Information about historic theaters, scenic art and stage machinery. Copyright © 2026 by Wendy Rae Waszut-Barrett, PhD
Design for an olio drop by John Z. Wood, representing the Twin City Scenic Co. This is part of the Twin City Scenic Co, Collection, Performing Arts Archives, University of Minnesota Libraries.
The Twin City Scenic Co. Collection, Holak Collection, Northwest Studios Collection and Great Western Stage Equipment Co. Collection are all part of an online searchable database.
Design for an olio drop by John Z. Wood, representing the Twin City Scenic Co. Information on the back of the color rendering notes that the composition depicts Bordighera, Italy. This is part of the Twin City Scenic Co, Collection, Performing Arts Archives, University of Minnesota Libraries.
The Twin City Scenic Co. Collection, Holak Collection, Northwest Studios Collection and Great Western Stage Equipment Co. Collection are all part of an online searchable database. Here is the link to the database with over 3000 images of historic designs produced by American scenic studios: https://umedia.lib.umn.edu/search?facet_field=collection_name_s&facets%5Bcollection_name_s%5D%5B%5D=Scenic+Collections
I post a historic scene every day to my FB Group Dry Pigment and my FB Page Wendy Rae Waszut-Barrett.
Copyright © 2018 by Wendy Waszut-Barrett
For the past few weeks, I have been posting some of the scenic art designs by John Z. Wood; designs that he completed for the Twin City Scenic Co of Minneapolis, MN. Here is the fascinating tale of this primarily unknown artist. His artistic gifts were extraordinary and his life has been all but forgotten.
John Z. Wood was born in England and moved to London, Ontario as a small child. His family moved again when he was eleven years old, taking up permanent residence in Rochester, New York. Wood enlisted in the 1st Battalion of the New York National Guards, Light Artillery, on August 2, 1864 and served until his discharged on Nov. 22 of that same year. Returning to Rochester after the Civil War, Wood initially worked as a decorative painter at Lang’s Children Carriage Factory and then as a sign painter for Frank Van Doorn.
In the late 1860s, Wood joined a local art club called the Goose Grease Club, attending informal gatherings at the studio of William Lockhart in Rochester’s Palmer building. By the 1870s, Wood had opened his own private studio at the Baker building, sharing the space with Lockhart. Seth C. Jones later joined their studio. During this same time he also worked for the Mensin, Rahn, and Stecher Lithographic Co., later known as Stecher Lithographic Co. , known for its beautiful fruit crate labels and nurserymen crates. After becoming a fairly well- ecognized artist, Wood worked as an instructor for the Mechanics Institute in Rochester.
By 1872, Wood helped found the Rochester Sketch Club along with James Hogarth Dennis (1839-1914), J. Guernsey Mitchell (1854-1921), James Somerville (1849-1905), Harvey Ellis (1852-1904), and William Lockhart (1846-1881). Wood, however, was the instigator, organizer and promoter of the group. Within five years, club became the Rochester Art Club. In 1874, the Rochester Academy of Art, also emerged as an offshoot of the Rochester Sketch Club. The Rochester Art Club incorporated in 1882, with Wood not only serving as Treasurer (1877-1882), but also Vice President (1889-1891) and President (1894). In 1883, a newspaper review described Wood’s contribution to the Rochester Art Club. Of his oil painting depicting two boys fishing, the review commented, “It gives him opportunity to apply his knowledge of anatomical drawing and his skill in producing excellent color effects. It is one of Mr. Wood’s best productions” (Democrat and Chronicle, 20 May 1883, page 4).
For the Club’s educational oferings, a room was secured at the Rochester Savings Bank Building. This became their headquarters with a small faculty consisting of Horatio Walker (water color), James H. Dennis (oil), John Z. Wood (drawing), Harvey Ellis (composition), and Ida C. Taylor (painting). By 1890, the Rochester City Directory listed Wood as a designer.
However, in 1892 the Directory listed John Z. Wood as “removed to Chicago, Ill.” That year, Wood traveled to the Chicago World Fair with fellow artist James Somerville. Life was on the up and up, and it was around this time that Wood became a member of New York’s Salmagundi Club, the same fine art group that Thomas G. Moses joined in 1904. Their paths possibly crossed during the turn-of-the-century in either Chicago or New York.
