Category: Albert, Grover & Burridge

Tales from a Scenic Artist and Scholar. Part 135 – And I’ll Keep on Changing Partners (Walter Burridge)

Horace Lewis recalled a visit with Burridge in 1900 writing, “every object, from his devoted wife to the pictures upon the walls, and his den in the garret, is indicative of the genial, most modest nature and simple poetry of the man who finds his greatest wealth within that home.” Burridge was well liked by many, including Thomas G. Moses. Despite the ups and downs of their business relationships, this friendship lasted for decades.

In Chicago, scenic artists constantly swapped partners and painting positions. One might think that this would have caused strained relations in the workplace, but work was plentiful and life was good. Regardless of where they were employed, scenic artists also continued to escape with each other on numerous sketching trips across the country. After two failed business partnerships (Burridge, Moses & Louderbeck and the Albert, Grover & Burridge), Burridge started one more partnership that it may also have been short-lived. They painted “An American Heiress,” “New Blood,” and the new McVicker’s drop curtain that depicted the World’s Fair Court of Honor.

Burridge later received a solo commission to make sketches for Margaret Mahler’s production of “Cymbeline,” travelling to London for historical research. His accuracy for many of the notable scenes received praise. I wonder if the quality of his work eclipsed those around him, to the degree that maintaining any successful business relationship was difficult. He was obviously a strong personality, visionary and leader. These traits may have become challenging for any business partner.

By 1900 we know that Burridge was the Chicago’s Auditorium scenic artist. He was also engaged by Henry W. Savage to prepare the scenes for the Castle Square Opera Company at the Studebaker Music Hall.

Studebaker Music Hall, 1898. Chicago, Illinois.
Interior of Studebaker Music Hall, 1898. Chicago, Illinois.

Studebaker Hall had opened September 29, 1898 and was primarily used for popular music, meetings and plays. It was noted as exceptionally beautiful and acoustically superior. Originally, it had an arched proscenium like the neighboring Chicago Auditorium Theatre with 34 box seats across three levels. In its early days it was used for light opera by the Castle Square Company of Boston.

We also know that Burridge designed the scenery for the premiere of “The Wizard of Oz” at the Chicago Opera House. This production later moved to the Majestic Theatre in New York. A show with a tornado scene, the glittering Emerald City, a lovely all-girl poppy field and more! In looking at pictures of the original scenery used at the Grand Opera and Majestic, you can see some metallic foil strips glittering on the drops.

Original design from “The Wizard of Oz” by Walter Burridge depicting metallic foils strips used on scenery.

It reminded me of the foliage scene and metallic foils that I had encountered at the Wichita Scottish Rite during 2015 and the St. Louis Scottish Rite during 2017. Although both were used for Scottish Rite degree work, the designs were possibly intended for another non-Masonic venue.

Metallic strips on St. Louis Scottish Rite scenery. Photograph by Wendy Waszut-Barrett, 2017.
Metallic strips on Wichita Scottish Rite scenery. Photograph by Wendy Waszut-Barrett, 2017.
Metallic strips on Wichita Scottish Rite scenery. Photograph by Wendy Waszut-Barrett, 2017.

The original “Wizard of Oz” program notes are as follows:

Act I
Scene 1: A Kansas Farm (Painted by Fred Gibson from designs by Walter Burridge)
Scene 2: The Country of the Muchkins (Painted by Herbert Martin from designs by Walter Burridge)
Scene 3: A Road through the Forest (Designed by Walter Burridge, painted by Fred Gibson)
Scene 4: The Poppy Field (Painted by Walter Burridge)

Postcard depicting the original scene for “The Wizard of Oz.”

Scene 5: (Transformation) The Poppy Field in Winter (Painted by Walter Burridge)

Poppy fields with snow from original setting in “The Wizard of Oz.”

Act II
Scene 1: The Gates of the Emerald City (Designed by Walter Burridge, painted by Daniels Scenic Co.)

Original design by Walter Burridge for the Gates of the Emerald City setting for “the Wizard of Oz.”

Scene 2L Courtyard of the Wizard’s Palace (Painted by Walter Burridge)

Program from the Grand Opera House, listing Walter Burridge as designer.

This program and others are available online at the Chicago Public Library site. Here is the link: http://cdm16818.contentdm.oclc.org/…/Grand%20Ope…/mode/exact

Interestingly, images of a toy theatre model based on the 1903 production have recently posted online. Although it is not quite there stylistically, the compositions give you a sense of what Majestic audiences might have experienced. Here is the link: http://theozenthusiast.blogspot.com/

Poppy fields setting. Recent model that depicts the 1903 production (designed by Walter Burridge) for “The Wizard of Oz.”
Recent model that depicts the 1903 production (designed by Walter Burridge) for “The Wizard of Oz.”
Emerald City setting. Recent model that depicts the 1903 production (designed by Walter Burridge) for “The Wizard of Oz.”
Snow on poppy fields setting – transformation scene designed by Walter Burridge for “The Wizard of Oz.”

