H E T EC H N IQ U E OF PA G EA NT RY h D . I W OOD TA FT P . L N , . CHAIRMAN DEPARM NT or PAGEANTS AND FESTIVALS 1011 THE DRAMA LEA GUE or AMERICA Dmcnon AIIERICAN PA GEANT A ssocumon WITH FRONTISP IECE NEW YORK A . S. BA RNES A ND COMPANY 19 2 1 (““ I ( t men 1 3 1 BY Car , 9 , First publi shed in a very mu ch abridged formin t ho ul - Au u st - Se tember 1 20 n umber of The Dram J y g p . 9 . evis d d h th e magazin e . Here r e an expan ded throug co o t ditor of Th e Dr urtesy f he e s ama . THIS BOOK IS DEDICATED TO THE MEMORY OF l cm mra 8 . att W , INDOMITAB LE SU P P ORTER OF JU STICE AND EQU A LITY FOR ALI. PREFA CE TH ROUGH experience in directing pageants in about twen ty five difl eren t cities an d towns of the U nited States the author has come to the conclusion that pageantry is the most appro priate medium of expression of a particula r phase of com H e ff munity life . o ers this volume as a contribution towards m t building up and extending co muni y interests , with the hope that it may be of value to those communities that are seeking some wo rthy expression of the life of their com mun ities through the celebration of an niversa ries of which they are proud and which they wish to commemorate . The experience upon W hich this book is based has been gained through association with many difi eren t persons all working un selfi shly for the advancement of some particular r o- community. Thei c operation and assistance have made po ssible whatever of succe ss has crowned the efforts of the n ot . author . Suitable recognition of all of them is possible Grateful acknowledgment is here made to those most closely associated W ith the author in producing different pageants : L. F . H M r . W M r 0 . r Mrs Flower, . en y Gilmer, Miss a y L n C A . F. r . M Can se Klingne , Mrs . c , Dr . ouise Nardi , F s a n a h K . atkin s Savan nah estival A soci ti o , M r. R lp W , a hea . Miss Gl dys M . W t CONTENTS PA RT I CHA PTER TH E TR I. IN ODUCTION Tms GA IZA TI II. OR N ON m . a . Pagean t Chair an P gean t Committee Pagean t M aster. m . B usin ess Man ager Pagean t Artist . Cost u er Mus ical a . El c ci . A Director. Scen ic Man ger e tri an dvertisin g E o e r ct o . M an ager . pis d Di e r TH E B K III. OO o o k. Title. Author. Lan guage f theB o Con ten t Style. o . N o Sale of the B oks Editin g eed f r the Book. TH E MU SIC . IV . t a a d i i l om an r n Or a itio . Fun ction . S d d g n C pos n Arran g in g the M usic. The Pagean t Orches tra . Placin g the l . h t a Diffi cultie a . Orchestra . Orc es r s P gean t Son gs En tran ce an d Exit M usic. V . Tms CA ST . le he a . A ro riate as tin h P Se ctin g t C st pp p C g C aracter arts . ri i l . Pagean t Actin g. P n c pa Parts Cen tral Figat es . Epi i l A o s on a ctors . sode Casts . Pr fe s Tu e REH EA RSA LS e Rehearsals . Grou Rehearsals . Full R Orch stra p ehears als . l . I io . ll Dress Rehears a s n spect n s Fu Dress Rehearsals . en o i . Group Dress Rehears al. G eral C n s deration s TH E PER R A CE VII. FO M N h ter a e . i l . a a Makeup C r c M k up F n a In spection . Begin a ean t . sh rs . i li . T m o n in g the P g U e D scip n e e p . Pagean t i . Master an d the Performers . Pagean t F n ales Lo st an d o an ces . Foun d. Number of Perf rm viii CONTENTS PA RT II u s e AG A NT or THA SGI ING I. A P E NK V T oo . Programme . he B k HISTORICA L FESTIVA L A ND PA GEA NT Descriptive Programmes . S avan n ah a Hun dred Years N Notice . Ago . A ewspaper PROGRAMME or A PATRIOTIC PA GEA NT A a smren Non cn TH E TEC H NIQ U E OF PA GEA NTRY 1“ PA RT I I TH E R U C . INT OD TION PA GEA NTRY has become so familiar to the people of the U nited States within the last few years that no detailed ex planation of its scope and aims is necessary. It may be well, however, to review some of its principal aspects for the sake of those who have had no intimate personal con - tact with the organization and administration of a pageant. The organization and efi ective administration of a pageant that is to be worth while bear the same relation to the man m a“ge en t of a”n ordinary dramatic production that modern big business bears to the limited business organizations to be found in the third quarter of the last century . Such an organization cannot be perfected overnight . It must be the result of careful planning and the wise selection of personnel . The matter of the number of people in the cast points very clearly to the complicated organization necessary to ensure a reasonably correct performance that shall move few forward with or no interruptions . Aside from the matter of the selection of these persons and their assign defin it ment to e parts , and this is a problem of considerable in magnitude a pageant using hundreds of characters , the mere mechanical arrangements necessary in order that the entrances and exits may be carried out as planned call for an elaborate organization of directors and assistants almost appalling in its intricacy . Add to this the successful opera tion of all the other details that go with the pre sentation ” 2 THE TECHNIQUE OF PAGEANTRY of a successful pageant performance and something of the magnitude of the undertaking may be understood . Taking care of hundreds of characters W hen they are not on the stage is enough to tax the ingenuity of even an experienced director . With a community thoughtfully and completely organized these many details are , however , taken care of more or less automatically and the burden W hich falls upon any individual is relatively slight . The chapters which fol low attempt to give the essential points in the organi z ation of a community in such a manner that a smoothly running machine results , a machine that makes practically certain a successful production W hich shows no sign of the machin e ry existing behind the production . A pageant is much wider in its scope than is an ordi nary dramatic performance . It may present in a broad sketchy manner events W idely separated in time so long as they are closely related in character or in the ideals ex ’ fitn ess ff pressed . One s sense of the of things is not o ended although the W hole range of the history of the world is included in the action of a pageant so long as all of the episodes contribute to the idea which the pageant seeks to express . The pageant is not bound by the traditional unities of the drama yet it must have some continuity of action or emotion to hold the various parts together . A mere collection of historical episodes cannot correctly be called a pageant unless they all express the same idea or all con U tribute to the building up of a central idea . nity of idea is the only unity the preservation of which is essential in pageantry . Freedom from the restraints of time and place allows nearly unlimited scope in the selection of material for pageant episodes . In fact the more widely separated in point of time and place the episodes are the more effective they are apt to be from the standpoint of the spectacular. The acting of a pageant is more formal , impression istic c , and lacking in detailed delineation of haracter than is is c . the a ting of the drama The staging of a pageant , how ever, much less formal than the staging of a play . Much THE INTRODUCTION 3 of the action of a pageant may and probably will take place on the stage but on the other hand a considerable portion of it may take place in the aisles and other open spaces within ff the view of the audience . In the most e ective form of pageantry the entire audience is made to feel itself a part of the pageant and hence the stage in reality includes all of r the space within the building o , if the pageant be given out of doors , all the space near the formal stage .