Waterbury evening Democrat., 1895-02-16

still Many of us will live to see it. In five years from now we will witness progress in the mechanical equipment of the stage and of the theater generally more striking than we have seen in the 80 years that arc behind us, and 1t will go on in arithmctical progression.
 It is not straining Q possibility to say that in the year 1850 the theater will be ns unlike the theatcr of today as the thea ter of today is unlike that of a century ago. Indeed it is not overstepping the bounds of probability to say that the con trast will be more marked, more pro- nounced. By that time the greater New York may embrace even Poughkeepsie. There will be old men who will tell of street cars moved on Broadway by means of an endless cable of twisted wiro run in an iron conduit beneath the surface of the ground, of tho employment of messenger boys instead of pneumatic tubes, of the iickct taker at tho thoater entrance in stead of tho automatic admission bar, of that vociferous and insistent army known as sidewalk speculators and of many other and divers circumstances which will then be legend and tradition. but which We now know as facts.
 ! Let us build the theater of the future on paper. Let 1t bc building 15, IS or 20 stories in height, occupying block quad ruple tho area on which the Metropolitan Opera House now stands-an arcade, with broad entrances from thrce sides of the | building. These will lead to the audito- ium. The entrances and arcade will serve | as promenade for the convenience of the audience between the acts, If the demand for swift performances will admit of an | intermission. A fountain will throw per 1 fumed spray, tables will be provided to nnnI-aH bX.n nlpnfriritv flow CT merchants will vend their fragrant wares, cloakrooms will be there to care for l tho Gainsborough hats of the ladies who | will laugh over the stories of their obStruc- | tionist grandmothers free telephones will be furnished, and thcro will be royal smoking parlor for tho gentlemen who en- l joy pulling at Turkish hookahs, which the management will provide without extra charge. Then we will have in this bright | ly lighted arcade a series of offices where carriages may be ordered by simply touch ing a button. and where the clubman may | talk to his cook or stuward by tho aerial wireless telegraph
 In tho rear of this great structure there should be wide spreading canopy to shel- ter tho carriages and the electric droSkies | Under this the vehicles may be driven, en- tcring at tho right and driving through the roadway in the middle of the arcade putting down their passengers at the main doorway. The house itself will seat 10, GOO persons comfortably. Tho aisles will be wido There will bc an abundance of room between tho tiers of seats, so that people may pass in and out without incommOd- ing each other.
 Tho drop curtain of today will bo a memory 90 years hence. In its place we will have n great silken screen, which. in stead of being drawn up out of sight, will be lifted by invisible cords over the heads of the audience. Its under surface will be soft satin sheen, punched with frosh yiolets and the green leaves of tho wild rose. The purple flowers will be so ingen' iously adjusted and arranged that at the close of tho performance they will be re
 leased from their fastcnings and will fall in a fragrant shower on tho people be heath.
 The" man. who has existed since the days of Shakespeare, will have disappeared
 His place will be taken by wire cable: strung from the gridirun and will be at
 tachcd to any piece Of scenery that Is nee essary to be moved The movement of q
 lever at the prompt stand will communi
 cate with the electrical engine in the sub
 cellar, and the canvas will be whisked
 noiseleSsly and instantaneOusly into th' flies Hand power for moving such piece:
 as stcamboats, railroad cars, sawmills ant
 all other elaborate properties that will en ter into the realistic drama of tho future
 will be moved by tho samo agency. Man ual labor will be practically abolished
 One lever will control everything portabl
 on the stage.
 There will be no heartburnings ana
 sluabbles between managers and mu
 sical unions In tho theater of the future , because there will be no orchestras grand electric orchestrion will occupy tn , space beneath the apron of the stage, ex tending its full width and facing the au
 iiencc. In tho interior of this apparatu
 will be placed an immense phOnographi
 oylindor. This cylinder will have pre- | viously received its impressions from tn l finest musicians in tho world. It may b t an overture or an operatic score, and b t an electro mechanical contrivance unde
 control of tho stage manager may be start
 cd, stopped or transposed, as the requirG
 ments of the play on the boards demand. 2 The calcium light will be relegated t lie in the same grayo with the candle foot r lights Powerful electric lights, wit
 great reflectors behind them and arrange
 in ball and socket, SO that tho rays can l
 thrown at any angle, will produce effeci
 a thousand times moro brilliant than tl hissing, sputtering magnesium lights (
 the present day.
 s It requires no stretch of the imaginatio II to figuro out the variety of purposes which these elecrtic reflectors may be pu s They wi'l he nsed in nhantasma9oria nn