In 1924, Thomas G. Moses wrote, “Went down to Iowa where I closed another order in the State Prison hall.”
Of all the jobs that Moses mentioned in his memoirs, this one surprised me. I guess that I never really thought about state prisons as a theatre client. In many cases, the theaters were referred to as “chapels,” seating hundreds of inmates for a variety of events and lectures. At Iowa’s State Penitentiary and Men’s Reformatory there were prison bands. Orchestras and choirs were organized at both men’s and boy’s reformatories in the state. These groups presented concerts on Sunday’s and holidays. Visitor’s gate receipts also funded other performances, lectures and concerts. By the 1930s, movies were offered to the prisoners.
Locating any images of prison theaters became quite a challenge. I finally came across an image from one at the state prison in Des Moines, Iowa. It made me think of the bare-bones academic stages or Liberty theaters during WWI.
As I searched the 1924 newspapers for articles about any mention of a prison performer, one particular story caught my eye. On March 30, 1924, the “Des Moines Register” published a full-page article that headlined, “Sweet Alice, Omaha Beauty, Prefers Saving Souls to Stage. She is back home singing for poor and unfortunate.”
The article described the life and career of Alice (Alyce) McCormick, who started her career at the age of four singing to prison inmates. The article detailed, “Alyce was the first girl who ever sang in the Charlestown prison,” said Major McCormick. “No women had ever before been allowed there until Mrs. Booth secured the consent of the prison authorities to conduct religious services. That was in the days when prisoners’ beards were allowed to grow. “Alyce, a tiny little girl with long auburn curls, faced rows of grizzled whiskered faces and sang without a trace of fright. Many of those men had been imprisoned for long terms of years without seeing a single woman or child. Tears came into their eyes as Alyce sang and as I carried her from the building many reached out gently and touched her clothing and caressed her curly head,” said her father. During the summers since that time Miss McCormick has sung in the prisons of Trenton, N.J., Joliet, Ill., Anamosa, Ia., Lincoln, Neb., Leavenworth and Lansing, Kansas, Los Angeles, Cal., and Pontiac, Ill. the Charlestown prison in Charlestown, Mass.”
In 1924, Thomas G. Moses wrote, “We also did a small job at Manhattan, Kansas of $1,100.00.” It was York Rite scenery for the Masonic Temple.
From the “Manhattan Mercury,” 20 May 1922, page 2.
On Nov. 29, 1924, “The Morning Chronicle” announced, “Select Masters Degree to Four Candidates Tonight. New Scenery – Nine Drops and Four different scenes – to be used.” The article continued, “Four candidates will be given the Select Masters degree by the Masonic be the first to be performed by the Council tonight. The ceremony will council and the number of candidates was limited for that reason. There are about 25 candidates for the degree.
The new scenery for the temple arrived Thursday night and will be in position for the services tonight. The scenery consists of nine drops and four scenes. It is to be used by all the Masonic bodies.” The new scenery would be further described a year later when it was featured again. On June 30, 1925, “The Morning Chronicle,” reported “New scenery will be utilized.” The article continued, “A stunt night program in which all of Manhattan’s six Masonic orders will join is to be held in the Masonic Temple next Thursday evening…The occasion will afford a splendid opportunity to utilize the new scenery and lighting equipment to fine advantage.”
Moses’ work was well known in Manhattan, as Sosman & Landis delivered scenery to the new temple in 1922. On July 13 of that year the “Manhattan Nationalist” reported, “New Scenery Arrives. Drop Curtains Placed in Masonic Temple – to Confer Degree on Large Class.” The article reported, “The scenery which will be used by the Masonic in conferring the Most Excellent degree arrived Monday and has been put in position in the new Masonic temple. It is expected that it will be used the first time in conferring the degree upon a class of eight candidates from Wamego, who have signified their intention of coming to Manhattan for the ceremonies. The scenery was made by Sosman & Landis Scenic Co. of Chicago, one of the largest firms of this kind in the country and is considered a real work of art.”
The Sosman & Landis scenery was mentioned again the next year. In December 1923 the Royal Arch Masons conferred degrees on a class of 25 candidates from Manhattan and Wamego. “The Morning Chronicle” reported, “Historic hymns which are included in the ceremonial will be illustrated with lantern slides. The new scenery furnishing settings for degree work which was purchased and installed in the temple last year will be used in connection with the initiatory ceremonies.”
In 1923 Thomas G. Moses wrote, “Joe Bren’s work came in early this year, and we will try and give him a good job. It is not apt to be paid for very soon as usual.”
The Joe Bren Company was a Chicago-based theatrical production company that partnered with fraternities and civic groups to stage fundraising shows. Bren became a Sosman & Landis client in 1916 and continued to order scenery on an annual basis until the early 1920s. By 1922, however, the amount of scenery purchased by Bren from Sosman & Landis began to dwindle.
Bren Company representatives traveled from town to town, working with local talent to organize minstrel reviews, vaudeville frolics and “Jollies.” They were especially popular with the Kiwanis Club, Lions, American Legionnaires, United Commercial Travelers, Elks, and Shriners. The Bren Company provided sketches, jokes, and songs, even supplementing some of the local talent with professional acts. The Joe Bren Company not only provided instruction, but also all of the technical trappings, including scenery, lighting equipment and costumes.
