awaited to seat them. These chairs were engraved with the monogram, B.S.T., Barton Tibbits' initials, and many of these chairs offered foot rests and hat and umbrella racks. Amazingly the auditorium originally held 1,000 seats for patrons. The seating area was divided into the parquet and the parquet circle – two separate areas on the floor in front of the orchestra pit. The walls of the auditorium, colored in cameo tints and dashes of cardinal, green, and gold color in "conventional figures" produced "a warm, sunny effect and [gave] the auditorium a bright and airy appearance which is very pleasing." Dominating the scene was a grandly ornate -wide by -long proscenium stage with elegant opera boxes situated within the massive tin and plaster arch. The stage itself had all the latest technological features. Scenery and curtains were shifted and moved via the rigging loft, and the stage itself included a "paint-bridge and movable frame, five sets of grooves, trapdoors, and every modern convenience for producing all kinds of scenic effects." Additionally, speaking tubes and bell signals connected the stage manager with the box office, orchestra, and scene and trap shifters. The stage's collection of scenic backdrops was exhaustive and of the highest quality, and was a third larger than the Kalamazoo Opera House. The boxes were draped with cardinal silk plush curtains, lined with gold, and trimmed with lace. In the center of the proscenium arch, one beheld a portrait of William Shakespeare and above this portrait against a light-blue background was "a group of cherubs, gracefully posed, representing music and the drama." Surrounding the main chandelier in the auditorium were more "cunning little cherubs" trailing garlands of flowers. In the words of the Coldwater Republican, "The delicate coloring of the background brings out the figures in strong relief so one may almost imagine them floating in space and inhale the odor of their fragrant burden." The cove around the auditorium also was decorated with "vases of flowers, bouquets and conventional vines and figures." L. B. Chevelier, who painted many of the stage's backdrops, was the artistic genius behind such creations. Regarding the workmanship of the theatre, Carolyn Gillespie has observed that "Tibbits was easily as elegant as the Second Olympic Theatre which was completed in St. Louis that same year." Elegance was paired with superb acoustics in the rendering of the stage and auditorium, and all in all, ironically