The citizen. (Frederick City, Md.) 1895-1923, 1905-04-21
THE HIPPODROME.
Latest New York Theatre is
One Of the Largest in the
World-Comic Opera, Circus
and War.

formances that have been seldom
equaled. This is true in every
detail, from the opening scene de
picting a circus about TO give a
show to he climax depicting the
battle of Rocky Ford Bridge,
with its lake of water and plung
ing horses
In the program was a comic
opera, circus. spectacular
drama and a ballet of marvellous
beauty.
When the immense drop cur
tain arose on the first act, the
exterior of a circus. the scene in
the body of the house was one of
surprising beauty. Every seat
in the great auditorium, from the
pit to the last row in the high
gallery, was taken.
The lights cleaning on the
jewels and the brilliant costumes
of the women and the faultleSS-
ness of detail in the arrangements
all contributed to scene nothing
short of remarkable.
Along the great corridors were
ranged an array of flower pieces
sent by the friends of the man
agement and ranging from a
modest wreath to an elephant six
feet high and a great horseshoe
bearing within it a horses head.
AS the performance went on
and the bitches that were thought
to be inseparable from a first
nights performance of the mag
nitude of this did not materialize,
the audience rose to the occasion,
and cheer after cheer rang through
the house as the trained work
men, fell into their places, set
scenes in almost the twinkling
of an eye that it was believed
would take long waits to accom-
pliSh. and struck and carried off
Others before the wondering
crowd OWNED their object.
ITS SEATING CAPACITY.
Some idea of the size of the
HippOdrOme may be obtained by
a comparison with other theatres.
Its seating capacity is 800, as
compared with 400 for the Met
ropOlitan Opera House, 5000 for
the Academy Of Music, 800 for
the Broadway Theatre and 1892
for the New Amsterdam. The
area of the Hippodrome balconies
is said to be larger than the total
area of the largest theatre in the
city, and to equal III seating ca
pacity that Of almost any two
other theaterS.
To illuminate the building 40
900 electric lights are required.
as compared with 1000, the most
so far as is known, in use i'll any
other house, and whereas the
back drop curtain in most theatres
averages about 24x30 feet, the
one in the Hippodrome is $4,000
feet.
In the Alexander Opera House,
st. Petersburg, they have what is
generally considered the largest
asheStus curtain in the world.
That great sheet of curtaining is
40 feet shorter than the one that
will be rolled up nightly in the
new theatre, the exact dimensions
of which are 114x47 feet.
That portion of a stage which
extends out from what is Ordl.
narily the curtain line is known
technically as the "aprOn.n 1t is
the part Of the stage upon which
the actors in an ordinary play do
not appear, though the vaudeville
mOnologist uses it when he walks
down to the fOOtlights to get in
close touch with the audience.
The "apron" of the Hippodrome
stage Is just thirty-eight feet
larger than that of La Scala, the
famous opera house in Milan.
With the exception of that Of the
Pantheon in Rome. the Hippo
drome'S dome, covering almost
an acre in itself, is the largest in
the world. The ground floor
promenade, 10 feet wide and 200
feet long, is as great in area as
the body of other New York the
aires.
INTRICATE MACHINERY.
A large amount of interest
in the HippOdrome centers in the
stage and the entirely novel me.
chanical arrangement for Oper-
ating the movable platforms, fill
ing and emptying the tank, rails
ing and lowering the stage and
handling the scenery. The stage
may be divided for purposes of
description into two portions, that
which is behind and that which
is in front of the proscenium arch.
This arch is the largest ever built
in a theatre. 1t has a total width
of SO feet and a clear height of
40 feet.
The depth Of the stage from
the extreme front to the back
wall is 10 feet, or 30 feet from