ANNALS OF THE BROOKLYN STAGE (1898-1908): 2026-07-19

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).

JANUARY 1905

January 2-7: Amphion: Iris, Mercy Merrick, with Eugenie Blair; Bijou: (Spooner Stock Company) The Cavalier; Broadway: Wang, with De Wolf Hopper; Folly: Cohen’s Luck, with Joe Welch; Gotham: A Wife’s Secret; Grand Opera House: Texas; Majestic: Twirly-Whirly, with Charles J. Ross, Mabel Fenton; Montauk: Much Ado About Nothing, Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet, E.H. Sothern and Julia Marlowe; Novelty: Too Proud to Beg; Park: Driven from Home; Payton’s Lee Avenue: (Payton Stock Company) The Cherry Pickers; Phillips’ Lyceum: A Royal Slave; Vaudeville/burlesque: Hyde & Behman’s, Gayety, Unique, Star, Orpheum, Watson’s, Keeney’s, Columbia Music Hall; January 9-14: Amphion: Sinbad, with the Royal Lilliputians; Bijou: (Spooner Stock Company) Miles Aroon; Broadway: Piff, Paff, Pouf; Folly: Texas; Gotham: At Risk of His Life; Grand Opera House: Sky Farm; Majestic: Superba; Montauk: Parsifal, with Henry W. Savage Grand Opera Company; Novelty: At Cripple Creek; Park: Fast Life in New York; Payton’s Lee Avenue: Sweet Kitty Bellairs, with Henrietta Crosman; Phillips’ Lyceum: Northern Lights; Vaudeville/burlesque: Hyde & Behman’s, Gayety, Unique, Star, Orpheum, Watson’s, Keeney’s, Columbia Music Hall; January 16-21: Amphion: Polly Primrose, with Adelaide Thurston; Bijou: (Spooner Stock Company) Zaza; Broadway: Raffles, with Kyrle Bellew; Columbia: (American Stock Company) Because She Loved; Folly: Sky Farm; Gotham: Too Proud to Beg; Grand Opera House: His Honor, the Mayor of the Bowery; Majestic: His Last Dollar, with David Higgins; Montauk: Letty, with William Faversham; Novelty: A Little Outcast; Park: Queen of the White Slaves; Payton’s Lee Avenue: (Payton’s Stock Company) Out of the Fold; Phillips’ Lyceum: Two Little Sailor Boys; Vaudeville/burlesque: Hyde & Behman’s, Gayety, Unique, Star, Orpheum, Watson’s, Keeney’s; January 23-28: Bijou: (Spooner Stock Company) All the Comforts of Home; Broadway: The Pit, with Wilton Lackaye; Columbia: (American Theatre Stock Company) At the Sign of the Four; Folly: His Last Dollar; Gotham: For His Brother’s Crime; Grand Opera House: Sinbad, with the Royal Lilliputians ; Majestic: The Burgomaster; Montauk: The School Girl, with Edna May Spooner; Novelty: On the Suwanee River; Park: A Midnight Marriage; Payton’s Lee Avenue: (Payton’s Stock Company) For Fair Virginia; Phillips’ Lyceum: (Lyceum Stock Company) The Marriage Vow; Vaudeville/burlesque: Hyde & Behman’s, Gayety, Unique, Star, Orpheum, Watson’s, Keeney’s; January 30-February 5: Bijou: (Spooner Stock Company) Joan of Arc; Broadway: The Other Girl, with Lionel Barrymore; Columbia (American Theatre Stock Company) Tennessee’s Partner; Folly: His Honor, the Mayor of the Bowery; Gotham: For His Brother’s Crime; Grand Opera House: Quincy Adams Sawyer; Majestic: Primrose’s Minstrels; Montauk: Mrs. Gorringe’s Necklace, David Garrick, The Case of Rebellious Susan, with Charles Wyndham; Novelty: Driven from Home, with Patrice; Park: The Child Wife; Payton’s Lee Avenue: (Payton’s Company) The Gay Lord Sinch; Phillips’ Lyceum: (Lyceum Stock Company) A Ragged Hero; Vaudeville/burlesque: Hyde & Behman’s, Gayety, Unique, Star, Orpheum, Watson’s, Keeney’s