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Copyright © 2020 by Wendy Waszut-Barrett

Evelyn E. Livingston Furman credits J. B. Lamphere, as creating the Tabor Opera House drop curtain in 1879. In her publication, “The Tabor Opera House, a Captivating History,” she notes that Lamphere was a prominent New York and Philadelphia artist, writing that he was “one of the most prominent artists in the west.”  I have not been able to uncover any mention of a scenic artist named J. B. Lamphere, and Furman did not credit her source. However, there was a James E. Lamphere working as a fresco artist in Denver during 1879. This is probably the same Lamphere mentioned by Furman.  Lamphere likely decorated the Tabor Opera House, but I question whether he painted the scenery.

The 1879 Denver Directory lists James E. Lamphere as a frescoe painter and grainer.  The listing records his working for C. A. Treat, a wallpaper and sign works company located at 306 15^th St. in Denver (Western Magazine, Vol. 4, 1880, page 5).  That year, Lamphere was residing at the West Lindell Hotel. All things considered, Lamphere’s connection to Leadville remained strong and he even married a local girl. On January 1, 1881, the “Leadville Daily Herald” reported that a James E. Lamphere married Mary S. Faxon (nee Ainsworth) in 1880; they were listed with all the other couples married that year (1 Jan. 1881, page 5). It is possible that Furman conflagrated Lamphere and Burcky, as both Lamphere and Burcky had Denver and Leadville connections.

In regard to the new Tabor Opera House in Leadville, it is possible that Lamphere solely decorated the auditorium of the Tabor Opera House and Henry E. Burkey painted the scenery for the stage; Burcky was later credited with the Tabor Opera House scenery in Harry Miner’s Directory (1884).

Lamphere was a regional decorator and Burcky was a well-known itinerant scenic artist. As theaters popped up across the western plains, scenic artists followed an unending source of income, as these new performance venues always demanded stock scenery. Although Leadville was beyond the reach of any railroad line in 1879, the owner, Horace Tabor, enjoyed ample funding to transport any good or service to this remote mountain theater.

Most stock scenery collections were manufactured on site over the course of weeks in the 1870s, if not a full month. In many cases, the scenic artist was also a stage carpenter or mechanic who designed and installed the stage machinery. A scenic artist could complete the entire project with the help of an assistant, even an enthusiastic and talented local. The first aspect to any project on site was the construction of a paint frame, and then scene after scene was rapidly produced.

I cannot imagine that Horace Tabor would have hired a local fresco painter from Denver and not a professional scenic artist, especially when other Leadville theaters were hiring and crediting new scenes to well known scenic artists.  By 1881, a scenic artist named Carter was involved in a deadly attack in Leadville (13 Jan 1881). That same year, scenic artist George Heiman created the stage scenery for Leadville’s Academy of Music; he was also a nationally acclaimed scenic artist. The local paper referred to Heiman in Leadville as  “a gem,” adding, “and in fact so are all his designs about the building. He is evidently the man for who Colorado has been waiting for years”  (Leadville Daily Herald, 20 March, 1881). Heiman was also credited as being the scenic artist for the Madison Square Theatre in New York (Leadville Daily Herald, 25 March 1881).

Burkey [sic.] was listed as the scenic artist at Leadville’s Tabor Opera House in “Harry Miner’s American Dramatic Directory” for the 1884-1885 season. He was also noted as the scenic artist for the Tabor Grand Opera in Denver and Denver’s Academy of Music. I am sure that these three listings, despite slight spelling variations are the same artist, Henry E. Burcky.  Burcky was not a Leadville local; he was an itinerant scenic artist, well travelled and well known across the country by 1879.

Theatrical guides are tricky, as there is no distinction between a scenic artist that worked at one theater, versus one that was credited with delivering stock scenery to several theaters. If a scenic artist is listed at more than one venue, especially in different states, it is likely that he delivered stock scene to that venue instead of working at the venue. I believe that Burcky painted the roll drops, borders, wings and shutters for the first stage at the Tabor Opera House, and that Lamphere decorated the Tabor Opera House’s auditorium. We learn much by just looking at the 1879 photograph and interior set. Both the skills of a fresco artist and scenic artist are featured in this photo.

To be continued…

Copyright © 2020 by Wendy Waszut-Barrett

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The opening of the Tabor Opera House in Leadville, Colorado, made news across the country. Even in Camden, New Jersey, the “Morning Post” reported, “Two years ago [Leadville] contained a half dozen log cabins, and to-day it is the second city in the State, with a population of 30,000, and doing an immense mercantile business, having finely laid out streets, and some very large buildings, the finest of which, just completes, is the Tabor Opera House, costing $30,000, besides four other theatres, all doing a good business. There are five first class hotels.” (24 Nov. 1879, page 1). With five theaters in town, even if there was only one “legitimate” one, each stage still needed some type of scenery or backing.

