1930
Theatre Lighting (A Manual of the Stage Switchboard) by Louis
Hartmann was first published in 1930. The Theatre Through Its
Stage Door, by David Belasco, was published in 1919. The Belasco
book has been reprinted. Both these books belong in every serious
theatre collection. I have urged that this Hartmann book be
reprinted because a lighting designer or student can gain a
wealth of information and practical ideas from these two books,
that in many ways, are just as modern today as they were forty
years ago.
These four brief excerpts from the Belasco book belong here
because they are also the philosophy of Hartmann.
Lights are to drama what music is to the lyrics of a song. No
other factor that enters into the production of a play is so
effective in conveying its moods and feeling. They are as
essential to every work of dramatic art as blood is to life.
Night after night we experiment together to obtain color or
atmospheric effects, aiming always to make them aid the
interpretation of the scenes.
The greatest part of my success in the theatre 1 attribute to
my feeling for colors, translated into effects of light.
By subtle use of light, and without altering so much as a word
of the dramatist's text, it is possible some times to change
completely the impression which a whole scene conveys.
ARIEL DAVIS
1970
THEATRE LIGHTING
A MANUAL OF THE STAGE SWITCHBOARD
By Louis Hartmann
CHIEF ELECTRICIAN TO DAVID BELASCO SINCE 1901
FOREWORD BY
David Belasco
ILLUSTRATED
DBS PUBLICATIONS, INC.
DRAMA BOOK SPECIALISTS
NEW YORK, NEW YORK
Published 1930 by D. Appleton and Company New York:London
Reprinted 1970 by
DBS Publications, Inc./Drama Book Specialists 150 West 52nd
Street, New York, New York
Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 76-115696
Printed in U.S.A. by NOBLE OFFSET PRINTERS, INC. NEW YORK 3, N.
Y.
FOREWORD
Sometimes it is written in the book of life that one may have
the privilege of paying tribute to genius, friendship and
loyalty. Such is my opportunity here. with Louis Hartmann,
foremost of the electrical experts of the stage, as the
recipient.
For twenty-eight seasons the programs of my plays have carried
this line: "Electrical effects by Louis Hartmann." In olden days
the makers of fine ware in the precious metals stamped them with
their hall-mark. Thus, also, does the name of Louis Hartmann lend
its assurance of perfection in electrical detail to the plays I
produce.
Mr. Hartmann is an expert in lights, shading and coloring, an
artist who paints with light-beams and diffused glows instead of
pigments and brushes. The results that have been achieved in my
experimental laboratory in the twenty-eight years of our
association have raised him to the status of an inventor. Never
in all of these years has he failed to meet my most exacting
requirements.
We have gone together from the days when we had only flats, open
boxes and strip-lights to the present day of shadowless, diffused
lighting, capable of a thousand variations.
I count myself fortunate to have had him with me; and that at
last he has found time to put on paper some of the store of
knowledge which is his, gives me a feeling of personal pride. I
rank him superior to all others in his highly specialized
profession. His is the knowledge of the true adept.
David Belasco
CONTENTS
page
FOREWORD, BY DAVID BELASCO . . . . . V
THE AUTHOR TAKES THE BLAME . . . . . . . .xi
CHAPTER
I. LET BYGONES BE BYGONES . . . . . 1
II. THE LAMPLIGHTER'S BABY. . . . . 27
III. A GHOST COMES IN . . . . . . . 32
IV. A SYSTEM FOR EVERYBODY . . . . 42
V. THE BROAD IDEA 60
VI. REFLECTIONS ON SCENERY 75
VII. THE INDOOR SKY . . . . . . . 84
VIII. THE ANATOMY OF COLOR . . . . . 93
IX. THE SWITCHBOARD SPEAKS . . . . 98
X. TOO MUCH TROUBLE TO DO 106
BIBLIOGRAPHY . . . . . . . . . . 114
APPENDIX . 119
INDEX . . . . . . . . . . . 133
vii
ILLUSTRATIONS
David Belasco and Louis Hartmann in the Light-
ing workshop . Frontispiece
French theatre gas board of the seventies 2
Highest development of the gas system . 7
"Lime," "calcium" or "oxyhydrogen" light . 9
Electric stage lighting in 1873 11
From gas to electricity 13
Silk medium used in "Madame Butterfly" 17
Lens lamp types 24
Special incandescents . 29
Lighting "The Return of Peter Grimm" 33
A table "oil" lamp 40
Principle of the dimmer . 43
Gas table at the Metropolitan Opera House . 46
Border lights 48
New borders and old . 49
Some working lights . 51
Removable footlights . 55
Gas bunch lights of yesterday 61
500-watt baby lens dimmers . 65
Light diagram, "The Rose of the Rancho," Act I 68
Light hood at the Metropolitan Opera House . 70
Control board at the Chicago Civic Opera House 71
Portable dimmers . 73
Lighting with reflectors . 77
Reflector lamp with color reflector . 82
Louvres 90
"Thunder" in old wooden theatres 99
New work for the electrician . 101
With the help of radio 103
Continue to 1st chapter
Theatre Lighting (A Manual of the Stage Switchboard) by Louis
Hartmann was first published in 1930. The Theatre Through Its
Stage Door, by David Belasco, was published in 1919. The Belasco
book has been reprinted. Both these books belong in every serious
theatre collection. I have urged that this Hartmann book be
reprinted because a lighting designer or student can gain a
wealth of information and practical ideas from these two books,
that in many ways, are just as modern today as they were forty
years ago.