The first mention of John Z. Wood as a scenic artist, however, is in 1889. That year, he and Dennis Flood painted scenery for the H. R. Jacobs Opera House in Syracuse, New York. It was quite a lucrative contract and Flood would later be noted as Wood’s “life-time friend.” Newspaper articles noted that the pair painted not only a 25’ x 28’ drop curtain, but also the stock scenery. The drop curtain depicted an elaborate conservatory with a tropical garden view in the distance. Spending several weeks on site, they painted remaining stock sets that included a palace exterior, a fancy interior, a dark wood exterior, a classical garden, a rocky pass, a mountain landscape, a pastoral landscape, and a lakeside exterior. He dabbled in the theater while continuing to work as a fine artist, designer and art instructor, saving up what money he could.
Despite his success in fine art and some early theatre designs, Wood’s career hit a major obstacle in 1896 that resulted in a substantial financial loss. Wood had a financially devastating incident that involved his stepson Howard C. Tuttle, one that ended in family betrayal and subsequent financial ruin. Wood had known his stepson since he was born on Nov. 12, 1874. In 1875, Wood lived with the Tuttles; boarding with Charles, Nellie (Evalyn) and their newborn son Howard. It was short lived as Charles left Nellie, married his mistress Rosalie Graves and celebrated the birth of his second child Lillian that same year. Nellie and Howard C. moved in with her parents, Horace C. and Esther Rose; her father was a painter. Interestingly, Wood was now a boarder at the Rose home. Wood eventually married Nellie by 1886 and helped raise her son.
On July 30, 1896, Rochester’s “Democrat and Chronicle” reported, “Bad Predicament of a Young Man. Horace C. Tuttle Spent the Money of His Parents. His Arrest Followed. The Man Represented to Them That He Wanted the Money to Engage in Business in New York – Taken on a Minor Charge” (page 9). Tuttle was arrested at Batavia on a charge of skipping a board bill and that’s when the truth came out about his financial antics. The article reported that “Young Tuttle’s” home was at No. 17 Chestnut Street with his stepfather, John Z. Wood, who is an artist with a studio in the Reynold’s Arcade.” In short, Tuttle became dissatisfied with “his small salary and the hard work he had to do” at Miler’s Piano Store and made up his mind to do business on a larger scale. He unfolded to his stepfather and his mother the outlines of a plan that he said would make him speedily rich, telling his parents that he had been engaged as a traveling salesman with Newby & Evans, piano dealers in New York city, and that it would take some money to get started. The cash was forthcoming and the young man departed for New York in high glee. He soon pretended to be a member of the firm, getting his foster parent to furnish even more money. You can already see how this ends; the son doesn’t visit home, the parents get worried and contact his supposed employer, only to learn that their son doesn’t work there at all. In the end, the Tuttles lost $4,000, today’s equivalent $110,000.00 today.
This event was like let the instigator that prompted Wood to seek employment at theaters. At that time, being a scenic artist was a very lucrative profession, if one was good and fast. The substantial amount that one could make producing a variety of painted scenes was indicated in the business records of Thomas G. Moses. A good scenic artist was making today’s equivalent of 175,000-200,000 dollars a year.
In 1898, Wood was actively working as a scenic artist and painting scenery alongside Gates & Morange at the New Baker Theatre in New York City. He produced all of the exterior scenery for the venue, while Gates & Morange completed the borders, trips, and other specialty drops. Wood soon became an itinerant scenic artist and followed the work as theatres continued to spring up in the western United States and Canada. In 1901, the Rochester City Directory listed Wood as a “scenic painter.” By 1906, he also helped organize an association of Rochester painters known as the Picture Painters’ Club (Democrat and Chronicle, 15 Feb. 1901, page 8). The club was designed solely for working artists, similar to Chicago’s Palette and Chisel Club.
