ANNALS OF THE BROOKLYN STAGE (1898-1908): MARCH 1901

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.\

MARCH 1901

March 4-9: Amphion: Quo Vadis; Bijou: A Guilty Mother; Brooklyn Academy of Music: Columbia: A Runaway Girl; Criterion: (Baker Stock Company) Why Smith Left Home; Gayety: Lost River; Grand Opera House: A Wise Guy; Montauk: ’Way Down East; Park: (Spooner Stock Company) The Wages of Sin; Payton’s Lee Avenue: (Payton Stock Company) The Ensign; Vaudeville/burlesque: Hyde & Behman’s, Brooklyn Music Hall, Empire, Star, Novelty, Orpheum, Grand Opera House; March 11-16: Amphion: Arizona; Bijou: Reaping the Whirlwind; Criterion: (Baker Stock Company) A Celebrated Case; Gayety: Shore Acres; Grand Opera House: The Great Kellar, Magician; Montauk: Richard Carvel, with John Drew; Park: (Spooner Stock Company) Trilby; Payton’s Lee Avenue: (Payton Stock Company) Camille; or, the Fate of a Coquette; Vaudeville/burlesque: Hyde & Behman’s, Brooklyn Music Hall, Star, Novelty, Orpheum; March 18-23: Amphion: Way Down East; Bijou: The Silver King; Columbia: Lady Huntworth’s Experiment, with Hilda Spong and Daniel Frohman’s Company; Criterion: (Baker Stock Company) What Happened to Jones; Gayety: Across the Pacific, with Harry Clay Blaney; Grand Opera House: Shore Acres; Montauk: Richard Carvel, with John Drew; Park: (Spooner Stock Company) Fanchon, the Cricket, East Lynne; Payton’s Lee Avenue: (Payton Stock Company) A Flag of Truce; Vaudeville/burlesque: Hyde & Behman’s, Brooklyn Music Hall, Star, Novelty, Orpheum; March 25-30: Amphion: Henry V, A Parisian Romance, The First Violin, Beau Brummel, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, with Richard Mansfield; Bijou: The Convict’s Daughter; Columbia: The Governor’s Son, with the Four Cohans; Criterion: (Baker Stock Company) Alabama; Gayety: The Little Minister; Grand Opera House: Barbara Frietchie, with Effie Ellsler; Montauk: Sweet Nell of Old Drury, with Ada Rehan; Park: (Spooner Stock Company) The War of Wealth; Payton’s Lee Avenue: (Payton Stock Company) The Plunger, East Lynne; Vaudeville/burlesque: Hyde & Behman’s, Brooklyn Music Hall, Star, Novelty, Orpheum