USA > California > Los Angeles County > History of Los Angeles county, Volume I > Part 43
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The Tivoli was the most democratic house of amusement in the world, and it discovered many of the singers who were heard in the West before making names for themselves in the East, including the famous Luisa Tetrazzini, Alice Nielsen, Sybil Sanderson, Agostini, Galozzi, Salassi, Collamarini, Sestegui, Beatrice Franco, Maud Fay and others.
On October 14, 1897, operatic history was made in the Los Angeles Theatre in Los Angeles. Puccini's celebrated "La Boheme" was sung for the first time in America by the Del Conte Grand Opera Company of Milan, with Giuseppe Agostini as Rudolfo, Luigi Francesconi as Schaunard, Antonio Fumagali as Benoit, Cesar Cioni as Marcello the painter, Victorio Girardi as Colline the philosopher, Linda Montanari as Mimi, and Cleopatra Vicini as Musette. It was afterwards repeated at the Saturday matinee on October 16th and made such an impression that it was sung again by the same company on October 19th.
In 1901, at the old Hazzard Pavilion in Los Angeles, the Metropolitan Grand Opera Company sang "La Boheme" for the first time with Mme. Nellie Melba as Mimi and Fritzi Scheff as Musette.
On July 1, 2 and 3, 1915, and the following week, "Fairyland," the Horatio Parker prize opera, was presented for the first time on any stage, under the direction of the composer, with Marcella Craft as Rosamond. Alfred Hertz presided as conductor of orchestra, chorus and opera.
Los Angeles has made great strides musically in the last quarter of a century. It has enjoyed the Los Angeles Symphony for twenty-three years, and recently the Philharmonic Orchestra of Los Angeles has been created through the generosity of W. A. Clark, Jr., who has not only endowed the organization for a number of years, but has builded it with the idea of its becoming the representative symphonic organization of America. Walter Henry Rothwell, the eminent conductor, was called to the position of conductor, which he is filling with great ability and success.
Alfred Hertz has been the conductor for the past five years of the San Francisco Symphony organization, and has brought that orchestra to a most prominent position in the musical world of the West.
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The Lyric Club of Los Angeles, a woman's organization, and the Ellis Club, a men's organization, are two very exceptional singing bodies under the conductorship of J. P. Poulin. The Orpheus Club, a male organization of young men, under the direction of Joseph Dupuy, won the $3,000 prize at the Music Festival in San Francisco in 1915.
No honest record of musical Los Angeles can possibly be made without taking into account one great human figure who has been the heart and soul of things musical here for many a year, and whose genius at the present day dominates the whole field of that art. This man is L. E. Behymer, through whose courage, faith and persistence and long personal sacrifice Los Angeles has had brought to its gates, and within its gates, the very best that music has had to give.
Whenever the word "music" is mentioned in Los Angeles one must think of L. E. Behymer. And, happily, the high esteem in which he is held in his own community, and the deep love and affection which that com- munity has for him, is the best reward of his long and tireless efforts in behalf of the art of music which has been throughout his whole life as the breath of his nostrils. Los Angeles well knows what Mr. Behymer has done for her, and it is not an ungrateful city. Happily, also, Mr. Behymer is as well a prophet outside of his own country. He is known afar, wherever the world of music and art exists. He is the honorary president of the National Concert Managers' Association of America; the Government of France has conferred upon him the well-deserved decoration of The Palms, and has elected him an officer of the French Academy of Public Instruc- tion. At home he has long been the president of the Gamut Club and the great guiding spirit of the Philharmonic Orchestra. If you were to make a list of his friends in his home city, it would include its entire popula- tion. And if you were to make a list of his friends abroad it would include all the great names of the musical world and of many a wandering minstrel not so well known to fame, for even these have found in Mr. Behymer a sympathetic and helpful friend.