Burridge tragically died during a trip to Albuquerque, New Mexico ten years later, in 1913. He was visiting the area to make sketches for the upcoming 1915 Panama-Pacific Exposition. His funeral was at Grace Episcopal Church in Oak Park, Illinois. He is buried at the Forest Home Cemetery in a family plot that contains his wife Jane Anne (1860-1938) and son Walter C. (1886-1916). Jane Burridge lost both her husband and son in only three short years of each other.

To be continued…

Tales from a Scenic Artist and Scholar. Part 134 – “The Finest Theatre in America” by Albert, Grover & Burridge

The Beckwith Memorial Theatre of Dowagiac, Michigan, was built in 1892 for the cost of one hundred thousand dollars. Today’s equivalent would be $2,588,925.36! Albert, Grover & Burridge directed the plan and installation of all stage fittings, the wall decorations of the auditorium and painted décor throughout the entire building. This was a major extravagance for a small town that numbered less than seven thousand people.

Beckwith Memorial Theatre, architectural drawings.

Roger E. Greeley’s “Best of Robert Ingersoll, Immortal Infidel: Selections of His Writings and Speeches” (1977), includes a tribute delivered by Ingersoll to the beloved memory of Philo D. Beckwith. Greeley became intrigued with the history of Beckwith and his theater, a structure advertised as “the finest theatre in America.” I can see why as I am now fascinated with the story and the building too.

Beckwith Memorial Theatre, proscenium boxes and edge of drop curtain created by Oliver Grover.

Beckwith Memoial Theatre was a sizable house that had a capacity to seat 700. There were 499 overstuffed mohair chairs with 170 in the balcony. For the grand opening, thirty-six hanging drops could be combined in various combinations for seventy-six set possibilities. These settings were all painted by Albert, Grover & Burridge. The size made me think of early installations for Southern Jurisdiction degree productions.

Beckwith Memorial Theatre. Note fly gallery and paint bridge.
Beckwith Memorial Theatre, sectional drawing of proscenium.

Beckwith was an interesting character, beginning his career as a manufacturer of an agricultural implement that improved the round seed drill. He then focused on the mass-production of cast iron wood-burning stoves and furnaces, founding the company Round Oak Stove. His business prospered and so did the town. Beckwith desired to construct a grand theatre for his bustling town. Unfortunately, he never lived to complete his dream and died unexpectedly in 1889. His family decided to complete his vision and build a fine theatre for his memorial, sparing no expense. Greely stumbled across a front-page story in the Dowagiac “Republican” from January 18, 1893. The article’s heading proclaimed: “The Beckwith memorial Theatre Building. The finest theater in America.” As I read the article, I thought of that Rick Boychuk emailed to me concerning the Crump Theatre. This article was intended to make its way to you, Rick.

Let’s start with an excerpt from the “Republican” article:

“It is the fitting and arrangement of the stage in the Beckwith Memorial Theatre, that the greatest care has been exercised to obtain the best possible results, and a great degree of success has been obtained. To go into technicalities and the use of stage terms would not be perhaps intelligible to our readers generally, so we will note only the main points. The stage is fifty by thirty-eight feet. Up to the gridiron, from which is suspended by an elaborate system of lines and pulleys all of the stage settings it is possible to use in the form of drop curtains, is fifty feet, allowing ample room for hoisting out of sight a whole screen in a few seconds, and allowing rapid changing of scenes so necessary to the continuing of the action of a play and effects are made possible that were unknown in the old days of sliding flats. To those acquainted with and interested in things theatrical and matters pertaining to proper stage fitting we think it is sufficient guarantee of the success of the stage to say that Albert, Grover & Burridge, of Chicago, had the direction of the stage fittings and the wall decorations of the auditorium and the entire building. Ernest Albert, of A., G., & B., under whose direction the art glass, colorings, the selection of draperies, and the furnishings of the theater were made, had succeeded admirably in producing the most beautiful and harmonious whole.”

The author credits all of the original designs used in the decoration to J. Frederick Scott and the drop-curtain to Oliver Dennet Grover, both of Albert, Grover & Burridge. Does this mean that Scott designed the building murals or the actual scenery? It remained unclear to me. Grover’s drop curtain was described as “a dream of loveliness. It was monumental in character with male and female figures and cupids representing the different elements of drama, in a Grecian landscape, where splendid temples set amid cypress and acacia backed up by the faint lines of distant hills from the background.” The image was published in volume fifteen of “Building Age” (Jan. 1893, page 267-271).

