Opera Company – Page 6 – Drypigment.net

Tales from a Scenic Artist and Scholar. Part 376 – Henry W. Savage and the American Theatre, A Permanent Home for Opera in English

Part 376: Henry W. Savage and the American Theatre, A Permanent Home for Opera in English

Thomas G. Moses traveled from San Diego to New York during August 1899. Of his West Coast departure, Moses commented that Mme. Modjeska’s company gave him a “fine send-off.” He wrote, “a large tent was put up on a vacant lot; refreshments were served and different members of the company did a little stunt. After a hearty God-speed, I was off for New York City. I regretted not being able to stay until Modjeska opened, but I knew I had a big time ahead of me in New York.” Moses was leaving to work for Henry W. Savage at the American Theatre. His contract began on August 27.

Moses wrote, “I was in hopes of being able to remain at home [in Chicago] for a week or so before going east, for the awful separation from my family was getting under my skin in bad shape. I felt as if I would like to throw up the New York job, but had signed a contract to be there in time to do the first opera.”

From the booklet “500 Times” about the first three seasons of the Castle Square Opera Company, and its proprietor, Henry W. Savage, 1899.

Henry W. Savage contracted Moses to produce scenery for the Castle Square Opera Company’s third season in New York. Other notable scenic artists had worked for Savage during the first two seasons, such as Walter Burridge, Frank King, H. Logan Reid, and John Clare. The increased volume of subscriptions during the first three seasons of the Castle Square Opera Company, supported Savage’s plan to establish at the American Theatre a permanent home for opera in English. The opera company also had branches in Chicago and St. Louis. By 1900, it was advertised as “the largest operatic company in the world,” having “gained a larger clientele than any other established musical organization.” A commemorative book, “500 Times,” documented the success of the Castle Square Opera Company’s performance of operas in English by Monday, October 16, 1899.

Moses’ first project for Savage was designing and painting “Die Meistersinger.” This was the show that would open the third season for the Castle Square Opera Company on October 2, 1899.

From the booklet about the first three seasons of the Castle Square Opera Company, and its proprietor, Henry W. Savage, 1899. Thomas G. Moses is listed as responsible for the scenery.

Moses wrote, “On my arrival in New York, I found working conditions very good; wide bridge and large frames; congenial men in charge of the theatre. My first opera was “Der Meistersinger.” I had a chance to get some good settings and I succeeded. The street scene was the most effective. It was built to the back wall and continued through the large door into the scene room, compelling the chorus to enter from the outside door. The perspective was in proportion to the characters. Mr. Savage paid me a flattering compliment on the production.”

By Christmas, Moses had painted several heavy operas, among them were “Martha,” “Rigoletto,” “Aida,” “Faust,” and “Tannhäuser.” Of “Tannhäuser” the Brooklyn Daily Eagle article reported, “Scenically and sartorially the production will conform to the accepted traditions. Thomas G. Moses has provided a series of beautiful stage pictures, which will be rendered more effective by the appropriate costumes, especially designed for the occasion” (22 October 1899, page 20). The amount of scenery produced under Moses’ supervision from August 27 until three shows opened in October is astounding. It also speaks to the speed of which scenery was painted at the time.

George A. Kinsbury, Resident Manager, from the booklet about the first three seasons of the Castle Square Opera Company, 1899.

William G. Stewart, General Director, from the booklet about the first three seasons of the Castle Square Opera Company, 1899.

During September 1899, the “Chicago Tribune” reported that the Castle Square opera company had assembled at the Studebaker Theatre in Chicago (7 September 1899, page 8). The newspaper noted, “Mr. Savage returned to New York last evening to witness the rehearsals of Wagner’s ‘Die Meistersinger,’ which is about to be given for the first time in English in America by the New York section of the Castle Square Company. The New York Company will come to Chicago during the grand opera season in December to present the opera at the Studebaker.”

William Perry, Stage Director, from the booklet about the first three seasons of the Castle Square Opera Company, 1899.

Adolf Liesegang, Musical Conductor, from the booklet about the first three seasons of the Castle Square Opera Company, 1899.

James Forbes, Press Representative, from the booklet about the first three seasons of the Castle Square Opera Company, 1899.

By January 1900, Metropolitan Magazine (New York) reported, “One of the most important musical events of the past season has been the first production in English in this city, and first time here of “At the Lower Harbour,” the English version of Niccola Spinelli’s “A Basso Porto.” It was given by the Castle Square Opera Company at the American Theatre on January 22. The other operas given for the first time in English in this city have been Wagner’s “Die Meistersinger” and “Tannhäuser,” Weber’s “Der Freischütz,” and Beethoven’s “Fidelio.” (Vol. 11, No. 1, January 1900, page 326). Once again, Moses was there to be part of something new and exciting. Opportunities abounded in New York. Some were so appealing that Moses would consider permanently relocating to the East Coast in 1900.

