IV

A SYSTEM FOR EVERYBODY


In recent years a great many changes have been made in theatre
equipment. Old standards have gone to the scrap heap. Permanent
border lights, with their numerous lamps of small candle power,
have been replaced with more modern methods. In treating these I
am not going to deal with the installation of a specific type,
but one that will lend itself well to any playhouse.
 As the development of electrical equipment has proceeded at a
rapid pace within the last few years, we may reasonably assume
that it will continue to improve in future. Any electrical
installation may thus speedily become obsolete and it should not
be originally placed, therefore, with the idea of permanence. A
good system must be flexible to lend itself readily and
inexpensively to changes that will bring it up to date. But as
far as possible every detail for lighting should be incorporated
in the building plan. In many instances too little attention is
given to this matter, resulting in faulty systems. Belated
corrections involve expenditures far beyond the cost of planning
them properly in the beginning.
 The switchboard should be divided into two sections, one for the
house lights and one for the stage lights. The old type, with its
large knife switches, takes up too much room on the usual small
stage we have to-day. 


PRINCIPLE OF THE DIMMER
 The round dimmer plates are usually arranged in tiers or "banks"
of which four to half a dozen are common. In order to make clear
the control of the upper rows the sketch includes a second tier
unit. In each case a rack-and-pinion movement turns the contact
bar over the two sets of resistance plates, a scale beside the
dimmer handle affording an easy way to check positions. The
rack-and-pinion movement is easily thrown out of adjustment by
collection of dust and hardened grease, and some preference is
therefore given to an improved form quite similar in action but
having a chain at the far end of the rod with a single loop
around the middle cog.

Solenoid switches have been perfected to the point of
dependability and require very little attention. They may he
placed in a fireproof room underneath the stage. Controls that
actuate them are small, occupying little space. This allows the
switchboard to be reduced in size, which is a great help,
especially because it places all the switches within easy reach
of the electrician.
 The switches are set in horizontal rows, one row for each of the
three colors. A fourth row, on the lower portion of the board,
cares for the fly-floor, gridiron, cellar, musicians' lights, and
so on. The color switches are all placed in the same sequence-for
instance, foots, pockets, and first, second, third and fourth
border lights. At the end of each row there is a gang or master
switch that controls all in that line-up.
 On the house section the switches are also placed in rows. That
at the top of the board takes in the upper portion of the house,
the next row the balcony, then the lower floor, and the row below
that the boxes. Under this last row of switches is a good place
for the house and stage main.
 Dimmers are placed above the board, being actuated by rods, the
operating handles to which are set flush with the top of the
switchboard so as to be within easy reaching distance. All the
dimmers on this hypothetical board, with the exception of the
footlights, are of 3,000-watt capacity. There are thirty separate
dimmer controls--a number ample for the ordinary production.
 In the layout I have sketched, there are three circuits of
twelve 500-watt lamps in each border light, which gives us 6,000
watts on a main circuit. We can divide this load on two
3,000-watt plates, each plate controlled by a separate handle
which is interlocking. Plates for the pockets are also of
3,000-watt capacity, one plate for each side of the stage. Twenty
100-watt lamps are sufficient for each main circuit in the
footlights, requiring two 1,000-watt plates, also controlled by
separate levers.

 I have specified 100-watt bulbs for the footlights so that a
given number may be placed in a single row. With these lamps
should be used color frames that fit into the partitions. The
footlight trough can be designed so that the neck of each lamp is
below the portion that rakes up to the stage. At present,
however, there is not a single type of lamp that is really
suitable for footlight use. A well-adapted one should have a long
filament. Still, the 100-watt lamp, when a frost gelatine is used
with it, will answer. This bulb gets quite hot; and some form of
ventilation must be provided, especially because each lamp sets
in a separate compartment, the front shut in with a color frame.
 The switchboard itself should be kept well back from the
proscenium opening. If placed too far on stage it will interfere
with the proper setting of the scene. I have seen installation
where this has not been considered, and where, consequently, a
masking wing had to be set up and downstage. Moreover, in such
case the whole setting has to be set farther upstage; and stages
are never too deep as it is.
In the old days of gas lighting, the gas table was set into the
proscenium wall to conserve room. Stages then were laid out by
men who were experienced in the business. Not alone did they plan
the work, but they did the actual building, and took pride in
doing it. An architect or a builder may be an excellent
electrician; but if his knowledge of the theatre has been gained
in only a superficial way he is bound to make


GAS TABLE AT THE METROPOLITAN OPERA HOUSE

 After an illustration in Scribner's Magazine, October, 1888. The
picture shows just a part of the control board at the old opera
house in New York, with the chief "gas man" in a pose that
clearly registers his pride in the installation. But that they
had their troubles then, too, is evident from the oil lantern for
emergency use that hangs back of his head.

