The Evening dispatch. [volume] (Provo, City, Utah) 1891-1895, 1894-12-13
NEW STAGE TRICKS.
ILLUSIONS INVENTED AND WORKED
BY SCENIC ARTISTS.

Modern Thunder Apparatus and Moon and
Sun Boxes-Ships That Tack and Seem
to BE Drawing Observation-Disclosures That
Are Easy When You Know How.
Among the new contrivances in stage
setting is an arrangement for lighting
windows in houses painted on drops.
The old way was to cut out the win
dows from the canvas in the scene and
paint them ON thin muslin, which was
pasted over the holes. Then when dark
ness came on and the effect Of lighted
windows in the houses was needed
bunch light was placed behind the drop
and shown through the transparent
muslin. This, however, had the disad-
vantage of lighting all the windows in
all the houses at once, happening
which obviously would be very unreal.
So Mr.. Josef Physioo, the scenic artist
of the Herald Square theater, got up
continuance by which shutters, worked
with system of cords, were rugged
behind each window. By pulling the
cord the shutters in different parts of
the scene fell down and allowed the
light to shine through. This gives the
effect of street being lit up naturally.
THE wind machine now in use,
continued Mr.. Physioo, sis made much
on the same style of the ordinary winG-
lass, with the exception that the drum,
instead of being solid, is made like a
water wheel, over which is stretched a
strong piece of ribbed silk, which is
pulled tight or left loose according to
the wished for effect. All that is neces-
sary to get the right noise is to turn q
crank, and you can have gentle zephyr
or gale, as you please. !"
The rain effect is produced by ma
chine about the shape of cheesebox,
the sides of which are wood and the
face made of wire gauze. A handful Of
double shot is turned by a crank and the
pease kept rafting around.
The more simple and ordinary meth
cd of making rain noise, Mr.. Physioc
explained, was to pour shot on the head
of a bass drum, first one way and then
the other, with a rotary motion.
sit was only few years ago, y he
continued, "that to get these rain effects
we used to rub the backs of the scenes
with. the sandpaper and whistle and
moan"
There are several ways of making
stage thunder. The newest way is to
use a little cart with cog wheels and
filed with stones. As this is pushed
along, it gives the desired rumble and
roar. The most popular way, however,
is to rattle piece Of sheet iron, which
is hung in the first entrance for that
especial purpose in nearly all theaters.
Still another way is to roll cannon
ball around the back of the stage and
down the dressing room or subcellar
stairs In his operatic productions it
used to be customary to build wind
ing trough for the ball to roll in from
the fly gallery down to the stage. Many
managers think that the very best grade
of thunder can be got from base drum
manipulated by an experienced property
man.
Moonrise and sunrise, if done proper
ly, are both difficult effects to produce.
They are both worked the same.
"Of course, said Mr.. Physioc, leach
artist has his own ideas as to the best
way to produce the effect. The simple
way is, after the scene is painted to
make the spots you wish the moon or
sun to rise through. Then take the
scene off the paint frame and cut out
10 10
The drop is then turned face down and
the transparent material carefully glued
over. The scene is put on the frame
again, and the transparent parts painted
so that the scene is exactly the same as
before. When the scene is set and the
moon rises, it only shows when passing
the transparent parts. giving the effect
of rising through clouds.
1.-THE most effective way is to have
the drop made of fine bleaohed muslin.
Paint the sunrise on the back and
opaque the parts which you do not wish
to be transparent Then turn the scene
around and on the other side paint the
effect you want before the sunrise.
used this method in painting the frs
act scene for Rob Roy with very sat
isfactory results. Z"
The breaking Of dawn is made by
turning up the bunch lights behind thu
drop gradually. For sunrise itself a cal
cium is turned on.
''Moonboxes' and "sunboxes' arr
the same. They consist simply Of re
flector in box behind an electric ligh
bulb or gas jet with base connec
ton. The box is made to turn in {
grooved upright and is raised by corr
running through pulley at the top.
Perhaps the most complicated of al
stage illusions are the water and nauti
cal devices. To represent ship sailing
into a harbor, lacking and CONSTANT.
growing larger, requires clever stag,
handling. The ship is painted in tire
parasitic bow, amidships and thu
stern. These sections are fastened to
gether about four feet apart with rub
Der bands. A ''grip" works them from
behind. The ship is run across the stag
from the upper entrance and bacl
again, looking to the audience as though
it tackled New York Herald.
A Legal Levy.
| Tho hook nndd1er had called at FIJI