Magic, Stage Illusions and Scientific Diversions, Including Trick Photography

FIREWORKS WITH DRAMATIC ACCESSORIES. [Illustration: SCENES READY FOR LOWERING.] The love of show and the spectacular is inherent in human nature. Games and entertainments on a colossal scale have always appealed to the popular taste. An important factor in such spectacles is the display of fireworks, in the love for which the Americans can sympathize with the Orientals. As far back as 1879, Mr. James Pain of London gave spectacular productions at Manhattan Beach, one of New York’s most popular resorts, and since that time their popularity has been increased, so that now entertainments of this class are given in comparatively small cities. It is perhaps more proper to speak of these entertainments as fireworks with dramatic accessories than to call them dramas with fireworks, for the _raison d’être_ of the entire performance depends not upon the loosely hung together plot, but on the gigantic display of fireworks, which is accompanied by enough of realistic stage setting and dramatic performance to give a good excuse for the performance. Strange as it may seem, these mammoth plays, as regards the scenery, are as interchangeable as those in any theater, the grounds in which the scenery is installed being of the same general dimensions in all cases. This, of course, greatly simplifies a change of performance. The company which has been prominently identified with these spectacles sometimes has as many as seven in use at one time. They move about from place to place, so that in the course of a season thirty or forty cities are visited, the stay varying from a week to a whole season. The performance is held in the open air, at either some popular resort or in some place where the grounds are readily accessible. [Illustration: THE BURNING OF MOSCOW.] [Illustration: LOWERING A SCENE.] An amphitheater is provided for the spectators in a rectangular enclosure which may seat as many as ten thousand persons. The seats slope away until the water is reached; here will be found an artificial lake, usually three hundred and eighteen feet long and one hundred and fifty feet wide, and the width of the entire stage being three hundred and fifty feet. Behind the pond is a stage mounted with set scenes. Of course, owing to the distance and darkness, the refinements of acting would be entirely wasted. The management, therefore, depends almost entirely on the spectacular, the cast including companies of clever gymnasts and acrobats. The performance is so arranged as to lead up to some stirring catastrophe. The climax is generally awful cataclysm, or some blood-curdling war scene, or a conflagration. We select for the purpose of illustration one of the most successful of these spectacles, the “Burning of Moscow” at the time of the French invasion. The scene is a true representation of the docks and quays of the ancient Russian capital. At each side appear arched stone bridges, and the whole is surrounded by strong fortifications; sentinels walk back and forth upon the walls of the Kremlin. The action of the drama is but brief, and after a gymnastic exhibition of marching and countermarching by the actors, the band plays the solemn strains of the Russian national hymn, while priests of the Greek Church render classical music of a somber character, which has a striking effect. The army of Napoleon now approaches, shells begin to fly over the doomed city, and, as the bearskins of the French grenadiers appear at the entrances at either side, the terrorized Russians rapidly disappear. [Illustration: SECTION THROUGH A SCENE.] The prisoners in the jails are liberated, and with torches prepare to light the fires. The conflagration now begins, and the pyrotechnic display becomes splendid. The roar of the flames is heard, and, amid explosions, the buildings seem to be licked up by the fire, and collapse, leaving charred remains. The air is full of burning serpents, and the water is alive with incandescent figures. The grand finale is an aërial burst of rockets, as shown in our engraving. Having seen one of these spectacles the reader will ask how the remarkable effects are obtained. Our illustrations show the scenery as viewed from the rear of the stage. The scenery is hinged and braced, some parts turning on pivots, and all arranged so as to be quickly thrown down into such semblance of ruin as shall best carry out the idea the piece is intended to represent. It is, however, only the work of a few hours to rehabilitate the entire scenery for use the next night. [Illustration] In the performance which we have described, some of the best effects of the art of pyrotechnics are shown in the brilliancy and sustaining power of the various lights and colors given out by the rockets, wheels, stars, Roman candles, gold and silver rain, etc. Of course, vast quantities of colored fire are also required to light the scene. [Illustration: FIREWORKS.] Our last engraving shows how some of the firework effects are obtained. The grand aërial bouquet of rockets consists of a battery of rockets which are discharged simultaneously from the stand, as shown in the engraving. Our other engravings show water serpents, water dolphins, and the floating fire fountains. As they float around in the water, they produce fine effects.