ACROSS THE RIVER FROM BROADWAY: ANNALS OF THE BROOKLYN STAGE (1898-1908): DECEMBER 1904

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).

DECEMBER 1904

December 5-10: Bijou: (Spooner Stock Company) My Sweetheart, with Cecil Spooner; Broadway: The Harvester, with Otis Skinner; Columbia: (Columbia Stock Company) Dora Thorne; Folly: The Errand Boy, with Billy B. Van; Gotham: The Wayward Son; Grand Opera House: A Race for Life; Majestic: Iris, with Eugenie Blair; Montauk: The Serio-Comic Governess, with Cecilia Loftus; Novelty: Uncle Tom’s Cabin, will Al W. Martin’s Company; Park: Escaped from Sing-Sing; Payton’s Lee Avenue: (Payton Stock Company) The Holy City; Phillips’ Lyceum: (Lyceum Stock Company) Home Sweet Home; Vaudeville/burlesque: Hyde and Behman’s, Unique, Star, Gayety, Keeney’s, Orpheum, Watson’s; December 12-17: Bijou: (Spooner Stock Company) The Bride of Jennico, with Edna May Spooner; Broadway: The Rogers Brothers in Paris, with the Rogers Brothers, Josephine Cohan; Folly: Superba, with the Hanlons; Gotham: A Working Girl’s Wrongs; Grand Opera House: Me, Him and I, with Bickel, Watson, and Wrothe; Majestic: Running for Office; Montauk: The Other Girl, with Lionel Barrymore, Richard Bennett; Novelty: His Wife’s Secret; Park: From Rags to Riches, with Joseph Santley; Payton’s Lee Avenue: (Payton Stock Company) Brown’s in Town; Phillips’ Lyceum: (Lyceum Stock Company) Master and Man; Vaudeville/burlesque: Hyde and Behman’s, Unique, Star, Gayety, Keeney’s, Orpheum, Columbia Music Hall, Watson’s; December 19-24: Bijou: (Spooner Stock Company) Bob, with Cecil Spooner; Broadway: An American Princess; Folly: Me, Him and I, with Bickel, Watson, and Wrothe; Gotham: Escaped from Sing-Sing; Majestic: A Chinese Honeymoon; Montauk: Love’s Lottery, with Ernestine Schumann-Heink; Novelty: A Wayward Son; Park: The Factory Girl; Payton’s Lee Avenue: (Payton Stock Company) The Pace That Kills; Phillips’ Lyceum: (Lyceum Stock Company) The Tide of Life; Vaudeville/burlesque: Hyde and Behman’s, Unique, Star, Gayety, Keeney’s, Orpheum, Columbia Music Hall, Watson’s; December 26-31: Amphion: Merry Shop Girls; Bijou: (Spooner Stock Company) Our Cinderella, with Cecil and Edna Spooner; Broadway: The Shepherd King, with Wright Lorimer; Folly: Down the Pike, with Johnny and Emma Ray; Gotham: The Midnight Marriage; Grand Opera House: The Way to Kenmare, with Andrew Mack; Majestic: The Eternal City; Montauk: A Madcap Princess, with Lulu Glaser; Novelty: A Working Girl’s Wrongs; Park: The Great Automobile Mystery; Payton’s Lee Avenue: (Payton Stock Company) Glittering Gloria; Phillips’ Lyceum: (Lyceum Stock Company) Midnight in Chinatown; Vaudeville/burlesque: Hyde and Behman’s, Unique, Star, Gayety, Keeney’s, Orpheum, Watson’s