ACROSS THE RIVER FROM BROADWAY: ANNALS OF THE BROOKLYN STAGE (1898-1908): AUGUST-SEPTEMBER 1902

Bertha Galland as Esmeralda in Notre Dame. A rising star in 1902, by 1910 her luster had dimmed, and her career was ending.

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).

AUGUST-SEPTEMBER 1902

*=novelties (recent plays new to Brooklyn)

August 18-23:
Vaudeville/burlesque: Gayety

August 25-31:
Bijou: Barbara Frietchie (Spooner Stock Company)
Blaney’s: The Man Who Dared (Blaney’s All-Star Stock Company)
Columbia: The Christian (Greenwall Stock Company; opened Saturday, August 30)
Vaudeville/burlesque: Gayety, Star

September 1-6:
Bijou: The District Fair* (Spooner Stock Company)
Blaney’s: The Cherry Pickers (Blaney’s All-Star Stock Company)
Columbia: The Christian (Greenwall Stock Company; opened Saturday, August 30)
Folly: When Reuben Comes to Town* (opened Saturday, August 30)
Gotham: The Galley Slave (Elite Stock Company)
Grand Opera House: My Partner (opened Saturday, August 30)
Montauk: The Show Girl*
Payton’s Lee Avenue: The Dancing Girl (Payton Stock Company)
Phillips’ Lyceum: The Victorian Cross (Lyceum Stock Company; opened Saturday, August 30)
Vaudeville/burlesque: Hyde & Behman’s, Orpheum, Star, Gayety, Unique

September 8-13:
Bijou: Mr. Potter of Texas (Spooner Stock Company)
Blaney’s: Land of the Midnight Sun
Columbia: Held by the Enemy (Greenwall Stock Company)
Folly: My Partner
Gotham: The Two Orphans (Elite Stock Company)
Grand Opera House: The Heart of Maryland
Montauk: Florodora
Payton’s Lee Avenue: Lost Paradise (Payton Stock Company)
Phillips’ Lyceum: Coon Hollow (Lyceum Stock Company)
Vaudeville/burlesque: Hyde & Behman’s, Orpheum, Star, Gayety, Unique

September 15-20:
Bijou: Mistress Nell (Spooner Stock Company)
Blaney’s: The Voice of Nature (Blaney’s All-Star Stock Company)
Columbia: A Social Highwayman (Greenwall Stock Company)
Folly: The Heart of Maryland
Gotham: Under Two Flags (Elite Stock Company)
Grand Opera House: The Fatal Wedding
Montauk: The Henrietta (Stuart Robson)
Payton’s Lee Avenue: All the Comforts of Home (Payton Stock Company)
Phillips’ Lyceum: Fogg’s Ferry (Lyceum Stock Company)
Vaudeville/burlesque: Hyde & Behman’s, Orpheum, Star, Gayety, Unique

September 22-27:
Amphion: The Climbers (Amelia Bingham)
Bijou: The Silver Dagger* (Spooner Stock Company)
Blaney’s: Wicked London (Blaney’s All-Star Stock Company)
Columbia: The Little Minister (Greenwall Stock Company)
Folly: The Fatal Wedding
Gotham: East Lynne (Elite Stock Company)
Grand Opera House: Arizona
Montauk: Notre Dame* (Bertha Galland)
Payton’s Lee Avenue: Catherine (Payton Stock Company)
Phillips’ Lyceum: Captain Herne, U.S.A. (Lyceum Stock Company)
Vaudeville/burlesque: Hyde & Behman’s, Orpheum, Star, Gayety, Unique

September 29-October 4:

Amphion: The New York brewer; The Corner Grocery; New York in Word and Image (in German; Adolf Phillips and company

Bijou: A Nutmeg Match (Spooner Stock Company)
Blaney’s: Humanity (Blaney’s All-Star Stock Company)
Columbia: In Mizzoura (Greenwall Stock Company)
Folly: Arizona
Gotham: Lady Nell (Elite Stock Company)
Grand Opera House: The Doings of Mrs. Dooley (George H. Monroe)
Montauk: The Auctioneer (David Warfield)
Payton’s Lee Avenue: My Kentucky Home (Payton Stock Company)
Phillips’ Lyceum: The War of Wealth (Lyceum Stock Company)
Vaudeville/burlesque: Hyde & Behman’s, Orpheum, Star, Gayety, Unique