The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1897-08-09
THE NEW THEATRE.
Some Idea of How the New Tlay
House viii Look.


The Decorations Nearly Finished-The
Chairs To Be Put in Next wholesome
of the Attractions for Next Season.
When the PRESS last described the
work on the new theater a glance at the
interior of the big building revealed a
tangle of iron beams and girders and the
visitor could with difficulty hear himself
think so great was the din made by the
blows of hammers on the echoing Steel
Now the massive supports have been hid
den by the finish which in graceful pillar
sweeping architrave and figured cor
nice covers the framework of the struct-
ure. The fact that it has been found ne
cessary to exclude the public from the
building while the finishing touches are
being added to it, has whetted the gen
eral curiosity to see what Is going on
there.
Standing at the rear of the auditorium,
if he can get there, one now has good
idea of what the completed house will
look like. The painters are still busily
at work but they have covered enough of
the walls and ceiling to show the scheme
of the decorations The first impression
that one receives is that the theater is to
be a cheerful place, the prevailing color
used in the painting being yellow which
might also be called an orange or old
gold. This forms the ground work and
it is made still brighter by the liberal use
Of gliding. The PRESSEman saw it in
the middle of the afternoon when the sun
light, streaming through the windows, lit
up the decorations almost as brilliantly
as the electric lamps will do when the
house is opened for business. The drop
curtain was down hiding the stage from
sight. The curtain was evidently not
completed but the painting on the centre
of it is done and the three graces, or who
ever the young women floating in the
clouds and playing on various musical
instruments may be, are there and they
are good illustration of the skill of the
scene painters, Messrs. Gates and Morang.
The person who stands on the floor and
looks up to the ceiling of the auditorium
is surprised at the apparent smallness of
the building on the ground but if he as
cends to the upper floors, he finds that
this Impressions to the size of the build
ing is only an illusion. 1t is much like
looking through the small end of the tele-
scope. If you would realize how large the
theater really is, go to the extreme rear of
the balcony or the gallery above that and
then look at the stage. 1t seems very far
off but if you move about and try to find
some spot in your elevated position where
you cannot get good view of the stage,
you will learn that the science of the art
of building has been ahead of you and
that the stage can be seen in all its parts
from any seat in the house. 1t is an illus.
tration of the achievements of the con-
structors of the modern play house in
which while some seats are necessarily
much better than others all are good
seats. Looking down from the balcony
the floor of the theater may be seen about
as it will appear when finished. Imagine
the cement covered by carpets, the chairs
in place and the bare spots where the
painters have not yet done their work
decorated like the rest and you see it all.
One of the interesting things in the
evolution of the theater is to see the man
ufacture of marble. 1t glistens on the
walls in many places where it is used for
finish, and has every appearance of being
rare and costly stone from some famous
quarry but as matter of fact much of it
was made in the building. This becomes
evident when you see man with an or
binary saw such as is used by carpenters
it was so much wood. AS a matter of
fact this seeming marble is a substance
resembling to the untutored mind ordin-
airy plaster. 1t is placed. on the wire
lathing by trowel and the art of the dec
orator does the rest. OF it are made the
graceful pillars at the rear of the audito-
rum and the .dado which surrounds the
orchestra chairs-or the place where they
will soon be. There is, however, a good
deal of stone used in the interior of the
building and handsome fireplace in the
mems smoking room is made of hand
some slate. This room which is on the
Oak street corner is nearly finished so
that the visitor gets chance to see how
the ante-rooms of the theater are to be
treated. He is struck by the handsomely
figured frieze and the pleasing proper
tions of this octagonal apartment. The
women s parlor which occupies similar
position ON the lower side of the building
is of the same general proportions and
similar in the scheme of the decorations.
Out in the square entrance lobby the floor
tiles are laid and workman, who was
engaged in cleaning them when the
PRESS man made his pilgrimage through
the building, was rapidly removing the
stains and revealing the rich red color of
the tiling. NEARBY was leaning against
the wall the woodwork of what will eevi-
IDENTIFY be the front of the ticket office in
the completed house. In these parts of
the theatre as in the auditorium it was
apparent that the work has reached
stage where it needs only the last touches
to finish it.