Pittsburgh Arts, Regional Theatre, New Work, Producing, Copyright, Labor Unions,
New Products, Coping Skills, J-O-Bs...
Theatre industry news, University & School of Drama Announcements, plus occasional course support for
Carnegie Mellon School of Drama Faculty, Staff, Students, and Alumni.
CMU School of Drama
Friday, September 27, 2024
Travels of a Scenic Artist and Scholar: Scenic Artist Richard Douglass and the Normansfield Theatre
Drypigment.net: He painted over several woodland scenes that were originally delivered by J. T. & G. Bull to the stage. These pieces were repainted sometime after 1891; as 1891 was the year that Douglass moved his painting rooms from Tottenham Street to the Grand Theatre in Islington.
Richard Douglass grew up in the shadow of his father, a theatre manager. He became a scenic artist, and by the age of twenty, was making strides in the local theatre scene - even making news in some cases. He thrived in bold and detailed designs for his entire career. He was trained under William Telbin, beside whom he painted stock scenery for the rebuilt Standard Theatre (after destruction by fire in 1866). This article included a lot of photos of his works - and albeit faded, his pieces looked high-quality and genuine to the theatre scene. This made me think of the ever-improving lighting systems of the nineteenth century, especially centered in New York with Edison and such. His self-advertisements greatly increased as his work on ‘traveling entertainment’ increased. Upon beginning to manage the Standard Theatre with his brother (right after the death of his father), he was sued by an actor for mismanagement of a part of machinery during a performance - the actor lost, as no issue had been brought up during rehearsal.
1 comment:
Richard Douglass grew up in the shadow of his father, a theatre manager. He became a scenic artist, and by the age of twenty, was making strides in the local theatre scene - even making news in some cases. He thrived in bold and detailed designs for his entire career. He was trained under William Telbin, beside whom he painted stock scenery for the rebuilt Standard Theatre (after destruction by fire in 1866). This article included a lot of photos of his works - and albeit faded, his pieces looked high-quality and genuine to the theatre scene. This made me think of the ever-improving lighting systems of the nineteenth century, especially centered in New York with Edison and such. His self-advertisements greatly increased as his work on ‘traveling entertainment’ increased. Upon beginning to manage the Standard Theatre with his brother (right after the death of his father), he was sued by an actor for mismanagement of a part of machinery during a performance - the actor lost, as no issue had been brought up during rehearsal.
Post a Comment