Beckwith Memorial Theatre drop curtain by Oliver Grover.

I also stumbled across another interesting statement about the Beckwith Memorial Theatre scenery in “W.A. Norton’s Directory of Dowagiac, Cassopolis and La Grange, Pokagon, Silver Creek and Wayne Townships” (1899). On page 159, the author writes, “The scenery is designed for the cyclorama effect which has been found so effective, and which was first used in the Auditorium in Chicago. By this arrangement a scene can be set as a street or garden by simply moving the scenes which are profiled on both sides and top, anywhere desired. Every set of scenery is a finished piece of art. It is, after the latest fashion, lashed together with ropes and is capable of being made into seventy-five distinct stage dressings.”

Beckwith Memorial Theatre. Painted setting created by Albert, Grover & Burridge.

Scenes that are “profiled on both sides and tops” would be the leg drops. The cut opening would designate the street or garden scene with information painted on the leg drops. The various combinations of leg and backdrops would create incredible variety for potential stage compositions, all easily lowered to the stage floor for instant configurations. This was just like the new scenery for Scottish Rite theatres. There was no longer the complicated and noisy transitions of flats sliding in their respective grooves.

Norton’s Directory discusses the electric lighting for the stag, writing, “The problem of electric lighting of theatres has been solved in this house, by the use of a large switch-board, I which there are twenty-five levers, and nine powerful resistence coils. The lighting of the stage itself is exceptionally complete, four hundred electric lamps in three colors being utilized for this purpose.” Wow. Beckwith may be a significant “missing link” in the evolution of stage design, counterweight systems and lighting. This places Albert, Grover, & Burridge on the cutting edge of innovation and I couldn’t help thinking of the Electric Theatre spectacle title “A Day in the Alps” at the Columbian Exposition. This scenic spectacle utilized 250 electric incandescent lamps that were operated in full view of the audience with thirty-six switches controlling red, white, and blue lamps.

Albert, Grover, and Burridge were all close friends to Thomas Gibbs Moses. Numerous sketching trips were planned to capture lovely landscapes and improve their skills. In 1890, Albert and Burridge called on Moses as they were all in Pueblo, Colorado, at the same time. Moses was there for work and Albert and Burridge were on a sketching trip. Could they have discussed the Chicago Auditorium’s new scenery, the creation of an innovative painting studio, or any of potential technology waiting to be marketed to a variety of clients? There were so many ideas waiting to be explored and implemented across the country

The Beckwith Memorial Theatre stopped featuring staged entertainment in 1928. The building was demolished in 1966.

To be continued…

Tales from a Scenic Artist and Scholar. Part 133 – Albert, Grover & Burridge

Walter Burridge went on to form another partnership after leaving Burridge, Moses & Louderback. I have pieced together much of the story surrounding Burridge from bits of information I gathered from Thomas G. Moses’ typed manuscript, the John R. Rothgeb papers at the University Texas, some architectural books, and a few newspaper articles. The most valuable source was discovered online -a publication titled “The Coming of Age” (Vol. 3-4, 1900) by Benjamin Orange Flower and Anna Cyrene Porter Reifsnider. There is a section called “The Development of Scenic Art, and Its Relation to the Drama.” One of their stories focused on Walter Wilcox Burridge (1857-1913).

At an early age, Burridge apprenticed himself to Mr. Baylis, a sign painter from Hoboken, New Jersey. He soon engaged in scenic painting for New York theaters after Fred Chippendale introduced him to George Tyrrel, Gabriel Harrison and Harley Merry at the old Park Theatre in Brooklyn. By 1870, he was working full-time at Merry’s Brooklyn Studio; he was thirteen. From Brooklyn, Burridge accompanied Merry to Chicago and Philadelphia. It was under Merry’s wing that young Burridge received the much encouragement to become a successful scenic artist. It seems that the successful scenic artists all had mentors who took a great interest in shaping the career of a young apprentice.

Merry was the first President of the Protective Alliance of Scenic Painters of America, organized in 1895. At one point, Merry was called away from the studio, leaving Burridge to complete a backdrop that depicted a great waterfall. This was a pivotal point in his early career as it gave him the opportunity to prove his worth. From the onset, he showed an aptitude for a variety of scene painting projects. His talent and magnetic personality pulled people to him and soon he had numerous supporters, including the actress Mrs. John Drew.

