ACROSS THE RIVER FROM BROADWAY: ANNALS OF THE BROOKLYN STAGE (1898-1908): MAY-JUNE 1905

This blog is dedicated to preserving a record of Brooklyn theatre history and theatre-related images based largely on coverage in the nearly half-dozen daily Brooklyn newspapers and one weekly magazine (Brooklyn Life) of 1898-1908. It is a vastly expanded, upgraded, and corrected version of my blog, BROOKLYN THEATRE FROM 1898: AN ILLUSTRATED CHRONOLOGY, which is gradually being dismantled as this one is being constructed. It covers everything related to Brooklyn theatre, including plays, playhouses, productions, people, producing policies, scandals, law suits, fires, accidents, brawls, ethnic theatres, crimes, religious attacks, rivalry with Manhattan, and so on. The focus is on legitimate theatre but considerable attention is paid to developments in vaudeville and burlesque as well.

The main newspaper sources, using the names by which they were known during these years, were the Brooklyn Daily Eagle, Brooklyn Citizen, Brooklyn Standard Union, and Brooklyn Daily Times; occasionally, other local sources were called on. At first, only Brooklyn Life provided photos, but as time passed the newspapers, beginning with the Citizen, abandoned their photo-based engravings 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 both leading players and 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 of the same title I’m preparing for publication.

To find a specific item, please use the search box in the upper left corner. You ca also go to a particular month by searching for it, i.e., February 1905. The project hopes to be complete sometime in 2026 when it reaches 1908.

Samuel L. LeiterYY-

Author: BROOKLYN TAKES THE STAGE: NINETEENTH-CENTURY THEATER IN THE CITY OF CHURCHES (McFarland: 2024).

MAY-JUNE 1905

May 1–6, 1905

Bijou: (Spooner Stock Company) Tom Moore; Broadway: The School Girl, with Edna May; Folly: Sis Hopkins, with Rose Melville; Gotham: Darkest Russia; Grand Opera House: Arizona; Majestic: The Strollers; Montauk: Fatinitza and Boccaccio, with Fritzi Scheff; Park: Nobody's Darling; Payton's Lee Avenue: (Payton Stock Company) The Private Secretary; Phillips' Lyceum: (Lyceum Stock Company) The Tie That Binds; Vaudeville/burlesque: Hyde & Behman's, Gayety, Unique, Orpheum, Watson's, Star, Keeney's, Amphion.

May 8–13, 1905

Bijou: (Spooner Stock Company) Tess of the D'Urbervilles; Broadway: Mrs. Temple's Telegram, with William Morris; Folly: Arizona; Majestic: The Silver Slipper; Montauk: Mrs. Black Is Back, with May Irwin; Park: The Peddler; Payton's Lee Avenue: (Payton Stock Company) Ten Nights in a Barroom; Phillips' Lyceum: (Lyceum Stock Company) A Prisoner of War; Vaudeville/burlesque: Hyde & Behman's, Gayety, Unique, Orpheum, Watson's, Star, Keeney's.

May 15–20, 1905

Bijou: (Spooner Stock Company) Polly of the Circus; Broadway: It Happened in Nordland, with Lew Fields; Folly: The Millionaire Detective; Majestic: The Show Girl; Park: The Span of Life; Payton's Lee Avenue: (Payton Stock Company) The Colleen Bawn; Phillips' Lyceum: (Lyceum Stock Company) An Orphan's Prayer; Vaudeville/burlesque: Gayety, Orpheum, Star.

May 22–27, 1905

Bijou: (Spooner Stock Company) 7-20-8; Payton's Lee Avenue: (Payton Stock Company) Camille; Phillips' Lyceum: (Lyceum Stock Company) Little Church Around the Corner; Vaudeville/burlesque: Orpheum, Gayety, Star.

May 29–June 3, 1905

Bijou: (Spooner Stock Company) The Shaughraun; Broadway: (Broadway Dramatic Company) Barbara Frietchie, with Sidney Toler and Catherine Countiss; Orpheum: The Little Duchess, with Elsie Janis (opening a four-week comic opera season); Payton's Lee Avenue: (Payton Stock Company) The Three Guardsmen; Phillips' Lyceum: (Lyceum Stock Company) The Bounty Jumpers; Vaudeville/burlesque: Gayety, Star.

June 5–10, 1905

Bijou: The Austrian Dancer; Broadway: (Broadway Dramatic Company) The Christian; Orpheum: The Chimes of Normandy; Vaudeville/burlesque: Gayety, Star.

June 12–17, 1905

Bijou: Love in Harness; Broadway: (Broadway Dramatic Company) Old Heidelberg; Orpheum: The Wedding Day.

June 19–24, 1905

Broadway: The Merchant of Venice, with Jacob Adler; Orpheum: The Bohemian Girl.

1. May 1-6, 1905