The earliest mention of the Tabor Opera House in any American theatrical guide appears in 1882, “Jno. B. Jeffery’s Guide and Directory.” Less than five years old, the Tabor Opera House was listed in the guide as one of three theaters in Leadville, alongside the Academy of Music and the Grand Central Theatre.  The Academy of Music opened on March 28, 1881 and listed a seating capacity of 859 and “full stock of scenery.” There were no specifics given about the Tabor Opera House other than a seating capacity of 1,000 (page 12). By 1889, the entry was altered to note that the Tabor Grand Opera House “seats 750. A. H. Andrews’ opera chairs.” Jeffery’s Guide only provided limited information, so I checked out the other theatrical guides.

Harry Miner’s American Dramatic Directory for the Season of 1884-1885 gave a little more information about the Tabor Opera House. This listing was published only five years after the venue was built, noting that the size of the stage was 34’ x 60 feet and the proscenium opening was 17’-0” high by 23’-0” wide. The height from the stage to grooves was 16’-0” and the height from stage to rigging loft was 19’-0.” There were twelve sets of scenery credited the scenic artist “Burkey, of the Tabor Grand, Denver.” It was actually Henry E. Burcky, the scenic artist who created scenery for Tabor’s second theater – the Tabor Grand Opera in Denver, Colorado. Burcky did not live in Colorado, he was simply an itinerant artist with permanent residence was in Chicago.

By 1896 the Tabor Opera House had changed hands and was known as the Weston Opera House. It was listed in Julius Cahn’s Theatrical Guide for the 1896 season, noting a seating capacity of 900, but no mention of a scenic artist. The width of the proscenium was listed as 20’-0 wide, with 57’-0” between side walls and 47’-0” between girders. The grooves were still listed as a height of 16’-0”, with stage to rigging loft at 19’-6”; not much had changed beyond cramming more people into the auditorium. The listing noted five grooves for the stage. These measurements would remain constant until the opera house was renovated in 1901.

When the Leadville Elks purchased and renovated the building in 1901, the stage house was dramatically enlarged.  Now known as the Elks Opera House, the proscenium width greatly increased from 20’-0” wide to 30’-0” wide. The height increased from 16’-0” to 24’-0”. The original height of 19’-0” to the rigging loft increased to 50’-0” and a fly gallery was added at 22’-0.” This necessitated the replacement of original scenery, consisting of wings, shutters, and roll drops, with fly scenery. Theatrical directories after 1902 specified “no grooves.”

Over the years, there were at least three scenery collections delivered to the Tabor Opera House in Leadville, Colorado: 1879, 1888, and 1902.  I am going to try and examine the various scenery installations and theatrical manufacturers over the next few posts.

When the Tabor Opera House opened in 1879, the “Chicago Tribune” included an article about Leadville, Colorado (24 Dec, 1879, page). In the section titled “ Legitimate Drama,” the article reported, “It has often been asserted that in Leadville only the low variety shows could flourish, and that a first-class theatre could not be supported. Lieut. Gov. Tabor, W. H. Bush, and others of our leading citizens, having a better faith, accepted the challenge, erected a substantial and ornate building, supplied it with all the required fixtures and appliances, seated it with the latest improved opera chairs from the shops of you’re a. H. Andrews & Co., and finally engaged a first-class company, marshaled by Colorado’s favorite actor, J. S. Langrishe, and, with the genial Lou C. Leonard as treasurer, they opened it several weeks ago. Full houses have ever since greeted the players, and endorsed the enterprise. The auditorium, without having the florid gildings of many Eastern cities, is neat, graceful, and complete, – the only defacement being a picture of Gov. Tabor over the drop curtain, which is rather a caricature than a portrait.”

Evelyn E. Livingston Furman describes the 1879 scenery and drop curtain in her book, “The Tabor Opera House.” Furman moved to Leadville in 1932 and took a great interest in the history of the theater and Tabor family. However, she was not a scenic artist nor theatre professional.  She may not have accurately dated all of the scenery while documenting it. Furman describes the composition of the 1879 front curtain as a “glorious” mountain scene with castle on a hill, stream at the mountain base and a road winding away to a distant canyon. This was a common composition for the time. The only missing elements not described my be an ornate frame around the central composition, painted draperies and center medallion of some sort to identify the location, or a cameo. She further described that at the top the scene was a life-sized portrait of Horace Tabor, which correlates to the “Chicago Tribune” article’s mention of his portrait.

Now this is where I begin to disagree with the published history. Furman credits J. B. Lamphere, as the creator of the piece and comments that he was a prominent New York and Philadelphia artist, and “one of the most prominent artists in the west.”  I have not been able to uncover any mention of a well-known scenic artist named Lamphere to validate any of her statements.  In fact, Lamphere is the first scenic artist that I have been unable to track down at all. I have not located him in theatrical guides or newspaper articles, which is extremely odd. In the 1870s and 1880s, scenic artists made top billing in newspapers and programmes. If Lamphere enjoyed any notoriety, especially in the major East Coast cities, there would be some mention of him. Who I did find connected with the manufacture of scenery for the Tabor was Henry E. Burcky. More on him tomorrow.

To be continued…

Copyright © 2020 by Wendy Waszut-Barrett

By 5:30 P.M. on February 7, 2020, we had catalogued over 95 scenic pieces, as well as setting up four interior settings.  The snow was coming down harder than ever as we crossed the street to the Silver Dollar Saloon. Over the course of five days, we shifted, documented, and reorganized all of the historic scenery on the Tabor Opera House stage, with the exception of the contemporary stage settings. We did not have an opportunity to document those painted after 1980.

