The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1906-07-09
VAUDEVILLE Or
OPERA, WHICH?
Theatrical Decorator Talks In
terestingIy of the Two
Kinds of Show.
LIGHTER ONE ALWAYS
GETS GREATEST CROWDS
Demonstration of This Is Seen
Daily in All of the Larger
Cities.

q George Hodel. the noted Chicago
fprtist. is q guest at the Wilson, being
11ere on the special work of decorating
ihe Interior OF the new Orpheum inca
her Having a national reputation as
Ia decorative painter, especially OIL
lthczatcrs, he Is well posted In theatri-
lcal matters and speaks OF them as 1oi-
lows:
IT am hore with a competent staH
Ior assistants to decorate the Orpheum'
sTho work will be after the modern
Renaissance style. Tho general color
lschemc VIII be rose. ivory and golo,
pThe proscenium or sounding-boaro
will have a sky and floral effect The
boxes and balcony will have ornament.
kal relief decorations. all in ivory ana
lEold, and all on original lines. lho
L1eneral effect Will be a dignited eie-
lgance. I expect to make 1t one or the
lprettiest houses in the country
Decorated Many Theaters.
"I have decorated many noted play
houses in this country and Canaoa7
Among them the Dominion, In Wlnh-
lpeg; Baldwin and Equitable. In New
Orleans: Grand opcra-house, Boulder,
colo: Boston and fremont. in Boston;
tWebber's and Broadway, In Ne"
Work; Proctor's In Newark, n. j. the
Haymarket, McVickar's and opera
House, in Chicago, Orpheum, In Den
hyer: California and Baldwin. In San
francisco, and score OF others l
have found In this wide experience
THAT the appearance OF theater ~
l7erior has much to do with box ofhce
lraceipts Where the management
lcaters to the aesthetic eye as well as
car, 1t invariably wins out on the
Financial side.
Vaudeville? Yes, vaudeville is here
TO have a long run. / never listen TO
rhe lowering aspect OF the stage on the
people 1 know better, and think 1t
waste OF good time to correct men VINO
ought TO study the subject closer Dc
fore condemning theaters-
Stage Has History.
"The stage has a history as long and
ancient as the race of men, and 1T IS
of record that IT has always been an
educator OF the people. 1t holds men
and women up TO themselves, some
times too true ITO nature, but where one
prurient mind sees wrong, a hundred
thinking men and women Will see an
excellent lesson. 'Honi sol qui mall
pense' is Just as true In simple English
as in French, and until the coming or
the last trump OF Gabriel we shall have
mean souls who will see meanness,
only because themselves are mean In
heart / have found thousands of good
men and women who see the good In
vaudeville and appreciate It.
"I have watched the way Of the peo-
pile who go to plays. and have found
them to be q home-maklng, home-keep-
ing class, who delight in the lessons
taught and grow to esteem the men
and women who portray the characters.
Intemperance OF assault on the stage
reacts, just as the like quality OF argu-
ment is known TO do in the matter OF
dntemperance in drink.
Are Growing Musical.
'Music2 Yes. AS a people we Amer
dcans are growing musical, but 1t will
be century hence before we can pos
sibly have tone IN that line, such as
European peoples have. Vaudeville for
Americans fills the same place that
grand opera fills in continental Europe,
and we can only get to a high musical
standard as Europe did, that is,
through heredity and century Of mu-
steal environment.
Proof of these general statements
may be made as follows: Let some
new attraction come upon the theatri-
cal world, and the American manager,
who knows his people, will look 1t over
and say: How much Will 1t cost?' The
men who conduct European playhouses
will say: How much art, how much
good does 1t hold?' The American Is
not necessarily mercenary. he is cater
ing to the public wants. The European
Is doing the same
''As we have grown In the literary
Torld. so we must grow in the musical.
We have a grand start, 'tls true, but 1t
is also true that a grand opera and a
good vaudeville show running side by
side in a largo American city would
show ten dollars for tho play to one
for the opera after the first week.
salt Lake is q capital show town,
and that is one strong reason why I
look for your future metropolitan suc-
cess"
Sol