This blog is dedicated to preserving a
curated record of theatre-related images drawn from the digitized pages of the
four chief Brooklyn newspapers and one weekly magazine of 1898-1908. The
sources, as they were called during these years: Brooklyn Daily Eagle, Brooklyn
Citizen, Brooklyn Standard Union,
and Brooklyn Daily Times. At first,
only Brooklyn Life provided photos,
but as time passed the newspapers, beginning with the Citizen, abandoned their photo-based etchings 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 not only leading players but
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 I’m preparing for publication, ACROSS THE RIVER FROM BROADWAY: ANNALS OF
THE BROOKLYN STAGE (1898-1908); Vol. I (1898-1903), Vol. II (1903-1908).
Samuel
L. Leiter
Author:
BROOKLYN TAKES THE STAGE: NINETEENTH-CENTURY THEATER IN THE CITY OF CHURCHES (McFarland: 2024).
MAY-JUNE 1903
MAY-JULY 1903
May 4-9: Bijou:
(Spooner Stock Company) An American Citizen; Columbia: (Greenwall Stock Company) Lovers’ Lane,
with Roselle Knott; Folly: Sis Hopkins, with Rose Melville; Gotham:
(Elite Stock Company) Shenandoah; Grand Opera House: The Old Cross Roads; Montauk: Mademoiselle Mars,
with Lily Langtry; Novelty: Defending Her Honor; Park: Bolivia’s Busy Day,
with Billy B. Van, Nellie O’Neil; Payton’s Fulton Avenue: (Payton Stock
Company) Rip Van Winkle; Payton’s Lee Avenue: (Payton Lee Avenue
Stock Company) The Sorrows of Satan; Phillips’ Lyceum: (Lyceum Stock Company) Under Two
Flags; Vaudeville/burlesque: Hyde & Behman’s, Star, Gayety, Unique,
Orpheum; May 11-16: Bijou:
(Spooner Stock Company) Arrah-Na-Pogue; Columbia: (Greenwall Stock Company) Alvin Joslin,
with Charles Willard; Folly: At the Old Cross Roads; Gotham: (Gotham Elite Stock
Company) One of the Bravest, with Charles McCarthy; Grand Opera
House: The Old Homestead, with Archie Boyd; Montauk: Mademoiselle Mars, with Lily Langtry;
Novelty: Shenandoah; Park: Bolivar’s
Busy Day; Payton’s Fulton
Avenue: (Payton Stock Company) Francesca Da Rimini; Payton’s Lee
Avenue: (Payton Stock Company) My Partner; Phillips’ Lyceum: (Lyceum Stock Company) The Burglar; Vaudeville/burlesque: Hyde & Behman’s, Star, Gayety, Unique,
Orpheum; May 18-23: Bijou:
(Spooner Stock Company) A Toy Soldier; Columbia: (Greenwall Stock Company) Under Two Flags,
with Valerie Bergere; Folly: A Boy of the Street, with Joseph
Santley; Orpheum: The Serenade; Park: A
Romance of Coon Hollow; Payton’s
Lee Avenue: (Payton Stock Company) The Moth and the Flame;
Phillips’ Lyceum: (Lyceum Stock Company) Sapho; Vaudeville/burlesque: Hyde & Behman’s, Star, Gayety, Unique; May
25-30: Bijou:
(Spooner Stock Company) On the Wabash; Orpheum: The Highwayman; Payton’s Lee
Avenue: (Payton Stock Company) A Blue-Grass Cavalier; Phillips’ Lyceum: (Lyceum Stock
Company) The Orphans of New York, with N.S. Wood; Vaudeville/burlesque: Star, Gayety, Unique, Park; June 1-6: Bijou: (Spooner Stock Company) An Unequal Match, That
Girl from Texas; Orpheum: The
Fortune Teller; Payton’s Lee Avenue: (Payton Stock Company) A
Midsummer Night’s Dream; Phillips’
Lyceum: (Lyceum Stock Company) Out in the Streets, with N.S. Wood; Vaudeville/burlesque: Star, Gayety,
Unique; June 8-13: Bijou: (Spooner Stock Company) Don
Caesar de Bazan; Orpheum: Jolly
Musketeer; June 15-20: Bijou: (Spooner Stock
Company) Matilda; Orpheum:
Wang; June 22-27: Orpheum:
The Wizard of the Nile
1. May 4-9, 1903
2. May 11-16, 1903
3. May 18-23, 1903
4. May 25-30, 1903
5. June 1-6, 1903
From this point, with the summer theatres in full bloom at Brooklyn’s Bergen, Brighton, and Manhattan Beaches, and theatrical spectacle also on view at Coney Island’s spanking new Luna Park, we can take a vacation until the fall season of 1903-1904 brings us back to our seats at the borough’s mainstream venues.
