Idaho County free press. [volume] (Grangeville, Idaho Territory) 1886-current, 1888-05-11
TN THE FLY GALLERY.
HOW A SPECTACULAR PLAY LOOKS
FROM THE SKY.

Music and Applause Heard from Affair.".
Men Who Roll the Curtain "A Fantas-
tic Group--smoke from the Red Lights
of Hades.
"Follow me and you'll get there; but fll
tell you at the beginning, that you're going
into strange region This was the remark
of Frank Spangler head 'fyman," as he
opened the rear door of the Grand Opera
stage and began to climb the marrow stairs
leading to the 4'iy gallery" which is To-
Gated so far above every other visible part of
the theatre that few people know that such a
place exists 1t was curious looking place.
A long narrow shelf extending along on the
right side of the stage, and as one looked down
through the confusion of ropes, borders and
flies at the crowd of half costumed actors
hurrying here and there and everywhere
behind the scenes, it is really new phase OF
the theatre and for the first night it is really
preferable to a seat in the orchestra
Running through the center of the gallery
is the 'tie rail- to which is fastened an al
most innumerable number of ropes run up
through the rigging lofts and attached to
the various parts of the scenery that is to be
raised and lowered during the play. A sailor
ought to feel very much at home in the fly
gallery, for the work and the way it is done
is very much like handling ships sails.
MUSIC FROM AFFAIR.
dozen men are strung up along by the
side of the railing looking down at the prepar
ations that are being made ON the stage for
the first act. The orchestra strikes up the
overture, but it has such strange, subdued
sound, that one can hardly imagine that it is
the same music that he has heard in tho audi
fr,f.i,,t h., fhf
first warning whistle comes up through the
pipe. the two curtain men spring to their
places by the large windlass on which the
curtain rope is cooled, the bell strikes, and
they begin hauling and turning and hauling
as if their lives depended ON the rapidity of
their movements. Its "a mighty nice thing"
said one of the curtain men to the reporter,
ito sit out there and watch that curtain roll
up and SO gracefully, but if they knew that
this was what did ii" (wiping flood of per-
spration from his face II don't believe they
would enjoy it quite so much"
The curtain is up. The heated breath from
the audience, the odor OF perfumes, the ~lell
of cosmetics and stage paint, and oil the
scents of the place rise at once into the space
above the stage and at first it is almost
sitting to the person who is accustomed to
breathing the air of the intermediate re-
gions.
'AlI hands readyr' is the command of
Captain" Brown, and dozen bare armed
men spring to the ropes ready to raise or
lower such parts of the scenery as the first
act requires '4ArcIl sky upr' he shouts (the
audience below do not hear it, of course) and
at different points along tho rail the ropes
are seized and hauled in, hand over hand
until the eslsy" is raised out of sight, and
then the rope is hitched over the rail pin and
| the men drop back on the rail to wait the
next change.
| A BREATHING SPELL.
At last comes breathing spell for the men
in the flies. The four acrobats are going
through their performance on the front part
of the stnge, while the fairy queen and the
devil, with their followers, are waiting be-
hind the scenes for their next appearance in
the lower regions. Looking down at them
from the hyman's perch they are indeed a
fantastic group. The chief of the Spanish
cavaliers lies stretched out on his back bal
ancing the Queens pastebOard throne on his
feet. One of the DEVILS horns had Just got
misplaced and the fairy queen holds the
mammoth sandwich, which she is eating, be-
tween her teeth while she reaches up on tip
toe and adjusts his majesty's demoniacal
head gear in just as free a manner as if she
|
queen of the fairies.
Two whistles through the pipe, another
quick pull at the ropes and the stage below is
instantly transformed into tho regions of
darkness The spectators in the auditorium
sec the horrible picture of hades on the stage,
but tho poor fellows in the fly gallery get the
full force of it. The thick smoke from the
red lights rolls up through the scenery until
the men at the ropes are almost suffocated by
the poisonous fumes, and are sometimes
forced to spell one another by going below
for fresh air.
The whole dramatic world is under the eye
Of the flyman. He ought to be a good critic,
for at all events he has an opportunity of see
ing all sides of an actor and all phases of the
atrical life.-Buffalo News.