These four brief excerpts from the Belasco book belong here
because they are also the philosophy of Hartmann.
Lights are to drama what music is to the lyrics of a song. No
other factor that enters into the production of a play is so
effective in conveying its moods and feeling. They are as
essential to every work of dramatic art as blood is to life.
Night after night we experiment together to obtain color or
atmospheric effects, aiming always to make them aid the
interpretation of the scenes.
The greatest part of my success in the theatre 1 attribute to
my feeling for colors, translated into effects of light.
By subtle use of light, and without altering so much as a word
of the dramatist's text, it is possible some times to change
completely the impression which a whole scene conveys.
ARIEL DAVIS
1970
THEATRE LIGHTING
A MANUAL OF THE STAGE SWITCHBOARD
By Louis Hartmann
CHIEF ELECTRICIAN TO DAVID BELASCO SINCE 1901
FOREWORD BY
David Belasco
ILLUSTRATED
DBS PUBLICATIONS, INC.
DRAMA BOOK SPECIALISTS
NEW YORK, NEW YORK
Published 1930 by D. Appleton and Company New York:London
Reprinted 1970 by
DBS Publications, Inc./Drama Book Specialists 150 West 52nd
Street, New York, New York
Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 76-115696
Printed in U.S.A. by NOBLE OFFSET PRINTERS, INC. NEW YORK 3, N.
Y.
FOREWORD
Sometimes it is written in the book of life that one may have
the privilege of paying tribute to genius, friendship and
loyalty. Such is my opportunity here. with Louis Hartmann,
foremost of the electrical experts of the stage, as the
recipient.
For twenty-eight seasons the programs of my plays have carried
this line: "Electrical effects by Louis Hartmann." In olden days
the makers of fine ware in the precious metals stamped them with
their hall-mark. Thus, also, does the name of Louis Hartmann lend
its assurance of perfection in electrical detail to the plays I
produce.
Mr. Hartmann is an expert in lights, shading and coloring, an
artist who paints with light-beams and diffused glows instead of
pigments and brushes. The results that have been achieved in my
experimental laboratory in the twenty-eight years of our
association have raised him to the status of an inventor. Never
in all of these years has he failed to meet my most exacting
requirements.
We have gone together from the days when we had only flats, open
boxes and strip-lights to the present day of shadowless, diffused
lighting, capable of a thousand variations.
I count myself fortunate to have had him with me; and that at
last he has found time to put on paper some of the store of
knowledge which is his, gives me a feeling of personal pride. I
rank him superior to all others in his highly specialized
profession. His is the knowledge of the true adept.
David Belasco
CONTENTS
page
FOREWORD, BY DAVID BELASCO . . . . . V
THE AUTHOR TAKES THE BLAME . . . . . . . .xi
CHAPTER
I. LET BYGONES BE BYGONES . . . . . 1
II. THE LAMPLIGHTER'S BABY. . . . . 27
III. A GHOST COMES IN . . . . . . . 32
IV. A SYSTEM FOR EVERYBODY . . . . 42
V. THE BROAD IDEA 60
VI. REFLECTIONS ON SCENERY 75
VII. THE INDOOR SKY . . . . . . . 84
VIII. THE ANATOMY OF COLOR . . . . . 93
IX. THE SWITCHBOARD SPEAKS . . . . 98
X. TOO MUCH TROUBLE TO DO 106
BIBLIOGRAPHY . . . . . . . . . . 114
APPENDIX . 119
INDEX . . . . . . . . . . . 133
vii
ILLUSTRATIONS
David Belasco and Louis Hartmann in the Light-
ing workshop . Frontispiece
French theatre gas board of the seventies 2
Highest development of the gas system . 7
"Lime," "calcium" or "oxyhydrogen" light . 9
Electric stage lighting in 1873 11
From gas to electricity 13
Silk medium used in "Madame Butterfly" 17
Lens lamp types 24
Special incandescents . 29
Lighting "The Return of Peter Grimm" 33
A table "oil" lamp 40
Principle of the dimmer . 43
Gas table at the Metropolitan Opera House . 46
Border lights 48
New borders and old . 49
Some working lights . 51
Removable footlights . 55
Gas bunch lights of yesterday 61
500-watt baby lens dimmers . 65
Light diagram, "The Rose of the Rancho," Act I 68
Light hood at the Metropolitan Opera House . 70
Control board at the Chicago Civic Opera House 71
Portable dimmers . 73
Lighting with reflectors . 77
Reflector lamp with color reflector . 82
Louvres 90
"Thunder" in old wooden theatres 99
New work for the electrician . 101
With the help of radio 103
Continue to 1st chapter