The 1902 historic settings that we assembled included a center door fancy, Gothic interior, plain setting and prison scene. There were partial collections that we did not have try to assemble this time. This number does not include any of the original scenery delivered to the opera house before the renovation in 1901, pieces that are currently stored in the attic.

Of all the historic scenery collections in the United States that I have encountered, this is the most unique. There are others that are larger and more impressive, as well as others that have been moved to off site storage units to preserve their posterity. But the scenery at the Tabor Opera House spans decades and remains on site despite new owners and building renovations. I have written extensively about the resale of scenery collections throughout the late-nineteenth and early twentieth century, using examples across the country. Used scenery ended up in new locations for many reasons.  For example, used scenery was left at the final destination after a touring show closed. Used scenery from touring shows was purchased by smaller venues in need of stock scenery, or those expanding their original stock.  Used scenery was retrofitted and sold to new theaters without their knowledge. In other words, the purchase of used scenery was not an uncommon practice.  In the past three decades, I have repeatedly identified used scenery collections still in use at various venues.

In many ways the Tabor Opera House exemplifies what occurred across the country during the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. Like many other performance venues, they continued to update their stock scenery, yet never really replaced it. What makes the Tabor collection remarkable, however, is that everything is still on site despite the venue changing hands and undergoing extensive renovations and structural changes. Even scenery that was manufactured for a previous stage, one without a fly loft, was retained after a remodel. I cannot wrap my mind around the fact that the wing-and-shutter scenery was not thrown away, given away, sold, or repurposed. This is extremely atypical, as their old scenery designed for grooves was not ever retrofitted for the new fly system, just kept.

Keep in mind that the entire building was renovated in 1901, both the auditorium and stage house were enlarged.  The roof was ripped off and a fly loft added; yet the smaller scenery designed for grooves remained on site, unaltered and tucked away.  For what purpose, and why did they just store it in the attic? Sentimental attachment?  Too hard to dispose of at the time?  We may never know the reason as to why the original scenery was kept.

I have often referenced used scenery collections, such as the 1901 scenery and stage machinery at the Scottish Rite Theatre in Little Rock. Two decades after the original installation of this collection by Sosman & Landis, it was transported and installed at the Scottish Rite theater in Pasadena, California, where it is still used today.  That scenery was manufactured around the same time as the Tabor Opera House’s center door fancy set. Other examples of used scenery collections that I have explored include Salina, KS, Yankton, SD, and Deadwood, SD. Used scenery and stage machinery were carefully transported, refurbished and installed in second, and sometimes third, venues. We were an industry built on the repurposing of not only ideas, but also artifacts.

And then there is the sheer volume of scenery at the Tabor Opera House in Leadville, Colorado. There are almost 100 historic pieces on stage and dozens more in the attic, representing a scope of American scenic art in one venue that is unheard of. The Tabor’s 1879 through 1902 scenery collections that I examined this week did not include all of the modern scenery manufactured for melodramas and community productions after 1980.

The Tabor Opera House is a living history museum, unlike any of its kind in the United States, with wonderful examples of the ever-shifting stage aesthetic, all situated in one place. This is a destination location for theatre historians, practitioners, and art enthusiasts to visit. But the venue needs financial help, here is the link if you want to contribute to a good cause, as volunteer labor can only do so much: https://www.taboroperahouse.net/donate

Then we top off this remarkable collection with its extensive artistic provenance and stewardship. In 1933, the 1902 scenery collection was catalogued, by theatre folk who knew what they doing; the project was led my Muriel Sibell Wolle. The fact that this 1933 documentation is digitally accessible to the general public is also unusual in its own right. We have dozens of performing arts collections across the country that are almost impossible to access for general research without a site visit.

The preservation of the Tabor Opera House’s physical structure and artifacts were later spearheaded by a Minnesota school teacher, who purchased and began the preservation of the building in 1955. Then her daughter, Evelyn E. Livingston Furman, included the history surrounding the construction of the Tabor Opera House in a series of books. 

The United States has thousands of examples of historic scenic art collections located in opera house, social halls, cinemas, fraternal theaters, and other performance venues.  We have examples of painted scenery that range from fraternal ceremonies to famous film sets, yet nothing can compare to what is owned by this small mountain community in Leadville, Colorado, when considering historic scope.

The Tabor Opera House scenery collection has been stored in less than ideal conditions, complete with roof leaks and renovations. That being said the low humidity and high elevation helped a lot. The scenery has also seen plenty of use over the past century; maybe this is why the collection has been treasured and kept over the years.  In many ways, what is the point of preserving historic scenery if it is never used again? For a painted scene to remain on a roll, or tacked to the wall of a lobby diminishes the overall significance of a piece. It is like taking off the original frame of an artwork, one carefully selected by the artist to display his work. The theater’s environment is intricately linked to the scenic art; these pieces were designed and manufactured to be viewed on a stage, placed a specific distance from the viewer.  To observe them up close in a museum destroys the illusion and purpose of each piece.

