Roosevelt High School - Bwana Yearbook (St Louis, MO)

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.4 Zf Sf- 4 i STAGE MECH -XNIQM OF THE MIR-XCLE Thrrl

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BKUEHH STAGE SETTING N a dead nearly forgotten world the first attempts In stage settmv and stage scenery were made ln Rome Athens and other Important cItIes ID the tIme of the Acropolls a season of the year arrlved presumably autumn when man wanted to show gratItude and Joy for a good crop of corn for wIne for warm mghts and cool days or for bodlly comfort a thlng of rarIty In those days He wanted to dance to smg to do somethIng anythlng to show everybody how happy he was Then thIs vxllage would have ltS autum festlval and a dance or a song would be glven by anyone who wlshed In the open aIr theatre of that trme A blank wall a group of trees wIth a Wlnd passmg through the leaves a woods anythlng mrght be the background smce the attentlon of the populace would be on the actor and not on the settlngs There was no need for Illuslon The actor was slmply expressmg the unbounded Joy of every person there and the whole thing was sIncere Then gradually the people wlshed to be entertamed at all seasons of the year They wanted to forget the worrles and cares of the day and enjoy themselves for a tlme ThlS longmg on the part of the people was a slgn of a laggmg of Interest In the plays of that trme and became a demand for entertamment The need for Illuslon was great No longer was smcerlty the key note of the festwals but sham and make belleve became the methods by whlch the actors amused the people Words were lles and to make them real great effort on the part of the actors was necessary Faclal expresslon and gestures dnd lIttle to Improve the sltuatxon Somethlng was lackmg A vague Intanglble thmg thls somethlng was eluslve different And then somehow the wlll 0 the WISP became real Somebody used a natural settlng as atmos phere background for the play and the Interest of the observer was once agam awakened But another dlfflculty soon presented Itself The people not content to be amused by plays In falr seasons demanded entertamment In foul weather Artlhclal settIngs were needed F3CllltlCS for producmg a play IH bad weather were hard to Invent The ltallans were the first to palnt backgrounds and use them In theIr plays The Ideas In artIf:IcIal settmgs we of thls modern tlme owe to the ltallans The development of stage settmgs and props IS extremely Interestlng but is no more Interestmg than the use of them ln thls cIty we have one of the finest and best equlpped stages ID Amerxca l would lIke you to see the stage and audltorlum of the ScottIsh Rltes Cathedral The blllldlng alone IS somethxng at whlch to marvel, and wrll delnght you wlth ltS bewIlderIng proportlons As one ascends the steps to the entrance of thls bulldmg he IS surprlsed by the strange front and entrances The front of the blllldlng gives the ImpressIon of a masslve stone wall wIth huge openlngs left to pass through Turin 1 1 I., ' 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 - 1 1 1 1 ' 1 1 ' 1 1 1 , . Y - ' 1 1 . . , 1 1 - 1 1 1 1 1 - 1 , . - 1 , . . 1. 1' . . .

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BQUENH There are three entrances each of whlch has a lamp wlth so strange a globe as to seem unreal lnstead of a sphere to dlffuse the llght the globe seems to be flattened downward Arrlved at the doors one stops astounded These doors seem so masslve that the strength of ten men would be needed to open them yet they are so well balanced and olled that the sllghtest pressure serves The hall and lobby are walled and floored wlth pure whlte marble and the celllng seems so hlgh that only a shadow shows where wall ends and celllng beglns Thls fantastlcal entrance does not make the audl torlum appear as strange as lt really IS The flrst thlng one notlces upon entering IS the strange fact that the seats do not begln at the orchestra plt there IS a space of flfty feet between the plt and the flrst row of seats The stage IS lmmense ln fact lt IS the wldest stage ln the Unlted States lt IS ten feet wlder than the Hlppodrome ln New York but hasn t qulte the depth The audltorlum looks small ln comparlson but nevertheless seats three thousand flve hundred people The acoustlcs are marvelous A whlsper on the stage can be heard to the last row ln the balcony The Hoorlng Just ln front of the stage IS false and when removed leaves room for a large orchestra The organ IS as large as the one ln the MISSOUII Theatre costlng S50 000 ln order to get It out of the way lt IS placed ln the balcony where the boxes would ordlnarlly be As for scenery thls stage has one hundred twenty elght curtalns whlch are to hang permanently ThlS IS more than any theatre ln the country There are flfty complete scenes even to lmltatlon grass and uneven earth ln woodland scenes All loose propertles are stored ln a room on the thlrd floor and can be brought to the stage ln an elevator and erected ln a few moments The curtalns and drops are so perfectly balanced that a touch of the flnger wlll lower or ralse them The large velvet curtalns are so heavy that an electrlc motor IS requlred to open and close them All costumes are kept locked ln a speclal room and are handed out to the performers by SIX men who are responslble for all costumes The costumes cost Sl00 000 some slngle costumes costlng SI 000 There are two dresslng rooms wlth showers and other convenlences for the actors The most lmportant thlng IS a new system for controlllng llghtlng ln the audltorlum and on the stage A sheet of paper has a number of clrcles drawn on It and each clrcle represents a llght or a curtaln ln the audltorlum For a scene IH a forest the swltchboard operator punches the holes for varlous colored llghts for certaln spots for Hood llghts and for boulders forest scenery grass etc on thls sheet He then places the sheet ln a slot repre sentlng the flrst act second act or the number of the act WhlCh the scene IS to be and when the tlme arrlves for that act he pulls a master lever and llttle arms pass through the holes ln the sheet of paper to make 6lCCtTlC contacts Thus the machlnery for the apparatus IS put lnto motlon The propertles have been fastened to the rlght ropes prevlously and are promptly arranged ln thelr respectlve places when the tlme comes A VlSlt to thls Scottlsh Rltes Cathedral IS most lnterestlng and entertalnlng and all who wlsh to see the bUllClll'lg are cordlally lnvlted four: rn 1 ' 1 . . ' , 1 . , , . . . . - 1 . ' 1 1 1 1 1 1 ' 1 , . - 1 - 1 1 1 1 - 1 1 1 1 1 1 '1 - ' 1 1 1 . . N . . . . - . 1 ' 1