By 1922, however, the Bren company began purchasing much of their scenery from another source – Service Studios, also known as the Scenic Service Studio of Chicago. On Dec. 10, 1922, the “Leader-Telegram” included a announcement about a Bren production reporting, “Scenery for the Bren company constructed and painted by the Scenic Service Studio of Chicago” (page 8). The Service Studios was completely composed of previous Sosman & Landis artists, so they new what Bren needed for his production. In 1920, a group left Sosman & Landis to form Scenic Studio. Service Studios rapidly made inroads in the theatre industry, winning projects from many competitors, including Sosman & Landis. Here is a past post about Service Studios: https://drypigment.net2020/05/05/tales-from-a-scenic-artist-and-scholar-part-981-john-hanny-and-the-chicago-service-studios-1918/
The primary Bren production for 1922 to 1923 was a musical revue in two acts and six scenes, under the direction of Ralph Hamilton and Alex Robb of the Joe Bren Production Co., Chicago. The production staff for the event included: Delos Owen (orchestrations and musical direction), Joe Bren (Dialogue and Lyrics), Geo. L. Ownes (staged musical numbers), Scenic Service Studios, Chicago (scenic design and execution), and New York Costume Co., Chicago (costumes).
In 1925, Scenic Services Studios was still producing scenery for Joe Bren, now the “Jollies of 1925” (Hamilton Evening Journal, 10 March 1925). This all changed in 1926 when Service Studios sold out to Art Oberbeck of ACME Studios. Interestingly, Oberbeck had also started out at Sosman & Landis scenic artist in 1904.
By the early 1920s, Bren hired Sosman & Landis for production elements, no longer the main design for the primary stage show. With Sosman & Landis struggling, clients may have hesitated, fearing the fir would closed before their scenery was delivered. In 1923, Sosman & Landis provided booths and lighting fixtures for a Bren-produced Shriner charity event; it did not end well.
On March 30, 1923, the “Chattanooga Daily Times” reported, “Booths and fixtures at the Shriner’s fun festival, now in progress at the Billy Sunday tabernacle, were attached yesterday through a chancery court action started by Sosman, Landis & Co., of Chicago, Ill., for the collection of $2,000 due by reason of an alleged breach of contract. The bill asserts that Joe Bren, named as defendant with the local Shriner’s organization and others, acting as purchasing agent for the fun festival management, contracted to buy certain supplies from the plaintiff. This contract, according to the bill, was breached to complaintant’s damage. The attachment was run merely to prevent the sale or removal of the fixtures attached and will not interfere with the operation of the show (page 4). Bren was branching out beyond his musical reviews and directing all kinds of events, including trade shows and circuses.
Jollies from 1923.
By the late 1920s, Bren Production company events began to dwindle, and by 1930 Bren became department head for the Music Corporation of America.
In 1921, Thomas G. Moses wrote that early in January they
closed a contract with Mrs. John Alden Carpenter for a fashion show.
From the “Chicago Tribune,” 31 Jan 1921 page 5.From the “Chicago Tribune,” 14 Jan 1921 page 15.
Moses had previously worked with Mrs. John Alden Carpenter
on a Boardwalk show at the Chicago Coliseum in 1919. His scrap book included
newspaper clippings pertaining to the event. On showed Moses at work with Mrs.
Carpenter nearby. Of the 1919 event, Moses wrote, “Early in February we put the
fashion show on, and it was quite a success.” I have written about this project
in the past. On Nov. 24, 1919, the “Chicago Tribune” announced, “New Ocean
Ready to Roll at Boardwalk.” The article continued, “Mrs. John Alden
Carpenter’s painted ocean is finished it the last wave and all ready to roll up
under Atlantic City Boardwalk at the Coliseum on dec. 6, when the bazaar for
the benefit of the Passavant Memorial Hospital building fund is opened. The
ocean and all other decorations have been designed by Mrs. Carpenter, who
evolved the idea, bringing the board walk to Chicago, and are being executed by
Thomas G. Moses” (24, 1919, page 7).
Of Mrs. Carpenter’s fashion show, the “Chicago Tribune”
reported, “Mrs. John Alden Carpenter has decided to capitalize her skill in
interior decorating but not for herself. She has elected to contribute her
artistic ability as a gift for needy children. In future she will charge for
services, but the money will go to the Illinois Children’s Home Aid Society.
Mrs. Carpenter’s first’ professional’ job will be the decorations for the Fashion
Show, to be held in First Regiment Armory Feb. 9 to 19, by the Chicago Garment
Manufacturers’ association, the wholesale milliners’ association, the Chicago Furrier’s
association. The check for her services will be sent directly to the children’s
society. The transplanting of the Atlantic City board walk to Chicago’s Coliseum
last winter was the work of Mrs. Carpenter, who also did the decoration for the
Pageant of the East, for the Ten Allies ball in Madison Square Gardens in New
York, and for Russian section of a pageant given for the Red Cross of Long
Island. Everything in women’s wear for spring and summer, from hats to shoes,
will be exhibited in little French shops along a street that will be an exact
replica of a street in Paris” (14 Jan. 1921, page 15).