As the sister art of music whose home is also the mimic stage, the drama in Los Angeles has fared to high distinction. Here we have one of the two great plays that has stood the test of time and has achieved a world-wide and lasting reputation as a permanent institution-the Mission Play. The other great play referred to is the Passion Play of Oberammer- gau. Indeed, the Mission Play is often spoken of as the "Oberammergau of America," although the Mission Play tells another story. The only similarity between the two productions is the high note of religious faith common to both.
The play was produced for the first time April 29, 1912, in a specially constructed theater at the old Mission of San Gabriel under the direction of Henry Kabierske, originally of Breslau, Germany, a pageant-master and artist of world-wide celebrity. The initial productions of the play were held under the patronage of the Princess Lazarovich-Hrebrelanovich of Servia (Eleanor Calhoun of California), who embodied the role of "Donna Josefa." The "King's Highway" (El Camino Real) depicting in miniature the twenty-one old Franciscan missions, is the embodiment of the creative ideas of Ida L. McGroarty, wife of the author of the Mission
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Play. The execution of these ideas was performed under Mr. Kabierske's designs and direction.
The scenes of the first act of the Mission Play are laid on the shores of San Diego Bay in the year 1769, "when California began." The stage settings show the lovely Harbor of the Sun, with Point Loma shouldering out to sea. An old Spanish galleon rocks gently at anchor. The rude huts of the Spaniards stand under Presidio Hill. A guard of Catalonian soldiers sits lazily about and the dialogue brings out the story of the hard- ships and hopelessness of the situation. The return of Portola from his fruitless search of Monterey has been awaited for weary months. The settlement is pathetically worn with sickness and is on the verge of utter starvation. Father Junipero Serra, the immortal founder of the Missions, appears early in this act and at once takes his place as the commanding figure of the play, as he was the commanding figure in history for the first sixteen years of the establishment of his immortal dream of a Christian California. On this day Portola returns, his expedition in a pitiful con- dition. As the full knowledge of the awful situation dawns upon him, Portola gives orders for the people to board the ship in the harbor and sail back to Mexico with the tide at night. California is to be abandoned. Father Serra begs and pleads with Portola to retract his orders, but the gubernador is obdurate. Then Father Serra ascends the old brown hill and prays for a ship to come to the relief of starving San Diego. Every- body regards him with the most profound pity, while the preparations for departure are being feverishly prosecuted. The day passes. But just as the sun is setting in a flame of splendor across the waters, the white speck of a sail is seen rounding Point Loma. The sail grows larger and larger. In the gathering darkness great shouts of joy are heard. San Diego is saved as though by a miracle.
The second act is laid at Carmel Mission, across the green, pine-clad hill of Monterey. The matchless old church, with the great patio that once surrounded it, stands forth in the glory of the break of day. The act is projected to typify a day in the life of the missions at a time when at the zenith of their success. A wonderful pageant of Indians have been brought out of savagery into the full stature of civilized men. They work at their trades, their arts and crafts. At noon a holiday is declared and the second part of the act is given over to Indian dances and games and to Spanish dancing of a most fascinating order. Spanish music, which is used through- out the whole performance, is here made doubly fascinating. At the end of the act the same scene that unfolded itself from the grey dawn slips away in the gorgeous sunset; and the last we see of beautiful Carmelo is the white loveliness of it all under the witchery of the moonlight.
The third act is laid at San Juan Capistrano, showing the old mission in ruins as it stands today. In this act the author brings out the sad story of spoliation and secularization. The padres are gone. The Indians are outcasts from the missions. The appearance of Americans in the life of California is portrayed. The act depicts the tragedy of a great drama which has been cruelly broken, but the tragedy is softened and sweetened by human faith and love in God.
The leading role of the Mission Play, "Fray Junipero Serra," was essayed the first and second seasons of the play by Mr. Benjamin Horning ;
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in 1914-15 by Mr. George Osbourne; in 1916 by Mr. Wilfred Roger; in 1917 by Mr. Tyrone Power; in 1918 by Mr. Norval MacGregor; and in 1919-20 by Mr. Frederick Warde. In the play are many native California Indians, lineal descendants of the neophytes who were civilized and Chris- tianized by the pioneer missionary fathers a century and a half ago. The Spanish singers and dancers of the play, as well as a full two-thirds of the whole great cast of 100 players, are natives and descendants of the old Spanish families of California.
