36 feet high by 38 ½ feet wide in 1905, suggesting a renovation (Julius Cahn’s Theatrical Guide).

There was a paint bridge planked by two counterweighted paint frames, each measuring thirty feet by thirty-seven feet in size. This is where all of the scenery would have been painted onsite by Moses and Ed Loitz. In Fort Scott, Kansas, Moses had also constructed a paint frame on site to use for the drops. The wood was later incorporated into top battens, unlike in Ogden, Utah, where it was left to hang for future projects. The Ogden Grand Opera House also had two quarter traps, a center trap, and one thirty foot bridge. “The Standard” article printed that all of these features were “fitted in the most appropriate styles.”

The article also noted,“2,500 feet of rope used for hoisting and cording the counterweights and 12,000 yards of canvas used for scenery purposes.” Based on standard Sosman and Landis drop construction, 143 yards of fabric would have been used for a 33’ x 39’ drop (36” wide muslin with vertical seams). This would be enough fabric to create 83 full-size drops. Based on the inventory of past collections, I believe that there would have been approximately 50 drops with the remaining fabric being used for wings, borders, and flats that would lash together to form box sets.

For me, however, the most interesting aspect of the entire front-page article was the description of the scenic artists and the front curtain painted by Moses.

“The stage equipment will be equal in every respect to any metropolitan theatre in the country. Sosman & Landis, the scenic artists have been represented here by Thos. G. Moses, an artist of wide reputation and ability, who has fitted up some of the largest and finest theaters in the country for the firm he represents. His work reflects great credit on Sosman & Landis and himself.

The drop curtain is without doubt one of Mr. Moses best efforts. It is purely oriental in design and color, and represents a view in the Orient from the interior of a mosque. The delicate blue sky is softly blended to a warm grey of the hazy distant city, which is seen beyond the river. The greys and purples of the middle distance form a charming contrast between the extreme delicate distance and the warm supply foreground where the minarets and domes of the ruined mosque stand in bold relief against the clear sky, and fairly glitter in the strong sunlight. The cool green palms and delicate vines lend a very picturesque effect to the architecture, while the lazy natives and ungainly looking camels put life to the picture and give the landscape a most decided oriental feeling. A cool shadow is thrown across the immediate foreground which partially throws the arch of the interior in shadow, where the polished wood is thrown in strong relief against the landscape and is nicely draped with blue plush with a lining of ecru silk, which falls in soft folds on the polished floor, on which is spread an oriental rug, with a vase of flowers and gold and silver urns, etc., gives the whole finish which is artistic and homelike.

Mr. Thomas G. Moses has been assisted in his work by Mr. Edward Loitz, a rising young artist and Mr. Wikoff, the stage machinist. The combination is one that could only be created with much study and one gifted by nature for this special class of art. The picture sets well its beautiful frame, it’s coloring is rich, the distance is good and the foreground approaches near nature. The mechanical arrangements of this, as well as the asbestos curtain, are of the most approved description, being hung and counterweighted to hoist speedily. To the right and left are encore entrances, obviating the necessity of drawing the curtain aside when necessary for the performers to appear before it.”

To be continued…

Although very little is included of the Grand Opera House scenery or building, Beth Browning’s 1947 thesis Brigham Young University, “History of Drama in Ogden,” may be of interest to someone. Here is the link to her paper: http://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi…She eyewitness accounts of family members and interesting stories surrounding the theatre community in Ogden.

In Ogden, Utah, Thomas G. Moses came into contact with the Browning Brothers. Moses wrote, “the chief owners of the theatre were the Browning brothers, the famous gun makers and Mormons. We were treated mighty fine.”

Jonathan Browning (1805-1879), Sr. had moved from Quincy, Illinois to Nauvoo, Illinois in 1843 where he established a gunsmith business. In 1852, Browning migrated with Mormon Pioneers to Ogden, Utah, where his son John Moses Browning and his brothers founded the Browning Arms Company. Jonathan Browning is recognized is credited with being the inventor of the automatic rifle, pistol, shot gun and machine gun. He registered 128 patents for more than eighty separate and distinct firearms. Browning’s designs were the basis for many models manufactured by Winchester, Colt, and Remington. There is a John M. Browning Firearms Museum in Ogden, Utah. The site recounts the Browning got his start while working in his father’s gun shop.

