ACROSS THE RIVER FROM BROADWAY: ANNALS OF THE BROOKLYN STAGE (1898-1908): AUGUST-SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER 1903

This blog is dedicated to preserving a record of Brooklyn theatre theatre-related images based largely on publication in nearly a half-dozen contemporary Brooklyn newspapers and one weekly magazine (Brooklyn Life) of 1898-1908. It also lists the week-by-week productions at each legitimate theatre from January 1898 through December 1908. It is adapted from my earlier blog, BROOKLYN THEATRE FROM 1898: AN ILLUSTRATED CHRONOLOGY and is intended as a supplement to a forthcoming two-volume book also called ACROSS THE RIVER FROM BROADWAY: ANNALS OF THE BROOKLYN STAGE (1898-1908).

The book covers everything related to Brooklyn theatre during the first decade of the former city's first decade as a borough of Greater New York, including plays, playhouses, productions, people, producing policies, scandals, lawsuits, 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.

To find a specific month, please use the search box in the upper left corner. May-June and August-September are always joined, so searches for one of those months should be, for example, May-June 1906.

Samuel L. Leiter

Author: BROOKLYN TAKES THE STAGE: NINETEENTH-CENTURY THEATER IN THE CITY OF CHURCHES (McFarland: 2024).

AUGUST-SEPTEMBER 1903

(October listings below)

*=novelties (recent plays new to Brooklyn)

August 24-29:
Bijou: (Spooner Stock Company) Nancy and Co.
Columbia: (Wells-Dunne-Harlan Musical Comedy Company) By the Sad Sea Waves
Gotham: The Little Church Around the Corner (opened Saturday, August 29)
Grand Opera House: Under Two Flags (Jane Kenmark; opened Saturday, August 29)
Novelty: The Minister’s Daughter* (opened Saturday, August 29)
Vaudeville/burlesque: Star, Gayety, Unique, Watson’s

August 31-September 5:
Bijou: (Spooner Stock Company) The Fatal Card
Columbia: (Wells-Dunne-Harlan Musical Comedy Company) By the Sad Sea Waves
Folly: For Her Children’s Sake
Gotham: The Little Church Around the Corner
Grand Opera House: Under Two Flags (Jane Kenmark)
Novelty: The Minister’s Daughter
Park: The Winning Hand* (Noah Beery)
Payton’s Lee Avenue: (Payton Stock Company) Captain Jinks of the Horse Marines
Phillips’ Lyceum: (Lyceum Stock Company) Hearts of the Blue Ridge
Vaudeville/burlesque: Hyde & Behman’s, Star, Gayety, Unique, Orpheum, Watson’s

September 7-13:
Bijou: (Spooner Stock Company) The Masked Ball
Columbia: (Wells-Dunne-Harlan Musical Comedy Company) Lost, Strayed or Stolen
Folly: Under Two Flags
Gotham: The Night Before Christmas
Grand Opera House: David Harum
Montauk: The Wizard of Oz* (David C. Montgomery and Fred Stone)
Novelty: Why Women Sin*
Park: A Working Girl’s Wrongs*
Payton’s Lee Avenue: The Sporting Duchess
Phillips’ Lyceum: (Lyceum Stock Company) The Counterfeiters
Vaudeville/burlesque: Hyde & Behman’s, Star, Gayety, Unique, Orpheum, Watson’s

September 14-19:
Bijou: (Spooner Stock Company) The Dancer and the King
Columbia: (Wells-Dunne-Harlan Musical Comedy Company) A Trip to Chinatown
Folly: David Harum
Gotham: The Limited Mail
Grand Opera House: A Son of Rest* (Nat Wills)
Montauk: “Over a Welsh Rarebit”; Facing the Music* (Henry E. Dixey)
Novelty: The Little Church Around the Corner
Park: The King of Detectives
Payton’s Lee Avenue: (Payton Stock Company) More Than Queen
Phillips’ Lyceum: (Lyceum Stock Company) Gypsy Jack
Vaudeville/burlesque: Hyde & Behman’s, Star, Gayety, Unique, Orpheum, Watson’s

September 21-26:
Amphion: A Fool and His Money*
Bijou: (Spooner Stock Company) Led Astray
Columbia: (Wells-Dunne-Harlan Musical Comedy Company) The Man from Mexico
Folly: A Son of Rest (Nat Wills)
Gotham: The King of Detectives*
Grand Opera House: The Fatal Wedding
Montauk: Pretty Peggy* (Grace George)
Novelty: M’liss (Nellie McHenry)
Park: No Wedding Bells for Her
Payton’s Lee Avenue: (Payton Stock Company) A Celebrated Case
Phillips’ Lyceum: (Lyceum Stock Company) Black Eagle; or, The Firm of Girdlestone and Co.
Vaudeville/burlesque: Hyde & Behman’s, Star, Gayety, Unique, Orpheum, Watson’s

