Waszut-Barrett Travels – Page 12

Travels of Scenic Artist and Scholar: The Winter Scene Shutter at the Tabor Opera House in Leadville, Colorado.

I am ending 2020 with a winter scene. It seems appropriate for the winter solstice tonight, despite the fact that there is no snow on the ground, and I live in Minnesota! I will resume posting after the upcoming presidential inauguration, allowing myself a day or two of celebratory recovery.

On site, there was one lone shutter that depicted a snowy landscape. It was all that remained of a pair, with a winter scene painted on the back of an original wood shutter constructed for the 1879 stage. When the shutters were repainted in 1888, the fabric was replaced on the second shutter, possibly the result of irreparable damage. This is when the winter scene lost its mate.

The pine frame was originally covered with standard cotton sheeting manufactured at Boott Mills in Lowell, Massachusetts. When the frame was recovered, the new fabric was standard drillings from Stark Mills in Manchester, New Hampshire.

Happy Holidays and Happy New Year! See you in 2021!

Painted detail. *Winter scene shutter at the Tabor Opera House in Leadville, Colorado*

*Flat sheaves were attached to the bottoms of shutters to help them move on stage*

*Lowering the shutter form the attic to the stage*

*The shutter on the Tabor Opera House stage. First time in over a century*

*The double-painted shutter has a wood scene on the front*

Tales from a Scenic Artist and Scholar. Part 1140 – P. T. Blackburn and the Fabric Studio of Chicago

In 1922 Thomas G. Moses wrote, “Started on a bunch of Masonic models, and it will take some time to do them. Went to Joplin, Mo., after a good contract. Was too high.” A similar thing would happen only a few months later, with Moses writing, “Made several trips to Davenport in hopes of getting the big contract of about $16,000.00, but we were too high.

*Stencil for the Fabric Studios for the Joplin Scottish Rite*

*Scenery by the Fabric Studios for the Joplin Scottish Rite*

Painted detail. *Scenery by the Fabric Studios for the Joplin Scottish Rite*

Sosman & Landis was nearing the end of its existence at the same time many other studios were getting their start. Sosman & Landis lost the Joplin job to another Chicago firm – The Fabric Studio. The Fabric Studio appeared on the scene as abruptly as it disappeared a few years later. However, between 1922 and 1923 the studio showed much promise. The same year that they landed the Joplin Scottish Rite project, they delivered some very impressive scenery to the Orpheum Theatre in Wichita, Kansas. Interestingly, by 1923, Thomas G. Moses and Fred R. Megan rented the Fabric Studios’ space as they waited to purchase the Sosman & Landis name; waiting for the firm to liquidate all their assets.

The Fabric Studio scenery painted for the Joplin Scottish Rite is colorful, impressive, and indicative of a changing aesthetic. I had an opportunity to visit the Joplin Scottish Rite and document the historic scenery collection during the summer of 2018 and document the scenery painted at the Fabric Studios. Here is link to my post about that visit: https://drypigment.net2018/07/03/travels-of-a-scenic-artist-and-scholar-the-joplin-scottish-rite-july-2/

There was a studio stamp on many drops that included the address 117 N. State, 4th floor, Chicago, Illinois. At this time, there were three main individuals running The Fabric Studio, artistic director P T. Blackburn and stage carpenter J. A. Bannon. As most young studios, the men continued to work independently while getting the studio up and running. In the end, the Joplin Scottish Rite may be the only artistic legacy left of this short-lived studio.

The earliest mention of the Fabric Studio that I have located to date is from the summer of 1921. The company placed a want ad in the “Chicago Tribune,” advertising for girls to help in their sewing room (“Chicago Tribune,” 27 August 1921, page 14). The earliest work credited to the new form was for Princess Minstrel Misses. Advertisements placed in “The Richmond Item” announced, “Seven young ladies in ‘a Fanfare of Joy, Song and Dance and Music’ with Cecil Jefferson. A miniature minstrel production offered exclusively by seven talented girls with an elaborate stage setting. Hear these clever girls in the latest songs and jokes. Costumes by Hazel Rene, Chicago. Scenery by The Fabric Studio, Chicago. 20 minutes of Real Entertainment” (8 Dec 1921, page 5).

In 1922, The Fabric Studio of Chicago was competing with the Kansas City Scenic Co. for the contract to paint and install a new front curtain and scenery for the Memorial Auditorium in Wellington, Kansas. W. S. Mayer was the salesman for The Fabric Studio of Chicago (“Wellington Daily News,” 25 August 1922, page 1). That same year, The Fabric Studio also secured a substantial contract for Wichita’s Orpheum Theatre. The “Wichita Eagle” reported the Fabric Studio’s scenery included the original asbestos curtain depicting a gold gauze curtain with an exterior garden scene, a Spanish market scene; a silk velour for the valance; a grand drapery; a silver gauze tableaux curtain; a picture sheet; “two exterior oleos and drops;” a complete conservatory set; and a complete Gothic set (3 September 1922, page 48).