Wood began traveling throughout the country and working as a scenic artist for various theaters. He travels brought him to Winnipeg, Minneapolis, and Los Angeles. However, by 1907, Wood left Rochester, although the city directory continued to list him as a scenic artist there. For the 1908-1909 season, Wood was listed as the staff scenic artist at the Winnipeg Theatre. Winnipeg was the northern terminus of the railway and provided an excellent opportunity for Wood to work. It also connected him to the Twin Cities in Minnesota. After painting for the Winnipeg Theatre, Wood journey to Minneapolis, Minnesota, and painted scenery for a variety of venues. Another Rochester Art Club founder, Harvey Ellis, had settled in the St. Paul, Minnesota, during 1886, working throughout the region for seven years before returning to Rochester. Some of Ellis’ designs include the Mabel Tainter Memorial Building in Menomonie, Wisconsin, and Pillsbury Hall, at the University of Minnesota campus in Minneapolis (East Bank).
It was in Minneapolis that Wood worked for the Twin City Scenic Company. Several of Wood’s designs for drop curtains are currently part of the Twin City Scenic Co. Collection, Performing Arts Archives at the University of Minnesota Libraries. The backs of some designs include the name Robert J. Mork, a salesman for the Twin City Scenic Co. A few of Wood’s paintings also have competitive scenic studio stamps and markings on the backs, such as the Great Western Stage Equipment Co.
By 1911, Wood was again living in the Rochester, with the Directory listing him as a “scene painter.”
In 1917 he was “recognized as a scenic painter for the Masonic Temple and other theaters in the city” (Rochester Art Club history records). His work was for the new 1917 Masonic Temple building that included a theatre on the third floor.
Only two years after his return to Rochester, Wood was reported as suffering from “cardio vascular renal” at the Sellwood hospital in Portland, Oregon, as reported by the “Oregon Daily Journal.” However, this would not be a contributing factor to his death two years later. In 1919, Wood’s name would appear in the newspaper one final time when he was involved in a motor vehicle accident. On November 13, 1919, George C. Newel caused the death of John Z. Wood, residing at No. 144 South Ave. Wood was hit by Newell’s automobile when crossing the street. The court ruled against Newell as he was driving too fast and unable to stop in time. Wood was only 72 years old.
The Rochester Art Club records that Wood was “known for his sense of humor, ability at mimicry, and telling a good story.”
To be continued…
For well over a year I have posted a historic stage setting every day to my Facebook group “Dry Pigment.” This post is then shared with other groups for digital dissemination, but not here. I often group stage compositions on a theme, posting one version after another over the course of a week. In the past I have covered landscapes, seascapes, palaces, dungeons, hell scenes, cathedrals, and much more. The images are often from scenery evaluations that I completed over the past few decades while traveling throughout the United States of America.
I return to the life and times of Thomas G. Moses tomorrow on November 11, 2019. For the past week, I have been sharing my Dry Pigment Facebook Group posts, as it helps illustrate the scenic aesthetic that I write about each day.
I primarily post daily pictures of historic backdrops each day for my fellow scenic artists, many of whom were not exposed to this history during their training. I always hope that this small and consistent gesture will help others with their future projects and research.
Today’s Dry Pigment post looks at two sketches created by the Twin City Scenic Co. of Minneapolis, Minnesota, now stored at the University of Minnesota – Twin Cities. They are part of the Twin City Scenic Company collection and also part of an online database. Although the database has become increasingly difficult to navigate after changing servers recently, it is still worth checking out. Here is the link: https://umedia.lib.umn.edu/search?facet_field=collection_name_s&facets%5Bcollection_name_s%5D%5B%5D=Scenic+Collections
For well over a year I have posted a historic stage setting every day to my Facebook group “Dry Pigment.” This post is then shared with other groups for digital dissemination, but not here. I often group stage compositions on a theme, posting one version after another over the course of a week. In the past I have covered landscapes, seascapes, palaces, dungeons, hell scenes, cathedrals, and much more. The images are often from scenery evaluations that I completed over the past few decades while traveling throughout the United States of America.
While I take a break from the life and time of Thomas G. Moses until November 11, 2019, I am going to share my Dry Pigment FB Group posts. It helps illustrated the scenic aesthetic that I have been writing about for over three years.
I primarily post daily pictures of historic backdrops each day for my fellow scenic artists, many of whom were not exposed to this history during their training, or friends who are completely unfamiliar with this form of American popular entertainment. I always hope that this small and consistent gesture will help others with their future projects and research.