I have a month’s worth of work left to go to complete the documentation of the piece that have been catalogued, each page based on my site notes and photographs. The easy part of the project is done.  There are condition reports, historical analyses, replacement appraisals, and a collections care document to prepare.  It is a daunting task, especially knowing that more clues remain hidden in the attic of the Tabor Opera House. The last time the collection was catalogued was in 1933 and I have big shoes to fill. At that time, the sets were documented in their entirety, but the individual state of each artifact was not examined. Muriel Sibell Wolle looked at the big picture, and this was very important for all research that would follow. Her “big picture” provided a guide map for those wishing to understand the history of scenery at the Tabor Opera House.  Without her studies, my work this week would have been difficult at best; I would have been working “blind.”

In addition to Wolle’s contribution is the continued stewardship of those who followed her, including volunteers for this project. The careful documentation and cataloguing of all on site artifacts is just one more chapter in the Tabor Opera House history. One small example of this stewardship included the actions of volunteer Robyn; she found an old stage brace marked “Tabor Opera House” at a local antique store, purchased it and returned it home to the theater. All of the artifacts are finding their way home, as if drawn by a magnetic force.

The preservation of the old theater has remained a community endeavor since its inception. Even in the 1890s, when Horace Tabor had to let his prized possession go, there were those in the community who took over the care of his grand building. The Tabor Opera House, Augusta Tabor, Baby Doe and the Matchless Mine are all entwined with the captivating history of Leadville. Both Leadville natives and transplants have equally contributed to the preservation of this remarkable building.

To be continued…

Copyright © 2020 by Wendy Waszut-Barrett

I began our final day at the Tabor Opera House in a bit of a panic, as there was still so much left to catalogue. By the end of the previous day, we all realized that there was much more flat stock than anyone anticipated. There is nothing like thinking this is the last flat against the wall, and they just keep coming. My initial hope was that we could assemble all the interior settings, but soon realized that I would have to settle for three at most. Some of the settings were incomplete due to repainting too, so I was unsure if there were complete sets.

…and then there was the weather…

Leadville, Colorado, was in the midst of a huge snowstorm that would deposit up to to 51-inches of snow in neighboring areas. Just trying to get out of the house that morning was a challenge, as I waded through snow up to my knee to the car. I had been walking the half block to the opera house, but accepted the ride offered in anticipation of the weather the night before.

A few of us decided to meet a little early and photograph the grand tormentors that we discovered the Thursday evening, getting a head start. The grand tormentors matched the first piece we examined on Monday – the grand border. The classic red draperies framing the marble columns matched those documented earlier that week.

There are six pieces with the same red draperies: the two folding grand tormentors with doors; three grand borders, and the front drop curtain. All four elements are not of the same vintage. Before looking at the individual pieces, here are the technical specifications for the venue listed in Julius Cahn’s Official Theatrical Guide for the 1903-1904 Season: Width of proscenium, 30’-0”; height of the proscenium 24’-0”; distance from the curtain line to footlights, 5’-0”; height to rigging loft 41’-0”’and the depth under stage, 12’-0”.

The largest red-drapery grand border is over 44-feet long,  much too large for the proscenium. This piece has five holes for operating lines. Common installation practices at the time for a proscenium this size, such as the Tabor Opera House, would only demand three holes for three operating lines.

The second matching border with red draperies is similar, but shorter; an appropriate length for the 30’-0” wide proscenium.

The third red drapery border is too small for the proscenium and the oldest. It has the similar red curtains, matching the two highly ornate grand tormentors that we photographed in the morning.  These three pieces are stunning.

The front curtain (drop curtain) was initially created without the red draperies. Upon close inspection, it is obvious that the red draperies were added after the entire drop was complete. The painting style for the red draperies on the front curtain is quite crude in comparison to the rest of the composition.

It is a challenge to appropriately date all of the pieces. I think that the oldest pieces are the latter three mentioned, the matching ornate border and grand tormentors. These pieces were delivered prior to the that were addition of the fly loft The side doors allowed promoted action to occur downstage of the plaster line while a scene change was occurring upstage.

The painting of the matching border and tormentors are stunning, a much higher quality than the two other borders, yet the red draperies were also added here too. The tassels at the top of the tormentors are not of the same quality or technique as those incorporated into the bottom ornament.  

I believe that the really long border, shorter border and draperies on the front curtain were added at the same time, 1902 or slightly later, but a scenic artist working on site at the theater after the delivery. These latter three pieces were painted to match the original tormentors. In fact, I think that the tops of the grand tormentors, the drop curtain draperies and the two borders (large and small, not highly ornate) were painted at the same time.

The quality of painting is all over the map at the Tabor Opera House.  I am still stunned that we uncovered three distinct collections – 1879, 1888 and 1902. The 1902 scenery delivery included used pieces from an unidentifiable venue, but one previous to 1902. The 1879 collection (which will be catalogue later this spring) and the 1888 collection were created prior to the enlargement of the stage and addition of the fly loft. The 1879 and 1888 scenery were produced for a stage with grooves. The 1902 scenery was produced for a stage house with fly loft.

