The Tableaux Vivants may be new to many of our readers, although they
have been produced and have been quite popular in Europe, and to some
extent in this country. For public or private entertainment, there is
nothing which is so interesting and instructive as the tableau. The
person most fitted to take charge of a tableau-company is one who is
expert at drawing and painting: any one who can paint a fine picture
can produce a good tableau.
The individual who makes all of the necessary arrangements for a
series of tableaux is generally called the _stage manager_. His first
work is to select a programme of tableaux; and in this list there
should be a variety of designs, comprising the grave, the comic, and
the beautiful. A manuscript should be used in which to write the names
of the tableaux, directions for forming each, the names of the
performers, the parts which they personate, the styles of the
costumes, and the quantity and kind of scenery and furniture used in
each design.
The following diagram will illustrate the manner in which the
manuscript should be arranged:--
+-------------------------------------------------------------------+
| NAME OF TABLEAU. | NO. ____ |
--------------------------------------------------------------------|
|Directions for forming|Ladies.|Personation.|Gentlemen.|Personation.|
| costumes, &c. | | | | |
| | | | | |
| | | | | |
| | | | | |
| |-------|------------|----------|------------|
| |Scenery, furniture, &c. |
| | |
| | |
+-------------------------------------------------------------------+
After the manuscript is completed, it will be necessary to select the
company and assign the parts. The number of persons required in a
first-class tableau-company is forty. It will be necessary to have
that number to produce large pictures; fifteen or twenty-five persons
will be sufficient for smaller representations. In forming the
company, the following persons should be selected: six young ladies,
of good form and features, varying in styles and sizes; six young
gentlemen, of good figure, and of various heights; two small misses;
two small lads; two gentlemen for stage assistants; one painter, one
joiner, one lady's wardrobe attendant, one gentleman's wardrobe
attendant, one curtain attendant, one announcer. If a large piece is
to be performed, such as the Reception of Queen Victoria, it will be
necessary to have fifteen or twenty young gentlemen, varying from
four to five feet in height, to personate military and other figures.
Each person should have written instructions in regard to the scenes
in which they take a part, giving full descriptions of the costumes,
position, expression, and character which they are to personate; after
which they should meet in a large room, and go through a private
rehearsal. It will be necessary, previously to appearing before the
public, to have three rehearsals--two private ones, and one dress
rehearsal on the stage. It will be well to have a few friends witness
the dress rehearsal, which will give confidence to the performers,
previous to their _dêbut_ before a large audience. As soon as the
company has been organized, and each performer has received his
several programmes, it will be the duty of the stage manager to see
that the various branches of the profession are progressing in unison
with the rehearsals. Each tableau should be carefully examined, and a
list of the machinery, scenery, wardrobe, and furniture of each piece
noted down, and competent persons immediately set to work on their
completion. The selection of appropriate music, the drafting and
erecting of the stage, and many other minor matters, should all be
completed, before the tableaux can be produced.
But before proceeding farther, we will give directions in reference to
the size and formation of _the stage_. It should be strongly framed of
joist, and covered with smooth boards, and placed at the end of the
hall, at equal distances between the side walls. It should be twelve
feet square, and six feet in height. The front of the stage should be
made to represent a large picture frame; it can be easily made of
boards ten inches wide, fastened together in a bevelled manner, and
covered with buff cambric, ornamented with gold paper. Oval frames are
frequently used, but they are not so easy to arrange and manage as a
square frame. Cover the floor of the stage with a dark woollen carpet,
drape the ceiling with light blue cambric, the background with black
cambric; the sides should be arranged in the same style as the side
scenes of a theatrical stage. Stout frames of wood, two feet wide,
reaching to the ceiling, and covered with black cambric, should be
placed on the extreme edge of the stage, in such a manner that lamps
from the ante-rooms will throw a light upon the stage and not be seen
by the audience. Make the drop-curtain of stout blue cambric; fasten a
slim piece of wood at the top and the bottom; and, at intervals of one
foot on both of the poles, fasten loops of thick leather, containing
iron rings one inch in diameter, and between the bottom and top rings,
at intervals of one foot, fasten small brass rings; these should be
attached to the cambric on the inside of the curtain; then fasten the
top pole to the inside of the top of the frame, and attach strong
lines to the bottom rings; pass the cords through the brass rings and
the iron rings at the top; then gather them together, and pass them
through a ship's block fastened in the ante-room. As the lines will be
quite likely to run off of the wheel, a piece of hard wood, with a
circle at one end, fastened on the inside of the frame, will answer a
better purpose for the cords to pass through. After passing them over
the block, tie them together, and the curtain will be ready for use.
