The age-herald., 1901-09-06
PREPARING FOR
 STOCK COMPANY Auditoriumls Undergoing Many
 Improvements BUSY PAINTING SCENERY All of This Work Must Be Done By Electric Light to Get Proper Elf.
 fect-openlng Mon- 4 . day Night.
BUSY PAINTING SCENERY

One of the busiest scenes in busy Bir- mingham Is on the stage of the Auditor ium. While this is scene on the stage 1t Is really a scene from real life and one not intended for the public. Next Monday night the curtain will rise on a different scene and the citizens of Bir- mingham will have an opportunity of witnessing production by Birmingham's s first stock company.
 At present the scene fs one of confu- sion. Strewn around the stage are va- rious pieces of scenery, carpenters are busy preparing frames and in the thea tre itself painters are at work repaint- ing the interior. and there is a numer- ous sprInkling of ''scrub ladies' remov- ing the stains of last winter.
 Making Many Improvements.
 Boyle & Edwards, the lessees of the Boyle Stock Company. are going to much expense to improve the appearance of the Auditorium and provide for the comfort of the audience. Besides the decora- tons there will be new carpets through out the house and the seats have been rearranged so as to give every sat a good view of the stage. That part of the theatre underneath the gallery will be cut off by heavy curtains and will not be used, except for the Grau Opera Com pany, which will be here on October g.. The box office Has been enlarged and a parlor has been provided for the ladies and smoking room for gentlemen.
 All the scenery will be new and new scenes will be provided for each week. This work Is being done by H. R. Law. formerly of the American Theatre, and a pupil of E. M. Gros. MT. Law Is under contract for the season and will paint all the scenery for the company. He Is also at work on a new drop curtain.
 How Scenery Is Painted.
 Scene painting Is an art of itself The work Is all done by electric light and only water colors are used Colors as is known to all artists, look different by daylight and electric light. and to get the correct effect as they appear at night they have to be painted by electric light. A visit to the paint bridge" of a theatre where this work is done is very interesting. You climb up numerous flights of stairs until the rigging ioft IS reacneo. Here are ln- numerable ropes, pulleys and belaying pins as numerous as can be found on a ship. These are used to shift the scenery. The paint bridge is a narrow bridge run ming across the back of the stage on a level with the gallery. The scene that Is to be painted is hoisted up and the artist stands on this bridge, lighted by a row of electric lights, and paints. Each piece of scenery Is first sketched off in charcoal before being painted It takes from two days to four weeks to paint scene, ac- cording to its character. Architectural scenes. like barn scene or a street scene, are comparatively easy to paint. while forest scene. for instance, is more diffi- cult. Tn the latter the artist has to carry the proportions in his mind. and the color scheme is more difficult to carry out.
 Has Charge of Everything.
 The scenic artist has charge of every thing back of the curtain until the open ing night. Carpenters, canvass stretchers and other workmen are under his direc- ton. The stage manager simply says that he wants a certain scene by a certain time. He gives the number of entrances