The Mission Play, at the time this book is written, has been given regularly at the old Mission of San Gabriel for a season every year during ten consecutive years, and was approaching its 1600th performance, per- haps the greatest record ever achieved in the history of the dramatic art.
Famous actors, and companies of actors, including a well-beloved barnstormer and mummer dear to memory, have visited Los Angeles from time immemorial, their performances ranging from Punch and Judy shows to Shakespeare, sometimes with no roof over their heads except our faithful blue sky, or on finding such shelter as a friendly barn, a dance hall and even a bar room might give them.
But there came a day, and it now seems a long time ago, too, when the drama was given housing such as it deserved in Los Angeles. The old Grand Opera House on Main Street ranked in its day with the fine theaters of America. Then others were builded, and now it would seem that we have more theaters than any other city, anywhere.
Moreover, Los Angeles has come at last to rank with New York as a producing center of the drama. And this is due solely to the very striking enterprise, perserverance, courage and exceptional ability of one man. This man is Oliver Morosco.
At the time this book is written, Oliver Morosco stands as a dominating figure in the theatrical world of America. It is said that his father was a circus man, and from this we can see that the "show business" came naturally to Mr. Morosco. When he was a mere boy he managed his own theater in Los Angeles, and for many years he maintained the old Burbank as a high-class theatrical institution in this city. It is safe to say that no man in America, not excepting Augustin Daly, either of the Frohmans or the latter day Schuberts, have in recent years produced anywhere near the number of new dramas that Mr. Morosco has produced. He combines in himself that rare affiliation of business ability and fine artistic tempera- ment. He is a man whom failure could not daunt. He overcame failure and has fought his way with a dogged determination, supported always by a high vision, to the very topmost pinnacle of success in that artistic world to which he became heir in his youth.
Los Angeles also owes a great deal in a dramatic way to the Wyatts, both father and son. The community is indebted immeasurably to W. T. Wyatt, at this writing still manager of the Mason Opera House, for tangible realizations of the best that the art of the drama has been able to afford-
And, last but not least, of things theatrical, that species of it which its votaries call the "Cinema Art," which commercially is catalogued as the "Motion Picture Industry," and which in the vernacular of the day is popularly and lovingly known as the "Movies," has come to make Los Angeles its world center.
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While the writing of a drama, composing a song, taking a photograph, all have to do with Art and Profession, the present-day "movie" ,business has come to be known as an "industry," because of its immense many- sided business and commercial angles. It starts with the artist and winds up with the process of production and marketing the film which supplies the tens of thousands of moving picture shows in the country-thus it becomes a real industry. The United States Census reports, in 1920, place this "industry" as fourth in rank of importance in this country.
In and around the City of Los Angeles are made eighty per cent of the world's moving picture films, and they are largely produced at Holly- wood and Culver City, the climatic conditions in these localities being unsurpassed. Thousands of people are thus employed. At times when some military piece is being worked out for the "movies," five to six thousand persons are employed several weeks on one picture. Riot and mob scenes are worked over and over, and drilled from many angles of a motley mass of human beings in mortal combat, before the director will O. K. the act as being fit for the camera.
At times a whole village, and sometimes more than one village, is erected as sets to be destroyed in the picture when battle scenes and volcanic actions are to be made. This feature was notable in the "Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse," pronounced by many critics as a master- piece of modern picture making. Every scene of the picture was staged on the Lasky ranch in the San Fernando Valley, but even veterans of the World war thought they recognized in it places they had seen overseas. To these picture-makers "all the world's a stage," and so varied is the surface of this county that the picture-makers find corners of any part of the world right here in Los Angeles County and city. The desert of Arabia is to be duplicated in the sand dunes near El Segundo ; the big woods in Canada are found only four hours' drive from Los Angeles, near Big Bear Lake, where both the pines and real snow are found to be photo- graphed for film-makers. The Topango Pass affords scenes such as are found in Brittany. Between Redondo and Long Beaches, this county, are spots where the rocks and cliffs of Monte Carlo may be counterfeited.