When the ropes are drawn, the curtain will rise up in folds to the top
of the frame. The floor of the stage should be built out on the front
twelve inches, for the placing of a row of gas-burners with tin
reflectors, painted black on the outside; this row of lights should be
furnished with a stopcock, which can be placed in the gentleman's
dressing-room. A row of strong lights should also be placed on each
side of the stage, within three feet of the ceiling; these also should
have reflectors and separate stopcocks, for the purpose of casting the
proper lights and shades on the stage.
_The Dressing-rooms_ are on each side, and beneath the stage. The
floor of the stage should extend out on each side, making small rooms
for the placing of the scenery, furniture, &c. A trap-door should be
cut in the floor of each room, and flights of steps reaching down into
the rooms below, which are used for dressing-rooms. A partition placed
under the stage divides the ladies' from the gentlemen's room; these
rooms are covered on the front with strong cloth, and decorated with
flags.
_A stage for tableaux in a private dwelling-house_ should be formed
similarly to a hall stage, but so constructed that it can be put
together in a few minutes. The platform should be fourteen feet
square, made in three sections, so that it can be handled easily, and
should rest on a frame of small joist, which can be mortised together
at the corners; place the frame on four boxes, two feet square; at the
corners of the platform mortise four square holes, in which insert
pieces of joist which will reach to the ceiling; around the top fasten
strips of board, by means of screws. Make the frame in three pieces,
cover them with cambric, and fasten them to the front joist, and on
the top board with long screws; arrange the curtain and scenery
similar to the hall stage. The wardrobes and furniture can be
furnished by the members of the company, and with a little ingenuity
and taste, many suits can be gotten up with little expense. As the
view of the tableaux is but momentary, the quality of the costumes
will not be noticed.
_For a single evening's entertainment_, the following arrangement will
suffice, providing there be a long entry or a large parlor, separated
by folding doors. If the entry is used, let the performers form their
tableaux at the lower end; and when all is ready, the audience can be
called from the parlors to witness the scene. A parlor with folding
doors is undoubtedly the best place, as the doors can be slowly
opened, which will give a better effect to the scene. Cover the wall
back of the tableaux with black shawls, place the lights on a table at
one side of the picture, and hide them from the view of the audience
by placing a screen of thick cloth in front of them.
In forming up a tableau, lights and shades should be studied; in fact,
this is the main secret of producing effects, and by managing the
lights about the stage correctly, you can throw parts of your picture
in shadow, while other portions are light. Care should also be taken
not to have too great a variety of colors in a picture. The showy
costumes should be intermingled with those of modest appearance, and
the lightest characters, as a general rule, should be placed in the
background to relieve the dark ones; those in the background should be
placed on platforms. If there are many figures in the piece, it will
be necessary to have a number of forms, of various heights, placed in
the background--in this manner all of the figures will be seen.
The scenery, furniture, and machinery of each piece should be arranged
previous to the entrance of the performers on the stage. Each
performer should be called on separately, and placed in position. By
adopting this plan, every tableau can be formed without noise or
confusion. When the position is once taken, it should be kept, unless
it is a very difficult one.