On “Designer of gowns and millinery, carpenters and
painters, 150 beautiful models, and manufacturer and whole salers are rushing preparation
for the Fashion Show and Merchants’ Fair to be held in the First Regiment
armory, Feb. 9 and 19, inclusive. Mrs. John Alden Carpenter, who designed ‘Le
Boul Miche,’ the boulevard of French shops to be erected in the armory, daily goes
to 417 South Clinton, where the shops are being built and painted, and
personally directs the work. The beautiful models selected for the nightly promenade
to display Milady’s wear, are being fitted to the coats, suits and gowns and
other apparel they will wear. It will require quick work to get the boulevard
of shops erected in the armory, as the automobile show will not get out of the armory
until Feb. 7, and then fashion show opens two days later. The show is under the
auspices of the Chicago Garment Manufacturers’ association” (31 Jan. 1921, page
5).
Mrs. Carpenter has stuck in the back of my mind since 2017
when I came across the image of Mrs. Carpenter and Moses. It was not a new
image, or a new name to me. When I compiled two indexes for Moses’ scrapbook
and diary as an undergraduate, there was an entry for Mrs. Carpenter. When I
expanded this index to 127 pages in 2006 (I was on maternity leave), I came
across her name and picture again.
Mrs. John Alden Carpenter pictured next to Thomas G. Moses. A clipping from Moses’ scrapbook, source unknown.
What I found so remarkable about the undocumented newspaper
clipping in Moses’ scrapbook is the inclusion of the paint table. There are a
few things to notice about Moses’ paint table in the picture. There is an abundance of “pots” – containers
for the dry pigment paste when painting a drop. This also ties into the name “pot
boys,” mentioned by Sosman & Landis employee John Hanny. Pot boys was
another name for paint boys. Hanny
explained that pot boys were given this name because they filled the pots of
paint with pigment. These are not individually mixed colors for the composition,
but pots for pure colors; they function like dollops of paint on an artist’s
palette – a really big artist’s palette. This may be the only image of a paint
palette used by Moses during his career from 1873-1934.
Paint table used by Jesse Cox, currently on display at the Theatre Museum in Mt. Pleasant, Iowa.Paint table used by Jesse Cox, currently on display at the Theatre Museum in Mt. Pleasant, Iowa.
In 1921, Thomas G. Moses wrote, “Early
in January we closed a contract for Joe Bren productions.” That year, “Twin-City Daily Sentinel”
reported, “The Joe Bren Company are professional producers of wide fame and
popularity, doing an extensive business among the Shriners, Elks, and other
fraternal organizations in all parts of the nation” (Feb. 26, 1921, Winston-Salem,
North Carolina, page 2).
The article quoted Bren: “Our
hope supreme is not to make money; tho we do not spurn the master linguist, Mr.
Kale, who talks all languages with equal facility – not that, but primarily to
get before the public and show the good people of the city what we can do.” The
article continued, “Someone mentioned the great expense entailed in engaging
this professional company. ‘Expense, be hanged!’ exclaimed John [Whitaker]. ‘We
want to put on a show that will not soon be forgot, a show with home talent,
but with the ‘home’ made invisible thru training by professionals.’”
Joe Bren advertisement, “Alliance Herald,” 27 Dec 1921, page 3.
Sosman & Landis produced all
of the scenery for Bren’s productions. Bren had been a client of theirs since
1916. The Joe Bren Company was a Chicago-based theatrical company that
partnered with churches, fraternal organizations and civic groups to stage
fundraising shows. They tapped into the “everyone wants to be a star” mentality.
So many long for their moment in the spotlight, and Joe Bren delivered that –
an opportunity to don a costume and perform in front of professional scenery
for family and friends, never leaving the comfort of their hometown. The Bren Company was especially popular with Kiwanis
Clubs, the Lions, American Legionnaires, United Commercial Travelers,
Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, and Ancient Arabic Order of the Nobles
of the Mystic Shrine.
Joe Bren advertisement, “The Times,” Munster, IN, 21 May 1921, page 2.
Bren Company representatives
traveled from town to town, working with local talent to organize minstrel
reviews; working as the producers, directors and some-times performers for each
endeavor. The Joe Bren Company not only provided instruction, but also all of
the sketches and songs. The traveled with all of the technical trappings; scenery,
lighting and costumes were brought in by train. On Jan. 4, 1921, the “Courier-Gazette”
reported, “The Joe Bren Production Company has its headquarters in Chicago
where it keeps in touch with the progress of stage art. The company carries a
carload of scenery, electrical effects and stage paraphernalia, to put the show
on” (McKinney, Texas, page 1).
Joe Bren advertisement in the “Parsons Daily Republican,” Kansas, 11 Oct 1921, page 5.
The only true flaw with this entire
formula was the inclusion of blackface, as it continued to perpetuate harmful
stereotypes and further deepen the racial divide in America. I have written
about Bren in the past posts (see #941 and #1111). Clients in 1921 included the
Dallas Shriners’ Club, the Elks Convention in San Francisco, the Elks
Convention in New Orleans, Charleston’s “Jollies of 1922,” Davenport’s “Amoo
Revue of ‘22” for the Amoo Grotto, Minneapolis Elks for the Boy Scout Camp
fundraiser, the American Legion of Nebraska’s “The Jollies of 1922,” and many,
many more.
Joe Bren advertisement, “Bristol Daily Courier,” Bristol, TN, 5 Oct 1921, page 8.