Today’s Dry Pigment post looks at the source, design and final backdrop created at the Twin City Scenic Co. of Minneapolis, Minnesota, for the opera house in Milton, North Dakota
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For well over a year I have posted a historic stage setting every day to my Facebook group “Dry Pigment.” This post is then shared with other groups for digital dissemination, but not here. I often group stage compositions on a theme, posting one version after another over the course of a week. In the past I have covered landscapes, seascapes, palaces, dungeons, hell scenes, cathedrals, and much more. The images are often from scenery evaluations that I completed over the past few decades while traveling throughout the United States of America.
While I take a break from the life and time of Thomas G. Moses until November 11, 2019, I am going to share my Dry Pigment FB Group posts. It helps illustrated the scenic aesthetic that I have been writing about for over three years.
I primarily post daily pictures of historic backdrops each day for my fellow scenic artists, many of whom were not exposed to this history during , or friends who are completely unfamiliar with this form of American popular entertainment. I always hope that this small and consistent gesture will help others with their future projects and research.
Today’s Dry Pigment post depicts an asbestos curtain produced by a the Twin City Scenic Co. of Minneapolis, Minnesota, for the opera house in Virginia, Minnesota.
Have a great day!
For well over a year I have posted a historic stage setting every day to my Facebook group “Dry Pigment.” This post is then shared with other groups for digital dissemination, but not here. I often group stage compositions on a theme, posting one version after another over the course of a week. In the past I have covered landscapes, seascapes, palaces, dungeons, hell scenes, cathedrals, and much more. The images are often from scenery evaluations that I completed over the past few decades while traveling throughout the United States of America.
While I take a break from the life and time of Thomas G. Moses until November 11, 2019, I am going to share my Dry Pigment FB Group posts. It helps illustrated the scenic aesthetic that I have been writing about for over three years.
I primarily post daily pictures of historic backdrops each day for my fellow scenic artists, many of whom were not exposed to this history during their training, or friends who are completely unfamiliar with this form of American popular entertainment. I always hope that this small and consistent gesture will help others with their future projects and research.
Today’s Dry Pigment post depicts a palace interior produced by a the Twin City Scenic Co. of Minneapolis, Minnesota.
For well over a year I have posted a historic stage setting every day to my Facebook group “Dry Pigment.” This post is then shared with other groups for digital dissemination, but not here. I often group stage compositions on a theme, posting one version after another over the course of a week. In the past I have covered landscapes, seascapes, palaces, dungeons, hell scenes, cathedrals, and much more. The images are often from scenery evaluations that I completed over the past few decades while traveling throughout the United States of America.
While I take a break from the life and time of Thomas G. Moses until November 11, 2019, I am going to share my Dry Pigment FB Group posts. It helps illustrated the scenic aesthetic that I have been writing about for over three years.
I primarily post daily pictures of historic backdrops each day for my fellow scenic artists, many of whom were not exposed to this history during , or friends who are completely unfamiliar with this form of American popular entertainment. I always hope that this small and consistent gesture will help others with their future projects and research.
Today’s Dry Pigment post depicted a landscape produced by a Minneapolis Scenic studio that also had regional branches in other cities, such as Detroit, Michigan.
Have a great day!
Part 634: Revisiting Brown’s Special System with William Knox Brown
Scenic studios went far beyond painting drops. Scenic artists, stage carpenters, and stage mechanics were visionaries; those who combined painted illusion, lighting innovations, and new stage technology on a daily basis. They were at the forefront of technological innovation, integrating old trades and new technology, often registering their designs with the patent office.
In 1909, Brown’s Special System system was the Sosman & Landis’ “standard” when installing scenery and stage machinery in Scottish Rite theaters. For the past two days, I have examined possible candidates who may have been involved in the conception phase, design, and installation of Brown’s special system during the first decade of the twentieth century. I am now compelled to look at a few close connections in the Midwest – other stage carpenters, stage mechanics and scenic artists who may have been involved with this new counterweight system. I realize that it will be impossible to pinpoint, but that contributes to the enjoyment during this particular quest.
