Thursday, November 27, 2025
1905: NOVEMBER
This blog is dedicated to preserving a record of Brooklyn theatre history and theatre-related images based largely on coverage in the nearly half-dozen daily Brooklyn newspapers and one weekly magazine (Brooklyn Life) of 1898-1908. It is a vastly expanded, upgraded, and corrected version of my blog, BROOKLYN THEATRE FROM 1898: AN ILLUSTRATED CHRONOLOGY, which is gradually being dismantled as this one is being constructed. It covers everything related to Brooklyn theatre, including plays, playhouses, productions, people, producing policies, scandals, law suits, fires, accidents, brawls, ethnic theatres, crimes, religious attacks, rivalry with Manhattan, and so on. The focus is on legitimate theatre but considerable attention is paid to developments in vaudeville and burlesque as well.
The main newspaper sources, using the names by which they were known during these years, were the Brooklyn Daily Eagle, Brooklyn Citizen, Brooklyn Standard Union, and Brooklyn Daily Times; occasionally, other local sources were called on. At first, only Brooklyn Life provided photos, but as time passed the newspapers, beginning with the Citizen, abandoned their photo-based engravings and line drawings for photos. Each entry is devoted to one or two months during the decade. A list of the month’s offerings precedes the illustrations, most of which are identified within the original image. The performers include both leading players and lesser ones, most of whose names are entirely forgotten today. Many depict burlesque and vaudeville acts who are often listed on the ads that begin each weekly group of images. The production lists designate titles of shows at the legitimate theatres only; burlesque and vaudeville theatres are listed only by name to show that they were active. If a theatre is missing it was either permanently or temporarily closed.
It is hoped that this blog will be a useful adjunct to a two-volume book of the same title I’m preparing for publication.
To find a specific item, please use the search box in the upper left corner. You ca also go to a particular month by searching for it, i.e., February 1905. The project hopes to be complete sometime in 2026 when it reaches 1908.
Samuel
L. Leiter
Author:
BROOKLYN TAKES THE STAGE: NINETEENTH-CENTURY THEATER IN THE CITY OF CHURCHES (McFarland: 2024).
NOVEMBER 1905
November 6-11:
Bijou: (Spooner Stock
Company) Robert Emmet
Broadway: Little
Johnny Jones, with George M. Cohan
Folly: Girls
Will Be Girls, with Al Leech
Grand Opera House: Edmund
Burke, with Chauncey Olcott
Majestic: Checkers,
with Hans Robert
New Montauk: The Pearl
and the Pumpkin
Payton’s Lee Avenue:
(Lee Avenue Stock Company) The Village Postmaster
Phillips’ Lyceum:
(Lyceum Stock Company) Her Mad Marriage
Shubert-Park: Sweet
Kitty Bellairs, with Bertha Galland (opened Saturday, November 4)
Vaudeville/burlesque: Hyde & Behman’s, Amphion, Unique, Nassau, Orpheum, Star, Gayety, Gotham, Alcazar, Keeney’s
November 13-18:
Bijou: (Spooner Stock
Company) A Nutmeg Match
Broadway: Rip
Van Winkle, with Thomas Jefferson
Folly: Queen of
the Highbinders
Grand Opera House: Napoleon
the Great, Richelieu, “The Bells,” Othello, Dr.
Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, with Thomas E. Shea
Majestic: In New
York*
New Montauk: The
College Widow,* with Frances Ring
Payton’s Lee Avenue:
(Lee Avenue Stock Company) The Price of Honor
Phillips’ Lyceum:
(Lyceum Stock Company) The Worst Woman in London
Shubert-Park: The
Genius and the Model*
Vaudeville/burlesque: Hyde & Behman’s, Amphion, Unique, Nassau, Orpheum, Star, Gayety, Gotham, Alcazar, Keeney’s
November 20-25:
Bijou: (Spooner Stock
Company) Dorothy Vernon of Haddon Hall
Broadway: David
Garrick, The Brighter Side, The Middleman, The
Fool’s Revenge, The Professor’s Love Story, Tom Pinch,
with E.S. Willard
Folly: Napoleon
the Great, Richelieu, “The Bells,” Othello, Dr.
Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, with Thomas E. Shea
Grand Opera House: Me, Him
and I
Imperial: (stock company) Lord and Lady Algy
Majestic: The
Belle of the West,* with Florence Bindley
New Montauk: Mrs.
Leffingwell’s Boots*
Payton’s Lee Avenue:
(Lee Avenue Stock Company) More Than Queen
Phillips’ Lyceum:
(Lyceum Stock Company) The Girl Engineer
Shubert-Park: Mrs.
