Babes in Toyland - 1903 Alan

In the course of the plot of Babes in Toyland, Alan goes through several disguises. He masquerades as Floretta the gypsy in Act 1, a toy soldier in Act 2, and an aesthetic scholar in Act 3.

The drawing on the right shows Alan in his first disguise. As Floretta, Caroline Siedle dressed him in ragged clothing of warm autumnal colors. A tambourine hangs at his right side, used in the action of the song, Floretta. The word "Chip" is written below the figure, a reference to "Little” Sam Chip, an actor who toured in the role of Alan. 

The predominant tones of russet, olive and gold are also seen in other Act 1 costume designs for the show, giving a sense of the color scheme that was used on the stage. On the back we find the actor's name "Mr. William Norris", along with "Sketch no. 6" and "Act 1". At the bottom of the board is the note "black leather", presumably referring to the shoes. Other costumes designs from this show have similar notes about footwear.  

I've found no photographic record of this character, so the original drawing is a particularly useful reference for understanding the look of the original show. This piece has suffered damage, being cracked across the board, but it still survives!

In Act 2, Alan and Jane are disguised as toys, to escape from their wicked Uncle Barnaby, and end up leading the famous March of the Toys, one of Victor Herbert's best known compositions. This drawing shows Siedle's original design for Alan as a toy soldier, used when the show opened in Chicago. The oversized tassels, wooden sword and paper hat with huge pompoms add whimsy to the character, but by the time the show moved to New York it was changed to a very different design. This was  possibly in the quest to appear more comic, as a frequently repeated criticism of the show was that it wasn't as humorous as The Wizard of Oz.

The picture on the right shows the two versions of the soldier; on the left is the Chicago soldier, while the New York version is on the right. The Broadway soldier does look quite a bit more toy-like than his predecessor.

The back of the drawing has the name "Mr. William Norris" and "Sketch 64". A small note at the bottom reads "shoes to be made by Mr. Siedle". Husband and wife worked on a number of shows together, in their separate capacities of costumes and props, and it's not unusual to see both listed in programs.

The photo below shows the original costume in use in the Chicago production, during the dance of the toys; Alan is circled in red. At the top of this post is a photo of a large poster for a touring company of the show that played at Kaier’s Grand Opera House in the small town of Mahanoy, Pennsylvania. This was discovered when some construction demolition revealed it plastered to the side of a building; it was photographed before construction continued.