*The Orpheum Theatre in Wichita, Kansas with scenery by the Fabric Studios of Chicago*

*P. T. Blackburn, from the “Daily Times,” Davenport, Iowa, 17 May 1922, page 10.*

The chief scenic artist associated with the Fabric Studios at this time was P. T. Blackburn. He is quite an interesting individual. Blackburn was the head of the artistic staff for several stock companies over the years, including the Grand Players from Davenport, Iowa. Max Schroeder was another scenic artist who represented painted for the firm 1922, specializing in landscapes. Blackburn and Schroeder greatly contributed the studio’s colorful aesthetic. The firm’s head installation expert was J. A. Bannon, an older gentleman with extensive experience with stage machinery and the installation of stage systems.

Blackburn was credited as specializing in fine plushes, satins, and velours, such as the gold gauze front curtain and the silver gauze tableaux curtain for the Orpheum. Of the gold curtain delivered by the Fabric studio. The “Wichita Daily Eagle,” reported, “Scenery in the Orpheum theater ranks with that any vaudeville theater in the entire country, according to J. A. Bannon, who came to Wichita from Chicago, to install the scenery for the Fabric Studio, the makers. Bannon should be an authority since he is an old timer in the show business and has installed scenery in theaters in nearly every city in the United States. Bannon is very enthusiastic about the gold gauze curtain which he says is an unusually fine production. It portrays an exterior garden scene and was painted by Max Schroeder. A wonderful work has been accomplished in the floor perspective of the scene in the curtain. The perspective is only twenty-five inches in extent but gives the floor appearance of being twenty-five feet.” Of Bannon, the article reported, “Bannon started ‘trouping’ as a property man with Karafe’s Water Queen in the eighties. He soon became stage carpenter and traveled as such for years, visiting Wichita many times.”

In 1923, the “Quad City Times” include a portrait of Blackburn and reported, “Mr. Blackburn, scenery artist at the Grand theater is a star never seen by the audience. All of the scenery is painted by him. ‘It is an endless job – this business of being a scenery painter of a stock company – but I like it anyway,’ opined Mr. Blackburn yesterday, He had been with the Grand company for more than a year” (18 March 1923, page 21). In 1923, Blackburn was also producing scenery for productions, such as “Nice People” in 1923 (The Daily Times, Davenport, Iowa, 27 Jan 1923, page 8). Blackburn was mentioned as a scenic artist when he married in 1923 (The Daily Ties, 21 April 1923, page 7). The article announced, “Miss Erma Hermiston, youngest daughter of Mrs. Fred Hanson of DeWitt, was married to P. T. Blackburn, scenic artist for the Grand Players, now appearing at English’s Opera house, Indianapolis. Mr. Blackburn has for over a year and a half been artist for the company during the stay at the Grand in Davenport. Both he and his bride, who had made her home in this city, are very well known. The wedding took place at the First Presbyterian church, Rev. Milner officiating.” The couple was listed in the Colorado Divorce index on Sept 3, 1930.

By 1931, Blackburn was credited with the settings for Loew’s and Paramount’s “Lysistrata” ( “Los Angeles Record,” 28 Dec 1931, page 8). He also did the sets for “Shanghai Gesture” (Los Angeles Evening Express, 1 Sept 1931, page 10). In 1932 he was noted as a “well known Hollywood stage designer and artist,” associated with the comedy “Just Married” (Honolulu Star 7 July 1932, page 8). By 1949, Blackburn was the head artist for Paramount Studios and a weekend resident of the San Jacinto mountain resort area (“The Desert Sun,” Palm Springs, California, 17 May 1949, page 4). In addition to scenic art, Blackburn and his department also developed new stage equipment and curtain tracks for scenery painted by Paramount artists.

To be continued…

Travels of a Scenic Artist and Scholar: The Richmond Scottish Rite Theatre Scenery Collection.

Scenery by Toomey & Volland scenic studio of St. Louis, Missouri, for the Scottish Rite Theatre in Richmond, Virginia. In October 2020, I visited the Richmond Scottish Rite with Michael Powers and Richard Finkelstein to document the historic scenery collection, dating from 1900-1920. For more scenes from Richmond, keyword search “Richmond Scottish Rite.”

*Scenery by Toomey & Volland for the Richmond Scottish Rite*

*Painted detail. Scenery by Toomey & Volland for the Richmond Scottish Rite*

Travels of a Scenic Artist and Scholar: Tabor Opera House, Leadville, Colorado. Pink Interior Setting by T. Frank Cox, 1888.

In September 2020, I led a group of volunteers at the Tabor Opera House to document nineteenth-century wings, shutters, borders and set pieces in the attic. After my visit, I began examining each piece in detail, creating condition reports, historical analyses, replacement appraisals, and a collections care management document. There are at least twelve theatre collections, with scenic artifacts divided by artist and/or period.
This project is similar to receiving a big bag of puzzle pieces, containing an unknown number of puzzles with no other information. There are no box tops that show you the completed picture, but you need to somehow assemble each of the puzzles. By the way, not all of the pieces are original, and some may have been altered over the years.