Bren was back every year to purchase more scenery for his
shows. In 1923 Thomas G. Moses wrote, “Joe
Bren’s work came in early this year, and we will try and give him a good
job. It is not apt to be paid for very
soon as usual.”
In 1920, Thomas G. Moses wrote,
“A big ball at the North Side Armory, given by Mrs. Howard Linn gave us a hard
job to put up, and we just did that and nothing else.”
Mrs. Howard Linn was in charge of the “Bal Surprise” in 1920. From the “Chicago Tribune,” 31 Jan. 1920, page 3.
This was another Chicago Studios
project supervised by Moses before his return to Sosman & Landis in April
2020.
Mrs. Howard Linn was a
well-known Chicago socialite, residing at 55 Cedar Street. Linn was involved with
many public charity endeavors, social pageants, and social organizations. In
1920 Linn was the chairman of the committee in charge of the Junior League ball
held on January 30, 1920, at the Second Field Artillery armory on Chicago
avenue and the lake. The feature of the
ball was a pageant, announced in the “Chicago tribune” on January 3, 1920 (page
15). This was the event that Moses was referring to in his memoirs.
From From the “Chicago Tribune,” 3 Jan. 1920, page 4.
On Jan. 25, 1920, the “Chicago
Tribune” reported, “The ‘Bal Surprise’ to be given on Friday evening by the
Junior League will be a sort of grand finale to the most brilliant social
season Chicago has had in many a year. Mrs. Howard Linn is in charge of the
arrangements for the ball, which gives promise of being one of the most
interesting affairs ever given here. The feature of the evening will be ‘tableau
vivants,’ in which a number of well-known matrons and maids will take part.
Herman Rosee, Randal Davey, Allan Philbrick, and Mr. Norton of the Art
Institute are assisting Mrs. Linn with the tableaux, the costumes, and the
decorations of the First Artillery armory, where the ball is to be held. Mrs.
J. Andrews King is co-chairman with Mrs. Linn, and the chairmen of the
subcommittees are as follows: Ushers, Miss Edith Cummings; tickets, Miss Caryl
Dunham; refreshments, Mrs. Frederick C. Letts; program, Mrs. Lowel Chapin;
music, Miss Emily Bisell; decorations, Mrs. Barney Goodspeed; costumes, Mr.
Thorne Donnelley, and boxes, Mrs. Frank Hibbard.”
On the day after the ball, the
“Chicago Tribune” reported, “’Bal Surprise’ Nets $12,000 for Charity” (Jan. 31,
1920, page 3). The article continued, “If it had not been for the modern dress
of the guests at the Junior League ‘Bal Surprise’ last night, one would have
imagined one’s self at a ball in a medieval castle. The first artillery armory,
the scene of last night’s revel, is of medieval architecture and the members of
the league, who acted as hostess, were gowned in the picturesque modes of those
days long ago. In long trained gowns with basques and tall pointed square headdresses,
they looked as if they had stepped out of the frames of old paintings of the
fourteenth and fifteenth century. They were divided into two groups, the
ushers, whose duty it was to see that everyone present enjoyed the party to the
utmost, and the cushion bearers, who between dances flung gaily colored
cushions on the floor so that the guests might be seated during the ‘tableaux
vivants,’ which were the ‘piece de resistance’ of the affair.
“The tableaux, seven in number,
were shown in a larger gilt frame which was hung at the end of the ballroom
behind curtains of star dotted midnight blue. Mrs. Howard Linn, chairman of the
ball, was assisted in arranging the tableaux by Abram Poole and by several
artists from the Art Institute, Randall Davey, Harman Rossé, Allan C. Philbrick
and John W. Norton. The backgrounds, which were particularly attractive were
painted by these artists and they also assisted Mrs. Thorne Donnelley in
designing the costumes. In the first tableau Mrs. John Andrews King and Mrs.
Morris L. Johnston, dressed in pastel shaded Grecian robes, posed as figures on
a Grecian vase. They were followed by Mrs. Rufus J. Zogbaum, Jr., who, with her
lovely auburn hair hanging loose, made a perfect Giorgione Madonna. Preceding
the next tableau, in which Miss Polly Carpenter, who is as dainty as a bit of
Dresden china, with a figure in an Arras tapestry. James L. Breeze, dressed as
a bird vendor with a big hoop on which his wares were perched around his hips,
danced a sort of clog dance. He was assisted by Miss Sylvia Shaw and Miss
Elizabeth Farwell, dressed as court ladies.
“Mrs. and Mrs. John R. Winterbotham
Jr., danced a gavotte as a prelude to the fourth tableaux, in which Mrs. David
Adler, attended by an Ethiopian slave, posed as a Van Dyck portrait. Preceding
the fifth tableaux, a Chinese screen, Mrs. Mitchell Hoyt sang a Chinese
lullaby, accompanied by Miss Louise Thorne on the mandolin. Miss Lucretia Green
and Miss Alice Bradely also were in this group. The figure son the screen,
which was one of the most interesting of the tableaux, were Miss Mary Rend,
Miss Mabel Linn and Mrs. Joseph T. Bowen Jr.
“Mrs. John Root as a figure in a
Persian print was next, and last was a Wedgwood plaque in which Mrs. Charles
Edward Brown, Mrs. Philip D. Armour III., Miss Gladys High, Miss Lois Kellogg, and
Miss Adelaide Pierce posed. Dressed in White robes, with their faces, necks,
and arms as white as plaster and their hair covered with white wigs, the group
made a base relief against a background of that wonderful Wedgwood blue, one of
the most effective and attractive of the pictures.