Temple’s Telegram, with William Morris
Vaudeville/burlesque: Hyde & Behman’s, Amphion, Unique, Nassau, Orpheum, Star, Gayety, Gotham, Alcazar, Keeney’s, Garden
November 27-December 2:
Bijou: (Spooner Stock
Company) The Wife
Broadway: The
Pearl and the Pumpkin
Folly: Me, Him
and I
Grand Opera House: Simple
Simon Simple
Imperial: (stock
company) Lord and Lady Algy
Majestic: Down
the Pike, with Johnny and Emma Ray
New Montauk: Miss
Dolly Dollars,* with Lulu Glaser
Payton’s Lee Avenue:
(Lee Avenue Stock Company) Arrah-na-Pogue
Phillips’ Lyceum:
(Lyceum Stock Company) Why Girls Go Wrong
Shubert-Park: The
Winning Girl*
Vaudeville/burlesque: Hyde & Behman’s, Amphion, Unique, Nassau,
Orpheum, Star, Gayety, Gotham, Alcazar, Keeney’s
November 6-11, 1905
Broadway: Little Johnny Jones, with George M. Cohan
Folly: Girls Will Be Girls, with Al Leech
Grand Opera House: Edmund Burke, with Chauncey Olcott
Majestic: Checkers, with Hans Robert
New Montauk: Pearl and the Pumpkin
Payton’s Lee Avenue: (Lee Avenue Stock Company) The Village Postmaster
Phillips’ Lyceum: (Lyceum Stock Company) Her Mad Marriage
Shubert-Park: Sweet Kitty Bellairs, with Bertha Galland (opened Saturday, November 4)
November 13-18, 1905
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Bijou: (Spooner Stock Company) A Nutmeg Match
Broadway: Rip Van Winkle, with Thomas Jefferson
Folly: Queen of the Highbinders
Grand Opera House: Napoleon the Great, Richeliu, “The Bells,” Othello, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, with Thomas E. Shea
Majestic: In New York
New Montauk: The College Widow, with Frances Ring
Payton’s Lee Avenue: (Lee Avenue Stock Company) The Price of Honor
Phillips’ Lyceum: (Lyceum Stock Company) The Worst Woman in London
Shubert-Park: The Genius and the Model
Vaudeville and burlesque: Hyde & Behman’s, Amphion, Unique, Nassau, Orpheum, Star, Gayety, Gotham, Alcazar, Keeney’s Fulton Street
November 20-25, 1905.
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Bijou: (Spooner Stock Company) Dorothy Vernon of Haddon Hall
Broadway: David Garrick, The Brighter Side, The Middleman, The Fool’s Revenge, The Professor’s Love Story, Tom Pinch, with E.S. Willard
Folly: Napoleon the Great, Richelieu, “The Bells,” Othello, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, with Thomas E. Shea
Grand Opera House: Me, Him and I
Imperial: (former "old" Montauk, with stock company) Lord and Lady Algy
Majestic: The Belle of the West, with Florence Bindley
New Montauk: Mrs. Leffingwell’s Boots
Payton’s Lee Avenue: (Lee Avenue Stock Company) More Than Queen, with Etta Reed Payton
Phillips’ Lyceum: (Lyceum Stock Company) The Girl Engineer
Shubert-Park: Mrs. Temple’s Telegram, with William Morris
Vaudeville and burlesque: Hyde & Behman’s, Amphion, Unique, Nassau, Orpheum, Star, Gayety, Gotham, Alcazar, Keeney’s Fulton Street, Garden
November27-December 2, 1905
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Broadway: The Pearl and the Pumpkin
Folly: Me, Him and I
Grand Opera House: Simple Simon Simple
Imperial: (former "old" Montauk; with stock company) Lord and Lady Algy
Majestic: Down the Pike, with Johnny and Emma Ray
“New” Montauk: Miss Dolly Dollars, with Lulu Glaser
Payton’s Lee Avenue: (Lee Avenue Stock Company) Arrah-na-Pogue, with Corse Payton
Phillips’ Lyceum: (Lyceum Stock Company) Why Girls Go Wrong
Shubert-Park: The Winning Girl
Vaudeville and burlesque: Hyde & Behman’s, Amphion, Unique, Nassau, Orpheum, Star, Gayety, Gotham, Alcazar, Keeney’s Fulton Street
1907: DECEMBER
Frances Starr in The Rose of the Rancho , The Theatre Magazine, April 1907. December 1907 offered lots to talk about, so let’s start with ...
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