To be continued…

Tales from a Scenic Artist and Scholar. Part 371 – Start Spreading the News, I’m Leaving Today

Part 371: Start Spreading the News, I’m Leaving Today

In 1899, Henry Savage, John C. Fisher, and Jacob Litt all wanted to hire Thomas G. Moses to be their scenic artist. Sosman & Landis also wanted Moses to return to their studio. Regardless of the numerous opportunities that were presented to Moses in Chicago, his “vagabond shoes” were “longing to stray.” He accepted some appealing opportunities offered from coast to coast.

*Jacob Litt’s production of “The Club’s Baby,” painted by Thomas G. Moses in 1899*

Early in the year, Moses painted “special scenery” for Litt’s production of “The Club’s Baby,” an English farce by Lawrence Sterner and Edward G. Knoblauch at McVicker’s Theatre (The Inter Ocean, 14 May, 1899, page 32). Litt intended for Moses to continue working for him in New York at the Broadway Theatre. Little had just leased this East Coast venue, but Moses had better offers.

Henry Savage (1859-1927) asked Moses to paint for his opera company at the American Theatre in New York for $165 a week. Less than a week later, John C. Fisher dropped in to see Moses, requesting that he travel to San Diego, California, and paint three productions for Mme. Modjeska, “Mary Stuart,” “Marie Antoinette” and “Macbeth.” Moses accepted both offers, writing, “Litt was rather put out when he learned I was going with Fisher and Savage.” He also commented, “Sosman and Landis were also provoked with me, as they wanted me back in the Studio.”

Moses’ contract for Fisher in San Diego was from June 2 until August 10. By August 27, he would be in New York, painting for Savage. The small window of time between engagements left him with just enough time to travel to from West Coast to East Coast.

*Fisher’s Opera House in San Diego, became the Isis Theatre by 1902.*

Ed Loitz and John Fielding accompanied Moses to San Diego to paint at the Fisher Opera. The Fisher opened in 1892 and had a seating capacity of 1,400 (450 seats in parquet and dress circle, 420 seats in the first balcony, 460 seats in gallery and 70 seats in 12 boxes). The building was situated on an entire block between Fourth and Fifth Streets for two hundred feet. The stage was 43 feet wide by 43 feet deep. The grid was 74 feet above the stage floor, with another 12 feet above that. The venue was illuminated with an electrical system that consisted on 1,000 sixteen-candle power Edison incandescent lamps. The theatre was rechristened in 1902 as the Isis Theatre and later as the Colonial Theatre.

Moses recorded that he, Loitz and Fielding lost no time in getting to work immediately upon their arrival at the Fisher Opera House. On August 27, 1899, the San Francisco Chronicle reported, “Thomas G. Moses of New York and a staff of well-known artists have been at work for the past few weeks painting scenery for the tour. This includes elaborate productions for the play of “Marie Antoinette,” which is to be the most pretentious in Modjeska’s repertoire. Other strong plays are “Macbeth,” “Marie Stuart,” “Much Ado About Nothing,” “Gringoire,” and the “Ladies’ Battle,” the last two being a joint production” (page 31). Moses recorded that he had a nice room at the Brewster Hotel.

*Hotel Brewster in San Diego, California, where Thomas G. Moses stayed when working for John C. Fisher in 1899.*

*Interior view of the Brewster Hotel in San Diego, California.*

He ate his meals at Rudders, as Fisher paid all his expenses. Moses wrote that his “salary was clear and a lot of night work was necessary to complete the work on time.”

*Rudder’s cafe, where Thomas G. Moses took his meals while working for John C. Fisher in 1899.*

The company soon arrived and started rehearsals. Moses wrote, “The Modjeska company gave me a fine send-off – a large tent was put up on a vacant lot; refreshments were served and different members of the company did a little stunt. After a hearty God-speed, I was off for New York City. I regretted not being able to stay until Modjeska opened, but I knew I had a big time ahead of me in New York.”

The American Theatre on West 41st Street in New York where Thomas G. Moses worked for Henry Savage in 1899. Moses worked for Savage after competing the scenery for Mme. Modjeska’s shows in San Diego, California.

To be continued…

Tales from a Scenic Artist and Scholar. Part 305 – After the Party’s Over

Part 305: After the Party’s Over

Sosman, Landis & Hunt also managed the Grand Opera House in Indianapolis and the Grand Opera Stock Company there. This was at the same time that they ran the Pike Theater in Cincinnati. By 1900 the firm was contemplating a move to Detroit due to a noticeable reduction in patronage at their productions in Indianapolis. (Indianapolis News 21 Nov. 1900, page 8). The Indianapolis Journal commented on the characteristics of the Grand Stock Company (23 Nov. 1900, pg. 3) reporting that the Grand Opera House “had a fixed payroll of a very large aggregate amount, most of which is spent within the limits of Indianapolis.” In 1900 the Grand Opera Stock Company was getting ready to present a revival of “Trilby,” “Camille,” “The Social Highwayman,” and “The Girl With the Auburn Hair.”