“The cardroom, or aviary,
so-called because it resembles a monstrous bird cage, was decorated with
tropical birds, vines and flowers, bright colored lights and awnings. Mrs. Charles
Barney Goodspeed was chairman of the committee in charge of decorating the
building.
“Miss Edith Cummings, Miss
Elizabeth Martin, and Miss Betty Quick were dressed as heralds and carried
horns, with which they summoned the guests to the ballroom of the tableaux…a
buffet supper was served during the evening in the lounge.
“The proceeds amounted to about $12,000,
and will be devoted to charities to which the league annually contributes,
including St. Luke’s hospital, the Visiting Nurse association, the Juvenile
Protection association, the Infant Welfare society, Practical Housekeeping
centers, the Mary Bartlme club, the Mental Hygiene society, the Legal Aid
Society, the United Charities, the Park Ridge Home for Girls, the Fort Sheridan
beach fund, and the Fort Sheridan Christmas fund.”
The monetary equivalent of
$12,000 in 1920 is $153,836.40 today.
The tableaux backings were produced
under the supervision of artists from the Art Institute, including Poole,
Davey, Rossé, Philbrick and Norton. Moses and many scenic artists were also members
of the Art Institute. My research suggests that the tableaux were produced at
Chicago scenic studios, as the scenic artists had paint frames large enough to
produce scenery for the event, unlike most fine artists.
From the “Chicago Tribune,” 7 May 1920, page 101.From the “Chicago Tribune,” 17 Feb. 1920, page 3.
At the beginning of 1920, Thomas
G. Moses wrote, “A one night stunt for Mrs. Ryerson at the Congress Hotel Gold
Room caused considerable trouble.” Moses was referring to Mrs. Martin Ryerson
and the Congress Plaza hotel. The Gold Room hosted many interesting events during
1920. On January 20, there was an opportunity to meet an socialize with
performers from the Chicago Grand Opera Company. This is possibly the “one-night
stunt” that Moses was referring to in January.
Congress Hotel’s Gold Room in Chicago.Congress Hotel’s Gold Room in Chicago.
The Congress Hotel was originally
called the Auditorium Annex and built in 1893, hosting many visitors attending
the World Fair that year. The current website for the venue states, “The original
conception was an annex with a façade designed to complement Louis Sullivan’s
Auditorium Building across the street, at the time housing a remarkable hotel,
theater and office complex. The Auditorium Annex was built by famous hotel developer
R.H. Southgate. The first section, or north tower, was designed by Clinton
Warren, with Louis Sullivan and Dankmar Adler serving as consultants. “Peacock
Alley,” a celebrated feature of the new hotel, was an underground marble
passageway that connected the new annex with the Auditorium Hotel. The south
tower, constructed between 1902 and 1907, was designed by renowned
architectural firm Holabird and Roche. The South Tower construction included a
magnificent banquet hall, now known as the Gold Room, which would become the
first hotel ballroom in America to use air-conditioning. Another ballroom,
called the Florentine Room, was added to the North Tower in 1909. These two
famous public rooms combined with the Elizabethan Room and the Pompeian Room to
host Chicago’s elite social events of the day.” Here is the link to this
historic Chicago Hotel: https://www.congressplazahotel.com/history
Peacock Alley at the Congress Hotel in Chicago.
In regard to the Ryersons, they of
elite society with money to burn and some good deeds to do. On January 8, 1920,
the “Chicago Tribune” reported a donation to the Field Museum by Mr. Ryerson
(page 1). The donation of 222 stone blocks, comprising Unasankh’s tomb, was
described in detail: “36×16 feet, with walls three feet thick…The excavation
was performed by Arabs under the supervision of British officials – and 222
stone blocks were crated and shipped to Chicago.” Headlines announced, “Egypt,
2650 B. C., to Chicago, 1920; Story of Tombs.” Museum director, Dr. Frederick
J. V. Skiff announced the gifts from Martin A. Ryerson and Edward A, Ayer. The
article reported, “Mr. Ayer, the first president of the museum and the chief
benefactor of its Egyptology department, learned of the possibility of
acquiring the sarcophagi of these ancient dwellers of the Nile, and recently he
conferred with Mr. Ryerson. That’s how Messrs. Uter-Neter and Unsankh happened
to lose their tombs. Six hundred carloads of exhibits now at the old museum in
Jackson park, about 80 per cent of them packed, are now being prepared for
transportation to Grant Park.” Mrs. Ryerson was also involved with a series of
guest lectures that spring, including Museum talks on Russian Art and
Literature.
Mrs. Ryerson pictured on the left, from the “Chicago Tribune,” 21 jan 1920, page 3.
It is important to understand that
scenic studios delivered far more than painted settings for commercial theater.
They were also an artistic resource for high society, collaborating with wealthy
women to produce elaborate and exotic themed social events for various
charities. Scenic artists were visionaries for many public spectacles.
