Evening star., 1899-06-01
Life of the Men Who Shift Stage
Furniture.
GRIPS and FLYMEN At WORK
Why Mansfield Arose Suddenly
From the Throne.
A MIRACLE IN MEXICO

Life behind the scenes, as known to the
| general public through the medium of the
| atrical writers and artists. is a back wall
| broken into bits of color with posters and
| pastors, light iuciosed in wire cage; or
| else the dressing room of the star. small
| coop with bit of mirror stuck up against
| the wall, the omnipresent bird-cage light
| again being strongly in evidence. The first
! visit behind the scenes will dispel these
| pretty illusions and one may hunt in vain
| for coryphees in abbreviated costumes
! clning on ! a canvas rock by painted sea,
| putting upon a cigarette and with bottle
| of champagne reposing at their feet in
silver bucket of crushed ice Instead one
! will be found amid labyrinth of ropes,
| pulleys, lofts and scenery as confusing as
an old sailing ship to a landlubber
| To the stage hand it is all work and
| play as general thing but the old adage
| of 'all work and play makes Jack
! dull boy holds as good with this class of
! artisans as with the tars, and their pranks
! are the bug-bears of actors. But they
| are a necessary evil, and although in one
| case at least one of their practical jokes
has caused well known actor to forswear
| a certain local playhouse, their tricks and
pranks are usually as harmless as those of
| school boys.
Separate Class.
Grips and "fymen' are the technical
| and familiar terms by which the manipula-
! tors of scenery are known in the profess
| sion. They form a separate and distinct
| class in theatrical life. Washington has her
quota of these men. a jolly, fun-loving,
easy-going set, willing to swear at the
| star as at fellow workman, and as inde-
| pendent as street car conductor. Making
fair salaries they spend their money free
! ly, mingling in Bohemian existence with
those in other branches of the profession
They can be found at late resorts talking
in technical terms of their days or more
correctly, their nights work, a language
purely Greek to the novice.
Their familiarity with plays and players
| is born of experience, and their summing
up of plays merits and chances of sue
cess is not altogether based upon the de-
| fects or pretty effects scencally, but from
| general knowledge of what pleases au-
diences. and is usually as correct as the
views of a seasoned critic.
The chief work of the grips and Fly
men is in installing a play for weeks
run in the local houses. When the scenery
! arrives Monday morning 1t is all laid out
on the floor of the stage under the direction
| of the carpenter, who travels with the COM
pany, with the assistance of the house
stage carpenter. The number of grips and
fymen necessary for the production are
called in and the work of preparing the
stage for the evenings production is be-
gun. With some spectacular productions
| all the house scenery must be removed to
| HiahS iOOiil tIlt Sluil Carried lne
| company.
Up in the Air.
| Up in the rigging loft, or gridiron, any
where from forty to sixty feet above the
| stage floor In the local theaters, the work
| begins The f1ymen climb TO. this aerial po-
sitfon and perform their work with the
| agility and intrepidity of an A. B. laying
| aloft to house the topsail of a clipper ship
! in a blow. The house drops" are lowered
| to the stage and the new ones rigged. Sand
bags of different weights are used to coun-
terbalance the drops" so that they may
| be easily lowered and raised. These are
also unrigged and lowered to the stage
| when a new lot of scenery is being put in
| The order is then given for the fymen in
| the loft to jump for the ropes and pull the
| drop up to what is known trimming
| height" They have to single out the par
] ticular rope meant. and with several of
them clingfng to 1t the drop is pulled into
| place Here the fun begins. The iyman
| jumps about four feet for rope, catches a
wrong one, with light sand bag al the
| other end, and rides down to the fly gallery
| at a rate never achieved by the fastest ee-
| vator. This is what is known as riding a
| sand bag" and the victim picks up his
| bruised body only to be greeted with howls
| of laughter from the grips and "1ymen''
Below the rigging loft is the second gall
lery and the fly gallery. From the latter
all the hanging stuff is worked by the
fiymen, including the drop curtain and the
| grips" work the remainder Of the scanery
from the stage level The fire underwriters
| require that each theater shall be equipped
with an asbestos curtain, to be used In case
| OF fire on the stage. to prevent the flames
extending to the front of the house and the
| audience These curtains are too weighty
| for easy handling, so a lighter drop is in
general use, the asbestos curtain being held
for cases of emergency.
| The emergency does not necessarily mean
the presence of flames behind the scenes
| and the asbestos of the Lafayette Square
| Opera House was called into use not long
! ago when Lillian Russell and her yerV
calorlc organization of opera people were
scenes through which the company staIked
| shpshod the regular house curtain would
descend but certain distance, remaining
| high enough to give a continuous view of
! the very shapeiy and interesting neither
| limbs Of the thinly clad chorus and the
| very gauzy Edna Wallace-Hopper Twice
the curtain was raised and started down
again, only to stick with remarkable per
sfstency at the same point. Then down
sailed the emergency curtain, dull gray
affair. with Asbestos printed across the
| front in great red letters. The audience in
this instance felt that the asbestos was
needed for more reasons than one.
Quick Changes.
Once the drops are properly adjusted and
counterbalanced they are worked with
an ease and rapidity that is fairly as
founding. Often the scenes are changed
during period Of fnky blackness. The
| curtain Is not lowered. but every light is
extinguished. the orchestra drowning the
| noise OF the stage hands during the interval
with some simple strain that may be played
| without notes. Stage settings Of today are
| at the height of elaborateness, and he
stage force Is necessarily large Tween
| acts the grips and fymen are In complete
| control, actors and chorus girls scuIding
! into their dressing rooms. In the nuslle
| and hustle on the stage they are liable to
| Be manned for life In collision with some
fast-fying stage hand, loaded to the gun
wales with props" Stage setting has be-
come science, and there is also as much
art connected with 1t as in many Of the
other features of an up-to-date theatrical
performance.
The pranks Of the "stageys" are many
One played ON Mansfield some years ago
has often been talked of, but will bear re-
| peating. This actor, by the way, has but
| few friends among the grips" on account
Of his interference in their sphere of work
Mansfield was playing Richard III'' at a
local house. and in the change for the Sec
ond act the throns chair was put in place
covered with a paperful Of tacks, each tack
being prepared to negotiate In the act