X
TOO MUCH TROUBLE TO DO

LIGHTING a musical comedy or a spectacle requires a different
treatment from that which would be accorded a dramatic
performance. There, pictorial effectiveness is more to he desired
than realism. In these presentations feminine charm is important;
and proper lighting can do a great deal toward making this still
more alluring. The lighting should be bright to carry
cheerfulness, but this effect should be procured by contrast.
Flat lighting is no more effective in a musical comedy than it
would be in a drama. As in a drama, many of the light effects may
be preconceived, and color combinations worked out beforehand.
 Musical productions contain so many details that require
attention and that have to be worked out at final rehearsals,
that those which seem least important are deferred and generally
not worked out at all. In many cases when the lighting colors are
found to clash with those on the materials used on the costumes,
the director simply resorts to white light, which restores the
color values, but which, on the other hand, sacrifices the
pleasing softness that color lighting creates. As the costumes
are made from designs or plates, that therefore provide known
factors at the outset, it is a comparatively easy matter to
procure the proper results if just a little forethought is used.
 The scientific method for obtaining proper color mixtures would
be to examine the colors under the spectroscope. But this system
is so involved that I have grave doubts as to its practical
theatre application. But for those inclined to experimentation,
the spectroscope holds many pleasant surprises in store. They
will find there that colors are not always what they seem to be
to the naked eye.
 A less scientific but effective way to determine the color
values of materials is to test them out with the lighting colors
to be used on them. Pieces large enough to drape should be
procured, as small "samples" will neither reflect nor absorb
colors in the ways peculiar to deep folds and convex surfaces.
From these observations color plots may be made and catalogued
for reference.
 I know that any theory that depends on scientific training and
which calls for the use of laboratory instruments has small
chance of being used in theatres. For this reason I have confined
myself to those methods which are likely to be used in everyday
practice.
 Spotlights are almost indispensable in musical productions; but
in using them the same routine is generally followed without
efforts toward improvement. They commonly serve just as light
sources, and carry no additional effectiveness. By using an iris
diaphragm before the lens the light may be brought on and off
gradually, and the size of the spot can be regulated. If we
employ the diaphragm to regulate the size of the spot, the
intensity of the light can be varied by manipulating the focus.
If the burner is pulled back in the housing the illumination is
made brighter and its area is decreased. Pushing the burner
toward the lens produces an opposite effect--the intensity is
diminished and the area of light is spread. Thus, by proper
manipulation of diaphragm and focus any degree of light can be
obtained for any reasonably desired area.
 By using several spots, effective color combinations may be
produced on the gowns or costumes. Two or three colors may be
projected on a performer, one for the face, for instance, another
for the upper portion of the body, and one on the lower part of
the gown. By using a slide with two or three colors in each lamp,
several additional color combinations may he made, and all
applied in various ways. How effective they are will depend. on
how well they are conceived and how the men who operate them have
been trained and rehearsed. Clumsy manipulation will ruin any
effect. It is better not to attempt anything beyond the
experience of the operators than to have an effect badly handled.
 Where I have described an effect it has been with the intention
of having it accepted as a general idea, a suggestion, or a
working basis. I could describe in minute detail every effect
used on a stage. To some, this would be good reading matter; but
beyond that it would have no practical use. I say I can describe
any effect, and yet some things cannot be described. The most we
can hope to do is to convey the idea. Books do not teach; they
instruct. We teach ourselves by diligent application to our work
and by concentration of thought about our work. These attentions
lead to self-expression, and these, in turn, to creative ability.
 To cite an instance of how much may be made out of a simple
effect if it is well done, I recall one that Mr. Belasco used in
two plays, "The Temperamental Journey" and "The Gold Diggers." As
the effect was substantially the same in both instances, I shall
take the latter play for an illustration.
 The electrical apparatus in each case was entirely different,
but only because a number of years had intervened between the two
productions, and for the later one our devices had been improved.
However, the effect in each instance proved its success by
winning applause, which I mention to show that the apparatus was
not the dominant factor.
 The scene in "The Gold Diggers" is the living-room in a fine
flat occupied by a chorus girl. When the curtain rises the room
is in semilight. Curtains on the windows are drawn and the shades
are down. Apparently, however, it is a bright day as outside a
small finger of light leaks through the edge of the shade and
strikes a scarf on the piano. After a brief pause, a maid enters.
