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)
October 31-November 5:
Amphion: (Spooner Stock Company #1) My Brother’s Sister (Cecil Spooner)
Bijou: (Spooner Stock Company #2) La Tosca (Edna May Spooner)
Broadway: The Maid and the Mummy
Columbia: (Columbia Stock Company) Fabio Romani
Folly: Tracked Around the World*
Gotham: A Fight for Love (Bob Fitzsimmons)
Grand Opera House: Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde; Othello; Richelieu;
“The Bells” (Thomas E. Shea)
Majestic: Captain Barrington* (Richard Bramwell)
Montauk: The Tenderfoot (Richard Carle)
Novelty: Escaped from Sing-Sing*
Park: Dealers in White Women*
Payton’s Lee Avenue: (Payton Stock Company) What Happened to Jones
Phillips’ Lyceum: (Lyceum Stock Company) The Black Hand
Vaudeville/burlesque: Hyde & Behman’s, Star, Unique, Orpheum,
Gayety, Keeney’s, Watson’s
November 7-12:
Amphion: (Spooner Stock Company #2) Camille (Edna May Spooner)
Bijou: (Spooner Stock Company #1) Pawn Ticket 210 (Cecil Spooner)
Broadway: The Dictator (Willie Collier)
Columbia: (Columbia Stock Company) The Climbers
Folly: The Ninety and Nine
Gotham: Why Girls Leave Home
Grand Opera House: The Volunteer Organist
Majestic: The Errand Boy (Billy B. Van)
Montauk: The Girl from Kays* (Sam Bernard, Hattie Williams)
Novelty: The Flaming Arrow*
Park: The Little Church Around the Corner
Payton’s Lee Avenue: (Payton Stock Company) Josephine, Empress of the French
Phillips’ Lyceum: (Lyceum Stock Company) The Wolves of New York
Vaudeville/burlesque: Hyde & Behman’s, Unique, Star, Gayety,
Keeney’s, Orpheum, Watson’s
November 14-19:
Amphion: (Spooner Stock Company #2) The Adventure of Lady Ursula (Cecil
Spooner)
Bijou: (Spooner Stock Company #1) Up York State (Edna May Spooner)
Broadway: The Yankee Consul (Raymond Hitchcock)
Columbia: (Columbia Stock Company) Woman Against Woman
Folly: Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde; Othello; Richelieu; “The
Bells” (Thomas E. Shea)
Gotham: The Factory Girl*
Grand Opera House: The Missourians*
Majestic: The Bonnie Brier Bush (J. H. Stoddart)
Montauk: The County Chairman* (Maclyn Arbuckle)
Novelty: Kidnapped in New York (Barney Gilmore)
Park: Deserted at the Altar
Payton’s Lee Avenue: (Payton Stock Company) Blue Jeans
Phillips’ Lyceum: (Lyceum Stock Company) Friends
Vaudeville/burlesque: Hyde & Behman’s, Unique, Star, Gayety,
Keeney’s, Orpheum, Watson’s
November 21-26:
Amphion: (Spooner Stock Company #2) Led Astray (Edna May Spooner)
Bijou: (Spooner Stock Company #1) The Irish Post Girl (Cecil Spooner)
Broadway: Checkers (Thomas W. Ross)
Columbia: (Columbia Stock Company) Paul Revere (Richard Buhler)
Folly: The Vacant Chair
Gotham: On Thanksgiving Day
Grand Opera House: Our New Minister
Majestic: Cohen’s Luck (Joe Welch)
Montauk: The Sorceress* (Mrs. Patrick Campbell)
Novelty: Lighthouse by the Sea
Park: The Wayward Son
Payton’s Lee Avenue: (Payton Stock Company) A Trip to Chinatown
Phillips’ Lyceum: (Lyceum Stock Company) The Human Spiders; or, the Power of
Love
Vaudeville/burlesque: Hyde & Behman’s, Unique, Star, Gayety,
Keeney’s Fulton Street, Orpheum, Watson’s
November 28-December 3:
Amphion: Hamlet (Darrel Vinton)
Bijou: (Spooner Stock Company #1) Hands Across the Sea (Edna May
Spooner)
Broadway: The Isle of Spice*
Columbia: (Columbia Stock Company) Virginius
Folly: The Street Singer (Florence Bindley)
Gotham: The Little Church Around the Corner
Grand Opera House: Two Little Sailor Boys
Majestic: Flo Flo* (Stella Mayhew)
Montauk: The Rogers Brothers in Paris* (the Rogers Brothers)
Novelty: The Factory Girl
Park: The Stain of Guilt
Payton’s Lee Avenue: (Payton Stock Company) Rosedale
Phillips’ Lyceum: (Lyceum Stock Company) The Orphan and the Heiress
Vaudeville/burlesque: Hyde & Behman’s, Unique, Star, Gayety,
Keeney’s, Orpheum, Watson’s
1. October 31-November 5. 1904
2. November 7-11. 1904
3. November 14-19, 1904
4. November 21-26, 1904
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