The majority of 1879 wing and shutter scenery is in the attic of the Tabor Opera House. A few elements of the 1888 scenery by Frank Cox are stored on the stage, identifiable by the strap sheaves on the bottom of rolling flats, intended to accompany the original grooves.

The 1902 scenery is all on the stage and includes several interior settings. These set flats are interchangeable and lashed together. Some of the scenes have been repainted over the decades.  The 1902 collection includes a yellow center door fancy, a pink center door fancy, a green Gothic interior, two plain interiors and a prison. The prison scene is back-painted on one of the plain interiors. In addition to these interior settings are large set pieces that include wood wings, rustic huts, garden balustrades and city buildings. Only three set pieces stored on the stage currently roll, dating from 1888; a tree profile and two city wings were constructed to slide in grooves.

I will look at the other scenery tomorrow.

To be continued…

Copyright © 2020 by Wendy Waszut-Barrett

The volunteer crew returned to the Opera House after eating at the Silver Dollar Saloon on the afternoon of Feb. 6, 2020.  The fancy door interior setting assembled that morning was slowly replaced with a gothic interior. 

As we “oohed” and “awed” each piece coming out of the pile, nothing could prepare us for the repainted flats. As we started to open one large tri-fold flat the group shouted in unison “Noooo!”  The historic scene had been painted over with white latex, spattered with an array of colors. In other instances, the historic flat retained the original painted molding and cornices, but the walls were repainted with bright pink and dark blue stripes.  Odd art adorned the repainted walls too, ranging from cupids and satyrs to old photographs and illustrations of an ear. One flat had been used for masking when painting something else brown. It seemed just tragic, and I feared that we would continue to encounter repainted piece after piece. I am sure that the individuals who painted over the original artwork had no idea of their significance.

In the end, we were unable to set up the Gothic scene due to missing pieces and feared that the missing flats had fallen victim to an amateurs brush, yet there were piles of flats to go. With fifteen of us helping, we eventually uncovered a jungle scene, three sets of wood wings, street setting flats, cottages, rustic interiors, plain interiors, stone interiors and so on; all as originally painted.

The greatest discovery, however, was a tree profile.  Heavy and cumbersome, it overshadowed the Sosman & Landis tag discovery on the previous day. On the back of the tree flat was a cartoon depicting a scenic artist at work.  The little artist, dressed in overalls and holding a brush included a caption: “Frank Cox Scenic Artist Jan 88.”  This was a huge discovery, as it meant this 1888 piece was likely part of a collection that was added to the 1879 scenery.

It was common for theaters to continually purchase scenery over the decades, replacing drop curtains, flats and backdrops. What is remarkable about this cartoon is that Cox became a very well known theatre architect. I have written about Frank Cox and the Cox. Bros. Studio in the past (see post # 310). Cox began his career as a New Orleans scenic artist, transitioning into theatre architect by the 1890s. In 1890, Cox was still working as a scenic artist, decorator and architect in the New Orleans area. He continued to work as a scenic artist throughout the remainder of the nineteenth century and was credited as delivering scenery to the Temple Theatre in Alton, Illinois (1899) and Klein’s Opera House in Seguin, Texas (1903-1904). I had never encountered any examples of Cox’s work until now.

In 1894, Cox designed the New Lyceum Theater in Memphis, Tennessee. Thomas G. Moses provided the scenery for this venue, writing, “the architect insisted on my work.” At the time, Moses was not working at Sosman & Landis. It was only with Cox’s recommendation that Moses received the contract and not his previous employer Sosman & Landis.

In regard to the famous Cox family of scenic artists…

Frank, Eugene, and Clark Cox who operated a scenic and fresco business known as Cox Bros. in New Orleans.  However, it was referred to as “Frank Cox’s Studio at New Orleans,” him being the eldest and most experienced.  They had quite a large staff by 1891 that included the scenic artist Emile Nippert and stage machinist James A. Kee (Fort Worth Daily Gazette 11 August 1891, page 2). The Cox Bros. studio was located in the Grand Opera House of New Orleans.  Frank withdrew from the partnership in 1896, but the partnership continued to operate under the same name of Cox Bros., despite Frank’s public declamation that the firm was dissolved.  Eugene and Clark published a rebuttal, wanting to make it “thoroughly understood” that they would continue to operate the scenic and fresco business under the name Cox Bros.  By the way, there appears to be no immediate familial ties to the Jesse Cox Scenic Studio of Estherville.

Returning to the tree profile piece, Frank Cox also put his name on the front.  “Carved” into the painted tree is “F. Cox,  W.M. and J.C.”

In terms of “W.M.”, scenic artists that I know of who were working at that time include W. Marshal, William Minor, William Mitchell, and William Morris.  In terms of “J.C.”, scenic artists that I know of who were working at that time include J. P. Cahill, John A. Collins, John Constantine, J. H. Connolly, and Jesse Cox. It will be fun to uncover where the artists may have been working in 1888.

I’ll do that in my spare time (hahaha).

