Wheeling Sunday register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1882-1934, 1886-07-04

style required for seeneryls me tliiiiliilsi
and Al this moment il is easy to distinguish
one OF Telpin's landscapes, so poetleal ana
rich Is tint treatment The artist OF the
Iyceum. Mr.. Craven, is also remarkable
for richness of color. freedom of touch, and
much grace and fancy. 1t is curious TO
visit the painting room Of tins theater,
which is HIGH I'D i'm the roof, when some
great and costly piece is being got ready.
Here on a table we find small model
store like toy theatre, but which IS care
nlly mode to scale, with oil the enhances,
etc, exactly Is he intends It to be on the
boards below, He has, besides, large plans
of the stage. done TO measure, on which
can be arranged all the portable structures
in their exact position. Now arrives the
clever manager, who Is possessed oil much
successive taste. The little scene Is set tor
hint suits-or he may suggest some
morn brilliant aud effective idea. Mean
while assistants are busy ut the canvass
HING ON the walls with rules six loot long,
rnIing the perspective lines in black, or
Getting in the rough cOlOrs. OEeourse only
3 norton Of the scene can be painted at
time rs the room is a low one. In the
GREAT foreign theatres the canvas can be
Tnisad or lowered through slitin the floor,
or the wall made high enough, rs at Drary
Lane. TO take in the whole scene.
But in these times the Scene-0uher mas
taken the place of the scene-painter.
Houses, bridges, pOrcheS, streets even, are
all constructed in the carpenters SHOP;
There is now no system for scenery; all
that tbe satgc manager requires Is that MS
stape should be q perfectly clear
onen and unencumbered space on which
he can launch his army of men 70 drag on
and build up these great structures. for-
merly there were grooves for the scenes To
slide in At the sound of whistle the
scene was drawn away right and lett, and
v,a saw the grooves let down on hinges,
and in which the new scene was to slide.
All this is rOeOcO aud old-ttSiliond. IN
some of the older theatres one has often
seen the two halves of 4 scene driven rom
RIGHT 10 left, the two men IN their shlrl
sleeves who moved them being qnte
visible until the halves met III the middle
with n sharp crack Occasionally there
useJ To be an imperfect joining when, ac-
cordin. to the old story, L faller in the gal
Irry called out I'VE don't expect no gram
mar here but yer might make yer scenes
meet.
NOWADAYS, OF rather nOw-a-nlghts,
when the curtain rises, We ses the stage
closed i'm by regular observation-disclosures
walls, trees, vast flights Of steps, up OF
down which people can walk. We have
Cbnring Cross, with st. Martins Church,
the National Gallery, and the Nelson
Monument, all squeezed into small area
while at the present moment, Cleopatra
Needle and all, exhibit on the London
stage. These huge masses cost vast deal
vt the Lyceum, under Mr.. Bltenan
management, 4 simple drawhrldSe IN
Louis NJ. s" which WAS raised and lower
cd. cost some G25, nearly ~ much rs 1t
would If ordered for q genuine fortress.
But there is Il greater expense III the mum
Der Of StalwaTt arms necessary 10 drag these
monsters into their places, and how Oltell
do We hear from behind the agItated
cloth" Jas is called the creakinS, lumber
inv sounds rs the structures are hauled on,
with the shouts OF those directing and the
tramping of tcet-it is - though Il snip
was getting in Sail ON stormy night; while
the poor actors in the garden scene IN front
are struggling to make themselves heard.
This building up Is n complete mistake,
with the real house, and real cabs, real
omnibuses, and the like. All these things
in proportion to their pretension, actually
introduced the weary prose of life on the
stlge-earthly details are ignored IN eXclt-
ing or interesting situations. Poetry ana
illusion are always general.
It is wonderful how science ingenuity
are now applied to stage cOntrivanceS. In
some theatres abroad system OF hydraulic
power is used to elevate, Us by lit, any
piyen portion of the stage. In this fashion
a touch OF lever will cause banks and
flights of steps and terraces to rise To any
elevation. Most ingenious OF all Is the
New York theatre where there are no less
than two stages-one below the other, and
elrh complete; when one scene II going on,
tho next is being set and arronged, and
when the curtain falls this aSeendS and
takes the place OF the first. In this theatre
the orchestra is placed in gallery over
the curtain.
All the great theatres arc furnished with
an apparatus OF huge counterpolSeS, and
in elaborate pantOmimeS particularly the
transformation Scenes-they are lndlS-
penSable. These travel up and down be
side the walls, the cords passing over pull
leys close to the ceiling. We notice with
what smoothneSS and ease the great drop
scene of, say, Drury Lane Theatre, weigh
inc many tons, glideS aloGt or descends. To
wind it up wOuld require the united
strength of many men, and at the slightest
relaxation tho weight would Ovcrpower
them and whole come crashing down. As
Il is a single man can raise or let 1t down.
This is cOntrived by the CONFERENCE.-The
which balance il almost to nicely, and 4
small windlasS can do the rest. In the
rand transform ton scene of our Christ
mas ntOmimeS-triumphS of beauty and
mechanism-we all recall how tho scene
opens, to reveal another, and yet another
beyond that, how some portions glide away
aloit: how huge golden flowers expand
their leaves and discover lovely beings-Or
what appear TO be sO-rcpOSln% on the
leaves; how these come gliding down to
the front: and how beyond them arcreycal-
ed rows of still more lovely and celestial
creatures. rising slowly ON clouds, the
whole crowned by central fairy perched
. IN apparent security Oll % SoAN'H NPil'AN'
There is no hitch, no hesitation. We won
der and are dazzled All this is cOntrived
by tho CONFERENCE.-The. A long platform,
the whole length of the stage, is prepared,
suspended ut each end by ropes passing
over pulleys, and balanced by weights.
At rehearsal the young ladies are placed
on the platform, and sufficient weights are
added until the whole is balanced nice.
Then a single workman can wind them up
or down. The young ladies who appear to
! floating in the air or reclining on clouds or
branches of trees, often forty or fifty feet
from the ground, are strapped securely to
what are called the irOnS-lOng branches
of the toughest metal As it may be con-
ceived, this duty requires a good head.
But there are always plenty OF volunteers
for the post; perhaps from laudIble desire
for exhibition, whichiS the lite OF the stage;
fnr who viii not say that young Lady in
the air has a much better chance of APP
probation than young lady ON terra firma.
Many VIII recall the ghost scene in The
''Corsiean Brothers, which 50 wildly I'M
pressed tho public from its mysterious
effect. One of the brothers is writing at
his table; ii is midnight; the other brother
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