When one comes to know all of these fundamental points about the movie business, it is no longer a wonder it has come to be known as a great "industry." It is known to bankers and capitalists that, in 1921, it amounted to $776,000,000 and will this year go far in excess of this sum- probably not less than $1,000,000,000. Some of the studios admit visitors at a small fee, but this only applies to certain companies and at certain hours of some days in the week.
Conservative calculations place the annual pay-roll at $30,000,000. The capital invested is in round numbers about $20,000,000, while the annual production of the industry is near $150,000,000. It employs forty thousand people yearly and has equipment worth about $13,000,000. When you see a person acting in a moving picture scene, remember that it took upon an average of seven persons to produce this one actor. Nearly all of the six extra players must needs be fairly good actors. In addition to the cast and photographers, there are directors, electricians, art directors, carpenters, cabinet-makers, scene painters, writers, title.writers, projection- ists, laboratory men, and a whole train of craftsmen. There are at least
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eleven steps taken in preparing a picture suitable to making a moving picture film, as follows :
1-The selection of the story from a book, play or novel, or from an original tale written for the screen. Most of the last mentioned are by writers of note and experience.
2-The story is turned over to a good scenario writer, who makes a screen outline or schedule of the pictures to be shot.
3-This is given to the various departments as the basis of their activities and all begin work in unison. The art department prepares the architectural plans of the buildings and scenes for carpenters, decorators and other craftsmen. An experienced scout is sent forth to secure the exte- rior locations. The research department studies out the correct period data for costumes, furniture, architecture, etc., that all may be historically correct ; for example, that an air-ship will not get into a scene that repre- sents something in the Civil war, before we had air-ships. The wardrobe department prepares, or secures from another, appropriate costumes and uniforms, hats, shoes, and designs and executes the necessary gowns in modern plays.
4 Then the cinematography, or shooting of the scenes, begins under expert directors in that line by camera experts and their assistants.
5-After the photography is completed, the director assembles the scenes in their respective places in the picture, for they are not taken in sequence.
6-The editorial department then cuts the films, culls out the waste footage, provides the titles and gets the picture down to its finished, pol- ished state.
7-The laboratory then cuts and fixes the negatives to correspond to the sample print turned out by the editorial department and makes prints for distribution.
8-The publicity and exploitation departments then get busy and tell the world all about the new picture "shown for the first time."
9-It is shipped to Exchanges in every Key city-some thirty places in all.
10-Salesmen take the picture and contract it to exhibitors and theatres.
11-The latter show it on the silver sheet to the public.
All of these and many more actions have to be executed before you can take a seat in the "movie" and enjoy the thrilling, comic and pathetic scenes presented by this, one of our most wonderful and instructive of inventions.
There are now more than seventy different Moving Picture Studios located in and near the City of Los Angeles, and it is a chance if anyone who reads this article has ever seen many picture shows using a film pro- duced at any other locality. Such noted players as Charlie Chaplin, Douglas Fairbanks, Francis Ford, William Fox, William S. Hart, Mary Pickford, Charles Ray, and scores of other prominent players, all produce their plays and make their films in the Los Angeles district.
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PANORAMA OF LOS ANGELES TODAY
CHAPTER XXIX
A GREAT ORGANIZATION
The making of any city is a tale that cannot fail to prove to be of the most fascinating interest. Next to the growing of a man the growing of a city is the great story.
We have endeavored to set forth in these pages the somewhat pathetic beginnings of the pueblo of Our Lady of the Queen of the Angels, which is now the wonder City of Los Angeles. We have told with what discour- agement the community began its uncertain career more than a century ago, and we have tried to show that for many and many a year Los Angeles was a community with little pride of ancestry and far less hope for its posterity.
