Grace George
(1879-1961), a famous actress often referred to as a “Brooklyn girl,” because
she was raised there, although born in Manhattan.
By
Samuel L. Leiter
For comprehensive background on
Brooklyn’s pre-20th-century theatre history please see my
book, Brooklyn Takes the Stage: Nineteenth-Century Theater in
the City of Churches (McFarland:
2024) and my blog, “Annals of the Brooklyn Stage.” The latter is a week by week description of theatre
activity in Brooklyn; obviously, it will expand rather slowly because so much
must be described and the present blog will be occupying my attention until
live theatre in Brooklyn begins to fade over the early decades of the 20th century,
dying out by the 1930s.
The entries in this blog began
as annual ones, for 1898 and 1899. Because of the large amount of memory used,
which made editing them problematic, subsequent entries were shortened so they
covered only several months at a time, but these too needed to be shortened.
Thus, beginning with 1901: September, all entries cover a single month.
The quickest way to find any of these entries is probably to click on the
following link, where links to everything prior to its date are provided: 1901: DECEMBER
The wheels of
theatre production ground slowly to a halt as May progressed, stopping for good
in early June. The month had not been especially noteworthy for its stage
activity, although Buffalo Bill’s Wild West show packed them in at Halsey
Street and Saratoga Avenue in Bedford-Stuyvesant. Its major developments included
the move of the Spooner Stock Company from the Park to the larger Bijou, and to
the appearances in florid romantic melodramas of two of the leading highbrow
stars of the day, Julia Marlowe in When Knighthood Was in Flower and
Otis Skinner in Francesca da Rimini. Blanche Bates set hearts racing with
her horseback rescue in Between Two Flags and actor-singer Chauncey
Olcott once again enchanted with his light comedy Irish romancing in Garret
O’Magh. And how can we forget yet another visit from that grand old family,
the Four Cohans, mom, dad, sister Josephine, and son George in yet another
visit from The Governor’s Son.
Meanwhile,
theatre after theatre, facing the coming heat, shut its doors, as theatregoers sought
the sea breezes to cool them at Brooklyn’s fabled warm weather resorts in
Bergen, Manhattan, and Brighton Beaches, where musical and vaudeville shows took
on the task of entertaining the borough’s residents and visitors in the good
old summertime.
1. May
5-10, 1902
a
Amphion: When Knighthood Was in Flower, with Julia
Marlowe
Bijou: (Spooner Stock Company) Trelawney of the Wells;
first production here by the Spooners after leaving the Park
Blaney’s: (Blaney’s All-Star Stock Company) The Lost
Trail
Columbia: Il Trovatore, Carmen, with Murray-Lane
Company
Folly: The Governor’s Son, with the Four Cohans
Gotham: (Gotham Stock Company) Blue Grass of Old Kentucky
Grand Opera House: The
Sign of the Cross, with Charles Dalton
Montauk: Francesca da Rimini, with Otis Skinner
Park: Closed after Spooner Stock Company moves to new
quarters at the Bijou
Payton’s: (Payton Theatre Company) Christopher, Jr.
Phillips’ Lyceum: (Lyceum Stock Company) Shamus O’Brien
Vaudeville and burlesque: Hyde & Behman’s, Star, Gayety,
Unique, Orpheum
1.
May 12-17, 1902
Amphion: Closed for season
Bijou: (Spooner Stock Company) My Brother’s Sister
Blaney’s: (Blaney All-Star Stock Company) The Blue and
the Gray
Columbia: (Greenwall Stock Company returns) Reaping the
Whirlwind
Folly: Garrett O’Magh, with Chauncey Olcott
Gotham: (Gotham Stock Company) A Great Hero
Grand Opera House: Closed for season
Montauk: Under Two Flags, with Blanche Bates
Park: Closed for season
Payton’s: (Payton Theatre Company) Drifted Apart
Phillips’ Lyceum: (Lyceum Stock Company) Roxana’s Claim
Vaudeville and burlesque: Hyde & Behman’s, Star, Gayety,
Unique, Orpheum
2.
May 19-24, 1902
Theatres not listed are closed for the season
Bijou: (Spooner Stock Company) The Masqueraders
Columbia: (Greenwall Stock Company) Jeanne di Barri,
with Jessaline Rogers
Folly: When London Sleeps
Payton’s: (Payton Theatre Company away; replaced by visiting
company) Ten Nights In a Bar-Room
Phillips’ Lyceum: (Lyceum Stock Company) The Sleeping
City
Vaudeville and burlesque: Hyde & Behman’s, Star, Gayety,
Unique, Orpheum (bgins summer season of light opera with Milton Aborn Company)
3.
May 26-31, 1902
Bijou: (Spooner’s Stock Company) The Princess of Patches
Payton’s: (Payton Theatre Company) Only a Farmer’s
Daughter
Phillips’ Lyceum: (Lyceum Stock Company) Hi Hubbard
Vaudeville and burlesque: Hyde & Behman’s, Star, Gayety,
Unique, Orpheum
All but two legitimate theatres, Payton’s and the Bijou,
close now for the summer, and so, gradually, do the nonlegits, while summer
theatres showing comic opera and vaudeville perform at theatres in Bergen,
Manhattan, and Brighton Beaches.
The final legitimate plays of the season are:
4.
June 2-June 7, 1902
Bijou: A Daughter of the South
Payton’s: (Payton’s Theatre Company) As You Like It