September 28-October 3:
Amphion: “Over a Welsh Rarebit”; Facing the Music (Henry E. Dixey)
Bijou: (Spooner Stock Company) D’Arcy of the Guards
Columbia: (Wells-Dunne-Harlan Musical Comedy Company) A Black Sheep
Folly: The Fatal Wedding
Gotham: Only a Shop Girl
Grand Opera House: The Heart of Maryland
Montauk: Du Barry (Mrs. Leslie Carter)
Novelty: The Great White Diamond*
Park: A Ragged Hero
Payton’s Lee Avenue: (Payton Stock Company) A Poor Relation; Pudd’nhead Wilson
Phillips’ Lyceum: (Lyceum Stock Company) Just Before Dawn
Vaudeville/burlesque: Hyde & Behman’s, Star, Gayety, Unique, Orpheum, Watson’s

OCTOBER 1903

*=novelties (recent plays new to Brooklyn)

October 5-10:
Amphion: The Little Princess (Millie James)
Bijou: (Spooner Stock Company) My Lord, the Butler*
Columbia: The Night of the Fourth (Wells-Dunne-Harlan Musical Comedy Company)
Folly: The Heart of Maryland
Gotham: M’liss (Nellie McHenry)
Grand Opera House: Running for Office* (Four Cohans)
Montauk: The Auctioneer (David Warfield, Marie Bates)
Novelty: Across the Rockies*
Park: Through Fire and Water*
Payton’s Fulton Street: (Payton Fulton Street Stock Company) Christopher, Jr.

Payton’s Lee Avenue: (Payton Stock Company) Pudd’nhead Wilson
Phillips’ Lyceum: (Lyceum Stock Company) Caught in the Web
Vaudeville/burlesque: Hyde & Behman’s, Star, Gayety, Unique, Orpheum, Watson’s

October 12-17:
Amphion: Du Barry (Mrs. Leslie Carter)
Bijou: (Spooner Stock Company) The Banker’s Daughter
Columbia: The White Flag (Wells-Dunne-Harlan Musical Comedy Company)
Folly: Running for Office (Four Cohans)
Gotham: Why Women Sin
Grand Opera House: Mrs. Delaney of Newport* (Elinore Sisters)
Montauk: Vivian’s Papas* (Elizabeth Tyree)
Novelty: Kidnapped in New York (Barney Gilmore)
Park: A Great Temptation; or, Down Where the Mississippi Flows
Payton’s Fulton Street: The Charity Ball (Payton Fulton Street Stock Company)
Payton’s Lee Avenue: (Payton Stock Company) Robert Emmet
Phillips’ Lyceum: (Lyceum Stock Company) Toll Gate Inn
Vaudeville/burlesque: Hyde & Behman’s, Star, Orpheum, Unique, Gayety, Watson’s, Bushwick Music Hall

October 19-24:
Amphion: Vivian’s Papas (Elizabeth Tyree)
Bijou: (Spooner Stock Company) A Little Detective
Columbia: The Knickerbocker Girl (Wells-Dunne-Harlan Musical Comedy Company)
Folly: Mrs. Delaney of Newport (Elinore Sisters)
Gotham: Wealth and Poverty*
Grand Opera House: Jim Bludso*
Montauk: The Silver Slipper*
Novelty: The Limited Mail
Park: The Child Wife*
Payton’s Fulton Street: (Payton Fulton Street Stock Company) Quo Vadis
Payton’s Lee Avenue: (Payton Stock Company) Duchess Du Barry
Phillips’ Lyceum: (Lyceum Stock Company) A Break for Liberty
Vaudeville/burlesque: Hyde & Behman’s, Star, Gayety, Unique, Orpheum, Watson’s, Bushwick Music Hall

October 27-31:
Amphion: The Frisky Mrs. Johnson* (Amelia Bingham)
Bijou: (Spooner Stock Company) The Idler*

Columbia: The Mocking Bird (Wells-Dunne-Harlan Musical Comedy Company; Madeline Besley)

Folly: Eight Bells (Brothers Byrne)
Gotham: Shadows of a Great City (Annie Ward Tiffany)
Grand Opera House: Rachel Goldstein; or, The Struggles of a Poor Girl in New York*
Montauk: The Sultan of Sulu (Frank Moulan)
Novelty: Searchlights of a Great City*
Park: A Fight for Millions
Payton’s Fulton Street: (Payton Fulton Street Stock Company) A Gilded Fool
Payton’s Lee Avenue: (Payton Stock Company) Hearts Aflame
Phillips’ Lyceum: (Lyceum Stock Company) The Red River*
Vaudeville/burlesque: Hyde & Behman’s, Star, Gayety, Unique, Orpheum, Watson’s, Bushwick Music Hall