The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1920-08-16
TOPEKA STATE JOURNAL
Information Bureau
FREDERIC j. HAsKIN. Director.
washington, d. C.
MUNICIPAL LIGHT OPERA.

Louis sinks into a gentle languor
verging on Information, the chief di-
version of the city is its municipal
theater. When the sun is too close to
the back of ones neck to talk about
else, IT is always possible to
hold a spirited conversation concern
Ing the citys management of light
opera, and to dwell on the amazing
progressiveness of st. LOUIS in provid-
ing its own theatrical entertainment.
At least. it is always possible for
st. Louisan.
The municipal theater seems to have
moved st. Louis as no other posses
sion has done. In the first place, it
is under the impression that it is the
only city in the country which ever
thought of having a municipal theater,
much less of building one, and so evil
IDENTIFY pleasing is this conviction that
no one has yet had the courage TO
point to at least three or four other
cities which have. quite charming ones.
And anyway. IL st. Louis is not the
only city actually to own a municipal
theater, it is the first one to recognize
the real value of such an institution
and to make practical use of 1t. Thus.
instead of reserving it for historical
pageants, miscellaneous concerts and
other forms of self-expression of the
masses, it has gone actively into the
entertainment business, recruited ana
a professional summer stock
company, and hassbeen producing the
most popular of our light operas all
during the summer.
Profits Go to the City.
The success of this innovation may
be judged by the tremendous crowds
that MI the great open-air auditorium
every night, as well as the size Of the
box office receipts; for the theater is
not run entirely on philanthropic prin->
ciples. In fact, 1t Couldn't be. st.
7 It'd al ra-
bel if called upon to pay taxes to
support several expensive and tenn
peramental professional voices. but II
does not in the least mind paying to
hear them. The best seats cost from
a dollar to a dollar and a half, and
they are always filled except in case
of rain when the performance has to
be called off. At the back of the au-
ditorium there are several rows of
free seats. All profits from the en-
terprise-and for the first time this
year the municipal theater is being
into the city treasury to be used for
Improvements.
With the exception of a few movie
houses, which operate haif-heartedly
thru the summer evenings, with the
aid of many electric fans, the muni-'
competition. All of the large city
theaters are closed-in fact, whole sec
lions of st. Louis appear to be closed.
You can walk for miles and miles past
silent, tightly barricaded doors and
windows, and never encounter an,
other human being until you reach
Forest park, and there the entire pop
ulation of the city is apparently gath
cred and headed for the municipal
theater. Hundreds of motor cars are
parked along its wide smooth boule-
Yards while thousands of pedestri-
soft, green grass in the direction of
mass of electric lights glimmering
thru the trees.
The theater is situated on the steep
bank of the River des Peres whose
slope ais well adapted to seats. The
ishing in size, with hundreds of rows
of wooden. portable chairs, and sur
mounted at the top by an ornamental
colorado. The exact figures, in fact,
show it to have a depth of 256 feet,
an average width of 225 feet, with a
total seating capacity of 9,270. The
exits have been carefully arranged so
that the auditorium can be emptied
in from 10 to 20 minutes-a valuable
asset in the case of a sudden shower.
Everyone in the audience has a free.
unobstrUcted view of the stage, and
the voices of the singers and speakers
carry satisfactorily.
The Largest Outdoor Stage.
The stage proper. which is the larg-
est outdoor stage erected, is built upon
the banks of the River des Peres. in
the midst of a dense shrubbery. Two
large oaks about 20 feet high form a
beautiful proscenium arch at its front
Between it and the audience is an or
chestra pit, 10 to Is feet wide, which
will accommodate an orchestra of $50
pieces. The difference in the eleva-
- ~
thest row Of seats in the auditorium is
SO feet. The stage has total width
of 100 feet and is 80 feet deep to a
bridge leading across the little river
to the dressing rooms, which are in
buildings hidden in the shrubbery. The
bridge is so located that it may at
times be used effectively in connec-
formances. A row of red electric
lights across the front of the stage
acts as a curtain, for when the rest
of the stage is darkened and these
lights are turned on, it is impossible
for the audience to distinguish any
thing behind them.
The natural setting of the theater is
ideal in every way with the exception
of the River des Peres, which is in
clined to be quite temperamental, at
times going perfectly dry and again
rising suddenly and flooding the sur
rounding country lhcLuulnB the tne-
aters dressing rooms. The dressing
rooms themselves are an interesting
spectacle, being crude, rough pine
structures resembling some of the
army barracks hurriedly erected dur
ing our late war. but for all that be-
ing quite as attractive as any to be
found IN some of the smartest Broad
way theaters. The prima donna has
hers decorated with the inevitable
theatrical cretonne, so that it looks.
according to her own assertions. just
like the one she had in New York.
One huge oblong structure is pro-
vided for the chorus. which is so nhn-
erous that to house it separately would
require a whole new suburban addition
. in the park. Down the entire length
of this room a long series of small
tables. with mirrors, are placed back
20 back so that two lines of chorus
girls can apply their makeup at the