ANNALS OF THE BROOKLYN STAGE (1898-1908): APRIL 1899

This blog is dedicated to preserving a curated record of theatre-related clippings drawn from the digitized pages of the four chief Brooklyn newspapers and one weekly magazine of 1898-1908. Those sources, as they were called during these years, are: Brooklyn Daily Eagle, Brooklyn Citizen, Brooklyn Standard Union, and Brooklyn Daily Times. At first, only Brooklyn Life printed photos; as time passed, the newspapers, beginning with the Citizen, abandoned 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 that are often listed on the heading 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.

APRIL 1899

April 3-8: Amphion: The Chimes of Normandy, The Bohemian Girl, Jaxon Opera Company; Bijou: Yon Yonson, with Ben Hendricks Company; Columbia: The Turtle; Gayety: The Village Postmaster; Grand Opera House: Jack and the Beanstalk; Montauk: Her Atonement; Park: Wang, with Milton Aborn Comic Opera Company; Vaudeville/burlesque: Hyde & Behman’s, Brooklyn Music Hall, Empire, Star, Novelty; April 10-15: Amphion: Olivette, The Mascot, Lucia Di Lammermoor, Il Trovatore, Faust, with Jaxon Opera Company; Bijou: A Romance of Athlone, with Chauncey Olcott; Brooklyn Academy of Music: A Runaway Girl, with Augustin Daly’s Company; Columbia: The King’s Musketeer, with E.H. Sothern; Gayety: King of the Opium Ring; Grand Opera House: London Life; Montauk: Her Atonement; Park: The Isle of Champagne, with Milton Aborn Comic Opera Company; Vaudeville/burlesque: Hyde & Behman’s, Brooklyn Music Hall, Empire, Star, Novelty; April 17-22: Amphion: The Little Minister, with Maude Adams; Bijou: A Romance of Athlone, with Chauncey Olcott; Brooklyn Academy of Music: Nathan the Wise, one performance only (April 17), with Adolf von Sonnenthal (in German); Columbia: The King’s Musketeer, with E.H. Sothern; Gayety: London Life; Montauk: The Three Dragoons, with Broadway Theater Opera Company; Park: Cavalleria Rusticana, H.M.S. Pinafore, The Chimes of Normandy, The Bohemian Girl, Boccaccio, with Milton Aborn Comic Opera Company; Vaudeville/burlesque: Hyde & Behman’s, Brooklyn Music Hall, Empire, Star, Novelty, Grand Opera House; April 24-29: Amphion: Fra Diavolo, Martha, with Jaxon Opera Company; Bijou: King of the Opium Ring; Columbia: At the White Horse Tavern; Gayety: The Ragged Earl, with Andrew Mack; Grand Opera House: Too Much Johnson; Montauk: Trelawny of the Wells, with Lyceum Theatre Company; Park: Said Pasha, Martha, Mikado, with Milton Aborn Comic Opera Company; Vaudeville/burlesque: Hyde & Behman’s, Brooklyn Music Hall, Empire, Star, Novel