Waterbury evening Democrat., 1894-01-01

STEELE MACKAYE.
 ness man that there could not possibly be any profit in his scheme to build the most gigantic theater the world had ever known, which could be operated for no longer than six months had it been completed on time. That there was bound to be a loss was as plain as the nose on his face.
 Still, Macllaye talked his plans so pIausi- | bly, into the ears of several prominent and wealthy Chicagoans that they walked right up to his office in the Auditorium and laid | great stacks of grcenbacks into his upturn- l ed palms, in return for which they carried 1 away Spectatorium stock The building 1 of the great theater began. Had it been l completed, it would have been more ornate | in design and finish than any of the fairy ! structures on the exposition grounds ad ] joining Its materials were a framework of steel-the sides and immense arches of | the roof-wood and staff, which is a sort of { white plaster that gives building the ap- | pearance of a marble structure, very like 1 the fair buildings. But after $500, ,000 had i been expended, and it was found that the l building could not be completed before the | middle of August instead of by May 1, as ! had been expected, and even then only by ] the expenditure of SG00,0 more, the stock ! holders eyes were opened, and they saw 1 UntC Unelr money WlS nOpeleSSly SUNK. | They refused to advance more funds, and 1 the enterprise was given up. At last a house wrecking company was paid a sub l stantial sum to remove the building, and ! now there is not even trace of the great structure which was designed to seat an 1 audience of 30,O00 persons, and across the stage of which it was intended to have run 1 river of real water 50 feet wide and 12 feet deep.
 Next in importance came a novel enter 1 prise called Hardy's Underground theater A splendidly prOporto toned lot was secured, the owner taking stock for his pay, and the | building went up. The plan of this house was to have d number of underground theatOriums, their stages one below the other The audiences were to be carried in a body on gigantic hydraulic elevator | from one show to another until the last one down in the bowels of the earth, was | reached. A revolving panorama was to be unrolled between the various stages as the audience descended, heightening the effect so as to make it seem as if the descent was to vast depth. We'll the projectors along in June announced that they had struck a pocket of quicksand in excavating, but hoped to get through it safely. They never made another announcement, and have | always suspected that the flaw was in an- other kind of ''pocket" The grim walls still stand, a monument to the projectors, whose money "never came back"
 Then came the Isabella theater, away out near the fair It was built with the intention of giving American dramas by | American authors. It had handsome stage and was supplied with 5000 opera chairs. After three nights performances by stock company of S5 persons the man. ager found himself in hot water, and in less than three weeks the theater was in the hands of a sheriff. It was opened again as a variety theater but after a fitful career of a few weeks was closed for good. An other house in the Worlds fair neighbor- hood was the Corbett theater, named after the pugilistic champion, who was expected to appear on it's stage all through the season, but who did not do so. It had a checkCred career for several weeks, when it was beseged and captured by the Sal Sation Army.
 John Browns Fort War Museum was a failure on a,smaller scale. The little old one story brick building that stood for so many decades in the little town of Harpers Ferry was brought to Chicago, as old Libby prison had been, re-erected within an inclosure and stocked with war relics. It never had profitable day. Barlow's Music hall, large vaudeville house, failed because it was surrounded by thea ters of a better grade.
 Jack Haverly has had some sad expert ences in Chicago this year. He leased the Criterion theater, well built and hand some house, opened it in connection with a summer garden and called it Haverly's Criterion Garden theater. Its inaugural was accomplished with flourish of trum- pets, but in two weeks it closed without a toot Haverly's venture with the Eden Musee. giving two performances daily of his "NIastodon Minst rels, was also a losing one, and he gave up a few days ago and will retire to private life. No more show business for me" says the colonel. He has snade and lost fortunes as minstrel man aGer, but says he knows when he has had enough. The Savoy Music hall, which was opened about Dec. 1, has closed, with sal aries for three weeks unpaid; the Peoples theater, only a few seasons ago one of the most profitable playhousc3 in Chicago, has just at the holiday time closed it's doors for want of patronage, and there are at least half q dozen more of the up town" thea ters-thCre are several of these located from one to two miles frcsn the business center of the city-that are in very bad financial condition. I doubt if there are three theaters in Chicago today making any money. Truly, these are troublous times.
 In spite of the lamentable fate of his Spectatorium, Steele Mackaye is undaunt- ed. It takes great deal to daunt the au- thor of ''Hazel Kirke" and Paul Kauvar." ]" The great historical production called ''The World Finder" which he was to have brought out on such Q colossal scale during the Worlds fair, is soon to have hearing, though in a form modified somewhat from the original plans. It will be backed by the Chicago Entertainment company and will be given in the building formerly oc- cupied by the Chicago Fire Panorama, which, by the way, is another failure of the Worlds fair year that I had overlooked. The building has been remodeled into an auditorium, with large seating capacity, and at the rear has been constructed a large stage after the plans of the inventor--who built the double stage of the New York Madison Square theater-upon which will be dispIayed the 25 travelling stages and the