In 1878, a man brought a rifle in for repair and after studying it, the young Brown declared the he could build a better gun himself. His father had responded, “I know you could John Moses, And I wish you’d get at it. I’d like to live to see you do it!” It took him a little more than a year before he received a patent for his first design – a single shot rifle. He used this as the basis for his first gun designed for Winchester (Model 1885). Browning and his brothers soon were selling as many single shot rifles as their small shop could produce. Here is a link to the museum site: http://theunionstation.org/john-m-browning-firearms-museum/

In May 1890, J.M. Browning, M.S. Browning, D. Eccles, and Jos. Clark, suggested that they were all in a position to supply Ogden with an opera house. No sooner was it conceived when operations began in June 1890.

There was a full-page review about Ogden’s new Grand Opera House in the December 30, 1890 newspaper, “The Standard” (No. 308, Vol. 3, front page). The article noted some figures pertaining to the construction of the building, including 40,000 cubic feet of sand and stone being quarried; 2,200,000 bricks to use in the main walls; 693,946 linear feet of timber used for the roof, floors, galleries, bridges, and trusses; 1,500 incandescent lights installed; and 16,500 feet of piping to supply steam heating and water supply.

The architect and superintendent of the endeavor was S. T. Whitaker. The article praised Whitaker who “through this one structure erected a monument to prosperity, which will stand as long a rock, bricks and mortar hold together.” Well, only until 1982 when it was demolished to provide parking spaces. The article continued to describe Whitaker as a comparatively a young man who had now established a reputation that would last his life; “By this one effort he has laid the foundation for a fortune.” The interior decorator for the complex was T. C. Morris. The scenic artists Sosman & Landis, Thomas G. Moses and Ed Loitz. John Wikoff, a stage machinist from Sosman & Landis, did all of the “stage work.”

There was an extensive description of the scenic artists’ contribution to the endeavor and the painting of the front curtain.

To be continued…

After completing Denver’s Broadway Theatre, Ed Loitz went on to Ogden, Utah, in 1890. Located at the convergence of the Ogden and Weber Rivers in northern Utah, the town claims to be the oldest settlement in Utah because of its founding in 1845 with a small picket enclosure, Fort Buenaventura, constructed by Miles Goodman. Goodman was a mountain man working in northern Utah who met the Mormons coming west in 1847. They purchased his fort and claim during November of that year. Brigham Young sent families to settle the area in 1851 and the community primarily grew as a rural agricultural area with small settlements along the river until 1869. With the completion of the transcontinental railroad, the area changed considerably as Ogden became a main terminal on the Union Pacific and Central Pacific lines. Eventually nine railway systems had terminals in Ogden.

Politically, the established Mormon community leadership was challenged by an increasing non-Mormon presence brought west by the railroad. In 1889 Fred J. Keisel, a non-Mormon was elected mayor of Ogden, the first breakthrough in Utah of the Mormon-dominated politics. Significant business activities thrived in the ensuing decades. Many of the successful businessmen also invested heavily in the construction of a theater.

In Ogden, Moses and Loitz started another scenery installation contract for the Grand Opera House. Joe Wikoff, a Sosman & Landis stage machinist, accompanied Moses to join Loitz on site during the fall of 1890. Moses wrote, “We worked every night and hustled it through December 31.” The Orpheum Theatre was located just south of the Reed Hotel on Washington, where it opened to the Ogden community as the “Grand Opera House” on December 29, 1890.

In his typed manuscript, Moses recalled an entertaining story that took place on the opening night of the Grand Opera House. A performance of “Carmen” with Emma Abbott and her opera company opened the new venue. The first scene for production was described in a Dec. 30, 1890 review for the “The Standard.” It noted, “The curtain rose on a rustic scene, the flat, wings and set pieces forming as pretty a spectacle of the kind as was ever seen on stage.” But the painted scenery or actors were not visible for long. Moses wrote, “Someone cut the main electric cable, plunging the theatre into darkness. There was no gas on stage and we hustled out and got some big candles and lanterns and finished the opera.   It was ludicrous.”

Emma Abbott, of the Emma Abbott Opera Company, was a popular opera singer who toured throughout the country and had performed at many other venues prepared by Moses. She had also been the opening act in Altoona, Pennsylvania, for the new Plack’s Opera in 1888, another venue that used painted scenery produced by Moses.