Sosman, Landis & Hunt also managed the Grand Opera House in Indianapolis and the Grand Opera Stock Company. The Grand Opera House later became the New Grand, a vaudeville house.

The Grand Opera was initially under the management of “Dickson and Talbott.” George A. Dickson and Henry M. Talbott rented the playhouse to the new theatrical management company of Sosman, Landis & Hunt in 1896. This was two years after their theatrical management company began in Cincinnati. They would continue to manage the Grand Opera and stock company until 1901. From 1900-1902, weekly receipts began to plummet, forcing a new company to take over the venue. It became a vaudeville house under the next management team of Anderson and Ziegler in 1901. Anderson and Ziegler were credited with introducing vaudeville in Indianapolis during 1900, the same time that profits at the Grand Opera House started to diminish (Indianapolis Star 26 May 1916, page 11). The Grand Opera House would later be known as one of B. F. Keith’s venues too.

Fire map depicting where the Grand Opera House in Indianapolis was located, later Keith’s Grand Opera House.

What I find interesting about the Sosman, Landis & Hunt business venture is the timing. Business slows after the World Fair of 1893 and they are left with two studios and a huge staff of artists. They take elements of the Midway and produce a touring show that they manage. In addition to managing the Masonic Temple Roof scenic electric theaters, they also start to invest in stock companies. This is on top of their involvement with the American Reflector Company, the manufacture of theatrical rigging and stage hardware, as well other investments. It appears that the significant profits made during the fair were invested in other business ventures. None of the wealth amassed during 1893 trickled down to their employees and this caused many of the artists to leave the following year, including Thomas G. Moses. I am sure that after all of their had work, they felt slighted when asked to take a pay cut after such a successful year.

At the beginning of 1893, Thomas G. Moses wrote, “The big Fair progressing nicely and a world of work for us in sight.” That was not the case after the close of the fair. By the end of 1893, Moses wrote about business after returning from a trip to New York, “On my return home, I found business very bad, as we all thought it would be at the close of the Fair.” Moses further wrote about his situation, commenting, “There were no more contracts and all I could see was a salary of $10.00 per day.” That is today’s equivalent of approximately $250 a day.

$10.00 a day was the same amount offered to Moses by David Hunt to replicate a few scenes from the Columbian Exposition’s Midway Plaisance, including the electric theatre. Hunt also wanted him to paint at the Pike Theater. In 1894, Thomas G. Moses went to work for David H. Hunt as scenes from the Columbian Exposition’s Midway toured the country. Highlights from the fair were appearing all over in the comfort of local venues.

Scene of the Midway Plaisance at the Columbian Exposition.

Moses traveled to Philadelphia to install and open Hunt’s Midway show on February 15, 1894. The Buffalo Commercial (Buffalo, New York) reported “The Famous Midway” was in town. A “very realistic exhibition” was on display at the 74^th regiment armory. Hunt was also the manager of the Midway Plaisance Company in addition to starting his business venture with Sosman & Landis. The article continued that those who went to the Columbian Exposition and attended the Midway “were pleased to note that an excellent reproduction on a much larger scale than might have been expected had been made, and they were well pleased with what they saw” on February 8, 1894 (page 10). Scenes included the Chinese Theatre, Dahomey village, Indian village, German village, the Turkish Theatre Hagenbeck’s animal show, the Streets of Cairo, and Old Vienna. Other scenes, such as the Ferris Wheel” were included in the distance. The article commented that the scenery was painted “so faithfully that you believe for a moment that it is the real thing. In short you have a picture of the Midway as you might have seen it in Chicago by looking through an inverted opera glass.”

Moses next traveled with the show to install it at the Madison Square Garden in March of 1894. Moses wrote, “We got the whole show up in a day, including the Electric Theatre.” He continued that they “opened to big business.” Yet he saw none of the profits and continued to work for $10 a day, while traveling with large expenses.

David H. Hunt of Sosman, Landis & Hunt, theatrical management company. Image from 1903.

Of his time spent away from Chicago with Hunt, Moses write, “Sosman and Landis didn’t like my being with Hunt as they felt I was slipping away again, which I did.” This was a turning point and we see things come full circle for Moses. Throughout his entire career he impressed people. He impressed them with his artistry, speed, and personality. Wherever he went, jobs magically appeared before him and whatever studio he was working for. It was as if Moses were one big magnet, constantly drawing future projects to his doorstep. Why not leave the studio and ensure himself a share of the profits?

To be continued…

Tales from a Scenic Artist and Scholar. Part 232 – Thomas G. Moses and Emma Abbott in Ogden, Utah

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

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

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

The Grand Opera House in Ogden, Utah. It opened with scenery by Sosman & Landis. The painting was completed by Thomas G. Moses and Ed Loitz.

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

Emma Abbott’s debut at the Grand Opera House in Ogden, Utah, on December 29, 2890.

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

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

The Emma Abbott Libretto and Parlor Pianist score for “Mignon.”

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

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

To be continued…