Summary:
Bel Geddes's work on a 1924 New York production of The Miracle solidified his reputation as a multi-talented theatrical genius. The play, directed by German impresario and Expressionist Max Reinhardt, was a staged version of a medieval legend about a nun. As the designer of the show’s scenery, costumes, and lighting, Geddes pulled off an artistic and technical tour-de-force. He remade the interior of the Century Theater into a Gothic cathedral, complete with dramatic lighting filtering through stained glass windows, pews instead of theater seats for the audience, and incense wafting through the air. Geddes's technical innovations ranged from mechanization of movable scenery and devices for quick costume changes to the creation of a single switchboard, manned by one electrician, who controlled the direction, color, and focus of the play’s lighting. The Miracle fused theater and architecture, creating an immersive environment that transformed passive audience members into active participants in a drama that surrounded them. As such, this new concept of the theater realized the transformative effects Geddes sought in all his art.
The spectacular pantomime in eight scenes was written by Karl Vollmöller from the medieval legend of Sister Beatrice. It was produced by F. Ray Comstock and Morris Gest at the Century Theatre in New York where it ran from 15 January 1924 to 10 November 1925. It was also produced at the Public Auditorium in Cleveland from 22 December 1924 to 10 January 1925; in Cincinnati Spring in 1925; at the Boston Opera House from 28 October to 15 December 1925; at the New Coliseum in St. Louis from 24 December 1925 to 20 January 1926; and in Philadelphia, Kansas City, Los Angeles, and San Francisco in 1926.