Abbott was born in Chicago during 1850. She was the daughter of struggling musician, Seth Abbott and his wife Almira Palmer. The Abbott family moved to Peoria, Illinois, when Emma was four years old as her father was unable to make a living from teaching music.   To help out the family’s finances, Emma and her brother George began performing when she was nine years old. The two had been taught voice, piano, guitar and violin by their father at an early age.

By 1866 she joined a concert troupe and performed all across the country, later pursuing a career in opera. Abbott studied in New York City with Achille Errani and soon made her professional concert debut in December 1871, later traveling abroad to study with Antonio Sangiovanni, Mathilde Marchesi, Pierre Francois Wartel and Enrico Delle. She appeared in several Paris productions and was later awarded a contract with the Royal Opera in London. In 1876, she was performing the role of Marie for “La Fille du Regiment” at Covent Garden when she met and fell in love with Eugene Wetherell. They were married in 1877 and returned to the United States where she organized her own opera company by 1878.

The Emma Abbott Opera Company rapidly gained a reputation for their quality productions that included “Romeo and Juliette,” “Paul et Virginie,” “H.M.S. Pinafore,” “Martha,” “La Sonnambula,” “La Traviata,” and “Carmen.” Abbott performed until her sudden death from pneumonia in Salt Lake City in 1891. She was 40 years old at the time. Odgen papers noted the physical strain that Abbot had endured leading up to the opening of the Grand Opera House’s production of “Carmen.” I wonder if Ogden was the beginning of Abbott’s end.

To be continued…

Moses returned to Chicago on April 20, 1890 after being away from for seven months. Moses wrote, “My little family was certainly glad to see me back, as I was to get back. Seven months is a long time to stay away – a big change in all of the children. I was strange to them for some-time.” The four children were still little and must have grown considerably during his absence. Seven years earlier Moses had already commented on his extended absences, writing in 1883, “It was hard on Ella and I felt I was neglecting her a good deal, but I couldn’t see any other way to progress.” At the time, he was referring to his working in the scenic studio, taking art classes, and leaving for sketching trips. I often wonder about his regrets later in life when he realized just how many moments he missed while his children were growing up.

Even after his seven-month absence, however, Moses could only remain in Chicago for a few days rest. Soon the studio sent him to Denver, Colorado. He was sent there to close a contract with the Broadway Theatre. The theatre was to be part of the new Metropole Hotel. Designed by Chicago architect Col. J. W. Wood, the hotel was one of the first “fireproof” hotels in the country, employing hollow clay fired tile units for all partition, floors, ceilings, and walls.

Part of the hotel included a performance venue. The Broadway Theater was also advertised as the first “fireproof theatre” in the West and opened on August 18. Look’s Opera Company performed the “Bohemian Girl.”

When Thomas G. Moses later went to paint scenery for this theatre, he took his entire family along. Renting a furnished house with a big yard for $50.00 per month, they got settled in very quickly. Moses recounts a story about the transportation of his art and modeling supplies at the beginning of the journey. While packing for their departure in Chicago, Moses’ model trunk had fallen 54 feet from his paint room window when it was being hauled outside. It struck a pile of loose planks (as they were having some work done on their stairway) and only manage to break a hinge. That’s very little damage for such a substantial drop! Then I thought back to my trip last fall when I looked at his Masonic theatre model and traveling trunk in the Harry Ransom Center. I was impressed with its sturdy construction and now understand why it was built that way.

In his typed manuscript Moses commented that the Broadway Theatre project was “an ideal one” and they had “good facilities to work.” For this project he had made all new scenery models for a presentation. On of his designs the included a cyclorama drop that measured 36 feet high and 250 feet long. The large cyclorama curtain ran on a track and they could create three distinct backings; a plain sky, a cloudy sky and a moonlit sky. Moses wrote about the stage, commenting, “No borders. We trimmed the front stuff down to low enough to mask. All rows were profiled; very effective.”

For the Broadway Theatre project, Moses’ painting crew included Ed Loitz, William and Charlie Minor, and Billie Martin. Nearby in Pueblo, Colorado, Walter Burridge and Ernest Albert were also painting on a project and called on Moses while he was working at the Broadway. During the visit, all three all took a day off and enjoyed each other’s company and went on a sketching trip. Early in 1891, “Albert, Grover & Burridge” established their new studio at 3127 State Street in Chicago. Their establishment as a marked departure from previous studios as they implemented advancements in the methods of mounting and presenting stage plays. Just prior to founding their new business venture, Albert was the scenic artist for the Chicago Auditorium, Burridge was the scenic artist for the Grand Opera House and McVicker’s, and Oliver Grover was a professor Chicago’s Art Institute. I wonder if Albert and Burridge had approached Moses in Denver about being their third business partner before selecting an academician. Albert, Moses and Burridge would have made quite a painting team.