First, she opens the curtains, after which she raises the shades.
The room is lighted supposedly by the sunshine that streams in
the windows. Very simple and trivial--in real life.
 Now any one who knows anything about stage lighting realizes
that the beam first coming through the window did not light the
room. The effect was produced by a number of units worked in
combination and coming up in their proper sequence. Correct
timing was important; each unit had to be at a certain mark at
the proper instant. Even the light that came through the window
was brought up on the dimmers as the shades were raised. Had the
light struck the shade at the brilliancy that was required in the
fully illuminated room, the shade would have appeared overbright
in the semi-darkness and out of balance with the general effect.
 The entire procedure of opening the curtains and raising the
shades did not take over twenty seconds, and still, in this short
space of time, a number of actions had to be performed properly.
The things that have to be done thus quickly must be done in a
precise manner; every move must be planned. If they are
indefinite the audience cannot follow them and know what has
transpired. Pulling a curtain and raising a shade seems a simple
operation; but it did not prove so in this instance, as Mr.
Belasco spent a long time rehearsing it before he was finally
satisfied with the result.
 Results are attained by giving attention to the small details.
David Belasco never passes anything until lie is satisfied that
it is right.(l) He works with the play and the effects until
everything dovetails and runs so smoothly that no studied look is
evident. This is a large part of the art of the theatre--to
disguise, and to leave no trace of the method used to obtain the
result.
 Within the past few years, magazines and the newspapers have
published numerous articles by various authors on new production
methods. In some of these articles the writers deride all
prevailing methods as
 (1)See David Belasco's article, "Why I Believe in the Little
Things" in the Ladies' Home Journal, September, 1911. being
old-fashioned and out of date, offering as substitutes creations
of their own which have nothing to commend them save these
printed opinions. Through self-advertisement they create a
following, especially among members of amateur organizations too
remote from metropolitan centers to see the best productions for
themselves. These methods have an appeal, as their main features
generally are simplicity and economy-important considerations,
naturally, with the usual amateur group. Also there is that
tendency of most humans to allow others to do their thinking for
them. But if these methods are right, then there are no
traditions in the theatre; and the high standards that have been
set by such men as Sir Henry Irving, Augustin Daly and David
Belasco must be classed as wasted effort.
 William Winter, a mart who devoted his entire life to the study
of the theatre, criticizes some of these methods in one of his
books in anything but flattering terms. I am going to quote from
his book Shakespeare on the Stage in which he voices his opinion
of one of these experiments. The production in question was
heralded by most of the press as an epochal event in the theatre.
 Of the offering, Winter says in part: "On Feb. 16, 1915 'A
Midsummer Night's Dream' was presented at Wallack's Theatre by
the English actor and manager Granville Barker in what has been
loftily vaunted as the 'modern' manner. . . . As a performance of
Shakespeare'ú lovely poetic play the presentment was a
desecration, but it provided a representative example of the
nauseous admixture of mental decadence and crotchety humbug
absurdly designated 'progressive' and foolishly accepted by
irrational persons and by others who seek to run with every
vagary of the hour,--fearing to protest against pretentious
quackery lest they should be reprehended as 'reactionary,'
'hidebound' and not 'up to date.' "
 Of the lights he says in part, after a minute description of how
they were employed: "The results obtained by those changes in the
construction of the stage and the methods of lighting were bad.
Dramatic effect was nullified. The performers, hampered by
unsuitable conditions, were made to appear anxiously and
uselessly laborious, and the representations were invested with
an atmosphere at once amateurish and freakish."
 He follows this with an analytical survey and describes the
reasons upon which he bases his opinions. These opinions are not
mere conjecture. They were evolved by a keen, trained mind, the
mind of a man who had made a study of the theatre and loved it,
always eager to praise the good, yet unafraid to condemn the
false or anything else he thought had a bad influence and that
was detrimental to the future of the theatre.
 Why should we suppose that a radical change is necessary in the
theatre? The glory of a sunrise or sunset is just the same to-day
as when the first human beheld it. Our emotions have not changed.
Love, hate and anger are just as potent in our modern
civilization as they were in barbaric Rome.
 Let us use our modern devices for improvement and to enhance the
value of the text; make the settings and the lighting conform
with the mood and character of the play--and "hold, as't were,
the mirror up to nature."