ANNALS OF THE BROOKLYN STAGE (1898-1908): SEPTEMBER 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.

SEPTEMBER 1900

August 20-25: Vaudeville/burlesque: Star; August 27-September 1: (see next week for shows opening September 1); Vaudeville/burlesque: Al Reeves’ Music Hall, Star; September 3-8: Bijou: The Bowery After Dark, with Terry McGovern (opened Saturday, September 1); Gayety: The Telephone Girl (opened Saturday, September 1); Grand Opera House: The Heart of Maryland (opened Saturday, September 1); Payton’s Lee Avenue: (Payton Stock Company) The Girl I Left Behind Me (opened Saturday, September 1); Vaudeville/burlesque: Hyde & Behman’s, Al Reeves’ Music Hall, Brooklyn Music Hall, Star; September 10-15: Bijou: Shenandoah; Gayety: The Heart of Maryland; Grand Opera House: The Telephone Girl; Payton’s Lee Avenue: (Payton’s Stock Company) The Prodigal Daughter; Vaudeville/burlesque: Hyde & Behman’s, Al Reeves’ Music Hall, Brooklyn Music Hall, Empire, Star, Novelty; September 17-22: Bijou: M’Liss, with Nellie McHenry; Gayety: Shenandoah; Grand Opera House: Mrs. B. Shaughnessy (Wash Woman), with George Monroe; Payton Lee Avenue: (Payton Stock Company) Quo Vadis; Vaudeville/burlesque: Hyde & Behman’s, Al Reeves’ Music Hall, Brooklyn Music Hall, Empire, Star, Novelty; September 24-29: Bijou: The Angel of the Alley; Columbia: Woman and Wine; Gayety: Mrs. B. O’Shaughnessy (Wash Woman), with George W. Monroe; Grand Opera House: A Hole in the Ground; Montauk: “Madame Butterfly,” Naughty Anthony, with Charles E. Evans, Valerie Bergere; Payton’s Lee Avenue: (Payton Stock Company) The Private Secretary; Vaudeville/burlesque: Hyde & Behman’s, Al Reeves’ Music Hall, Brooklyn Music Hall, Empire, Novelty