I always seem to be able to get about what I have wanted for amateur productions from certain big New York establishments in this line of business; those who make costumes for the Famous Players, Griffith, and the very best moving picture and theatrical companies. They have made many things for Marion Davies and her Cosmopolitan pictures. I had a telegram from a girl in Minneapolis the other day. She had to have a certain costume, because her engagement depended upon it. She was to work three weeks at $150 a week, and she couldn't do it without the proper costumes. I had one of my men pick out the costumes for her. They cost her $45 for the entire three weeks. They were sent to her by parcel post C.O.D. by one of these firms.
We have an art department in our studios where we make our own designs for settings and costumes. When amateurs or professionals write to me or wire me, I am usually able to put them in touch with the right people and help to get just what they need. Any of these can be gotten at reasonable prices. The prices range from $5, $6, $7.50, $10, $12 and $15 a week for each costume, depending, of course, upon the quality of costume. I used a marvelous costume once worn by Ethel Barrymore in one production, and I think I paid $15 for the rent of it. A costume like that would cost $1500 to have it made.
After I am through with the costumes, I begin to do the lighting. I will use certain lights that will affect the sets, the scenery. Other lights will be used for the characters. I use the side lights, overhead lights, border lights, and front lights. The spot-lights are used to pick up the characters; sometimes I use X-ray border lights down stage overhead to pick up the costumes. These lights are not focused on the scenery at all. The other lights are worked to tone the scenery to the desired effect, either to obscure it or to bring it out vividly.
Be very careful of the kind of light you use on the costumes. If you have trouble with the scenery or the costumes, you can usually disguise them and make them look entirely different by some sort of trick lighting effect. I remember one time staging a production at the Winter Garden. The management set a limit of $23 for each costume; that's all they would allow. I had about sixty-four girls in that ballet, and it was staged by Theodore Kosloff, who is now in Los Angeles. He was formerly at the Empire Theatre in London, when I lived in London. He couldn't speak a word of English at that time. He had to sail for Europe before he finished staging this ballet, and he turned the ballet over to me, with a friendly request that I personally finish it for him, which I gladly did. He had explained what he wanted in costumes, and the management finally ordered some costumes made at the above price. I just wish you could have seen what came in. When you are used to spending $150, $175, and as much as $1,500 on chorus costumes alone you can imagine what we got for $23. When the girls put them on I was obliged to put colored lights on them, red, blue, dark amber, and I did finally manage to get a very beautiful effect, which you can do if you find that your costumes are not up to the mark. Experiment with your colors until you get the desired effect.
After we get through with our costumes and lights, we are ready to add the orchestra. That is the last thing of all. I bring the orchestra in for a reading rehearsal, with the composer and musical director, and we correct whatever orchestra parts there may be wrong and smooth out the music. We always have a special orchestra rehearsal without scenery, without costumes, without the principals, without the lights, without any stage hands being around, and we perfect the musical end of the show with the orchestra and company prior to the dress rehearsal.
Then we have the final full dress rehearsal, orchestra, stage hands, costumes, lights, props, scenery, facial makeups, everything complete. We make them up for the dress rehearsal thinking that they will remember how to make up for the opening performance, but we always find that they can't do it, and about half past four or five in the afternoon of the opening performance we begin to make them up again. Then we are all ready for the opening performance, and we drive them through this at a terrific pace, not allowing anyone or anything to slow the performance up, which would be fatal.
When you sit in front and see a show going along prettily and smoothly, you little think of the amount of brain work, foot work and executive power and force that has been necessary behind the curtain to make the performance what it is!
Does it pay?
Here is a recent newspaper clipping: