ANNALS OF THE BROOKLYN STAGE (1898-1908): DECEMBER 1902

William Gillette as Sherlock Holmes.

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).

DECEMBER 1902

December 1-6: Amphion: My Lady Peggy Goes to Town, with Cecil Spooner; Bijou: (Spooner Stock Company) Madame Sans Gene; Blaney’s: (Blaney’s All-Star Stock Company) The Fugitive; Columbia: (Greenwall Stock Company) Secret Service; Folly: The Governor’s Son, with the Four Cohans; Gotham: (Elite Stock Company) Blow for Blow; Grand Opera House: Are You a Mason?, with John C. Rice, Thomas A. Wise; Montauk: Du Barry, with Mrs. Leslie Carter; Park: Not Guilty; Payton’s Lee Avenue: (Payton Stock Company) The Shaughraun; Phillips’ Lyceum: (Lyceum Stock Company) The Face in the Moonlight; Vaudeville/burlesque: Hyde & Behman’s, Star, Orpheum, Gayety, Unique; December 8-13: Amphion: Quincy Adams Sawyer, with Charles Dixon; Bijou: (Spooner Stock Company) The Still Alarm; Blaney’s: (Blaney’s All-Star Stock Company) The Great Poison Mystery; Columbia: (Greenwall Stock Company) Carmen; Folly: Are You a Mason?, with John C. Rice and Thomas A. Wise; Gotham: (Elite Stock Company) The Red Barn; Grand Opera House: Alphonse and Gaston; Montauk: Du Barry, with Mrs. Leslie Carter; Park: Uncle Tom’s Cabin; Payton’s Lee Avenue: (Payton Stock Company) Aristocracy; Phillips’ Lyceum: (Lyceum Stock Company) The Man Without a Country; Vaudeville/burlesque: Hyde & Behman’s, Star, Orpheum, Gayety, Unique; December 15-20: Amphion: The Defender; Bijou: (Spooner Stock Company) East Lynne; Blaney’s: (Blaney’s All-Star Stock Company) In the Heart of the Storm; Columbia: (Greenwall Stock Company) My Friend from India; Folly: Alphonse and Gaston; Gotham: (Elite Stock Company) The Turn of the Tide; Grand Opera House: A Desperate Chance; Montauk: The Night of the Party, with Weedon Grossmith; Park: At Cripple Creek; Payton’s Lee Avenue: (Payton Stock Company) A Midnight Folly; Phillips’ Lyceum: (Lyceum Stock Company) Her One Great Sin; Vaudeville/burlesque: Hyde & Behman’s, Star, Orpheum, Gayety, Unique; December 22-27: Amphion: Robert Emmet, with Brandon Tynan; Bijou: (Spooner Stock Company) A Lady of Quality; Blaney’s: (Blaney’s All-Star Stock Company) The Power of the Cross; Columbia: (Greenwall Stock Company) As You Like It; Folly: A Fight for Millions; Gotham: (Elite Stock Company) The Slaves of Russia; Grand Opera House: A Prince of Tatters; Montauk: Sherlock Holmes, with William Gillette, Alida Cortelyou; Park: The Little Mother; Payton’s Lee Avenue: (Payton Stock Company) Michael Strogoff; Phillips’ Lyceum: (Lyceum Stock Company) Uncle Tom’s Cabin; Vaudeville/burlesque: Hyde & Behman’s, Star, Orpheum, Gayety, Unique; December 29-January 3: Amphion: The Toreador, with Francis Wilson; Bijou: (Spooner Stock Company) Little Lord Fauntleroy; Blaney’s: (Blaney’s All-Star Stock Company) The Strange Adventures of Miss Brown; Brooklyn Academy of Music: The Sword of the King, with Henrietta Crosman; Columbia: (Greenwall Stock Company) Antony and Cleopatra, with Melbourne McDowell, Florence Stone; Folly: A Desperate Chance; Gotham: (Elite Stock Company) The City of New York; Grand Opera House: Spotless Town; Montauk: The Joy of Living, The Second Mrs. Tanqueray, with Mrs. Patrick Campbell; Park: Eight Bells, with the Byrne Brothers; Payton’s Lee Avenue: (Payton Stock Company) A Milk White Flag; Phillips’ Lyceum: (Lyceum Stock Company) The Queen of Chinatown; Vaudeville/burlesque: Hyde & Behman’s, Star, Orpheum, Gayety, Unique