‘Ben-Hur’ - live horses and all - was a stage show like Fort Worth had never seen before

In 1911, Ben-Hur took Fort Worth by storm – not just the literary character but the spectacular stage production of the novel, “Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ.” Many Fort Worthers were familiar with the book written by Gen. Lew Wallace of Civil War fame and published in 1880, but they had never seen such a stage spectacle.

The epic story first appeared on Broadway in 1899, memorable for the staging of the famous chariot race using real horses and elaborate special effects. Audiences were amazed at the realism. The production was also notable for its three and a half hour running time.

Presidential candidate William Jennings Bryan called it, “the greatest stage play measured in terms of religious tone and moral effect.” It was an all-American play. Patriotic pride was one thing, but “Ben-Hur” brought two new, previously untapped, audiences out to the theater: literary snobs who found their culture in books, and devout churchgoers who had never patronized popular theater because it was historically associated with burlesque and vaudeville.

That same year, a national tour was launched that was to last 20 years and be seen by more than 20 million people. It took 10 railroad cars to transport the 200-member touring company, which also included horses, camels, and a 20-piece orchestra. After stops in Boston, Philadelphia, and Chicago, the touring company came to Dallas and Fort Worth in the winter of 1911.

Even local folks not acquainted with the Broadway spectacle knew of “Ben-Hur” through the performance of scenes and musical numbers on local stages. The play had also inspired groups like the Tribe of Ben-Hur fraternal organization and the Ben-Hur Temple of the Shriners. Many people believed Lew Wallace’s character was a historical figure, not the creation of a novelist.

Byer’s Play House

The Texas stops had to be in the winter because summers were too sultry for indoor productions. Fort Worth had the perfect venue for staging the elaborate production: Byer’s Opera House, which opened in 1908 as the city’s biggest and fanciest theater, part of the Greenwall theater circuit. It seated 1,700, which would be necessary to sell enough tickets for the production to be a money-maker.

The stage was spacious enough that the touring company could use all its “big scenes” for the first time since Atlantic City. The production came here from a successful run in Dallas. Manager Phil Greenwall put on a weeks-long sales drive of P.T. Barnum proportions.

Greenwall enlisted retailers in the city to advertise tie-ins to the production. W.C. Stripling Department Store announced a storewide “Ben-Hur Sale” during the week of the play’s run. Gray, Graham & Payne haberdashers offered to pay the fare of any ticket purchaser who came to town during the run of the play and bought a custom-made suit, and Mrs. Wallace’s hairdressing establishment offered a 20% discount to ladies with a ticket.

Greenwall also persuaded the railroads to offer “excursion fares” to the city during the week it would run, good for “200 miles around Fort Worth.” The cheaper fares were calculated to bring in theatergoers from farms and small towns all over north Texas. Greenwall’s sales campaign used the slogan, “All roads lead to Fort Worth.”

Live horses in chariot scene

Even Byers had to make alterations both above and below the stage to present “Ben-Hur” in all its spectacle. The fly and rigging had to be expanded to accommodate the elaborate scenery, and the stage floor had to be strengthened to accommodate the treadmills and the eight horses used in the chariot scene.

Besides its appeal to the theater-going public, churchgoers flocked to see the show. Public theaters historically catered to a rougher crowd with programs dominated by girly shows and bawdy humor. Fort Worth’s two major dailies helped promote “Ben-Hur” by running a series of news reports of the coming event spiced up with effusive editorials praising its “pomp and pageantry.” A Star-Telegram reporter who asked the business manager of the touring company about the staging of the chariot race only got this response: “That’s a stage secret.”

All the ballyhoo paid off in ticket sales. Four days before the play opened, 300 ticket buyers lined up at the Byers box office. The Star-Telegram reported that no production had ever roused such interest in the three years of the Byers House existence. The newspaper also speculated about the “commercial value” the play would have on the city’s business community based on the thousands of visitors who would come to town to see the play during its week-long run.

Sold-out shows

The play opened on Monday evening, Jan. 30, and ran every night through Saturday, plus Wednesday and Saturday matinees. Ticket purchasers were encouraged by theater management’s warning that “Ben-Hur” would not return to Fort Worth “for several years” if ever. The show played before a full house every performance. And bookstores in Fort Worth reported a jump in sales during and after the show’s run.

The dire warnings that Fort Worthers might never get a chance to see “Ben-Hur” again proved a marketing ploy. Almost exactly three years later, “Ben-Hur” returned to Fort Worth for a three-day run at Byers, the only theater in the city that could handle the massive production. It was billed as “the greatest spectacular production of the century” with “flashing jewels, dazzling armor, magnificent robes, and superb draperies.”

The only thing lacking was Charleton Heston in the lead role. (He hadn’t even been born yet.) Reserved seats were $2 for the lower floor, $1.50 for the front rows of the balcony, and 50 cents for seating in the gallery. Those who had seen “Ben-Hur” three years before were encouraged to return because there was as much to see “for the second or third time as there was the first.”

Once again, the newspapers did their part to promote the show, running a series of articles in the days leading up to opening night. One piece in the Star-Telegram explained exactly how the chariot race was staged – with all the awe of explaining how a magician does his tricks. It was all done with an ingenious combination of mechanical and electrical gear, including a revolving backdrop to give the appearance of racing around a track.

Neither the passage of time nor the return engagement lessened the drawing power of what was now being called a “Biblical pageant with universal appeal.” Tickets went on sale Jan. 19, which Phil Greenwall reported as, “the largest advance sales in Fort Worth theatrical history.” He added there were “still plenty of good seats left” for every performance. When the curtain rose at 8 p.m. on opening night, the mood was electric.

The next day the Star-Telegram reported the first night drew a “good audience” despite the high price of the tickets and the familiarity with the production — “14 years old” at this point. The theater critic commended the “beauty of the scenery and costuming” and the excellent “line reading” by the actors in the principal roles. He called it an “educational duty” to see “Ben-Hur” at least once in a lifetime.

The last time Fort Worthers got to see the national touring company’s production of “Ben-Hur” was in 1914. Like everything else, the theater moves on to “the next big thing.” In 1917, theatergoers could see “The Garden of Allah,” billed as another “stupendous spectacle, even bigger than ‘Ben-Hur!’” The city’s premier stage venue now was the $200,000 Majestic Vaudeville Theater on Commerce Street. Fortunately for those on a budget, tickets were for this latest spectacular were still priced from 50 cents to $2, a bargain, they were assured, to see “The Eighth Wonder of the World.”

Author-historian Richard Selcer is a Fort Worth native and proud graduate of Paschal High and TCU.