Saturday, July 11, 2026

OCTOBER 1904



Brooklyn-born Walter Hampden (born Dougherty), future star, at 25.

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).

October 1904

     October 3-8: Amphion: (Spooner Stock Company #2) That Girl from Texas, with Cecil Spooner; Bijou: (Spooner Stock Company #1) Romeo and Juliet, with Edna May Spooner; Broadway: The Road to Kenmare, with Andrew Mack; Columbia: (Columbia Stock Company) Mrs. Jack; Folly: A Prisoner of War; Gotham: Shadows of a Great City; Grand Opera House: Wedded and Parted; Majestic: Girls Will Be Girls, with Al Leech and the Three Rosebuds; Montauk: The Maid and the Mummy; Novelty: Why Women Sin; Park: Why Girls Leave Home; Payton’s Lee Avenue: (Payton Lee Avenue Stock Company) The Christian; Phillips’ Lyceum: (Lyceum Stock Company) A Flag of Truce; Vaudeville/burlesque: Hyde & Behman’s, Star, Watson’s, Unique, Orpheum, Gayety, Keeney’s; October 10-15: Amphion: (Spooner Stock Company #2) When Knighthood Was in Flower, with Edna May Spooner; Bijou: (Spooner Stock Company #1) A Night at the Circus, with Cecil Spooner; Broadway: The Secret of Polichinelle; Columbia: (Columbia Stock Company) Thelma; Folly: Two Little Sailor Boys; Gotham: The Charity Nurse; Grand Opera House: The Street Singer; Majestic:  King Dodo; Montauk: Othello, Carmen, Il Trovatore, Lohengrin, La Bohéme, Tannhauser, I Pagliacci, with Savage Grand Opera Company; Novelty: Deserted at the Altar; Park: Child Slaves of New York; Payton’s Lee Avenue: (Payton Lee Avenue Stock Company) The Galley Slave; Phillips’ Lyceum: (Lyceum Stock Company) The Forbidden Marriage; Vaudeville/burlesque: Hyde & Behman’s, Star, Watson’s, Unique, Orpheum, Gayety, Keeney’s; October 17-22: Amphion: (Spooner Stock Company #2) A Night at the Circus, with Cecil Spooner; Bijou: (Spooner Stock Company #1) In the Palace of the King, with Edna May Spooner; Broadway: The Earl of Pawtucket, with Lawrence D’Orsay; Columbia: (Columbia Stock Company) The Three Musketeers; Folly: King Dodo; Gotham: From Rags to Riches, with Joseph Santley; Grand Opera House: David Harum; Majestic: Shore Acres, Mrs. James A. Herne; Montauk: The Admirable Crichton, with William Gillette; Novelty: A Fight for Love, with “Bob” Fitzsimmons; Park: Lighthouse by the Sea; Payton’s Lee Avenue: (Payton Lee Avenue Stock Company) Cumberland, ’61; Phillips’ Lyceum: (Lyceum Stock Company) Captain Impudence; Vaudeville/burlesque: Hyde & Behman’s, Star, Watson’s, Unique, Orpheum, Gayety, Keeney’s; October 24-29: Amphion: (Spooner Stock Company #2) In the Palace of the King, with Edna May Spooner; Bijou: (Spooner Stock Company #1) The Charity Waif, with Cecil Spooner; Broadway: The Virginian, with Dustin Farnum; Columbia: (Columbia Stock Company) Jim Bludso; Folly: More to Be Pitied Than Scorned, with Lydia Powell; Gotham: Kidnapped in New York, with Barney Gilmore; Grand Opera House: The Female Detectives, with the Russell Brothers; Majestic: Down the Pike, Johnny and Emma Ray; Montauk: The Yankee Consul, with Raymond Hitchcock; Novelty: Why Girls Leave Home; Park: Her Mad Marriage; Payton’s Lee Avenue: (Payton Lee Avenue Stock Company) Children of the Ghetto; Phillips’ Lyceum: (Lyceum Stock Company) Fallen Among Thieves; Vaudeville/burlesque: Hyde & Behman’s, Star, Watson’s, Unique, Orpheum, Gayety, Keeney’s

1.      October 3-8, 1904

 2.      October 10-15, 1904

List of 18 theatres and top prices this week from Brooklyn Life. Missing are the Phillips' Lyceum and the Unique. 



3.      October 17-22, 1904

 

4.      October 24-29, 1904

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OCTOBER 1904

Brooklyn-born Walter Hampden (born Dougherty), future star, at 25. This blog is dedicated to preserving a curated record of theatre-related ...