Times were changing for many professional scenic artists in 1919. In addition to the rejection of painted illusion for the stage and traditional scenic art, there was an increase in amateur dramatic organizations. The Little Theatre movement was gaining ground across the country. It caused a divide between theatre practitioners, with some seeing it as an obstacle to professionals. Other declared the movement an opportunity, allowing the doors of the industry to swing wider for “courageous young producers.” Beginning around 1912, the Little Theatre Movement provided a unique outlet. I am actually going to quote two lines from Wikipedia as says it all: “The Little Theatre Movement provided experimental centers for the dramatic arts, free from the standard production mechanisms used in prominent commercial theatres. In several large cities, beginning with Chicago, Boston, Seattle and Detroit, companies formed to produce more intimate, non-commercial, non-profit-centered, and reform-minded entertainments.” Here is a link for more information about the movement: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_Theatre_Movement and the Encyclopedia Britannica entry https://www.britannica.com/art/little-theatre-American-theatrical-movement.
An interesting article about Little Theatres appeared in the
April 1917 issue of “The Theatre” (Vol. 25, page 292, 314). “Mr. Belasco has recently declared, in the New York Herald that we must
“protect our drama” from “amateur dramatic organizations”….The so-called
“Little Theatres” which are springing up all over the country, not only in New
York, but in Detroit, St. Louis, Cincinnati, Milwaukee, Chicago, Philadelphia,
and other places, are amateur theatres, with their faults and weaknesses, their
failures, their fads. Their audiences, numerically, are but a drop in the
bucket. Yet they are a sign, a portent, which cannot be ignored. They are a
protest against the easy, safe professionalism which has divorced our drama
from all serious contact with problems of actual life, which has reopened the
gap which Herne, Fitch, Moody, Eugene Walter, George Ade and other seemed a few
years ago on the point of bridging; which has left the public without any
control over its esthetic expression in the playhouse. Just as soon as these
amateur efforts result in any considerable popularity and financial stability,
they will visibly and definitely begin to effect our theatre for good, and the
doors will swing wider open to the courageous young producers like John
Williams and Walker Wanger. In New York this winter we have seen “The Yellow
Jacket” established on Broadway, we have seen Stuart Walker’s amateurs playing
for a month, we have seen Gertrude Kingston come up from the East Side, we have
seen the Washington Square Players move from beyond Third Avenue into the
Comedy Theatre, and there remain. In every case something was added to our stage
which it sorely lacked, and the contribution was welcomed by a substantial
public. The way has been made easier for further experiments, for future
dramatists with something fresh to say. If Mr. Belasco honestly believes this
to be a bad thing for our theatre, if he honestly fears this sort of
competition, he has delivered the most scathing self-criticism ever written. At
any rate, the drama of to-morrow in America must be reborn out of the amateur
spirit, and the increasing number of amateurs who are giving themselves gladly
to task to-day is the most hopeful sign in our theatre.”
Little Theatres also weathered
the 1919 actors’ strike. This was mentioned at the end of an article by Uarda
McCarty in 1919. On Sept 14, 1919, McCarty wrote an article entitled “Melodrama
Again is Coming Into Own As Style Wheel of Stage Makes Circle.”
“Drama, it appears, like
all things else, must needs feel the influence of change. Style waves in the
dramatic world, sweep with as sure and effect as waves of reform, politics or
any other trend in life.
And the era for change is
apparently at hand. The movement in the drama, this season, as evidenced by the
late summer attractions, and early fall openings, seems to be more in the
nature of a reverting back to old forms than the introduction of anything new.
And the particular child of the past, which American drama has decided to
resurrect and endow as the heiress of this season’s accomplishment, is
melodrama.
‘Not any sophisticated,
full-grown child of new ideas and forms, but the good old-fashioned,
‘dyed-in-the-wool, blood-and-thunder melodrama. The kind with the old types
villain, the wronged girl, the old-fashioned trusting parents and other regalia
of melodrama of half a century or so back.’
So says Maude May Babcock, director of the Little theatre, who has
recently returned from a month in the east studying the theatrical situation.
One of the noteworthy
examples of this type is ‘John Ferguson,’ a severe tragedy set in the north
country of Ireland. It is a play with the religious element strongly
predominating – for it opens with the old father, the principle character,
sitting with an open Bible on his knees and closes with the same picture. But
withal, the play is a melodrama, for in it appears the wronged maiden, the
villainous villain and the virtuous hero.
Its popularity is attested
by the fact that it ran all during the summer months and is still booked for
Gotham presentation, at the Fulton theatre on Forty-fifth street.
Another play, forecasting
the same trend, is ‘The Challenge’ at the Selwyn theatre. Both theatres
weathered the actor’s strike, ‘John Ferguson’ the entire time and ‘The
Challenge’ for a goodly portion. ‘The Challenge’ was forced to close by a
walkout on August 16.
The reason for ‘John
Ferguson’ continuing was because the actors playing are members of the Little Theatre
guild, and organization growing out of the old Washington Square Players and
the Producing Managers’ Association, against whom the strike was called, had no
connection with the production.
One of the leading
characters of ‘John Ferguson’ is portrayed by Rollo Peters, a leading man new
to Broadway – that is, new in the art acting.”
Rollo Peters was not only
an actor and director, but also a scenic artist who embraced the new stage art.
He was also one of the individuals who benefited as the doors of the theatre industry
began to open for a younger generation of theatre artists.