During the 1890s, scenic studio employees drifted from one studio to another. It was an intricate network propelled by an ever-increasing demand for scenic illusion and stage effects. In fact, it greatly benefitted studio owners to not only know their competition, but also maintain close ties to their competitors; they may need to draw upon another’s labor pool if a large project came along. During this period massive projects would appear, requiring a legion of theatrical suppliers and manufacturers to complete the projects on time. Projects requiring complicated stage machinery and painted illusion ranged from huge outdoor pyrotechnic events and grand circus spectacles to word fair amusements and electrical parades. There was a shared material culture between the general public and multiple entertainment industries.
Minnesota’s Twin Cities (Minneapolis and St. Paul) were a short railway ride away from Chicago, the central shipping hub. Sosman & Landis completed many projects in Minnesota and the degrees of separation in the theater world were far less than the presently allotted six. It would be an anomaly to think that the movers and shakers of the theater world in Chicago were not in constant contact with those in the Twin Cities. There is one well-known stage mechanic and stage carpenter, William Knox Brown, who traversed the country throughout the late-nineteenth century. In 1888, the “Saint Paul Globe” reported, “W. K. Brown of New York, the stage carpenter, deserves credit for the clever mechanical effects to be seen at the People’s [Theatre]. He is enthusiastic, a skilled mechanic and an artist in his line” (Saint Paul Globe, 19 Feb 1888, page 10).
William Knox Brown engineered brilliant stage effects, and was a well-known stage carpenter and stage mechanic who traversed the country. Brown was an up and coming inventor during the late nineteenth century.
An article written by Geo. W. Welty, titled, “Experts Behind the Scenes,” included a brief synopsis of Brown’s career as a stage carpenter (The Star Tribune, 13 January 1901). The article noted that Brown was a “mechanic of experience” and “one of the best stage carpenters in the country” with a “thorough and comprehensive knowledge of the art of stage mechanism.” It then went on to describe his experience since first arriving in Minneapolis as a stage carpenter in 1882. Beginning in 1883, he was employed at the Grand Opera House in St. Paul. By 1887, he was connected with the People’s Theatre when it opened. He then took charge of the stage in Burd’s Opera house, in Davenport Iowa. From Iowa, he moved to the Harris theatre in Louisville, Kentucky,and by 1890 was connected with the Henrietta theater in Columbus Ohio.
By 1901, Brown had acquired the reputation for being one of the best stage carpenters in the country, being called “a mechanic of excellence” (Star Tribune, 13 Jan 1901, page 27).
Brown was also credited with “that rare quality of being able to control men without trouble, and while a strict tactician, he is yet extremely popular with all his employees.” These qualities landed Brown a position as master mechanic with the Hanlon Bros. spectacle “Superba.” Brown not only directed the staging of the production on tour, but also was engaged to direct the building, repairing and testing of new effects and “featured stage mechanisms” at their private stage and workshop in Cohasset, Massachusetts. The Star Tribune reported, “Mr. Brown, during his years of travel, with his splendid powers of grasping facts, has been able to acquire a thorough and comprehensive knowledge of the art of stage mechanism. This knowledge he has put to good use at the Bijou, for the stage of that theater today is conceded to be one of the most complete in the country; traveling managers sending many compliments for the excellent manner in which it is conducted” (Star Tribune, 13 Jan 1901, page 27).
In 1894, the Hanlon Brothers lost $100,000 worth of “Superba” scenery during a fire at the “Globe” in Boston. It was the third time that the Company had been “burned out,” in other words losing their scenery, to fire in eighteen months (Chicago Tribune, 2 Jan 1894, page 1). If I were the stage mechanic, this may be my sign to leave the touring world and start my own studio. That year, Brown returned to Minneapolis to take charge of the Metropolitan stage in 1894 when it was opened by W. F. Sterling. Consider that there is a “Brown” who is testing new stage effects, developing machinery, and applying his know-how to the theater that he is working at by 1894. At this same time the Brown special system is likely in the early stages of conception.
By 1895, William Knox Brown enters a partnership with Theodore Hays and William P. Davis, starting the Twin City Scenic Studio. The three initially work out of the Bijou Opera House in Minneapolis and later construct their own studio on Nicollet Avenue in Minneapolis. Each partner had a specific role: Theodore Hays was the business manager, Brown was in charge of the stage mechanics, and Davis, who had previously worked at the Chicago Auditorium, led the painting.
