MAY-JUNE 1899

 

1  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.

MAY-JUNE 1899

May 1-6: Amphion: Cavalleria Rusticana, H.M.S. Pinafore, The Mikado, with Jaxon Opera Company; Bijou: The Turtle; Columbia: Mlle. Fifi, with Grace George; Gayety: Two Little Vagrants, with Mildred Holland; Montauk: Rip Van Winkle, The Rivals, with Joseph Jefferson; Vaudeville/burlesque: Hyde & Behman’s, Brooklyn Music Hall, Star, Empire, Novelty; May 8-13: Amphion: Lucia Di Lammermoor, Il Trovatore, The Bohemian Girl, Carmen, with Jaxon Opera Company; Bijou: The Prodigal Daughter; Gayety: The Silver King; Montauk: Aida, with Castle Square Opera Company; Vaudeville/burlesque: Hyde & Behman’s, Brooklyn Music Hall, Star, Empire, Novelty; May 15-20: Columbia: Romeo and Juliet, with Maude Adams; Gayety: Too Much Johnson; Montauk: Faust, with Castle Square Opera Company; Vaudeville/burlesque: Hyde & Behman’s, Brooklyn Music Hall, Empire, Star; May 22-27: Columbia: Romeo and Juliet, with Maude Adams (May 26, 27); Montauk: Romeo and Juliet, with Castle Square Opera Company; Vaudeville/burlesque: Hyde & Behman’s, Star; June 3-8: Montauk: Il Trovatore, with Castle Square Opera Company; Vaudeville/burlesque: Hyde & Behman’s, Star; June 5-10: Montauk: Carmen, with Castle Square Opera Company; Vaudeville/burlesque: Star; June 12-17: Montauk: The Mikado, with Castle Square Opera Company

MAY 1-6, 1899

MAY 8-13, 1899

 

MAY 15-20, 1899

MAY 22-27, 1899

 

MAY 29-JUNE 3, 1899

JUNE 5-10, 1899

JUNE 12-17, 1899

We will skip the offerings on view during the summer of 1899, most of them at the entertainment establishments of Bergen Beach, Manhattan Beach, and Brighton Beach, and resume when legitimate theatre returns in late August and early September. The Star, “cooled by electric fan,” reopened for burlesque and other nonlegitimate amusements on August 14. The new season officially opened on Labor Day, September 4, although the Bijou opened two nights earlier.