Burridge did considerable work at the Arch, Broad, and Walnut Street Theaters in Philadelphia. Later, through the strong recommendation of scenic artist Russell Smith, he was called to the Academy of Music, in Baltimore, to execute some scenery for that venue. After Baltimore, Burridge returned to Philadelphia and then went to New York City where he accepted an engagement under J. H. Haverly. It is interesting to note that Burridge worked at many of Haverly’s theaters from New York to California, including the Fifth Avenue, Fourteenth Street, Niblos’ Garden, Broad Street, and Chestnut Street theaters. By 1876, Burridge was working with Phil Goatcher at the Chestnut Theatre in Philadelphia. The historic house was then “famed for the magnificence with which it mounted its attractions.” There, he painted the “Siege of Paris” for the Centennial and later produced the “Battle of Gettysburg.” It seemed that Burridge was always in the right place at the right time.

He moved to Chicago in 1882, settling in suburban La Grange with his wife and securing work at the Bijou and 14th Street Theatres. Burridge was also under contract with John A. Havlin from 1882 to 1885 at the Grand Theatre. He then worked at the Standard Theatre painting scenery for the opera “Santenella.” For six years, Burridge was the scenic artist at the Grand Opera House and at McVicker’s Theatre. He had been Lou Malmsha’s replacement.

By 1890, Burridge went on sketching trips with Ernest Albert (1857-1946), Oliver Dennett Grover (1861-1927), and Thomas G. Moses (1856-1934). They were all around the same age and accomplished artists. These outings must have been an absolute delight for all involved. Early in 1891, the three formed “Albert, Grover & Burridge, Scenic and Decorative Painters” located at the Studio Building, 3127 State Street, Chicago. Much of the information about this business venture was published in “Chicago and its Resources Twenty Years After, 1871-1891: A Commercial History Showing the Progress and Growth of Two Decades from the Great Fire to the Present Time.” The publication described their establishment as a marked departure from previous studios as they implemented advancements in the methods of mounting and presenting stage plays.

Advertisement for Albert, Grover & Burridge posted in the Dramatic Mirror, 1892.
The new studio of Albert, Grover & Burridge in Chicago, 1892.

They leased the old Casino building on State Street, just south of 31st street. The publication described the three scenic artists and their particular artistic strengths. Albert as a designer of modern interiors who “is most happy either in the rendering of correct architecture, or when depicting fabrics or soft and consistent color schemes.” The article described Grover as “known throughout the entire art world as an academician and figure painter of high rank – a strong draughtsman and colorist.” Burridge was further noted as “being strong in exteriors and admittedly the foremost foliage painter in the country.” All areas of scenic art were covered!

The article goes on to explain where the three men had previously been employed: Albert was the scenic artist for the Chicago Auditorium, Burridge was at the Grand Opera House and McVicker’s, and Grover held a professorship at the Art Institute and was also the chairman on one of the World’s Fair committees.

It was a perfect formula for success. This had to have been one incredibly talented and well-connected team. Albert, Grover & Burridge did a considerable amount of business for the World’s Columbian exposition of 1893, including the “Volcano of Kilauea.” The firm accepted an engagement to paint a cyclorama picture of the great volcano and sent Burridge to the Hawaiian Islands to make a faithful reproduction of the natural phenomenon. The final composition measured 54’ x 412.’ So successful was the exhibit that it was a major attraction at the Mid-winter Fair in Sacramento. Chicago had six panorama companies in 1893 and six panorama rotundas.

Postcard depicting the work of Walter Burridge, 1908, sent from Burridge to Thomas G. Moses. John R. Rothgeb Papers, Harry Ransom Center, University of Texas, Austin. Photograph of image by Wendy Waszut-Barrett, 2016.
Image of another cyclorama created for the 1893 Mid-Winter Fair in California. This was based on the success of Burridge’s attraction at the World Fair. Image from “Gems of the World’s Fair,” Collection of Wendy Waszut-Barrett.

Albert, Grover & Burridge had a studio with over 12,000 square feet of working area, and another 2,500 square feet devoted to storage and sewing rooms. They had twenty paint frames, ranging from 56 by 35 feet to 30 by 20 feet. The article noted another interesting fact about their studio, stating, “The studio is so large that it permits the artists to introduce a novel feature in the art of painting scenery, which has been in their thoughts for some years. That is after a scene is painted, it can be hung, set and lighted in an open space the full size of any stage in the country, so that a manager can not only inspect it as an entirety, and thus suggest alterations, but he can bring his company to the studio and rehearse with the new scenery.” This information is earth shattering as this shows that scenic studios went well beyond the mere painting of backdrops – they were the visionaries who combined painted illusion, lighting innovations, and stage mechanics. They remained at the forefront of technological advancements, integrating old techniques with new technology.

Unfortunately for Albert, Grover & Burridge, their business venture went bankrupt in two years.

To be continued…