There are so many moving parts, creators and timelines, that some days the projects is a bit overwhelming and I have to step away; allowing the information to process. When I return a few hours later, something becomes a little more clear.

*Double-painted wing with palace interior on the reverse side.*

*Painted detail, showing where stencils line up*

Such was the case with pieces from the pink interior setting. Of the set, I catalogued only two wings and a remnant this fall. The construction of the two wings is on par with other pieces built from 1879-1881. The painting, however, appears to be the work of T. Frank Cox, dating from 1887-1888. Each wing is also double-sided, with a palace interior on the reverse. The palace composition was painted in the 1890s, combining several wings from a variety of settings. However, a fabric remnant shows that the backside of the original fabric was a prison setting, now hidden between the two layers of fabric. The pink setting fabric is rough cotton sheeting from Boott Mills, whereas the second layer of fabric on the reverse side is standard drillings from Stark Mills.

*Loft above the attic in the Tabor Opera House*

*Pile of scenery in the loft above the attic in the Tabor Opera House*

*View from below the loft. Pile of scenery in the loft above the attic in the Tabor Opera House*

However, high above the attic floor there are two more pieces, currently inaccessible and stored in a makeshift loft. They were placed there before additional joists and wiring went in, so we could not remove them this fall due to a limited amount of time. The two additional wings are leaning against the same wall that is above the proscenium arch in the attic. This wall divides the attic from a space that was once hotel rooms and the gridiron and stage machinery above the stage. I climbed the ladder to the grid and we assembled a makeshift walkway over the open joists to reach the pile. I could only take a of few photos of the piles, as nothing could be shifted at the time. Too much dirt would have floated down upon the project below, and we really needed to construct a temporary floor. There were two pieces from the pink interior setting visible in the pile; one being a door wing. Other pieces included shutters, rollers, windows, and other set pieces.
As I compiled the various condition reports about the pink setting yesterday, I noticed a slight pattern in the pink; it was an underlying composition. Altering the detail and contrast of the image once it was in grayscale, helped me identify what was painted below, and then I added a few lines to help others identify the painted panels.

*Helping identify the underlying composition*

Travels of a Scenic Artist and Scholar. The Salina Scottish Rite

In 2018, I visited the Scottish Rite theater in Salina, Kansas. It was on my return trip from Santa Fe, New Mexico, to Minneapolis, Minnesota. Although I had documented the Salina collection before, I want to see the current condition of the deteriorating drops.

The Salina Scottish Rite theater was part of a 1920s Masonic building boom. Many Scottish Rite theaters with existing scenery collections enlarged their facilities and purchased new collections, trading in their old scenery for credit on a new purchase. These used scenery collections were then resold to other Scottish Rite theaters for a fraction of the original cost. In other cases, the Masons brokered their own used scenery deal, transferring scenery from one theater to another. That was the case with the 1908 McAlester scenery collection. The Salina Masons purchased the used scenery collection from the McAlester Scottish Rite. The collection was originally painted at the Sosman & Landis Studio. Here is the cathedral setting; one of the more complex scenes. For more information about Scottish Rite scenery and theaters, visit www.drypigment.com and use the keyword search function

*Scenery by Sosman & Landis with original shipping label for McAlester, Oklahoma*

Travels of a Scenic Artist and Scholar: The Richmond Scottish Rite Theatre Scenery Collection

Scenery by Toomey & Volland scenic studio of St. Louis, Missouri, for the Scottish Rite Theatre in Richmond, Virginia. In October 2020, I visited the Richmond Scottish Rite with Michael Powers and Richard Finkelstein to document the historic scenery collection, dating from 1900-1920. For more scenes from the Richmond Scottish Rite keyword search “Richmond Scottish Rite.”

Raising the leg drop. *Scenery by Toomey & Volland for the Richmond Scottish Rite*

*Only using blue border lights, with Richard Finkelstein in the foreground.*

*Richard playing Lord Farquaad while setting lights.*

*Michael Powers running the light board*

Travels of a Scenic Artist and Scholar: The Richmond Scottish Rite Theatre Scenery Collection

Scenery by Toomey & Volland scenic studio of St. Louis, Missouri, for the Scottish Rite Theatre in Richmond, Virginia. In October 2020, I visited the Richmond Scottish Rite with Michael Powers and documented the historic scenery collection, dating from 1900-1920. For more scenes, keyword search “Richmond Scottish Rite.”

*Scenery by Toomey & Volland under blue and white border light*s

*Painted detail. Scenery by Toomey & Volland*

Travels of a Scenic Artist and Scholar: The Richmond Scottish Rite Theatre Scenery Collection

Scenery by Toomey & Volland scenic studio of St. Louis, Missouri, to the Scottish Rite Theatre in Richmond, Virginia. Last month I visited the Richmond Scottish Rite and documented the historic scenery collection, dating from 1900-1920.