I have noticed that few people enthusiastically embrace change, especially when if they already benefit from the status quo. Amateur theatrics in the United States was nothing new, but it gained momentum during the second and third decades of the twentieth century. Scenic studios had to adapt, with many firms targeting the manufacture of stock scenery for academic institutions and other non-profit venues. Our industry was teetering on the pinnacle of change. It was the convergence of Little Theatre movement, the increased construction of cinemas, and the rise of the modern stage designer that all contributed to massive aesthetic shift in scenic art. In the past, I have said that this is when scenic painting shifts from an art to a craft, and I still stand by the statement. The necessary scenic art skill set was dramatically shifting, ushering in a new era of painting. What I consider as the golden age of the American scenic artist was nearing an end.
In 1917, Thomas G. Moses wrote,
“Closed with Joe Bren for $900.00, first part, and some front drops.” Joe Bren was a minstrel show performer and producer.
His company, the Joe Bren Production Company, was a Chicago-based theatrical
company that partnered with fraternities and civic groups to stage fundraising
shows. Company representatives traveled from town to town, working with local
talent to organize minstrel reviews and other types of follies. They functioned
as the producers, directors and performers for each project, providing
instruction and all of the technical trappings. In 1917, Sosman & Landis
provided scenery for a Joe Bren show that premiered in Kenosha, Wisconsin.
The Joe Bren Production Company staff
traveled across the country, helping stage shows that featured local talent. In
1917, the “Marion Star” announced that the Joe Bren Producing company was
presenting an Elks’ Charity minstrel show that November (Marion, Ohio, 12 Oct.
1917, page 12). The article reported, “The scenery is also new and used for the
first time in Kenosha.” The Kenosha Lodge of Elks in Wisconsin presented the
“Jollies of 1917” at the Rhode Opera House in October, advertising that is was
“no mere minstrel show” (“Kenosha News,” 6 Oct. 1917, page 3). It was to be a
“clever mélange of vaudeville, musical comedy and minstrelsy.” The Marion Elk representatives
traveled to see the show as guests of Joe Bren. What a smart move on Bren’s
part.
In Kenosha, a hundred members of
the Elks Lodge were “drafted” to take part in the program led by Joe Bren and
Ralph Hamilton, another company representative (“Kenosha News,” 14 Sept. 1917,
page 3). Fifteen young women were included in the second part of the show as
guests in the resort hotel scene (Kenosha News, 2 Oct. 1917, page 8). In the
big patriotic finale, the United States and the Allies were represented by
“gorgeously costumed young men and women.”
It was the introduction of this patriotic element to Bren productions
that likely prompted the need for new scenery by Sosman & Landis. Of the
painted settings, the “Kenosha News,” reported, “Scenery and costumes will be
the finest possible to be turned out by expert scenic artists and costumers in
the windy city of Chicago, and they do say that among its three millions there
are those who can do ‘some’ turning out of the aforementioned articles” (6 Oct.
1917, page 3).
Sosman & Landis provided scenery for the Joe Bren production Co. in 1917. The new scenery premiered in Kenosha, Wisconsin. From the “Kenosha News,” (Kenosha, Wisconsin) 6 Oct. 1917, page 3.Sosman & Landis provided scenery for the Joe Bren production Co. in 1917. The new scenery premiered in Kenosha, Wisconsin. From the “Kenosha News,” (Kenosha, Wisconsin) 6 Oct. 1917, page 3.
Sosman & Landis delivered
scenery for hundreds of productions that were not mentioned in Moses’ diary
during 1916.
One Sosman & Landis client
in 1916 was Joe Bren, a minstrel show producer. The Joe Bren Company was a
Chicago-based theatrical company that partnered with fraternities and civic
groups to stage fundraising shows. Company representatives traveled from town
to town, working with local talent to organize minstrel reviews; working as the
producers, directors and performers for each endeavor. The Joe Bren Company not
only provided instruction, but also all of the technical trappings to produce
the show, including scenery by Sosman & Landis, lighting equipment and
“resplendent costumes” (The Gazette, Cedar Rapids, Iowa, 12 Feb 1916, page 8).
From “The Catholic Tribune,” Joe Bren 11 Nov. 1916, page 7.
The Joe Bren Company primarily
staged minstrel shows in 1916. The Bren
Company was especially popular with the Kiwanis Club, Lions, American
Legionnaires, United Commercial Travelers, Benevolent and Protective Order of
Elks, and Ancient Arabic Order of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine. In 1916,
Bren’s company was featured in “The Sunflower Council No. 31 United Commercial
Travelers Grand Minstrel Revue.”
Bren was also contracted for the
“Amin Temple Shriners Minstrel show,” as well as “The Elks Grand Minstrel
Review.”
From the “Press and Sun Bulletin,” Binghamptom, 28 Feb 1923, page 11.
As I was looking for a little history surrounding Bren, and
came across “A History of Broadcasting in the United States: A Tower of Babel
to 1933” by Erik Barnouw. Barnouw explains the Joe Bren Company “made a
business of staging local shows throughout the United States for lodges,
churches and clubs” (page 225). He goes on to describe, “Local talent was used;
the Joe Bren Company supplied sketches, jokes, songs, costumes, and
supervision.” Freeman Fisher Gosden, who later played “Amos” of Amos ‘n’ Andy,
traveled for Bren. In fact, Gosden truly began his professional career as an
entertainer with Bren, going on the road to organize reviews, minstrel shows
and carnivals. Charles Correll, who later portrayed “Andy” of “Amos ‘n’ Andy”
also worked for Bren. For those who are unfamiliar with the radio show, “Amos
‘n’ Andy:” https://www.nytimes.com/1972/12/31/archives/weaf-700715-ow-wah-ow-wah-ow-wah-amos-n-andy-the-angelus.html
and
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amos_%27n%27_Andy
Freeman Fisher Gosden and Charles Correll as “Amos ‘n’ Andy.”
