ANNALS OF THE BROOKLYN STAGE (1898-1908): JANUARY 1900

This page is under construction as new images are added.

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.

JANJUARY 1900

January 2-January 7: Amphion: Sporting Life; Bijou: A Female Drummer, with Johnstone Bennett; Columbia: The Great Ruby; Grand Opera House: A Stranger in a Strange Land; Montauk: The Tyranny of Tears, with John Drew (Jubilee vaudeville concert, December 31); Park: Faust, with American Standard Opera Company; Vaudeville/burlesque: Hyde & Behman’s, Brooklyn Music Hall, Empire, Star, Novelty, Brooklyn Academy of Music, Gayety; January 9-14: Amphion: The Dairy Farm; Bijou: The King of Rogues; Columbia: Robespierre, The Merchant of Venice, The Amber Heart, “Waterloo,” “Nance Oldfield,” “The Bells,” with Henry Irving, Ellen Terry; Gayety: The Floor Walkers, with Ward and Vokes; Grand Opera House: Montauk: Why Smith Left Home; Vaudeville/burlesque: Hyde & Behman’s, Brooklyn Music Hall, Empire, Star, Novelty, Grand Opera House; January 15-20: Amphion: The Girl of the Barracks, with Louis Mann and Clara Lipman; Bijou: Shaun Rhue, Kerry Gow, with Joseph Murphy; Columbia: Barbara Frietchie, with Julia Marlowe; Grand Opera House: The Floor Walkers, with Ward and Vokes; Montauk: The Man in the Moon, Jr., with Sam Bernard; Vaudeville/burlesque: Hyde & Behman’s, Brooklyn Music Hall, Empire, Star, Novelty, Gayety; January 22-27: Amphion: The Man in the Moon, Jr., with Sam Bernard; Bijou: In Old Kentucky; Columbia: Barbara Frietchie, with Julia Marlowe; Grand Opera House: Finnigan’s Ball; Montauk: The First Violin, Cyrano de Bergerac, Beau Brummel, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, with Richard Mansfield; Vaudeville/burlesque: Hyde & Behman’s, Brooklyn Music Hall, Empire, Star, Novelty, Gayety; January 29 -February 3: Amphion: The Christian, with Viola Allen; Bijou: King of the Opium Ring; Columbia: Rupert of Hentzau, with James K. Hackett; Gayety: Finnigan’s Ball; Grand Opera House: At Piney Ridge, with David Higgins; Montauk: Miss Hobbs, with Annie Russell; Vaudeville/burlesque: Hyde & Behman’s, Brooklyn Music Hall, Empire, Star, Novelty