To be continued…

Copyright © 2020 by Wendy Waszut-Barrett

We started the fourth day full of ambition. It was the first of two days to set up all of the interior settings.  In the deep layer of flats against the upstage wall was an estimated four scenes.  By that afternoon we would realize there were many more. Blissful in my ignorance that morning, I figured we would set up two scenes per day.  We first set up the “Center Door Fancy,” being the first in the pile. It was a lovely series of flats depicting floral garlands on every wall panel.

While lashing the final flats together, one volunteer (Doug from Breckenridge) mentioned that there was a tag on the back of one flat. I raced over to the stage-right flat; full of excitement and knowing it was a shipping label. Expecting to see a Kansas City Scenic Co. tag, I was shocked to read “Sosman & Landis.”

What makes this find such a big deal for me is that Sosman & Landis was deeply connected to both New York Studios and Kansas City Scenic Co.  They shared artists, designs and projects. Having read about the regional affiliation between the studios, I had uncovered very little concrete evidence beyond brief notes in Thomas G. Moses’ memoirs and a few newspaper articles. 

New York Studios was advertised as the eastern affiliate of Sosman & Moses.

Kansas City Scenic Co. was listed as a western regional office of Sosman & Landis.

Former Sosman & Landis employee, Lemuel L. Graham, initially left Sosman & Landis to form Kansas City Scenic Co. in the 1880s.  Former Sosman & Landis employee, David H. Hunt, established New York Studios in 1910. There were connections everywhere to accommodate the ever-increasing demand for painted illusion.

I had always wondered how they handled the scenery being manufactured and shipped from one studio while contracted with another.  Even though the Elks Opera House (Tabor Opera House) in Leadville, Colorado, contracted with the Kansas City Scenic Co. in 1902, a large chunk of scenery was shipped from the Sosman & Landis Studio in Chicago. We discovered multiple shipping labels, and it is possible that each piece came with two’ one on the top and one on the bottom. Salesman Fred R. Megan, representing the Kansas City Scenic Co., handled the contract for the Leadville delivery. At this time the firm was making inroads to the western market. Megan later partnered with Thomas G. Moses, the final president of Sosman & Landis, to form Moses & Megan Studio. 

The American scenic studio system was one large family; sometimes they quibbled and sometimes they shared, but all stayed within a network beneficial to everyone. Theatre work was plentiful in 1902; demand outweighed supply and much of the competition between studios was friendly. Even though competing studios vied for the same projects, there was always more work around the corner if one lost out to a competitor.  Also, when too much work came in at once, it was beneficial to have close ties to these same competitors when work needed to be subcontracted, thus affiliations and regional connections were established. 

I believe that this is what was happening from 1901-1903 with the Kansas City Scenic Co when they manufactured the scenery bound for Leadville.  In looking at the various projects rolling into the Kansas City studio, the firm had more work than they could handle and reached out to Sosman & Landis. The Sosman & Landis flat construction for the center door fancy is identical to many of the other scenes with the “Kansas City Scenic Co., Kansas City, MO” stencil.

Regardless of the scenery manufacturer, the center door fancy is absolutely stunning and completes the auditorium.  The sheer beauty of the set, despite the visible deterioration and water damage, mesmerized the crew.  In looking at the center door fancy and seeing my crew’s reactions, I realized that this was a wonderful marketing opportunity for the Tabor Opera House, so I decided to both video and live stream the moment. This is such a special venue, and I urge donations to their Tabor Opera House Preservation Foundation. 

Her is the link to give:

https://www.taboroperahouse.net/donate

The Tabor Opera House has only one staff member who also gives tours; everyone else is a volunteer. There are two internationally significant scenery collections at this venue, and we are only uncovering one this time.

There is something magical about entering a historic stage scene, whether you are a performer, technician or theatre enthusiast.  Being surrounded by beautiful painting with footlights before you and staring at the ornate auditorium is spellbinding. You think of all the performers who stood in that exact same spot, surround by the same within interior setting. Wile setting up all the scenery I contemplated the various personalities who handled these same flats. Stepping back in the past is a transformative experience. You are transported to another time and share a moment with those who came before, some more famous that we could ever imagine and others who changed the world.

And this was not the biggest discovery of the day. I will describe what occurred after setting up the center door fancy tomorrow.

To be continued…

Copyright © 2020 by Wendy Waszut-Barrett

On my third day in Leadville, Colorado, I decided to walk to the Taber Opera House. My lodging is less than a block away. It felt a little brisk out, but I thought nothing of it as the sun was shining and I enjoyed the stroll. At the time, I did not realize it was 20 degrees below zero. Arriving a bit early, I had a chance to enjoy coffee and wait for the crew.

There were a few new faces, and after introductions, we discussed the day’s schedule. I wanted to finish all of the hanging scenery so that we could start on the interior sets tomorrow. Keep in mind that there are no counterweights to ease the burden of operating any line sets.  We started with the heaviest piece, an unidentified framed drop that would take more than two sets of hands.  From the stage floor we could tell that there was a medallion in the center, and my first thought was that it was an unfinished composition on the original paint frame for the stage. We soon discovered that it was a ceiling piece for the interior sets, complete with a hole in the center for lighting fixture. I have only seen historic set ceilings in photographs, never in person, so this was quite an exciting moment. It was wonderful to examine not only the painting but also the stage hardware. Also, at one point, the entire back had been backed with what looked like an advertisement poster.