During Moses’ stay in Denver, he took his family on several trips into the mountains.

He recorded that on one trip they traveled fourteen miles from Denver to Manitou and enjoyed seeing the scenery at Ute Pass, Williams Canyon and Garden of the Gods. All three were already popular tourist destinations, drawing throngs of visitors in horse-drawn wagons.

Moses wrote, “We enjoyed these trips.” It had to have been one small way to make up for his seven-month absence. Sadly, a telegram soon called Moses back to the studio in Chicago for some special work. As it was nearing the time for school to start anyway, they decided to all head home at the same time. Moses wrote, “Ella packed up everyone in a day.” They gave up their Denver house and arrived in Chicago by early September.

Loitz and the Minor brothers remained in Denver to complete the painted interiors for the Broadway Theatre in Denver. Moses stayed in Chicago until November 4, and then returned to Denver to complete their contract. This means that scenic work had continued on the Broadway Theatre for three months after opening with “Bohemian Girl.”

To be continued…

In Spokane Falls, Thomas G. Moses, Howard Tuttle and Ed Loitz likely painted for the newly constructed Auditorium Theatre. Construction of the building began in 1889, just prior to the great fire that left the downtown area in ruins. It was left relatively unscathed. The theatre was designed by Herman Preusse, a German immigrant who had settled in Spokane just the year before. Preusse’s extensive work incorporated a number of styles from medieval to Romanesque and Renaissance Revival.

John Browne and Anthony Cannon funded the construction of the seven-story red brick building with seating for 1,750 people. The Theatre boasted an impressive exterior, oversized stage, three balconies and deluxe loge seating. Located on the ground floor of the building, the theatre’s proscenium opening was 34 ft. wide by 33 ft. high. The depth from the footlights to the back wall was 40 ft., with the distance between the footlights and front curtain at 3 ft. The stage to rigging loft was 68 ft. and there were four grooves. The height from grooves to the stage was 20 ft., but they could be taken up if necessary. The depth under the stage was 11 ft. with three traps (located prompt, center and off prompt). There were also two bridge and a scene room. Electric lights illuminated the auditorium and stage. (Information taken from Julius Cahn’s Theatrical Guide, 1897).

Businessmen Browne and Cannon initially arrived in Spokane during 1878. They were looking for possible investment opportunities. The two opened banks and developed land. They focused on the creation of new offices for the various businesses that continued to appear in the small town. Browne and Cannon quickly became two of the area’s first millionaires. Then they set their sites on an impressive performance venue that would surpass all other theatres in the country. Prior to their theater’s construction, Browne and Cannon visited Chicago’s auditorium and instructed their builders to go “one foot wider and one foot higher” (http://spokanehistorical.org/items/show/625).

From 1890 until 1914, Spokane’s Auditorium was the largest theatre in America until the Hippodrome was built in New York. I was surprised that with this title, there is nothing available online or in newspapers that depicts the theater’s interior, stage or auditorium. There are only a few exterior pictures too. This was perplexing as I am often able to locate interior images of small venues in unknown town. Here was a large venue that rivaled Chicago’s Auditorium and the interior remains unknown. I wonder if there are any remaining plans that Rick Boychuk could examine as he is now extremely familiar Chicago’s Auditorium and its innovative rigging system.

An article by Tara Justine, “The World’s Largest Stage,” examines the planning and construction of this massive endeavor in Spokane. Justine wrote, “No expense was spared in the construction. Granite was taken from the base of Mt. Spokane to complete the foundation. Inside, were 17 dressing rooms and a “box office vestibule (lit) by stained glass windows.” Atop the building stood a large gold-plated statue of Thalia, Goddess of Music.

