Wednesday, June 24, 2026

FEBRUARY 1903

 

Ground plan for new theatre to be built this year at 651 Fulton Street, which would be the Majestic Theatre, still in operation as the BAM Harvey. 

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).

FEBRUARY 1903

February 2-7: Amphion: The Vinegar Buyer, with Ezra Kendall; Bijou: (Spooner Stock Company) Rival Candidates; Columbia: (Greenwall Stock Company) Up York State; Folly: Spotless Town; Gotham: (Elite Stock Company) The Still Alarm; Grand Opera House: Old Limerick Town, with Chauncey Olcott; Montauk: Julius Caesar, with Richard Mansfield; Novelty: Beyond Pardon, with Lavinia Shannon; Park: A Thoroughbred Tramp; Payton’s Lee Avenue: (Payton Stock Company) She Stoops to Conquer; Payton’s Fulton Street: (Payton Fulton Street Company) Friends; Phillips’ Lyceum: (Lyceum Stock Company) Woman against Woman; Vaudeville/burlesque: Hyde & Behman’s, Star, Orpheum, Gayety, Unique; February 9-14: Amphion: The Consul, with Louis Mann; Bijou: (Spooner Stock Company) Blue Jeans; Columbia: (Greenwall Stock Company) Hamlet, with Creston Clarke; Folly: Lost River; Gotham: (Elite Stock Company) My Partner; Grand Opera House: The Liberty Belles, with Harry Gilfoil; Montauk: “Carrots” and A Country Mouse, with Ethel Barrymore; Novelty: Hearts Adrift; Park: Lost in the Desert; Payton’s Lee Avenue: (Payton Stock Company) Uncle Dan’l; Payton’s Fulton Street: (Payton Fulton Street Company) May Blossom; Phillips’ Lyceum: (Lyceum Stock Company); In Louisiana; Vaudeville/burlesque: Hyde & Behman’s, Star, Orpheum, Gayety, Unique; February 16-21: Amphion: The Bonnie Brier Bush, with J.H. Stoddart; Bijou: (Spooner Stock Company) Hearts Aflame; Columbia: (Greenwall Stock Company) Oliver Twist, with Elita Proctor Otis; Folly: Liberty Belles, with Harry Gilfoil; Gotham: (Elite Stock Company) Monte Cristo; Grand Opera House: The Volunteer Organist; Montauk: The Cavalier, Julia Marlowe; Novelty: On the Suwanee River; Park: The Price of Honor; Payton’s Lee Avenue: (Payton Stock Company) The Power of the Press; Payton’s Fulton Street: (Payton Fulton Street Company) Camille; Phillips’ Lyceum: (Lyceum Stock Company) The Gunner’s Mate; Vaudeville/burlesque: Hyde & Behman’s, Star, Orpheum, Gayety, Unique; February 23-28: Amphion: Dolly Varden, with Lulu Glaser; Bijou: (Spooner Stock Company) The Gunner’s Mate; Columbia: (Greenwall Stock Company) Resurrection, with Elita Proctor Otis; Folly: Old Kentucky; Gotham: (Elite Stock Company) A Rough Rider’s Romance; Grand Opera House: The Bold Soger Boy, with Andrew Mack; Montauk: The Altar of Friendship, with Nat C. Goodwin, Maxine Elliott; Novelty: Tracy, the Outlaw; Park: The Peddler, Joe Walsh; Payton’s Lee Avenue: (Payton Stock Company) Resurrection; Payton’s Fulton Street: (Payton Fulton Street Company) Woman Against Woman; Phillips’ Lyceum: (Lyceum Stock Company) Through the Breakers; Vaudeville/burlesque: Hyde & Behman’s, Star, Orpheum, Gayety, Unique

1.      February 2-7, 1903

2.      February 9-14, 1903


3.      February 16-21, 1903

4.      February 23-28, 1903

 

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MARCH 1903

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