By 1904, however, Brown is heralded for a new invention that pertains to rigging. (Star Tribune, 7 Jan 1904, page 7). The fire at the Iroquois theater prompted many cities and theater managers to contemplate fire safety in their theaters. The “Star and Tribune” quoted then manager of the Bijou Theodore L. Hays. Hays stated, “The Chicago catastrophe has emphasized the importance of asbestos curtains and the Girard Avenue theatre fire in Philadelphia, where an asbestos curtain was lowered in proper time, demonstrated their worth by keeping the fire from the auditorium proper fully fifteen minutes, ample time for any audience to be dismissed, evening in a panic… Appreciating the necessity of its quick operation in an emergency, W. K. Brown our stage carpenter, has already perfected and put in practical operation an arrangement which permits the lowering or raising of the asbestos curtain from either side of the main stage floor, as well as from the fly gallery.” Later Hays added, “We want safety and not ingenious inventions that nobody understands but the inventor. Safety in this matter lies in the things that ones fingers out of habit would operate automatically no matter how excited the brain might be.”
I re-read this section several times seeing what I had known all along to be the whole point of Brown’s special system. It was easily operated and relatively safe; no locks, sand bags or belaying pins. Whoever pulled the line was in complete control of the speed, it could go as fast, or slow, as needed. Whoever designed the counterweight system that is still used by many Masonic stage hands every year realized that “Safety in this matter lies in the things that one’s fingers out of habit would operate automatically no matter how excited the brain might be.”
Think of the cowboys and bankers waiting off stage before a scene change at a Scottish Rite Reunion – first-time stagehands. Their brains were excited, but all they had to do was pull a rope.
The earliest functioning example of Brown’s special system still n the original venue is located in Duluth, Minnesota. The Sosman & Landis installation of the system is dated 1904. In 1905, the “Minneapolis Journal,” advertised, “general stage apparatus and appliances designed, manufactured and modeled by the Twin City Scenic Studio, leading scenic contractors of the northwest” (Minneapolis Journal, 25 Feb 1905, page 18). Brown was listed as the stage mechanic for the company in the ad. That meant W. K. Brown was designing special stage stage apparatus. At the time, stage apparatus was the word designating rigging systems. So W. K. Brown was designing special systems for the stage, like Brown’s special system.
To be continued…
Thomas G. Moses travelled a bit more than usual after completing the panorama with David A. Strong. One of his “short trips” was to Toronto, Canada. There he had a scenery painting project where he had to really “hustle” in order to meet the impending deadline. Moses wrote, “I enjoyed my short stay there, as I liked the city very much, so much like the U.S.”
Moses also went to Milwaukee to paint some scenery for the Academy of Music. For this project, he was working for Jacob Litt and recalled that one piece was a wire fireproof curtain that was “hard to paint.” Moses never liked painting woven wire asbestos and would complain about them in later years too. Yet they were a permanent fixture in many collections. Occasionally they would be poorly shipped or hung, adding to his exasperation. He would reiterate that the curtains should never be folded, but always rolled, to prevent the huge dents that would ruin the painted compositions.
The scenery that Moses painted for the Academy of Music in Milwaukee was in the second-generation space. Milwaukee’s first Academy of Music performance venuewas an exact model of the Philadelphia Academy of Music. The auditorium was 100’-0” deep by 64’-0” wide, and was divided into a parquetted, dress circle and upper tier. It was furnished with patented seats arranged with “a view to comfort” (“The Chronicles of Milwaukee: Being a Narrative of the Town From Its Earliest Period to the Present, 1861” page 285). The newspaper article noted “it is impossible for the spectator to so locate himself that a full and comprehensive view of the stage cannot be obtained.” The stage was thirty-six feet and flaked by two private boxes. There were dressing rooms and an orchestra box in front. William P. Young was the builder and it was inaugurated on March 16, 1860. In 1876 a second Academy of Music was built in Milwaukee between Wisconsin and Michigan. The design was a commission of Edward Townsend Mix and had a 1,600 seat capacity. This was the stage that Moses provided scenery for in 1886.
