Waterbury Democrat., 1901-01-30
IN THE STAGE. SKY PxRL0R.

looking keeflly and attenflveiy above in tue uirection of those pieces of scenery technicaAy known as the nleS d1scov- CT, perhaps, a human ugure which is e,th~r wonderfully active or isuessly WalcnIul ol wuat IS goIng Ou below or upon the stage. lu4S Is tue uymdn, aAd the renute piuce Where 1t con- ducts hls operaLUnS, which are "cuviare to tue Sederal,' Is q ruue wooden gallery, conAiiudlnS a biru B. eye FleW oI the Stage, WiIn tue nluSl- Claus and the DoA oiiAee tnroWu III. m houses Where the sceucry coAs.S,s Tor the srcot~f patI oL StocA Se.S It Is poS- siDie lual .ncie IS only one n, AAan, and, 1T so, tulS lndlviauiiI ; OLA~e lS I.Ae all eAaltsu pes-tAous, luAesume one. Noe but MAat tue ny lnaA HAS lots to occupy hls mud, too., Sn0u.d lie naAe a Au-s.aAe Ln LIS maA4pula- tion of the vast array Of cur.a.A.,
 ..4~p-, A-ss. IaASyS," S.rA4snt draHs1y," or "eeaSer,' Very emOartass- ing eo-ssquences night ensue to the petLOrmefS, and Surpr4se 10 the aual- ence. he m.st, tnSretore, be very careful psrSou, aud take an lutereSG in bus proIsss1on, and nave all the ap- pareut4y conpIIcat.d rangIe ot ropes With which ue workS literally at ais fingers ends. The eXpenencea nyman uOeS uOl nave lO pG DS thS promprers DeIl. he KNOWS hnssT, after the nrst rehearsal, Just when 10 give a drop, or fancy, or curtaAn, as the case may be, anu His juug m-n. m staging q piece is olten sought by the manager before ltS producuon.
 Animated by a desire to see and con- Ter '" ,uIs e-A,I ..oI .Aiiafy person, tue writer maue hIS way at some hazard of I1Ie and limb, up an exceedingly narrow and steep night of steps, mat led rom the stage to the eievated perch or gallery Which the lyman had, ln this instance, all to himself. He was a cheerful and intelilgent man, and seemed glad to see company. He had ueen sAilo,, He saiu, Half hlS life, and indeed, save for the absence of the sea, he might well fancy him. self, where he tnen was, up aioft among the sAi-s and rigging of some huge vessel. On one portion Of the bare brick walls around We're portraits of distinguished actors and actresses. who had at one time or other appeared upon the stage below, and some of whom had made their last exit in this world. The nyman himself had seen most of them, contributing in his own to rue Success ot Iuelr psrA oI AIaAceS,
 ..t -,-ee h who had pasted up IuOSI Ol tue pASluIO"'s ~ F"'S ANO wonder, then, that he was somewhat -.. .44e >,.Sf oI witnessing shows as a rule. though his inter.st was still capable of being awakened to a great degree by a display of fem mine beauty and attractions.
 He had, to guide him in his opera tions, piece of paper on which were written against the names of the vari- ous scenes the kind of fly called for. The fyman manages every piece Of stage setting which hangs. To raise or lower th.se promptly and precise ly,, and in conformity with the rest of the scenery, is his province. The very moment the wings, or side pieces, are set the fly which Is stipulated to ac- company them must be lowered, and the drop or curtain conceahng the op- eration raised. The piece of paper which the fyman uses contains the description of fly to go with each set, these being known as "fancys." Thus, n scene in which the colors are of a dark shade, calls for q fancy in which the hues correspond. It is possible to give q woodland fancy to q street scene at night, and a "kltchen 1ancy
 to the same by day. The harmonlZlng of the various colors In scenery affords the higher stage hands field for the eAerclSe Ol laSlC AhlS, Us " SiA shS htAA other matters pertaining to produc- ton. Is settled on the Monday morning rehearsal, although there may be after that time vague doubts still lingering in the mind of some individual regard ing the propriety of the arbitrary taste of the stage manager.
 It may not, perhaps, be generally known even among theatergoers that the proper and technical name for the piece of scenery which is discovered immediately back of the curtain, or "rag" Is "tormentor.' This may or may not conform in character with the remainder of the ''set:" but certain color scheme, or harmony, must al- ways be observed. Thus the hues of the .tormentor" Casually representa- ton of two huge and gorgeous marble columns) consor $ in some measure with those of the curtain, as well as with the remainder of the scenery. The fly accompanying the tormentor ia known as the straight drapery," back of which again is the "teaser.' The importance of the proper manage ment of the flys in tragic pieces can scarcely be overestimated. An i'm pressive and affecting tableau, given just as the curtain falls, may, through the neglect or carelessness of the fly man. DecOUG SpeCldSiG. and call forth from the audience laugh ter instead of tears. As matter of fact this catastrophe was effected by fymen at a performance given in this city by the French actress Rhea. The last act of the play being extremely long and lugubrious, the gentlemen in the fly gallery determined to strength en their shaken feelings with a slight potation at an adjoining saloon.
 Accordingly. they made their way out in body, calculating the proper time for their return to nicety. As i luck would have it, however, they re mained out for such an extended pc riod that tableau representing a most affecting death scene was entirely spoiled in It's effects, the actors having to remain mute, in pastures of intense agony so long that even the corpse got dlsgusted and was just about to wake up and walk off the stage, when the corps of dellnquents returned, and, re-