Before describing the ordinary English stage and that of the Metropolitan Opera House, a few generalities are in order. The audience really sees a very small proportion of the stage, for behind the curtain is an enormous rectangular structure which is usually much higher than the roof of the auditorium. This great height is rendered necessary in order to raise the hanging scenes up bodily without resorting to the necessity of rolling them up. Great space is also needed for the ropes, pulleys, and other mechanism used for working the curtains, drop scenes, and borders. Everything above the arch of the proscenium is termed the “flies.” The stage proper is the rectangular platform upon which the drama is given. Its width is usually regulated by the width of the space devoted to the orchestra. There is considerable space at each side of the stage for working space. It is here that the “wing” or “side” scenes are stored for the various scenes of the opera, and it is here that the singers and the ballet wait before going before the curtain, through the so-called “entrances” into which the depth of the stage is divided, the number of entrances depending upon the number of wings.
The floor of the stage runs from the footlights to the rear wall of the building, but usually the last few feet of the stage are not utilized by the performers, as the scenery is usually painted there in what is called the “paint room.” It is here that a platform, called the “paint bridge,” was formerly raised or lowered, giving access to all parts of the canvas which was being painted. But now the paint frames are usually run up and down, while the bridge remains stationary. The stage is divided widthwise into sections, and these sections of the stage floor can be raised or lowered as desired, and it is also arranged so that scenes, or portions of scenes, may be dropped down through the floor. As the scenes raised upwards have to be taken out of sight, the scenes which are lowered below the stage floor have likewise to disappear from the view of the audience. This results in deep cellars under the stage. The cellar should, of course, be as high as the proscenium aperture through which the audience views the scene; but this is often impossible, and various means are employed to give a great depth to the cellar. This is sometimes managed by raising the orchestra, or pit, above the ground, but this is apt to make the theater unpopular with those who patronize the galleries, as it necessitates a greater climb; and if the orchestra is depressed below the street level, it requires that the cellar shall be sunk in so much further. This increases the difficulty of drainage, and the presence of water may be a constant source of annoyance.
We will now describe a typical wooden stage of the English type. England is the home of excellent stage management, and an English property master is known all over the world by the excellence of his work. In England large sums are spent on costly productions, and the arrangements which are provided when the stage is built permit of lightning changes, which are so popular there. In this country the question of expense prevents such elaborate fittings as those in England. There are, of course, important exceptions to this rule. In the commoner English and American stages there has been so little progress that Mr. Sachs notes the fact that there is little difference between “the ordinary London stage of 1895 and the stages of 1750.” One reason that the theaters on the continent of Europe have such excellent stages—stages in which the ability of the architect and engineer are taxed to the utmost—is that they are very largely assisted by subventions from either the government or the municipalities; so it is little wonder, then, that we have so many splendid examples of the most modern stages in Europe. In the present chapter the word “theater” may be considered to mean either a theater for the spoken drama or an opera house.
TOP OF THE GRIDIRON.
The top of the stage is known as the “rigging-loft,” or “gridiron,” and consists of a wooden or iron stage composed of an open floor laid upon the tie-beams of the principal roof trusses. A considerable weight has to be supported upon this gridiron, for from it depend all the “cloths” (drops), “borders,” and “gas battens.” The strength of the roof is, therefore, calculated so as to sustain this great weight. In some continental theaters there are two gridirons. The gridiron is also called the rigging-loft on account of the fact that the scenes are “rigged up” by ropes from this floor. The scenes are raised and lowered from this level by means of ropes passing through the spaces in the floor, over blocks with wheels in them, on to the drum, and thence down to the “fly floors” below.
Our engravings show the [upper] and the [under] side of the gridiron of the Castle Square Theater, in Boston, Mass. This gridiron has some interesting features not possessed by the stage of the Metropolitan Opera House, which will be described a little [further on], as at the Metropolitan Opera House there are no windlasses on the gridiron. The windlasses are used to raise heavy weights suspended from the gridiron, and are of the greatest possible use in aërial ballets and other theatrical performances. It will be seen that the gridiron is in reality nothing but a slatted floor supported by iron girders. The ropes will be seen passing over the pulleys to where they descend, at regular intervals, to raise the drops. Our second engraving shows the under side of the gridiron, and the drops and borders which are suspended from it. It gives an excellent idea of the maze of ropes which hang from the gridiron.
