Theatre Design & Technology - Winter 1975 - 14

hand, it has been pointed out that a box set configuration
would have been much more difficult to mount on a
raked stage than on a flat one. Also, the drawing in
Figure 12 seems to depict a stage that is flat, and Gerald
Honaker makes a general statement to that effect in his
Ph.D. dissertation on the productions at Booth's
Theatre. 43 It is possible that Booth's Theatre was the
first of its kind to have a flat stage, but the issue remains
one of conjecture.
Perhaps one of the most innovative features in this
theatre was the complex arrangement whereby
The scenes .worked altogether by machinery, which
are lifted from below, by means so carefully and
accurately adjusted that the scene almost noiselessly, and with perfect precision glides upward
into its place."44
Thirty feet below the level (or rake) of the stage, down
in the basement, were located the vertically moving
bridges and platforms which serviced the sinks and traps
{Figure 71. These were raised by the means of large
hydraulic rams, of which there was "a long, formidable
row"45 (Figure 14). These rams were apparently "hidden
away in the subterranean caverns"46 beneath the basement floor, under the stage lift platforms. The hydraulic
actuators drew their power from the water stored in the
reservoirs at the top of the building. This arrangement
provided about 120 feet of static head - equivalent to a
working pressure of over 50 psi. Assuming that the
operator in Figure 14 is about 5 feet 6 inches tall, then
the p.iston stroke would have been approximately 6 feet
(scaled from the spacing of the travel limit stops on the
control valve rod) and the bore about 24 inches. With a
drive wheel mechanical advantage of approximately 5
to 1 through the rack and gear drive mechanism {Figure
151. and a friction loss of about 15%, the lifting capability of each hydraulic ram is conservatively calculated
to be almost two tons through the 30 foot travel, less
the uncounterbalanced weight of the lift structures.
The final, but by no means least, American innovation
at Booth's Theatre was in the area of fire protection.
After his disastrous conflagration at the Winter Garden,
Booth resolved that it would not happen at his new
theatre. Threfore, he took advantage of the overhead
reservoirs as a ready source of water to feed a complete
stage sprinkling system.
Between the flies were rows of perforated pipes
through which the water could be forced and
sprayed upon the hanging scenery. The pipes were
controlled by the valves in each fly-gallery, upon
which, during performances, a corps of stage
carpenters was always stationed. There were five
hundred feet of "regulation" hose, with fire-butts
in each corner of the auditorium and stage. A
large bell hung over the proscenium-arch, which
was known as the "fire-bell," and it was never to
be used for any other purpose than to sound a fire
alarm. The stage, above and below, and the auditorium, were divided into districts, and in case
of alarm, the bell would indicate the location of
the fire, so as to send the brigade to the exact

WINTER,1975

Fig. 10. Booth's Theatre, fly gallery along south
wall; proscenium wall and auditorium loft to the
left. O.B. Bunce, Appleton's Journal.

place of danger. Fire rehearsals occured at intervals of two weeks. 47
The auditorium and galleries were also adequately protected by a "series of iron pipes of large diameter, perforated with an endless number of holes, each pipe six
feet apart, vertically set in every possible position around
the walls" and connected to a "large force pump" {pre-

THEATRE DESIGN AND TECHNOLOGY

USITT

[

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Theatre Design & Technology - Winter 1975