Theatre Design & Technology - May 1969 - 4

The Joys of Gas Lighting
RICHARD A. WILLIS
Northwestern University
Gas illumination was introduced into theatres almost as soon as it began to be used
for general illumination in city streets and
homes. Like incandescent lighting threequarters of a century later, gas was first
displayed on the stage as a novelty. Towbridge introduced gas at his museum in
Albany, New York in 1817, with an exhibition of the novel uses, some of them distinctly hazardous. to which gas could be
put: " ... Mr. Towbridge afterwards tried
various experiments with gas, such as collecting it in glasses, allowing persons to
inhale it, and upon application of fire a
bright
flame
would issue from their
mouths.'" The appeal to the public of the
new method of I ighting was so great, however, that gas was adopted for permanent
use in some theatres almost immediatelyand occasionally against the better judgment of the owners.
If facilities were not available to provide gas
to the municipality in general, gas had to be
manufactured privately for use in the theatre. The Chestnut Street Opera House in
Philadelphia had its own full-scale works.
"We now [1 81 6] fi rst in trodu ced gas at the
Philadelphia house, where extensive works
were erected, which was some years afterwards [April 2, 1820] destroyed by fire." 2
The city of Baltimore attempted to light
with gas in 1816, but its gas company was
not in successful operation until 1826. Gas
was introduced in Boston in 1822, in New
York in 1827, and in Philadelphia in 1835.
The theatre brought gas lighting to New
Orleans at Caldwell's Camp Street Theatre
on January 1, 1824, the first building to be
so lighted in that city.3 The machinery for
the gas works had been brought from England by a man named Simonds, one of the
first lighting engineers in the southern part
of the United States. *

Origli1al BotVery Thearre facade, NetV York,
(7826) by ArchileCI lihiel To\vne. Clalined
10 have firsl gas lighting in a lhealre audilorium in lhis coumry. (PhOlO courtesy New
York HislOrical Sociely, reproduced in THEATRE SURVEY (October 7965), p 23).

The introduction of gas lighting at the Bowery
Theatre in New York in 1826 was said to
have ushered in the American theatreS It
was a new period, indeed. The Bowery Theatre, first in New York to be lighted by gas,
was destined to burn nine times before it
was pulled down in 1930.
Gas lighting was attempted in the theatre
in Washington, D.C., in 1831. "The Theatre opened in December of that year under
the management of Joseph Jefferson the
second, father of 'Rip Van Winkle Joe.' In
improving the theatre portable gas lamps
were introduced, but they failed to work on
the opening night and the audience had to
be dismissed. Other lamps were provided
for the next night."6

A lavish central chandelier was the most
dazz ling featu re in the audi tori ums of th eatres lighted with gas. The chandelier was
the chief attraction at the improved California Theatre in San Francisco when it
opened on September 28, 1872. A similarly ostentatious fixture was to be seen at
Metropolitan Hall, also called Temple Theatre Republic, when it opened on August 5,
1877. "Two sunburners of 108 gas jets
each are suspended from the ceiling and lit
by electricity, to brilliantly illuminate the
room from pit to dome."12 These glittering gasel iers, the visual centers of the
auditorium, were a real nuisance to the
audience in the upper parts of the house.
The central chandeliers had to be hung fairly low in order to light the auditorium
properly, and they completely blocked the
view of those in the balconies. There was
also usually a row of lights attached to the
panels of the boxes. "The glow or heated
mist from the flames rises up into the faces
of those above, and the light and heat interfere with the view and comfort." 13

There was no gas lighting in Chicago theatres prior to 1850, when the first municipal
gas works were constructed. Apparently no
owner or manager felt strongly enough on
the subject to equip his theatre with a private works. 7 Many theatres in the United
States failed to install gas systems until
the demands of the public forced them to
do so because of the serious disadvantages
of gas lighting for the stage: it made the
auditorium hot; the glare interfered with a
view of the stage; the necessary tubing
created a clutter backstage; and there was
the constant danger from fire, particularly
during the "lighting up," the time when
the stage lights were ignited in preparation
for the performance. 8

Bram Stoker, chief lighting assistant to
Henry Irving, wrote a complete account of
Irving's arrangements for the use of gas in
the theatre. In theatres which were adequately lighted, the stage was literally filled
with open flames. 1* The dangers to which
theatres were exposed by this form of illumination were summarized by Steele
MacKaye in 1882:

Gas lighting was introduced in San Francisco on February 11, 1854. "The city was
first lighted with coal gas on the evening of
this day... Already about three miles of pipe
were laid in the streets, to be increased as
the public accommodation required ... The
'Metropol itan,' a few weeks after this date,
adopted the new light.' ? Maguire's Opera
House, built in November, 1856, on the
site of San Francisco Hall, was completely
lighted by gas, including a huge chandelier
in the auditorium. '0

The rigging loft is filled with draperies called
scenic borders. Among these hang long lines
of gas-pipes. provided with many burners.
constituting border I ights. A network 0 wire
covers these lights to prevent the borders
from coming in contact with the gas-jets. To
a large extent this network serves its purpose,
but the heat generated by the lights is so
intense that the rigging loft becomes dangerously dry and inflammable: and as the
men on the fly-floors are obliged to work the
rigging in grea haste, in set iog scenes between the acts. a very little carelessness on
their par is su ficient to start a fire. 15

John Drew wrote in his memoirs of one of
the peculiar characteristics of a theatre
which was lighted by gas:
When my mother took over the management
of the Arch Street Theatre [in Philadelphia],
it was all renovated and was in pretty air
condition for the time, but it had been built
in 1827 and had an unmistakable smell that
was unlike anything else. I do not kno\\
\'\'hether this came rom the gas fumes or a
combination of the gas fumes and the new
oaint on the scenery. . . . '1

In the auditorium, gas lights not only created
a great deal of heat, they also burned the
oxygen out of the air. On the stage, open
flames were a menace both to highly inflammable scenery and to costumes. It was
almost impossible to prevent gas leaks in
the permanent piping that served the theatre, or in the temporary flexible tubing used
on the stage. An electric spark device was
recommended for igniting the gas jets
throughout the theatre, but a flaming ball of
waste or an alcohol lamp on the end of a
long pole was the method most widely
used. '6 The torch method was employed
when Otis Skinner played at the Walnut

[]illCJ THEATRE DESIGN AND TECHNOLOGY

MAY, 1969

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Theatre Design & Technology - May 1969