Other scenes that we catalogued yesterday morning included a wood cut drop, wood border, garden drop, landscape drop, and the front curtain.  We enjoyed a family-style lunch again at the Silver Dollar Saloon, warming up and visiting.

After returning to the theater, we completed all of the hanging scenes except one painted border.  About three o’clock a voice called down from the flies; Amy noticed a fabric roll attached the side of the pin rail and we began to plan to lower it.  As Carl began rigging the drop, I began contemplating what the roll might be. A batten was attached, but it was way too short for the proscenium opening.  I began to speculate if it was the original 1879 front curtain, by why was it not upstairs with the rest of the painted wings and borders. Not until I felt the roller, did I get pretty excited about our discovery. The roller was quite old and the top batten made of 4-inch rough-hewn lumber.

Sure enough, this was the same composition noted by Muriel Sibell Wolle (1898-1977)  as the “Palace Drop” in the 1933. This piece was documented as part of the Leadville Opera House Scenery Project, 1933; the many materials now at the Denver Public Library. In 1933, a group of students, a former Tabor stage manager, and professors documented the opera house scenery. At this time, Wolle also sketched each set and made color noted which were developed into large watercolor paintings.  Here is a link to her rendition of the Palace drop: https://digital.denverlibrary.org/digital/collection/p15330coll22/id/483 The 1933 project gives the Tabor scenery collection an incredible amount of artistic provenance.  It will also help determine what is missing from the current inventory.

In regard to the Palace Drop…I have mixed feelings about the painted composition and its actual age. This original drop was purportedly lent to the Denver Theatre for its opening of the famed 1932 “Silver Dollar” movie (https://immortalephemera.com/15370/silver-dollar-1932-edward-g-robinson/),  a film was based on the David Karsner’s booko, “Silver Dollar, the Story of the Tabors.” His publication told of the rise and fall of Leadville’s Horace Tabor, and his two wives Augusta and Baby Doe.

Of the Palace Drop: the roller, fabric, and batten are obviously old and pre-date 1900. The fabric is cotton sheeting, similar to the 1879 wing and shutter scenery, with only a few pieces of linen. The Palace roll drop, however, does not look like late nineteenth century stage scenery; there’s a “sharpness” to the painting that I have not encountered in historic scenery from this period before. My gut instinct tells me that the old drop was “touched up” while on loan in 1932, hence why much of it looks so new. There is a 1920s/1930s feel about it. In other words, some well-meaning individual brightened the highlights, added a few washes, and sharpened some of the painted detail. There is heavy-handedness to the checkered floor that is simply odd. Overall, something just seems “off” with the painting and everything is a little too clean for it to be that old.

With many questions remaining unanswered, we finished work a little early. It was nice to have a few hours off before heading out that evening. I was asked to say a few words at an Elks meeting when the Tabor Opera House Preservation Foundation received a $2,000 donation; just a couple statements about the scenery project. I had never been to an Elks Lodge room or meeting before, so I was intrigued and agreed to go. I spoke briefly about the significance of the scenery purchased by the Leadville Elks in 1902, placing it within the context of Kansas City Scenic Co. and the construction of other Elks Theaters during the early twentieth century. Nice and short, because it was a very full day and I am slowly running out of steam this week.

To be continued…

Copyright © 2020 by Wendy Waszut-Barrett

We started our second day cataloguing the remainder of rolled scenery at the Tabor Opera House.  Our focus was to complete the stack of rolled borders and small profile pieces along the back wall before starting the hanging scenes.  The biggest project remains the numerous interior set pieces along the back wall.

We had two projects occurring simultaneously that morning.  The first was cataloguing the scenery as stated above. The second was removing two broken battens from a rocky pass drop and a wood border.  When we unrolled drops the previous day, there were two with broken top battens. These ragged wooden edges were harming the painted compositions and should not return to storage “as is.”. Although not part of the project, I recommended that we remove the wood prior to re-rolling. It was the perfect time to address the problem as we were slightly ahead of schedule. It also gave the volunteers a chance to see how the sandwich battens were assembled, a great learning experience for all.

When the Kansas City Scenic Company shipped the painted settings from Kansas City, Missouri, to Leadville, Colorado in 1902, the wooden battens were not attached. This was a standard practice at the time. The paint fabric shipped in vertical rolls, with studio labels on the exterior edge, noting location and subject.  The fabric seams for each drop were also vertical; horizontal seams did not replace their early twentieth century predecessors until the 1920s. This is not to stay there weren’t any scenes with horizontal seams, but the major studios during the late-nineteenth and early twentieth century were using 36” wide bolts of cotton sheeting and vertical seams for the majority of the stock scenery installations. At the Tabor Opera House we located a few of the shipping labels to verify this – still visible along the side edge of the fabric written in charcoal. These labels included easy descriptors such as “Leadville Front Drapery” or “Leadville Sky B” (B is for border). The placement along the side of the drop meant that it was easily identifiable during shipping and installation on site.