Here is a peak into the
popularity and productivity across the country during the year that Joe Bren
hired Thomas G. Moses of Sosman & Landis to deliver scenery for their shows:
In 1916, the Joe Bren Company produced “A Grand Minstrel Revue” for the Elks in Paducah, Kentucky (News-Democrat, 19 Jan. 1916, page 8). Shows under the direction of Ralph Hamilton, representing the Joe Bren Company included the Shrine Minstrel Show in Springfield, Missouri (Springfield News-Leader, 9 Nov. 1916, page 3), the Shriners Minstrel Show in Sioux Falls, South Dakota (Argus-Leader, 18 Oct. 1916, page 5), the United Commercial Travelers Lodge Show in Salina, Kansas (Salina Daily Union, 27 April 1916, page 4), the Shrine Minstrel Show in Munster, Indiana (The Times, 8 Feb. 1916, page 1), the Elks Minstrel Show in Hutchinson, Kansas (The Hutchinson, News, 21 Feb, 1916, page 2), the Elks Follies in St. Joseph, Missouri (Catholic Tribune, 11 Nov. 1916, page 7), the Jollies of 1916 in Lincoln, Nebraska (Lincoln Star 19 Nov. 1916, page 19), and the Shrine Minstrels of Cedar Rapids, Iowa (Gazette, 21 Jan. 1916, page 1).
Ralph Hamilton of the Joe Bren Company, from “The Times” (Munster, Indiana) 8 Feb 1916, page 1.
Other Joe Bren Company collaborations included the Mohassan Grotto Minstrel Show in Davenport, Iowa (Quad-City Times, 30 Aug. 1916, page 3), the United Commercial Travelers Lodge Show Lodge No. 127 in Shreveport, Louisiana (Shreveport Journal, 11 May 1916, page 5), the United Commercial Travelers Lodge Show in Wichita, Kansas (Wichita Beacon, 15 Feb 1916, page 9), the Elks Minstrels in Independence, Kansas (Independence Star, 10 April 1916, page 2), the Sons of Black Hawks (S.O.B.H.) Minstrel Show in Waterloo, Iowa (The Courier, 1 Feb. 1916, page 9), the Shrine Minstrel Show in Montgomery, Alabama (10 Jan. 1916, page 7), the Elks Minstrel Show in Kenosha, Wisconsin (Kenosha News, 31 Oct 1916, page 1), and the Shriner Minstrels in Knoxville, Tennessee (Knoxville Sentinel, 5 April 1916, page 5).
Jo Alex Robb was another “advanced
director” for the Joe Bren Company. He took charge of the Shrine Minstrel Show
at the Alhambra Temple of Chattanooga, Tennessee (Chattanooga News, 11 Dec,
1916, page 7).
The Joe Bren Company was quite
sophisticated, with a staff that travelled the country and helped produce
shows. Like Sosman & Landis, they
tapped into a unique form of clientele that was driven by the “everyone wants
to be a star” mentality. There were, and are, many people who want their moment
on stage, a chance to shine under stage lights, and Joe Bren delivered that –
an opportunity to don a costume and perform on stage in front of professional
scenery. Although the Scottish Rite had
private performances for its members, it was based on this same principal; you
take an ordinary citizen and let him be an actor on a professional stage.
Over the years, the theatre
industry has continued to draw upon this particular drive, the desire to be a
performer. I also think of past productions that awarded top donors an opportunity
to participate in a production as supernumeraries; they were dressed up for a
stage scene, but they were able to associate with professional actors and stand
on stage before a large crowd.
The only true flaw in this formula is the blackface nature of the minstrel show and the deepening of racism in America. These shows were immensely popular, with many new stage effects being developed by lighting and scenery manufacturers. They also perpetuated prejudice and validated racism, one that thrives today even today. There were still blackface minstrel shows in the 1960s. On March 20, 1970, Vermont’s “Burlington Free Press” reported, “Black face minstrel shows still take place in many Vermont high schools” (page 2). By the late 1970’s newspaper articles fondly remember blackface minstrel shows, recounting comic routines between “black-face clowns” (News-Press, 8 Dec 1974, page 79). In 1977, the “Bennington Banner” included an article about the Lions Club Variety Show announcing, “No black face, but minstrel spirit remains in Arlington” (Bennington, Vermont, 24 March 1977, page 8.
The article describes, “One echo
of minstrel days has not died. That’s the tambourines, when the lights go down.
Day-glo painted on the lips and hands of the tambourinists and fluorescent
ribbons create that old contrast of bright and darks that inspired black face
to begin with.” In other words, instead of blackening the skin and exaggerating
the white lips, associated with stereotypical representations of African
Americans; they just used bright paint to exaggerate the lips, the iconic
illustration of a black-faced performer. Is it any surprise that there was a
large group of white supremacists just waiting for validation from a public
leader again?