blunders of stage installation. It is only by actual and
prolonged contact with working theatrical conditions that one
becomes expert in details that the average person overlooks.
 Auditorium lights are controlled on the house section of the
switchboard; but this does not include those for the stairways
and the various rooms in the front of the house.(l) Those are
governed from a panel placed conveniently somewhere in the front
of the house, usually in the box office.
 Current for the exit lights is drawn directly from the main
feeders and from ahead of the main fuses. Exits with corridors
and stairways leading thereto must be kept lighted during the
entire performance.
 The number of switches used to control the house lights is
determined by the precise layout, which necessarily differs in
every installation. Whatever the building plan may be, control of
the lighting is paramount and should be so contrived that any
part of the auditorium can be kept in any desired degree of
illumination. To accomplish this the different sections must be
on separate dimmers, to be worked individually or interlocking
for collective use.
 Each border light has three colors. With those who contend that
four colors should be used I do not agree. Four may seem better,
but what we gain there we lose elsewhere. With four colors the
separation is too great, proved when scenery is hung close to the
border light, each lamp in the circuit then showing as a separate
unit. There is no reflector made with an angle wide enough to
overcome this separation. When only three colors are used and the
scenery is hung too close, the same thing may happen; but it must
be admitted that our chances are better for more equal
distribution with less division between the colors. There are
available sectional border lights fitted with

 (1)In theatre parlance the front of the house is that portion of
the theatre devoted to the business end.

all-aluminum reflectors. These sections are nine feet long, each
having nine reflectors made to take 500 watt lamps. The light
spreads well, and there are no hard metallic rays because the
reflectors have a matt surface. The sections are hung on a pipe,
and may be made to face at any angle by adjustment of the
supporting chains. For a thirty foot or a thirty-five


BORDER LIGHTS
 The top section (which is used sometimes also as a strip light)
shows every second and third lamp compartment fitted with a
gelatine color medium, criss-crossed with wire to keep it in
shape. The aluminum reflectors shown down left have a matt finish
to prevent glare. The remaining example, lower right, has rows of
ventilating holes that are, however, thoroughly masked to prevent
light leaks.

foot proscenium opening-the average in most theatres--four
sections are sufficient for each row. This makes each border
thirty-six feet long, containing thirty-six 500-watt lamps. Thus,
also, we have three main circuits and twelve branch circuits.
 To feed the border lights, at their varying heights, four pocket
panels are set in the gridiron (1) on the same

 (1)The overhead grating from which all hanging pieces are
suspended above the stage. Even in France they call it the
grille. 

side as the switchboard. They are placed so that the flexible
feeders will come down in a direct line with the border. Each
panel has eighteen pockets. Twelve are sufficient to care for the
borders, the extra pockets accommodating the 1,000-watt lamps
used for cyclorama lighting.(1) Capacity of the dimmers has been
figured to meet this.
 Connections in the gridiron are made through pocket plugs, and
those on the borders themselves with slip


NEW BORDERS AND OLD
 A comparison. Modern border lights, shown above, have their
light reflected in all directions. The old type, shown below,
have but a single direction, and, when tilted, cast a hard line
of shadow.

connectors. The flexible feeders are stage cables, long enough to
allow the border light to come within four feet of the stage
floor. Several means have been devised to keep the surplus cable
out of the way, the simplest method being to tie a line about
midway on the cable and pull it up, allowing the slack to hang in
a loop. An easy way to keep the cables together is to bind them
with friction tape at intervals of three feet.

(1)Discussed in detail in Chapter VII.

 The old border lights were installed as regular fixtures. To
shift them from their original position required too much time,
so they were generally left in fixed positions even though a
change in place would have been of a material benefit in
illuminating the scene. The sectional border lights described may
be placed anywhere; and if conditions warrant an altered hanging
of the scenery, they may be shifted in a few minutes.
 When a high cyclorama is used--one that goes from the stage of
the gridiron--the lighting is done from a central point directly
back of the straight drapery that masks the top of the stage
picture. In such case, the border lights may be removed and
stored away, and 1,000-watt hoods substituted, the hoods being
plugged into the gridiron pockets which will carry and have
dimmer capacity for seventy-two 1,000-watt lamps.
 The footlights should also be made removable--no makeshift
contraption disappearing into the stage apron, but a
well-designed trough or pan, removable in sections. The plugging
arrangement for the foots is the same as that described for the
borders, the feeder panel being placed readily at one end of the
orchestra pit. The cost of making the front of the stage thus
flexible is a small matter while the theatre is being built. To
do it later is a laborious and costly proposition. We may not be
able to foretell precisely what modern productions will demand,
but we can anticipate contingencies.
 Lamps on and about the stage used as workinglights should be
masked with proper hoods or reflectors so that the illumination
may be directed and confined to the intended areas. Surfaces
likely to reflect un-


