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).
NOVEMBER 1903
November 2-7: Amphion: Drink,
with Charles Warner; Bijou: (Spooner Stock Company) The Mysterious Mr.
Bugle; Columbia: No Wedding Bells for Her; Folly: Rachel
Goldstein; or, The Struggles of a Poor Girl in New York, with Louise
Beaton; Gotham: Deserted at the Altar; Grand Opera House: Our Bridget’s Dream, with
George W. Monroe; Montauk: The Billionaire, with Jerome Sykes;
Novelty: The King of Detectives; Park: Human Hearts;
Payton’s Fulton Street: (Payton Fulton Street Stock Company) Mr. Barnes
of New York; Payton’s Lee Avenue: (Payton Stock Company) Under the
Gaslight; Phillips’ Lyceum: (Lyceum Stock Company) The Secret
Dispatch; Vaudeville/burlesque: Hyde & Behman’s, Star,
Orpheum, Gayety, Unique, Watson’s, Bushwick Music Hall; November
9-14: Amphion: The Wizard of Oz, with David C.
Montgomery, Fred Stone; Bijou: (Spooner Stock Company) Janice Meredith; Columbia: Paul Revere, with Richard Buhler;
Folly: The Winning Hand; Gotham: The Minister’s Daughter; Grand
Opera House: The Volunteer Organist; Montauk: The Rogers Brothers in London, with
the Rogers Brothers; Novelty: The Factory Girl; Park: From Rags to Riches; Payton’s
Fulton Street: (Payton Fulton Street Stock Company) Duchess Du Barry; Payton’s
Lee Avenue: (Payton Stock Company) Caprice; Phillips’ Lyceum:
(Lyceum Stock Company) Trilby; Vaudeville/burlesque: Hyde
& Behman’s, Star, Orpheum, Gayety, Unique, Watson’s, Bushwick Music
Hall; November 16-21: Amphion: The Sultan of Sulu; Bijou:
(Spooner Stock Company) Miss Cleopatra, “The Captain’s Not a Miss”; Columbia: Happy Hooligan; Folly: The Volunteer Organist; Gotham: Searchlights of a Great City; Grand
Opera House: Gulliver’s Travels, with
the Royal Lilliputians; Montauk: Sergeant Kitty, with Virginia Earl Opera Company;
Novelty: Deserted at the Altar; Park: For Her Children’s Sake; Payton’s Fulton
Street: (Payton Fulton Street Stock Company) Sweet Lavender;
Payton’s Lee Avenue: (Payton Stock Company) Land of the Midnight Sun;
Phillips’ Lyceum: (Lyceum Stock Company) Devil’s Island; Vaudeville/burlesque: Hyde
& Behman’s, Star, Orpheum, Gayety, Unique, Watson’s, Bushwick Music Hall; November
23-28: Amphion: The Auctioneer, with David Warfield;
Bijou: (Spooner Stock Company) Tennessee’s Pardner; Brooklyn
Academy of Music: Way Down East; Columbia: A Working Girl’s
Wrongs; Folly: Gulliver’s
Travels, with the Royal Lilliputians; Gotham: The Factory Girl; Grand
Opera House: Wedded and Parted; Montauk: Captain Dieppe, with John Drew;
Novelty: The Price of Honor; Park: Zig-Zag Alley; Payton’s Fulton
Street: (Payton Fulton Street Stock Company) Brown’s in Town; Payton’s Lee Avenue:
(Payton Stock Company) The
Butterflies; Phillips’ Lyceum: (Lyceum Stock Company) The Bowery after Dark; Vaudeville/burlesque: Hyde
& Behman’s, Star, Orpheum, Gayety, Unique, Watson’s, Bushwick Music Hall
1. November 2-7, 1903
1. November 9-14, 1903
2. November 16-21, 1903
3. November 23-28, 1903
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