The Salt Lake Tribune published that the Carleton Opera Company staged the first production at to the Auditorium’s grand opening on Tuesday, September 16 (September 21, 1890 (page 6). Moses, Tuttle and Loitz had worked in Spokane Falls until April 16, 1890

Justine wrote, “The Auditorium drew acts from all over the world. Sarah Bernhardt, Alma Gluck, Anna Held and Al Jolson, performed on the stage. Jolson appeared in 1917 while a young Bing Crosby watched from his seat” (http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2012/may/14/then-and-now-auditorium/#/0). In fact, Bing had landed a part-time job in the props department at Spokane’s Auditorium Theatre in his early teens. An article from Oct. 16, 1977, in the “Democrat and Chronicle (Rochester, NY, page 3) published that Spokane’s Auditorium Theatre was “a grease paint Mecca on the great American vaudeville circuit which brought to town such giants of the day as Gallagher and Shean, Eddie Cantor and Al Jolson, as well as traveling shows from Broadway such as George White’s Scandals.” Sadly, the theater was demolished in 1934.

When Moses left Portland to secure the contract for the Auditorium, he would have had a leg up on the competition. He was from Chicago and working for the largest scenic studio in the city. A studio with ties to Chicago’s Auditorium. Moses’ nationwide reputation and following would have been a notable asset to the two businessmen; they were looking for the best.

After this theater job was completed, the three scenic artists disbanded once more. Tuttle and Moses went East while Loitz offered to stay in Spokane and finish one more painting project for the theatre. Loitz agreed to paint the asbestos curtain that had not been part of the original contract. Moses noted that Loitz was happy to take on the additional work.

To be continued…

Thomas G. Moses and Howard Tuttle joined Ed Loitz in Spokane Falls, Washington, on March 29, 1890. They were itinerant artists, traveling from town to town to paint theatrical scenery and decorate halls. Instead of working for themselves and reaping the profits, however, they represented the scenic studio of Sosman & Landis. Each received a weekly salary for their necessary skills, such as those needed on site at the Auditorium Theatre in Spokane Falls.

During the early years, the spelling of the city varied from Spokan, Spokane and Spokane Falls. By 1891, the “Falls” of Spokane Falls was mostly dropped in maps, advertisements, and many public records. Fur traders and missionaries were the first wave of individuals who invaded the region. The trickle of those seeking land and opportunities became a flood, altering the landscape by cutting down the forests.

By 1871, a sawmill was constructed at the falls on the south bank of the Spokane River and lumber became an incentive for additional settlers to venture west. By 1873 James N. Glover and Jasper N. Matheny arrived from Oregon seeking land and contemplate the establishment of the town. They purchased “Downing’s Mill,” the surrounding 160 acres, and started a settlement. Soon a gristmill was constructed at the falls and the existing sawmill was expanded to include a general store. Families continued to arrive and 1880 ushered in a period of rapid growth and prosperity. By 1883, the Northern Pacific Railroad was completed and Spokane Falls became an economic center in the region.

A devastating fire destroyed much city’s downtown area on August 4, 1889. Fire razed more than thirty blocks. The citizens were resilient and a tent city popped up in the city center only a few days later to serve the population as the area was rapidly rebuilt. While the three scenic artists worked in the Auditorium, they ate at one of these tent establishments.

Moses recorded that the weather was quite bleak and a cold theatre did not make easy for easy painting. During their first week on site, the scenic artists sought warmth during mealtime in one of the dining tents. Moses described the establishment “It was very long, possibly one hundred feet, including the kitchen. The first waiter we had smoked a cigar, wore a Prince Albert coat and apron and a battered silk hat. We never knew why this comedy make-up. It was a hit. The tent was run by a man named Davenport, now the owner and manager of the big new Davenport Hotel.” Moses was describing Llewellyn “Louis” Davenport.

Davenport arrived in Spokane Falls during March of 1889. He first worked at his uncle Elijah’s restaurant, called the Pride of Spokane. Like many other downtown establishments, it burned to the ground during the great fire. In the midst of devastation, Louis started his own business with two tents and salvaged furniture three days after the fire. He called his tent business Davenport’s Restaurant. After moving his enterprise to a more permanent location, it soon became one of the most renowned restaurants in the region. He was so successful that by 1914, Davenport entered into another business venture, this time with other Spokane businessmen to construct a hotel. Overseeing the entire endeavor at the corner of Post Street and Sprague Avenue, Davenport became the first proprietor of the Davenport Hotel. Architect Kirkland Cutter had designed the building and it was the first hotel in the United States with air conditioning, a central vacuum system, pipe organ, and dividing doors in the ballrooms. It is also the place where “Crab Louis” (named after Louis Davenport) originated. The Davenport Hotel is now listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

To be continued…