SOME WORKING LIGHTS
 For smooth operation of backstage departments an adequate
illumination of working areas is highly important. The sketches
emphasize the care with which the light is restricted to the
required field. What is commonly called the working light is a
single bulb on a standard that is left in the middle of the stage
when the theatre is not in use.

wanted light should be painted in dark colors, preferably black.
 Working-lights for the fly-gallery may be made in the form of a
long strip light, the strip encased in a deep metal trough. This
trough should be fixed at such height that the pin rail and the
floor behind it are illuminated; but no light should escape over
the rail. Another strip of the same order is placed so that its
light is directed toward the head-blocks(1) on the gridiron, the
lamps masked from the fly-gallery to avoid dazzling the men who
operate the lines when they look upward.
 To illuminate the entire upper area of hanging space under the
gridiron, a sufficient number of reflectors are fastened above
the working fly-gallery. These lights are to be used in case the
scenery fouls, which happens frequently in a production that has
many hanging pieces. As to controls, two switches are provided in
the fly-gallery, conveniently for the flyman, for the head-block
lights, and for the reflectors. One switch at the switchboard is
sufficient for both circuits; and this is used only in case the
others are inadvertently left on by the flyman.
 For ordinary conditions twelve stage pockets, six on each side
of the stage, are ample, two to a side on a circuit. It is
impossible to estimate the load that is necessary to carry on the
pockets, and the number of pockets I have given is sufficient for
usual demands. Where there are used special effects requiring a
greater amperage than the pockets can carry, a portable board is
required. To furnish current to this (and they may also be used
for connecting extra plugging-boxes), two panels should be
installed on the right and left of the stage. If there is
insufficient room, as happens at times when wall space is
limited, the panels may be placed in the cellar against the
proscenium wall. As

 (1)The head-blocks are the pulleys over which the lines from a
drop are brought together and down to the counterweights. 

ducts for the flexible feeders, three pieces of two-inch conduit
may be passed through the stage and held in place by bushings.
 Each panel should be capable of carrying a load of 1,000
amperes, being arranged for at least three branch circuits to
care for the fuse capacities of the varying demands. To put in
plenty of copper is a wise precaution that will pay for itself in
the long run.
 In the auditorium on the middle of the balcony front, there
should be installed a form of housing for a number of reflectors.
The precise number and type are determined by the width of the
proscenium opening, and the distance from the balcony to the
front of the stage. The housing may be designed as a part of the
decorative scheme, with the intention of hiding it in the
prevailing pattern. Its purpose need not be revealed to the
audience.
 In the Belasco Theatre, New York, where this form of lighting
originated, I use three housings, two on the front of the second
balcony and one on the front of the first balcony. The last-named
is placed directly in the middle, while those on the second
balcony are set eight feet each side of center. All are made of
decorative glass. To the audience they look like fixtures for
lighting the auditorium, which function, indeed, they also
perform as the two circuits contained in each are controlled with
the house lights.
 The first balcony fixture houses eight reflectors. Those on the
second balcony have four in each fixture, making sixteen
reflectors in all. Each reflector has its own separate iron
housing fitted with a swing joint

so that the lamp can be turned to any position. The front of the
housing is fitted with concentric rings to keep the spill-light
out of the auditorium, the rings masking the light emitted by the
lamp itself and allowing only the parallel rays of the reflector
to pass. This arrangement means that each reflector will light an
area of about seven feet. for its main purpose is to illuminate
the actors and not the scene. In the Belasco Theatre a 250-watt
lamp is sufficient, as the balcony is only twenty-five feet from
the stage; but in a larger house where the distance is greater, a
more powerful lamp is obviously required.
 Lens boxes are not good substitutes for such reflectors and
should not be used for this type of lighting. Illumination from
the lens produces a sharp definite shadow of the player against
the background. The reflector light does not do this, while, if
the rest of the lamps are properly balanced, the shadows are
practically lost. As the balcony light is in direct line with the
player's face it does not distort his features; and he requires
less make-up than with footlights. The usual heavy shading of
eyelids is also made unnecessary.
 Footlights may be used in conjunction with the reflectors; but
they should be kept very low. Footlights were discarded by David
Belasco many years ago. He always despised them, accepting them
at the start only because electrical development had not then
advanced to a state sufficient to dispense with them. Although he
is not an electrician, he has kept in touch with every
development and has always been the pioneer, never waiting until
a thing was actually perfected, but always starting his machinery
in motion at the first sign of a new possibility.
 He goes after things with such confidence, and his attitude is
so contagious in these matters, that he in-


