ACROSS THE RIVER FROM BROADWAY: ANNALS OF THE BROOKLYN STAGE (1898-1908): APRIL 1906

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. Leiter

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

APRIL 1906

*=novelties (recent plays new to Brooklyn)

April 2-7:
Bijou: (Spooner Stock Company) The Banker’s Daughter
Broadway: It Happened in Nordland (Lew Fields and company)
Folly: Young Buffalo, King of the Wild West
Grand Opera House: The Boy Behind the Gun
Majestic: York State Folks
New Montauk: The Ham Tree (McIntyre and Heath)
Payton’s Lee Avenue: (Payton Stock Company) When London Sleeps

Phillips’ Lyceum: (Lyceum Stock Company) The Road to Ruin
Shubert: The Man on the Box (Henry E. Dixey, Carlotta Nillson)
Vaudeville/burlesque: Hyde & Behman’s, Unique, Gotham, Gayety, Keeney’s, Star, Alcazar, Amphion, Garden, Imperial, Novelty, Family

April 9-14:
Bijou: (Spooner Stock Company) Uncle Tom’s Cabin
Broadway: The Rogers Brothers in Ireland (the Rogers Brothers)
Folly: The Boy Behind the Gun (Harry Clay Blaney)
Grand Opera House: At Piney Ridge
Majestic: The Little Duchess (Countess Olga von Hatzfeldt)
New Montauk: Strongheart (Robert Edeson)
Payton’s Lee Avenue: (Payton Stock Company) Sapho
Phillips’ Lyceum: (Lyceum Stock Company) Romeo and Juliet
Shubert: Mrs. Temple’s Telegram (Margaret Drew, Harry Conor)
Vaudeville/burlesque: Hyde & Behman’s, Unique, Gotham, Gayety, Keeney’s, Star, Alcazar, Amphion, Garden, Imperial, Novelty, Family

April 16-21:
Amphion: The Minister’s Daughters
Bijou: (Spooner Stock Company) The Mayor of Cornville
Broadway: The Clansman
Folly: In Old Kentucky
Grand Opera House: Chinatown Charlie
Majestic: The Old Homestead (William Lawrence)
New Montauk: The Duel (Otis Skinner, Guy Standing, Fay Davis, Eben Plympton)
Payton’s Lee Avenue: (Payton Stock Company) On the Wabash
Phillips’ Lyceum: (Lyceum Stock Company) Tracked Around the World
Shubert: Julie Bonbon (Clara Lipman, Louis Mann)
Vaudeville/burlesque: Hyde & Behman’s, Unique, Gotham, Gayety, Keeney’s, Star, Alcazar, Garden, Imperial, Novelty, Family

April 23-28:
Bijou: (Spooner Stock Company) Lost River
Broadway: The Galloper (Raymond Hitchcock)
Folly: Chinatown Charlie
Grand Opera House: Why Girls Leave Home
Majestic: The Sultan of Sulu
New Montauk: The Embassy Ball (Lawrence D’Orsay)
Payton’s Lee Avenue: (Payton Stock Company) The Prisoner of Zenda
Phillips’ Lyceum: (Lyceum Stock Company) Lieutenant Dick
Shubert: Becky Sharp (Mrs. Fiske, John Mason, George Arliss)
Vaudeville/burlesque: Hyde & Behman’s, Unique, Gotham, Gayety, Keeney’s, Star, Alcazar, Amphion, Garden, Imperial, Novelty, Family