Little Falls weekly transcript. (Little Falls, Morrison Co., Minn.) 1894-19??, 1899-12-22
FACTS !: ABOUT 3 !. .B B ! | !:
New Theatrical Spectacle . It
j Really +.
WONDERFUL PICTURES sHowH.


sene Idea Of the Time. Money, Ma
tsrial sna Labor Involved /. tbs
Creation Of the Play-sesrsb Fer
s,aaa T1ainins Of Horses In the
Chariot Race.
More people probably than'w ever
before, crowded inside the Broadway
theater In New York sat spellbound
the other, evening while q new stand
ard was being set for the art Of Great
Ing stage pictures. r."
e-"Ben-H ur'' easily surpassed old lin
its as a theatric spectacle. The won
derfully beautiful and impressive pic.
lures it presented. without q hitch or a
law. have never been attempted be-
fore. 1t may be years before an ef-
fort will be made to equal them. Sew
enteen times the pictures changed,
each revealing new wonders in light
ing, scene setting and effective ensem-
bic. When seemingly the best had been
accomplished. still more remarkable
pictures arose In their Place. Invent
i've skill seemed able to- make almost
the unattainable its playubing.
The hundreds In the audience saw
and enjoyed the scenes only in their
entirety. Few stopped IT, consider
them in their component parts Not
one, perhaps, fully realized the CON-
plexity. almost infinite derail. work. pa
thence, expense, time and inventive
and artistic skill that were involved in
giving the spectacle OF '-Ben-ELur" its
material form. Yet TO d5ssect this re-
markable production Is almost 10 in
teresting ~ to see it 40 a completed
whole, says the New York World. Be-
performance and when its success was
still = matter of speculation the books
Of its producers showed an outlay Of
10000, covering a period Of seven
months of preparation.
II the canvas used in its II scenes
were stretched out In Broadway, it
would carpet the pavement from For
ty-second to Fifty-ninth street. The
paint used in its decorations would
coat almost any one Of New York's
skyscrapers from basement to roof.
The panorama of the chariot race
scene alone required 5000 square feet
Of cloth.
The chariot race scene probably at
tracted the greatest popular interest.
1t consumed only about five minutes Of
the entire spectacle. Eight horses At
tached to chariots were revealed run
ming like mad In front Of a panoramic
background. The cradles and tread
mills on which the horses ran cost in
experiment and final construction
about $4,000. For their Introduction
the stage Of the theater had to be re-
built and heavy steel trusswork, capa-
BILE Of supporting 40 tons, placed un-
derneath. The racing machines con-
tain 1900 rubber tired wheels. Several
machines were built before one was
made which was considered perfect.
The management began its search
for horses as long ago as last June.
One hundred and twenty were tried
before II were chosen which were
deemed safe and equal to the require
ments. Each one Tailed exactly with
the description in General Wallace's
novel. Each cost between $500 and
$3.50. A stable was rented, and spe-
eial treadmill was built, and each horse
was trained for an hour every day dur
ing nearly four months. There Is one
camel in the play, but he inherited the
actors art Of repose. He needed no
training or attention, although a pro-
fessional animal keeper was engaged
to attend him
Three hundred and sixty-two people
are req uii~,; for each performance
There are 20 speaking characters in
trusted to skilled actors. The chorus
contains 80 singers, and 1870 extra peo
pie. CT supers, fill out the scenes. There
are 40 stage carpenters, 10 property
men and 10 stage "clears." Twenty
two negroes appear in the scenes. The
total number of costumes is 500. They
were all designed in New York from
models obtained after careful archRo
logical research. Six hundred pairs OF
shoes worn during the play cost the
management an item Of $2,10O. The
boards and wigs amounted to another
matter of $500.
The electrical and calcium parapher
MALTA is one of the most important ele
ments in the production, and wonder
full skill was involved in securing the
delicate half tone effects which reap
pear frequently throughout the produc
ton. The expenses Of preliminary cleo
trieal experiments were $1,000. includ
ing the invention CT new apparatus. n
the miracle scene the shaft Of whit,
light typifying the Messiah is of 15,OO(
sandle power.
The time spent by Messrs. Ernest, AL
te,, and Ernest Gros painting thu
scerArv was "hn,t zIv ~ onAhs 1t too!
neariv rs long to design and make thu
cos,umta. The company was in actua
rehearsal under Stage Manager Bel
Tca's, direction for six weeks The re
suit Of Ill the work and worry and ex
pend'''7re which have been described
Is re !rnied In homogeneous form l,