REMOVABLE FOOTLIGHTS
 To be installed when required and otherwise to be kept stored
away, for the author does not favor this form of illumination.
The front of each lamp compartment has a slot at top into which
fits the top of a color frame, the bottom being held by a small
iron "L" turning against it on a bolt. It is to be observed that
here, as elsewhere, preference is shown for color mediums rather
than for stained bulbs. For a couple of fixed hues colored glass
is dependable; but special stains fade rapidly and upset the
lighting scheme. The medium plan is cheap, convenient and more
practical in many other directions.

spires all those who work with him. Anything he said, no matter
how visionary it might have seemed, became an actuality by his
faith in the absolute possibility of accomplishing whatever he
had in mind. And it is interesting and significant to observe
that he did not expect that new ideas could be developed
overnight. We always took time to work out these problems.
 In the older theatres the lens lamps which are used in the
auditorium for spotlight work are usually placed in the first row
of the gallery because no other suitable place has been provided.
A great deal of good lighting may be done from the auditorium,
and suitable provisions should be made when the theatre is
planned to allow for it. In most of the new theatres the rear of
the balcony holds a booth in which there is ample room for
several lamps.
 For the balcony reflectors a small control panel may be set at
the end of the switchboard. This panel does not take much space
as the required dimmers are very small. Ten steps are enough to
dim the lamps gradually. Beside, the filament in the 250-watt
lamp is heavy and does not respond to the drop in voltage as
quickly as one of lower wattage.
 The general plan I have given may be elaborated or modified to
suit conditions. Naturally, one would not use 500-watt lamps in
the border lights of a small theatre that has neither normal
height nor width. Neither would we use a 250- or even a 500-watt
lamp on the balcony of a theatre as large as the Metropolitan
Opera House, as they would be useless for so long a throw. But
the layout described is practicable for any theatre if common
sense is used in scaling the light values to their surroundings.
The auditorium has generally been considered apart from the
stage. In many a newer theatre large sums have been expended in
beautifying the auditorium, and usually, from a decorative point
of view, successfully. But are these decorative schemes always
suitable from the standpoint of utility(1) Do they aid or
handicap the function of the theatre as such? Do they defeat the
lighting or does the lighting defeat them! An object, when viewed
as a thing apart, may be beautiful and attractive. If it is to be
placed among other objects, however, and it is out of keeping
with them, it has failed. The auditorium should be conceived with
a thought beyond the decorator's art. When we are dealing with
human emotions, light, color and environment may be made useful
aids; and in the theatre it is imperative that they shall be so.
 A great deal may be done by auditorium decoration toward placing
the audience in such frame of mind that their mood is receptive,
and this although theatrical audiences are made up of all
classes. Probably more than two-thirds know nothing of design,
color or architecture. They have no fundamental or advanced
knowledge of decoration; and any appeal of this sort to them must
be largely through a subconscious affinity for certain prevailing
colors. However this may be, the playgoing mood may be benefited
by a decorative auditorium scheme that will combine a quiet
harmony of design with stimulating color values. But above all,
we must remember that the treatment of an auditorium involves
considerations totally different from those applying to lighting
and decoration in one's own home. Color values in an auditorium
should be carried out in lighting as well as decoration. It has
been conceded and proved by experience that red is stimulating.
Therefore, if we use tones and tints that are warm, such as
natural autumn shades, we can obtain an influence that is
pleasing and quickening and at the same time create a feeling of
comfort. Amber lights under silk shades that provide contrasts in
color are other factors that help in creating a good atmosphere.
 Light colors, such as grays or greens or the natural white, are
poor, producing a cold effect when used in the large space of a
theatre auditorium; which necessarily is unlike the room in a
house where colors in the furnishings may be made important parts
of the decorative scheme. In a theatre the actual furnishings are
few in number. They are limited to draperies and lighting
fixtures. Draperies are generally confined to the boxes, as the
modern fire department does not allow them on doorways or exits.
 Lights in the auditorium that are kept on during the
performance, such as for stairs, exits, and the like, should also
have properly designed fixtures fulfilling the mission for which
they are intended without throwing light on the stage in dark
scenes.
 We cannot get results with lights unless we have them under
control. The lights on the stage should not spill into the
auditorium, and the lights in the auditorium should not show on
the stage. Once again, time and trouble may be saved if this is
cared for when the theatre is under construction. I have found
that if it is not done at this time, it never will be, with a
consequent annoyance at every new production. In numerous
instances in different houses on the road where Mr. Belasco has
opened a new play, I have met with this difficulty; and valuable
time has been lost in remedying it in a makeshift way--the only
way it could be done in the time I had. But correction of any
kind was necessary when some stray light from the auditorium was
thrown on the stage to ruin the illusion of the play.