| 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
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| 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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