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

FEBRUARY 1904

February 1-6: Amphion: Peggy from Paris; Bijou: (Spooner Stock Company) The Captain’s Mate; Columbia: The Way of the Transgressor; Folly: Arrah-na-Pogue, with J.K. Murray; Gotham: Hearts Adrift; Grand Opera House: Our New Minister; Montauk: A Chinese Honeymoon; Novelty: A Little Outcast, with Anne Blancke; Park: The White Slave; Payton’s Lee Avenue: (Payton’s Lee Avenue Stock Company) Davy Crockett; Phillips’ Lyceum: (Lyceum Stock Company) Home and Honor; Vaudeville/burlesque: Hyde & Behman’s, Star, Unique, Gayety, Orpheum, Watson’s; February 8-13: Amphion: The Office Boy, with Frank Daniels; Bijou: (Spooner Stock Company) The World against Her; Columbia: Herrmann, The Great (magician); Folly: The Ninety and Nine; Gotham: Child Slaves of New York; Grand Opera House: A Midnight Marriage, with Florence Bindley; Montauk: Old Heidelberg, with Richard Mansfield; Park: A Desperate Chance; Payton’s Fulton Street: (Payton Fulton Street Stock Company) Our New Girl, with Ullie Akerstrom (two nights only); Payton’s Lee Avenue: (Payton’s Lee Avenue Stock Company) Queena; Phillips’ Lyceum: (Lyceum Stock Company) Resurrection; Vaudeville/burlesque: Hyde & Behman’s, Star, Unique, Gayety, Orpheum, Watson’s; February 15-20: Amphion: Sergeant Kitty, with Virginia Earle; Bijou: (Spooner Stock Company) Bonnie Scotland; Columbia; M’liss, with Nellie McHenry; Folly: The Peddler, with Joe Welch; Gotham: Uncle Tom’s Cabin, with Al W. Martin’s company; Grand Opera House: By Right of Sword, with Ralph Stuart; Montauk: The Earl of Pawtucket, with Lawrence D’Orsay; Candida (special matinee), with Arnold Daly; Novelty: Driven from Home, with Patrice; Park: If Women Were Men; Payton’s Lee Avenue: (Payton’s Lee Avenue Stock Company) Between Love and Duty; Phillips’ Lyceum: (Lyceum Stock Company) Duchesse Du Barry; Vaudeville/burlesque: Hyde & Behman’s, Star, Unique, Gayety, Orpheum, Watson’s, Fulton Street; February 22-27: Amphion: The Prince of Pilsen, with Henry W. Savage Grand Opera Company; Bijou: (Spooner Stock Company) A Romance of Old Mexico; Columbia: The Two Orphans, with Kate Claxton; Folly: Soldiers of Fortune, with Edwin Brandt; Gotham: Her First False Step; Grand Opera House: Sherlock Holmes, with Herbert Kelcey and Effie Shannon; Montauk: The Marriage of Kitty, with Marie Tempest; Novelty: Hearts Adrift; Park: Wedded but No Wife; Payton’s Lee Avenue: (Payton’s Lee Avenue Stock Company) Dora Thorne; Phillips’ Lyceum: (Lyceum Stock Company) The Two Orphans; Vaudeville/burlesque: Hyde & Behman’s, Star, Unique, Gayety, Orpheum, Watson’s, Fulton Street