The lumber also shipped with the company, even in areas abundant with sawmills. Scenery battens was constructed of white pine; the rounded edges allowed the drops to easily slip past one another during scene changes if they happened to bump into a neighboring line. Shipping labor insured quality, and quality is essential for a sandwich batten.  Poor quality wood will warp.

To attach the battens to the painted scene on site was a fairly easy process. The backside of each sandwich batten was nailed into the stage floor with cleat nails, forming an arrow-straight line that would not shift. The painted scene was then tacked to the board, face side up, and would become sandwiched with another pine board. The tacks were placed about 4 to 6 inches apart. The top part of the sandwich batten was then attached with screws or nails, thus sandwiching the fabric between the two boards. The completed batten was then pried up from the stage floor and the cleat nails hammered over.

After the sandwich batten was loose from the stage floor, ½” holes were drilled into it to accept the operating lines. In the case of the Tabor Opera House, many of the drops had three holes to accommodate the three operating ropes.

The biggest discovery of the day was that some of the scenery delivered to the Tabor Opera House (then Elks Opera House) by the Kansas City Scenic Co. was previously installed at another location.  While cataloguing several of the border drops, I noticed that there were five holes drilled for operating lines, yet only three needed for this venue.  They were too consistent to be mistakes, yet necessary because the length; each of these battens were over 40 feet, much longer than the proscenium opening.

Later that afternoon, we noticed that the painted grand border was also much wider than the proscenium. As the piece was gently lowered, a line snapped. Amazingly, we hear the wood crack, but batten did not break in half. Instead, the stage right side hung like a loose noodle, obviously unsupported by any operating line. After we lowered the painted border to the floor, we soon learned the cause for the line failure.  The operating line did not fail; it was a bridle that failed. Although there were five holes for operating lines in the top of the batten, there were only three operating lines supporting the piece. Holes numbered one and two, as well as holes numbered four and five, were bridled with well-worn ¼-inch manila rope. The operating lines are thicker.  The ¼-inch rope between holes numbered one and two failed.

At this point it was time to take a break and discuss options over birthday cake; yes, it was the executive director’s birthday.  Our final project of the day was removing the top sandwich batten from the grand border, so it could be safely stored until a new batten is attached. We were all grateful that the line failed when it did, as there is ample time to address the problem before the season begins. This would have been tragic mid-performance, or during a busy time. There was a crew on stage to handle the problem. Small blessings.

To be continued…

Copyright © 2020 by Wendy Waszut-Barrett

My first day at the Tabor Opera House in Leadville, Colorado, was full of delightful surprises. After adjusting to the altitude the night before, I tried to show up bright-eyed and bushy-tailed. On site that morning were a television personality and a photographer; this may be the last time I leave the house without caring what I look like. Our project will be featured as an early morning local news story on a Denver TV station tomorrow (Wednesday, February 5). A local photographer is also documenting the process this week, and this is a great addition to the Tabor’s archives. The momentum seems to be rolling, but much has to do with the executive director Mary Ann Graham-Best. She is a gem and has thought of almost everything, including the little oxygen bottles for those of us who are adjusting to the altitude.

We started the day with introductions and a brief orientation before heading upstairs to the theater. The upstage wall was packed with scenery and our first task was to unroll as many drops in front of the flat stock as possible, understanding that these were mainly painted border pieces, and may a drop or two.  A few flats were also piled on top of the rolls, compressing everything, so they were soon unloaded.

The first piece that we unrolled was extremely small, beautifully painted and likely from the original 1879 scenery collection.  The ornate gold and glass jewels suggested that this piece may have been the grand border for the Tabor Opera House before the Elks purchased the property and renovated the stage it in 1901. The Elks greatly enlarged both the auditorium and stage house, adding a fly loft to the building.

The remainder of scenery that we unrolled on that day dates from 1902. It is scenery by the Kansas City Scenic Co., contracted by Fred R. Megan. Megan would later become Thomas G. Moses’ future business partner, forming Moses & Megan Studio. It is a wonderful connection for my research and provides additional context for my writing.

Now you have to understand about the project’s environment. In winter, the Tabor Opera House is closed and bathroom facilities unavailable.  For our project, a construction heater was rented and a “jiffy on the spot” secured. With temperatures dropping into the single digits this week, I will be hard pressed to not walk the extra fifty feet to the gas station when nature calls. The stage house is quite warm, a balmy 54 degrees Fahrenheit. It is the perfect temperature for our task, not too hot and not too cold.

The volunteer crew is a delightful and I couldn’t ask for better help. The Silver Dollar Saloon across the street is providing lunches this week, and is it great to relax in another historic Leadville building that is nearby.  So far we are ahead of schedule. The only thing looming on the horizon at this point is a series of winter storms. Hopefully the weather system will end before me departure this Saturday.

To be continued…

Copyright © 2020 by Wendy Waszut-Barrett

I last visited the Tabor Opera House in June 2018. The renovated building opened on Nov. 20 1902, featuring scenery by Kansas City Scenic.  For the next five days, I will be cataloguing the scenery currently stored in the stage area. With a crew of volunteers, we will carefully go through the collection piece by piece. Some of the drops are hanging, but the majority of pieces are stacked against the back wall. Here are a few pictures of their lovely front curtain.