This blog is dedicated to preserving a record of Brooklyn
theatre theatre-related images based largely on publication in nearly
a half-dozen contemporary Brooklyn newspapers and one weekly magazine (Brooklyn
Life) of 1898-1908. It also lists the week-by-week productions at each
legitimate theatre from January 1898 through December 1908. It is adapted from
my earlier blog, BROOKLYN THEATRE FROM 1898: AN ILLUSTRATED CHRONOLOGY and is
intended as a supplement to a forthcoming two-volume book also called ACROSS
THE RIVER FROM BROADWAY: ANNALS OF THE BROOKLYN STAGE (1898-1908).
The book covers everything related to Brooklyn theatre during
the first decade of the former city's first decade as a borough of Greater New
York, including plays, playhouses, productions, people, producing policies,
scandals, lawsuits, 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.
To find a specific month, please use the search box in the upper
left corner. May-June and August-September are always joined, so searches for
one of those months should be, for example, May-June 1906.
Samuel L. Leiter
Author: BROOKLYN TAKES THE STAGE: NINETEENTH-CENTURY THEATER IN
THE CITY OF CHURCHES (McFarland: 2024).
*=novelties (recent plays new to
Brooklyn)
February 29-March 5:
Amphion: The Earl of Pawtucket (Lawrence D’Orsay)
Bijou: (Spooner Stock Company) Esmeralda
Columbia: The Power of the Cross* (Hermine Shone)
Folly: Kellar the Magician
Gotham: Her Marriage Vow*
Grand Opera House: Robert Emmet
Montauk: Babette* (Fritzi Scheff)
Novelty: Child Slaves of New York
Park: Queen of the White Slaves
Payton’s Lee Avenue: (Payton Stock Company) Hank of Harvard
Phillips’ Lyceum: (Lyceum Stock Company) East Lynne
Vaudeville/burlesque: Hyde & Behman’s, Star, Orpheum, Unique,
Gayety, Watson’s, Keeney’s
March 7-12:
Amphion: An English Daisy*
Bijou: (Spooner Stock Company) Delmonico’s at Six
Columbia: The Man Who Dared* (Howard Hall)
Folly: Robert Emmet
Gotham: On the Bridge at Midnight*
Grand Opera House: Quincy Adams Sawyer
Montauk: The Spenders* (William H. Crane)
Novelty: Through Fire and Water
Park: Queen of the Highway*
Payton’s Lee Avenue: (Payton Stock Company) Captain of the Nonsuch
Phillips’ Lyceum: (Lyceum Stock Company) The Merchant of
Venice (William C. Holden, Emma Bell)
Vaudeville/burlesque: Hyde & Behman’s, Star, Orpheum, Unique, Gayety,
Watson’s, Keeney’s
March 14-19:
Amphion: Glittering Gloria*
Bijou: (Spooner Stock Company) The Colleen Bawn
Columbia: Driven from Home (Patrice)
Folly: Quincy Adams Sawyer
Gotham: For His Brother’s Crime (Montgomery Irving)
Grand Opera House: Terence* (Chauncey Olcott)
Montauk: The Girl with the Green Eyes* (Clara Bloodgood)
Novelty: The Man Who Dared (Howard Hall)
Park: An Heiress of Millions*
Payton’s Lee Avenue: (Payton Stock Company) Parsifal
Phillips’ Lyceum: (Lyceum Stock Company) Alone in London
Vaudeville/burlesque: Hyde & Behman’s, Star, Orpheum, Unique,
Gayety, Watson’s, Keeney’s
March 21-26:
Amphion: The Merchant of Venice; The Taming of the
Shrew; The School for Scandal (Ada Rehan, Otis Skinner)
Bijou: (Spooner Stock Company) The
Princess of Patches
Broadway Theatre: Babes in Toyland
Columbia: The Smart Set (African American vaudeville company)
Folly: Sis Hopkins (Rose Melville)
Gotham: When Women Love*
Grand Opera House: Terence (Chauncey Olcott)
Montauk: Nancy Brown* (Marie Cahill)
Novelty: On the Bridge at Midnight*
Park: The James Boys in Missouri*
Payton’s Lee Avenue: (Payton Stock Company) Parsifal
Phillips’ Lyceum: (Lyceum Stock Company) Nell Gwynne
Vaudeville/burlesque: Hyde & Behman’s, Star, Orpheum, Unique,
Gayety, Watson’s, Keeney’s
March 28-April 2:
Amphion: Der Herr Senator; Die Haubenlerche; Johannisfeur;
Jugend; Kabale und Liebe; Die Soubrettenschule (Heinrich
Conried’s German Dramatic Company)
Bijou: (Spooner Stock Company) The
Orphan Heiress
Broadway Theatre: A Pair of Pinks* (Ward and Vokes)
Columbia: Uncle Tom’s Cabin (Gussy Hart)
Folly: By Right of Sword (Ralph Stuart)
Gotham: New York Day by Day
Grand Opera House: Busy Izzy* (George Sidney)
Montauk: Dolly Varden (Lulu Glaser)
Novelty: An Orphan’s Prayer*
Park: The Bowery after Dark (Terry McGovern)
Payton’s Lee Avenue: (Payton Stock Company) Turned Up
Phillips’ Lyceum: (Lyceum Stock Company) Lynwood
Vaudeville/burlesque: Hyde & Behman’s, Star, Orpheum, Unique,
Gayety, Watson’s, Keeney’s
2. March 7-12, 1904
3. March 14-19, 1904
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4. March 21-26, 1904
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5. March 28-April 2, 1904
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