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

Robert "Bob" Fitzsimmons, world champion boxer-turned-actor, who claimed to have to have taken a fall in Brooklyn (not that kind),

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).

JANUARY 1902

January 6-11: Amphion: The Cardinal, with E.S. Willard; Bijou: Human Hearts; Blaney’s: (Blaney’s All-Star Stock Company) Slaves of Russia; Columbia: (Greenwall Stock Company) Romeo and Juliet; Folly: The Fatal Wedding; Gotham: (Elite Stock Company) The World against Her; Grand Opera House: The Governor’s Son, with the Four Cohans; Montauk: Don Caesar’s Return, with James K. Hackett; Park: (Spooner Stock Company) Captain Letterblair; Payton’s Lee Avenue: (Payton Stock Company) Monte Cristo; Phillips’ Lyceum: (Lyceum Stock Company) Lost in Siberia; Vaudeville/burlesque: Hyde & Behman’s, Gayety, Star, Orpheum, Unique; January 13-18: Amphion: Her Lord and Master, with Herbert Kelcey, Effie Shannon; Bijou: Across the Pacific; Blaney’s: (Blaney’s All-Star Stock Company) A Mormon Wife; Columbia: (Greenwall’s Stock Company) The Danites; Folly: The Governor’s Son, with the Four Cohans; Gotham: (Gotham Elite Stock Company) The Ticket-of-Leave Man; Grand Opera House: The Volunteer Organist; Montauk: Quality Street, with Maude Adams; Park: (Spooner Stock Company) A Nutmeg Match; Payton’s: (Payton Stock Company) The Merchant; Phillips’ Lyceum: Little Lord Fauntleroy; Vaudeville/burlesque: Hyde & Behman’s, Gayety, Star, Orpheum, Unique; January 20-25: Amphion: When We Were Twenty-One, with Nat C. Goodwin, Maxine Elliott; Bijou: On the Stroke of 12; Blaney’s: (Blaney All-Star-Stock Company) The Only Way; Columbia: (Greenwall Stock Company) My Friend from India; Folly: The Volunteer Organist; Gotham: (Elite Stock Company) Knobs o’ Tennessee: Park: (Spooner Stock Company) Faust; Grand Opera House: Lovers’ Lane; Montauk: The Messenger Boy, with James T. Powers; Park: Faust; Payton’s Lee Avenue: (Payton Stock Company) The Prodigal Daughter; Phillips’s Lyceum: (Lyceum Stock Company): Zorah; Vaudeville/burlesque: Hyde & Behman’s, Gayety, Star, Orpheum, Unique; January 27-February 1: Amphion: Colorado; Blaney’s: (Blaney All-Star-Stock Company) A Gilded Fool; Columbia: (Greenwall Stock Company) Shall We Forgive Her?; Gotham: (Elite Stock Company) The Streets of New York; Grand Opera House: Sis Hopkins, with Rose Melville; Montauk: Eben Holden, with Charles Frohman’s company; Park: (Spooner Stock Company) Phroso; Payton’s: (Payton Stock Company) Rosedale; Phillips’ Lyceum: (Lyceum Stock Company) A Social Highwayman; Vaudeville/burlesque: Hyde & Behman’s, Gayety, Star, Orpheum, Unique