But now Los Angeles stands among the great cities of the world, and nowhere is it questioned that it is destined to become the towering metropolis of Western America.
And how did all this come to be? By what magic was this wonderful achievement wrought ? We have seen that there were no fortuitous natural advantages to favor Los Angeles in the splendid struggle it has made for a place in the sun. We have seen that no soothsayer or seer ever predicted greatness for it. It is a city that had to fight its way, step by step and inch by inch, up the rough and rocky roads of progress.
There is a saying that man made the cities but that God made the country. Well, it was men that made Los Angeles-patient men, toiling men, men of dreams and men of visions.
More than thirty years ago there was formed in the city of Los Angeles a brave, determined and broad-visioned body of men into an organization known today as the "Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce." In the achieve- ' ments of this organization is archived and recorded the making of Los Angeles.
The Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce is an organization that has a distinctiveness enjoyed by few commercial bodies, if any, of the larger cities of the world. While the name indicates that its activities might be confined to purely trade enterprises, this is not the case. Its variety of work has been extraordinary. This may be attributed to the wide range of its membership which includes retailers, wholesalers, lawyers, doctors, engineers, ministers, teachers, writers, manufacturers, horticul- turalists, printers, railway men, bankers, public officials and public-spirited women.
Practically all questions relating to the general welfare of Southern California and the nation are brought to the consideration of the chamber. Horticulture, mining, manufacturing, live stock, commerce, entertain- ment and various lines of community endeavor are included in the activi- ties of the organization. General business interests, legislative matters,
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publications, advertising the country, exhibits and various entertainments, manufacturing, development of commerce-both domestic and overseas- supplying information about the country, local public improvements, such as good roads, water works, etc., and various other human activities have been functioned by the Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce.
To meet the growing demands as the city increased in population and extent of its enterprises, the work of the chamber was segregated into
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departments. These now may be classed as executive-over which the president has jurisdiction and of which the secretary is the administrative officer ; the secretary also exercises supervisory direction of the various departments, which include: Industrial, Foreign Trade, Agricultural, Meteorological and Aeronautical, Publicity, Membership, Tourist Housing, Poultry, and Information. The functions of these departments are largely indicated by their names. Each is in charge of a manager.
The policy of the chamber, its action on public questions and its attitude in matters of national importance, are determined by the board of directors. Years ago it was learned that large bodies are unwieldly in
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decisions upon questions of public moment. Instead of opinion being crystallized, long debates were developed with the result that the members decided to empower the board of directors to speak with authority for the entire organization ; reserving, however, for the membership the privilege of a referendum vote on all decisions of the board of directors that might be protested.
Probably the outstanding features of community development, the consummation of which is generally credited to the activity of the chamber, are the Los Angeles Aqueduct, the development of a man-made harbor at San Pedro and the construction of the finest system of good roads in the United States.
For many years the membership of the organization stood first in the country in proportion to the population. The chamber was credited with taking the lead in constructive enterprises in more avenues of community development than any other similar organization in the country. Its enter- prise has been an inspiration to similar organizations in other cities. Scores of them have been organized and are conducted along the lines identical with the Los Angeles Chamber.
Los Angeles has been called "The City Advertising Built." Mr. Morris M. Rathbun, writing in Collier's a few years ago, used that phrase for the heading and told of a city that was built by a chamber of commerce- which chamber of commerce revolved about a single dominating personality. This personality is Frank Wiggins, secretary of the organization for the past twenty-five years and identified with its activities for thirty years.
The big work of the early days of the organization was community exploitation. It was realized that the climate was here, the soil was here, and other fundamentals for sustaining a prosperous population, and that the chief need was homeseekers of the right sort. The exploitation was directed to the homeseeker, farmer, tourist and capitalist.
Mr. Wiggins insisted in the early days on an exhibit of Southern California products where the casual visitor or information seeker might have practical evidence of what was produced in the contiguous territory. He, personally, in a "one hoss shay" of ancient vintage, collected the first specimens of soil products for the exhibit. These were placed in the win- dows of the chamber.
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