The French Spy Storms the Seattle Stage
A grand military drama brings the fall of Algiers to the Seattle Theater, complete with smoke, grenades, and a Turkish bell dance.
The reproduction of the military spectacle drama 'The French Spy' at the Seattle Theater last evening was on an ambitious scale. The play itself is of undoubted merit and abounds in patriotic sentiment and thrilling situations. The performance was good for an opening night, and the spectacular effects of the storming and overthrow of the fortress would be even more pleasing if the house and stage could be cleared of the smoke from the bursting grenades. The features of the play begin almost with the rising of the curtain. In the first act, Toney Bavard develops the comedy element to a pleasing degree. The siege of Algiers, represented in the second act, is varied by the introduction of first-class specialties, including a Turkish bell dance by Miss D'Merle. In the last act come the charge of the French and the fall of Algiers, after a terrific explosion which crumbles down the walls of the fort, over which the soldiers clamber to victory.
“The spectacular effects of the storming and overthrow of the fortress would be even more pleasing if the house and stage could be cleared of the smoke from the bursting grenades.”
In the 1890s, Seattle theaters were the primary engine of civic entertainment, often featuring elaborate, pyrotechnic-heavy spectacles that would be considered extreme by modern safety standards. Today, the site of the old Seattle Theater is part of the dense urban core, a reminder of how the city's entertainment district has shifted from grand, smoky stage plays to the digital and cinematic experiences of the 21st century.
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