The stage manager should take his position at the front of the stage,
and see that each one is in his proper place. He should prohibit
laughter or conversation among the performers, unless any one wishes
explanations in regard to the piece. He should be strictly obeyed in
all matters referring to the tableaux; and when he has properly
adjusted every thing on the stage, he should remove to the ante-rooms,
and see that the lights, music, &c., are ready. He should then ring a
small bell, and the announcer in the hall will have a programme of the
tableaux, and will announce the piece; and if there is any
accompanying poem to be read, it will be his duty to read it. The
manager will then ring the second bell; this will be a signal for the
performers on the stage to take their positions, and for the lights to
be turned down in the hall. In thirty seconds after the second bell,
the manager will ring a third time, which will be a signal for the
curtain attendant to draw up the curtain, which should rise slowly to
the top of the frame, and be kept up about thirty seconds. Each
tableau should be exhibited twice, and in some cases three times.
After the last exhibition, the performers should quietly proceed to
the ante-rooms, and immediately dress for the next tableau. The
manager and assistants will see that the stage is cleared of the
scenery, and new scenery adjusted for the next piece. It will be
necessary to work with rapidity, as there are many things to perform
which in the aggregate will take much time. Large programmes should be
placed in each dressing-room, so that the performers will be able to
tell in which tableau they are to perform, without inquiring of the
manager. Each performer should be furnished with a large trunk to keep
his wardrobe in; and when a change of costume is made, care should be
taken that each one places his costumes in his own trunk. If this plan
is not followed, before the exhibition is through, many articles will
be missing, which will retard the performance.
Each piece of machinery, furniture, scenery, &c., should have a proper
place where it should be left when not in use. Nails, pins, hammers,
and other articles which come in constant use, should be kept in a
large box near the stage. By working systematically, every thing will
move on with clockwork nicety, and all confusion be avoided. Colored
fires should be burnt in the ante-rooms at the sides of the stage;
smoke and clouds should be produced at the back, or in the centre of
the stage. The preparation can be ignited by fastening a lighted fuse
to a long rod. Large tableaux require all the light than can be
produced. Medium pictures should be shaded in different parts.
Statuary tableaux require a soft and mellow light. Night scenes
require but little light, which should be partially produced by the
burning of green fire. The following articles are indispensable to a
well-arranged tableaux stage:--
One melodeon, six common chairs, four ditto of better quality, two
small tables, two sinks, two sets of pitchers and ewers; two mirrors,
combs, hair brushes, pins, tumblers, twine and rope; napkins, nails,
tacks, buckets, hammers, brooms, cloth brushes, small bell, large
bell, scissors; one large table, one large chair, one set damask
curtains, four boxes, four feet long and eighteen inches wide, six
ditto eighteen inches square; two pieces black cambric, six feet
square; four pieces white cotton cloth, six feet square; (these boxes
and cloths are to be used in forming up the groundwork of almost every
tableau;) two red damask table covers, (very handy things to use in
decorating showy pictures;) one circular platform, four feet in
diameter, (much used to form the top of pedestals to group statuary
tableaux on;) two steel bars, for producing sounds to represent alarm
bells; one bass drum, one tenor drum, one flask of powder, one box of
material for colored fires, one set of water-colors, one case
containing pink saucer, chalk balls, pencil-brushes, and burnt cork.
It would be almost impossible to furnish a complete list of the
articles necessary. Those we have omitted will suggest themselves, or
the occasion will suggest them. By closely studying the plans we have
outlined, we are certain that no person with tact and taste could
assume the directorship of a tableau-company without success.
The Tableau Vivant.
Walk with the Beautiful and with the Grand;
Let nothing on the earth thy feet deter;
Sorrow may lead thee weeping by the hand,
But give not all thy bosom-thoughts to her;
Walk with the Beautiful.
I hear thee say, "The Beautiful! what is it?"
O, thou art darkly ignorant! Be sure
'Tis no long, weary road its form to visit,
For thou canst make it smile beside thy door;
Then love the Beautiful.
Ay, love it; 'tis a sister that will bless,
And teach thee patience when the heart is lonely;
The angels love it, for they wear its dress,
And thou art made a little lower--only;
Then love the Beautiful.