ACROSS THE RIVER FROM BROADWAY: ANNALS OF THE BROOKLYN STAGE (1898-1908): OCTOBER 1907

Anna Held.

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).

OCTOBER 1907

*=novelties (recent plays new to Brooklyn)

September 30-October 5:
Bijou: Dublin Dan, the Irish Detective* (Barney Gilmore)
Blaney’s Amphion: Jessie Left the Village*
Broadway: Brown of Harvard (Henry Woodruff)
Columbia: It’s Never Too Late to Mend; or, the Wanderer’s Return*
Folly: Gambler of the West*
Majestic: A Lucky Dog (Nat M. Wills)
Montauk: Fascinating Flora* (Adele Ritchie)
Payton’s Lee Avenue: (Payton Stock Company) Old Orchard
Phillips’ Lyceum: (Lyceum Stock Company) A Man’s Broken Promise
Royal Italian Theatre: War in the Time of Peace (Guerro in Tempo di Pace); Hamlet
Vaudeville/burlesque: Keeney’s, Olympic, Novelty, Orpheum, Star, Gayety, Grand Opera House, Gotham

October 7-12:
Bijou: Bertha, the Sewing Machine Girl
Blaney’s Amphion: A Fugitive from Justice*
Broadway: The Boys of Company B* (John Barrymore)
Columbia: Wild Nell, A Child of the Regiment (Vivian Prescott)
Folly: The Burglar and the Lady (James J. Corbett)
Majestic: Shore Acres (Digby Bell)
Montauk: The Parisian Model* (Anna Held)
Payton’s Lee Avenue: (Payton Stock Company) Leah, the Forsaken
Phillips’ Lyceum: (Lyceum Stock Company) Her Only Crime
Royal Italian Theatre: Hamlet; The Merchant of Venice
Vaudeville/burlesque: Keeney’s, Olympic, Novelty, Orpheum, Star, Gayety, Grand Opera House, Gotham

October 14-19:
Bijou: Through Death Valley*
Blaney’s Amphion: Kidnapped for Revenge (Will H. Vedder)
Broadway: The Tattooed Man* (Frank Daniels)
Columbia: The Way of the Transgressor
Folly: Fallen By the Wayside*
Majestic: The Spoilers*
Montauk: The Follies of 1907* (a.k.a. The Ziegfeld Follies)
Payton’s Lee Avenue: (Payton Stock Company) Men and Women
Phillips’ Lyceum: (Lyceum Stock Company) A Man of Mystery
Royal Italian Theatre: The Merchant of Venice; A Celebrated Case
Vaudeville/burlesque: Keeney’s, Olympic, Novelty, Orpheum, Star, Gayety, Grand Opera House, Gotham

October 21-26:
Bijou: The Banker, the Thief and the Girl* (Joseph Morris)
Blaney’s Amphion: Through Death Valley*
Broadway: Divorçons (Grace George)
Columbia: Bunco in Arizona* (Lillian Mortimer)
Folly: Edna, the Pretty Typewriter (Edith Browning)
Majestic: At Yale*
Montauk: Lola, from Berlin* (Lulu Glaser)
Payton’s Lee Avenue: (Payton Stock Company) Janice Meredith
Phillips’ Lyceum: (Lyceum Stock Company) A Crown of Thorns
Royal Italian Theatre: The Lamplighter (L’Ampionaro dil Porto); Othello
Vaudeville/burlesque: Keeney’s, Olympic, Novelty, Orpheum, Star, Gayety, Grand Opera House, Gotham

October 28-November 2:
Bijou: The Little Organ Grinder*
Blaney’s Amphion: Dublin Dan, the Irish Detective (Barney Gilmore)
Broadway: The Follies of 1907
Columbia: The Convict and the Girl
Folly: A Lucky Dog (Nat M. Wills)
Majestic: The Earl and the Girl
Montauk: The Rich Mr. Hoggenheimer (Sam Bernard)
Payton’s Lee Avenue: (Payton Stock Company) The Undertow
Phillips’ Lyceum: (Lyceum Stock Company) Woman Against Woman
Royal Italian Theatre: ?