Omaha daily bee., 1896-02-02
ADJUSTMENTS,
Nssc

The week Just passed has not been OF a
kind to promote confidence among those in
terested in the loeai' drama, whether viewed
from the standpoint of,the manager, or looked
at with the pessimlstlc eye Of the public
The Creighton was dark the latter half OF
the time, and BoydS, though 1t kept open
throughout. offered little to attract. both
wang" and "Gloriana" having been seen
here many times before much more sats-
factorily done. The group Of tragedans who
appeared in the merry piece first mentioned
we're a melancholy reminder of De Wolf Hop
per and the others who originally presented
1t. 1t would be interesting to note the de-
meanor of Hopper IL he should watch from
the front a performance of Wang" with
never laugh from overture to final curtain.
One has never besn accused Of a fondness
for the methods or the personality OF Miss
Della Fox; but even her presence among the
Truss forces in the part Of Mataya. the
prince, might have tended to raise the spirits
OF the audience. 1t is said that Wang"
Will be retired after this season. and that
is giving 1t longer lease of life than some
who saw 1t last week would be inclined to
allow.
The vaudeville entertainment which opened
the week at the Creighton started out with
Ing off which occurred later In the engage
ment. Considered as whole, 1t was. as
said before, not the worst variety show
ever seen here, and not the best, either. by
any means Some features of it were so good
that, IL that quality had been maintained
throughout, the bill would have been OF sur
passing merit; while others were. so poor
that they hurt the average severely. Ger
tain commercial features of the performance
grated on the nerves of old-fashioned peo-
rla yyh IN alf
eminence of Mr.. Walter H. Ford as writer
Of songs, would have been grateful II he and
the other yocalists had not confined them
selves so very strictly to the performance
Of his own works. duly advertised by the
stereopticon; and some Of these folk are
SO sensitive that they could have wished
that the midgets. whose turn" was unde-
niably clever and amusing upon the stage,
had not been quite so keen after the quarters
which flowed In from the sale Of their photo
graphs, that they had little time for friendly
intercourse, 'in several languages, with
members Of the audience. 1t is likely, how
ever, that such persons as these are over
particular.
At any rate, Mr. Fulgora is returning next
season. when he will doubtless get the wei.
come he deserves. His own keen managerial
Judgment will probably dictate changes for
the better in his entertainment against his
second coming. He is not likely to have
much trouble fora instance in filling Mr..
Tom Mack's place, nor Mr.. Ryan's, and IL he
will take a suggestion. meant in all kindness,
from The Bee, he will conf1ne his own atten-
tion to the business end of the enterprise and
hire another "transfgurator," who can work
the mechanical qchange appliances equally
we'll and who will look the characters in
tended to be represented great deal better.
Mr.. Fulgora should not sing, nor allow the
Sisters Gehrue to- do so; ana ABOVE all, ne
should not recitea I
II he does not spurn this well-meant ad-
vice, he will come back next year with at
fractions calculated to please both galleries
and parquet, and to appeal not only TO sun
day audiences but also to that class OF
theater-goers which, without preferring
variety entertainment above all others. yet
knows and likes arealiy first-class vaudeville
The coming week has distinctly brighter
look, as any week must have which includes
engagements of May Irwin. Henry p: DlNey,
James O'Neill and Daniel Sully. This ls an
unusual conjunction Qf good Things ana II is
hoped that every Uneipf the aItists WIZ coats is
NAV have reason to be glad that they did
not take John G. Saxe's advice In regard
to Omaha. and "for God Almighty's sake, go
round it!'
High above the stage Of the Creighton
theater, on a slender bridge that trehDies
and shakes beneath his weight, the scene
painter works steadily on vast expanses OF
canvas that rapidly bloom into all sorts OF
pictorial objects used In the mimic Woriu.
At his back long line Of electric briliiants
extends nearly across the rear wall Vi 'he
theater. throwing into relief the multitude OF
rones and blocks of the rigging loft above.
Close at hand stands rack holding the art
,st,s colors and under the magic OF MS
touch. like that of a genie summonine tne
impossible from an ethereal world, there
spring into existence gorgeous caVa,cau1s VI
troopers. gay courtfers, casIieS anu u
of Arcadian lands.
All about is that pungent smell OF cheni-
cais ever associated with the regions back
of the drop curtain, and another undehnaple
odor which never emanates from any
else than glue factory, for In truth 1t Is
glue, and enters very largely into the COM
position of stage picture. "You see. mix
glue in equal parts with water ana chemicsis
to form my colors," said the painter IN eA-
planation, "and find that when once thor-
oughly applied to the canvas they rarey ruo
off except by hard knocks and long usage
All my colors," continued he, "are what may
he termed water colors, and are much darker
when arst put on than after they become
dry. This is one of the greatest obstacles
that the novice encounters IN learning the
rudiments Of the trade and have seen many
old workmen give up in despair after trying
10 produce certain tints required.
"Of the various forms of scenery used IN
ST geland the main divisions are wings,
fats borders and drops. lue 'winss are ee'
niece, thrown out from the sides OF the stage,
such as forests, parts Of corridors. OF other
settings requiring that considerable space be
Ieft on the stage. The fats are pictures
nainted ON light framework, which are thrown
ont from either side and meet In the middle
making complete picture, such as street
scenes used In quick changes, and the rear
walls OF interiors The borders are the hang-
ing pieces let down from the loft and the
drons work in the same manner, except that
thew fall completely to the stage foor. The
borders are usually made to represent foiiage
or the ceilings of rooms. but the drop has a
much wider use, sometimes showing a land
scape and again the supernatural OF gro
tesoue. as In a spectacular piece.
"Forming a composition for stage settihg
is in many. senses guesswork The harmon
iz,ue CT colors Is intuitive and often an artist
ia surprised or disappointed at the result Of his
own handiwork. Uhe thing in scene painting
that radically differs from portrait or picture
paInting and decorating Is the perspective.
In a stage settihg0the perspective must ap-
pear from all parts OF the mousse the same,
while In an ordinary oil painting there Is but
enc line of perspettve. In scenery thin re-
s,lt is accomplished :by a multitude OF tricks;
sometimes the lines which the eye habitually
follows are run ihfb The floor and again they
are lost in shadows sfnstead OF being left to
outrage all the ,lsMAI OF art. In painting
drop which is in ttsslt complete picture the
workman begins Nth the SKY and works for.