Omaha daily bee., 1883-07-20
A NOVELTY.
A Double Theatre, Double stage and Two
Tier Summer Garden.
New York Ttihnne.

New York Tribune,
The Casino was a pleasing surprise in
architecture. There was nothing like 1t
in New York, and Rudolph Aronson, its
protector, sincerely hopes there will be
nothing like it erected again in many
years to come, or until he is ready to i'm.
prove on his own design on a site further
up town. 1t was a musicians dream,
this Moorish mosaic, modified and made
Ineligible rs well as beautiful by the
practical in the dreamer's nature. The
architects to whom he conveyed
his ideas seem at first to have
thought that he had had q night
mare. They had built and decorated
those two beautiful theatres, the Madison
Square and Theatre Comique, but the
scheme which Mr.. Aronson presented
was in several features SO novel that they
at first thought it impracticable. He in
sisted in his nervous but emphatic way
that the idea could be INTELLECTUALLY car
ried on with all the novel as well as the
beautiful features which he had suggested
retained. Some of the problems troubled
the architects not n little, but they finally
overcome them, and when the place was
thrown open in an unfinished state, the
public were both charmed and surprised
at the result of the labor done.
There was even a greater surprise in
store for the public at the opening of the
completed theater, when the whole place
was thrown open for n summer season.
Very few of those who have looked at the
building from the interior or exterior
have suspected that it contains two thea
tcrs under one roof. Such is a fact, how
ever. There are two stages ami two au-
ditoriums, the one with two and the 9th
er with three tiers. More surprising
still, the top tier of the present theater
is the lower tier of the top theater, and
Is below the level of the upper or second
stage. This gallery is the III next be-
low the roof. From it a view can
be had of the acting stage formerly used,
and Immediately opposite it and above
the present stage is another for musicians
only, from which Aronson's orchestra
will perform nightly after the opera is
over. This top gallery is fitted up as a
restaurant and summer garden, where
parties may promenade, sup, sip wine,
tlirt, laugh or grow sentimental without
let or hindrance, and without interfering
with the pleasures of those below. Small
and unobtrusive cafes or this floor will
tempt the lonely ones of the rougher sex.
The sides are open, and one practically
sits there in the open air.
The greatest surprise will be met with
when the spectator goes a fight of steps
higher and finds himself on the roof.
This is "a veritable garden with it's flow
cry walks and beds, etc., playing foun-
tains, its rustic cottages, its myriads of
colored lights and its cafes-yet all over.
looking the stage in which the orchestra
is to play. The ordinery relations of or
chestra seats and gallery benches are re-
served in this part of the building; the
gallery is below and the orchestra chairs
are above the level of the stage. This
roof is a marvellous network of iron, a
gridiron of a roof one might say, and to
make it of the requisite strength and yet
in keeping with the light style of Moor.
ish architecture employed in the rest Of
of the building greatly taxed the engen-
uity of the architects. They have finally
succeeded, however, and have secured
safety without sacrificing beauty.
The garden on the roof will be easily &C.
cesslble by five flights of stairs and two
immense elevators carrying thirty persons
at each trip. A rustic cottage III this
roof is at least fifty by twenty feet in di.
mansions, and is in plain view and hear.
ing of the orchestra in the top stage. OF
course the lower stage cannot be seen
from the roof, but the roof will be open
between the acts of the play and after its
conclusion. There is an apartment in
the tower just under the big Tyre which
is considerably above the level of the
roof, and which will seat twenty or more
persons, From this tower the finest view
of the city can be had. 1t appears to be
about the elevation of the Stevens insti-
tute on the Jersey Palisades. On pleas
ant evenings this..garden will be as cool
a resort as cal be found in the city.