My interest traveled briefly to Litt as I recalled an image of a letterhead with his name on it (Twin Cities Scenic Co. collection catalogue, Brockman, 1987). I started to scan newspaper archives for Litt in both Milwaukee and Minnesota. There is mention of Litt in 1886 when he ventured to Minnesota with his sister. On July 31 the St. Paul Daily Globe published, “Jacob Litt, the dime museum proprietor and manager of the academy of music, Milwaukee accompanied by his sister, is in the city, expecting to spend a week at Minnetonka” (page 3). It is possible that his trip was as much for business purposes as pleasure.
Jacob Litt is recorded as being “the first theatrical manager to amass a great fortune and reach the millionaire class solely as a result of his own labors” (“The Stage in the Twentieth Century” by Robert Grau, 1912, page 135). He began his theatre career in the box office of Milwaukee’s Grand Opera House. He soon became the first manager to arrange a circuit of theatres for theatrical combinations in the Northwest and became wildly successful. He leased theatres in Milwaukee, St. Paul, Minneapolis, and Chicago, every endeavor becoming a lucrative success.
By 1889, Jacob Litt had taken over the People’s Theatre of Minneapolis that had opened on October 31, 1887 (20 Washington Avenue North). The venue was first owned by Lambert Hayes W. E. Sterling of Buffalo, New York as the theater’s first manager. By March of 1889,
Kohl and Middleton leased the theater. In July Jacob Litt took over, renaming it the ” Bijou
Opera House.” Unfortunately, a gas jet behind the scenes started a fire and burned the building to the ground on December 28, 1890. A second “Bijou Opera House” was built on that same site in 1891. Twin City Scenic Company began in the Bijou Opera House in Minneapolis. There were three principle employees who opened the scenic studio. Theodore Hays, manager of the Bijou, became the first president of Twin City Scenic Co. William P. Davis and William Knox Brown supervised the scenic art and stage mechanics departments. The company would later expand into St. Paul’s Grand Opera House for additional studio space.E. Sterling (the first manager of the People’s Theatre) returned to Minneapolis to open the New People’s Theater at 322 Marquette Avenue on March 24, 1894. By December 16 of that same year the theater was acquired by Jacob Litt, who renamed it the ” Metropolitan Opera House.” As a director and producer, Litt’s Broadway credits include “The Diplomat” )1902), “The Proce of Peace” (1901), “Caleb West” (1900), “The Ghetto” (1899), “Shall We Forgive Her” (1897), “The Last Stroke” (1896) and “Yon Yonson” (1894.)
It is important to recall what was also happening in the Twin Cities prior to the establishment of Twin City Scenic Company. In 1881, Charles S. King was brought in to install the stage machinery for the Grand Opera House in Minneapolis, Minnesota. At the time, he was thirty years old with seven years of practical experience in the industry. Keep in in mind that Moses had been working for Sosman & Landis since 1880. There is mention in the Minneapolis Tribune that “Mr. C. S. King, the stage carpenter at the Grand Opera House, was initiated into some of the mysteries of stage mechanism as exemplified in our new temple of amusement. Mr. King who was summoned here from Chicago, is regarded as one of the best stage-carpenters in the country, having had wide experience and possessing perfect knowledge of his progression. He says that our opera house will have the finest stage, the easiest worked, and will be the best appointed theatre west of Chicago, or of many large eastern cities” (page 5). When King was working on the stage at the Grand Opera in Minneapolis, the local stage carpenter for the venue was William Knox Brown, one of the three founders of Twin City Scenic Company.
Scenic artist John H. Young recalled in 1912, stating, “Jacob Litt always gave carte blache order for scenes, asking for the very best that could be painted, but if any breakaways were to take place in the scene such as a falling bridge carrying a man or woman with it, he always demanded that I be the first one to try it. This naturally had the tendency to make me arrange a safe fall. This method was adopted by the great Salvini at Wallack’s old theatre when he produced ‘Samson’ and the breaking away of the temple as he pushed aside the great stone columns, causing the entire building to collapse, was rather a trying test of my nerves” (Grau, page 230-231).
To be continued…