1907: OCTOBER

 

Anna Held.

In October 1907, Brooklynites desperate for an evening of significant, serious, perhaps even classic drama in a borough theatre would have had no alternative than to visit Antonio Maiori’s new Royal Italian Theatre at Pearl and Willoughby Streets during its first full month of activity. There, provided they understood Italian, they might have appreciated The Merchant of Venice, Othello, and Hamlet, starring Maiori, who boasted of a repertory of over 200 roles. Otherwise, they would have had to deal with the usual commercial fluff of melodrama, comedy, and musicals, sometimes all in one show.

The big new title visiting Brooklyn was The Follies of 1907, the inaugural revue in what would gain lasting fame as The Ziegfeld Follies, which had enjoyed great success on Broadway during the summer at the Jardin de Paris, a rooftop resort above the New York Theatre. It was such a hit that multiple companies went on the road with it, while its Boston production at the Colonial Theatre was breaking records. According to Brooklyn Life (October 12), “As its name implies, it is a jumble of fun and music that constitutes a sort of review of the past season on the metropolitan stage,” much as the Forbidden Broadway series was to do later in the century.

Among the items for which it was known were the Anna Held drummer girls who marched down the aisles, considered a great novelty, and a peacock ballet. Brooklyn was also treated to La Belle Dazie, a famous danseuse, as she was dubbed, whose performance included a Salomé number (all the rage), and others onboard included vaudevillians Bickel and Watson, Grace Leigh, Annabelle Whitford and Grace La Rue. The gorgeous costuming, soon to become a Ziegfeld asset, were widely noted.

Referring to “the road,” by the way, brings to mind a comment in Brooklyn Life (September 28) with regard to a musical comedy that was successful enough during the recent summer to warrant a road company for the winter months. The writer claims that “Brooklyn is still “the road” in theatrical parlance,” regardless of its nearness to Broadway, “and only last spring one of the so-called stars refused to play here because she claimed that her engagement was only for the New York run.” Obviously, despite Brooklyn having become part of New York City in 1898, it was still the sticks for some.

That opinion, thank goodness, was not widely held, as witness the genuine stars and wannabes who regularly crossed the river to play in the Borough of Churches. Those who came and played in October included comedian Nat M. Wills, world champion pugilist-turned-thespian James J. Corbett, Digby Bell (in the perennial Shore Acres), musical comedienne Lulu Glaser, even bigger musical comedienne Anna Held, Brooklyn girl Grace George, and leading man John Barrymore.

Held, of Jewish background, was born in Warsaw, Poland,, but presented herself as French, as in the then current hit, A Parisian Model. This was ironic, as it was seen in Brooklyn the same month that Florenz Ziegfeld (her common-law husband) brought over his Follies, which Held’s glamor inspired but in which—despite its many annual editions—she never appeared.

Barrymore, twenty-five and gaining fame in light comedy where his looks and charm were major assets, had been seen locally before in supporting roles. Now, he starred in a comedy called The Boys of Company B. The Citizen (October 8) observed of this future great, “[W]hatever applause was bestowed seemed to be given to John Barrymore, who succeeded Arnold Daly in the central role, Tony Allen. Young Barrymore demonstrated one thing, however, more than in any other play in which he has been seen, and that is that he gives promise of becoming a clever comedian. He has an intelligent sense of humor and like his sister, Ethel, has marked mannerisms.” The Eagle agreed, but added, “At times he suggests his uncle, John Drew, even as a groggy-legged colt resembles the great race horse whose blood he carries. What he lacks is his uncle’s beautiful method, but that is not acquired in a year or a decade.”

The theatrical profession, then as now, could not keep provide enough jobs for the thousands who dreamed of being on the stage. It was noted this season that an unusually large number of capable, experienced Broadway actresses were currently unemployed. A major reason was that the number of legitimate offerings was falling off because of the rising tide of vaudeville. Another reason ventured was the increasing emphasis over the past several years on looks over talent, particularly in musicals, which preferred to save salary costs by hiring pretty novices over more competent performers. None of this stopped the hordes of young women seeking a stage career from packing the offices of theatrical agents. It was noted that many earned their livings as department store salesgirls.

Many male actors appeared to be losing out on roles because they didn’t fit the appearance or temperament of what the playwrights had in mind, a situation made worse by the declining lack of versatility. If you didn’t look the part, said H. Delmar French of the Citizen (October 13), you didn’t get the job. On the other hand, being a hit in a singular role could easily condemn an actor to being seen as a one-type wonder, unable to play any other. No small number of talented players toured for years in the same one-play repertory.

The plays of the time continued to be churned out to common themes and even common titles. If one were to go begin in checking from 1898 and list all the plays in which the word “girls” of “girl” appears, it would need lots space to hold them all. This month alone had two, The Earl and the Girl, and The Banker, the Thief and the Girl. Variations, like “lady” and “daughter” add many more examples. As for themes, the Wild West continued to grow in appeal as it grew less and less wild. One cowboy play followed the other, few achieving the renown of The Virginian or The Great Divide, the latter so successful Brooklyn had to wait until November 1908 before one of its three touring companies arrived. Many of these Westerns advertised not only cowboys and full-blooded Indians, but even bucking broncos. This month was especially prolific of such boots and saddle dramas, including Gambler of the West, Wild Nell, a Child of the Regiment, Through Death Valley, and Bunco, Arizona.

Their scenery usually displayed visions of the untamed Western outdoors, with no end of melodramatic images. In Gambler of the West, for example, the Daily Times of September 28 advised potential audiences they would see,

Besides a realistic prairie fire scene and an aurora borealis display, a band of Indians and cowboys, a stage coach that traverses the plains, a trick horse that raises the American flag, thus giving the signal for the attack on the camp of outlaws; the plight of the heroine bound to a tree and an Indian torturing her by throwing bowie knives at her. . . .

In Through Death Valley there was a scene when the hero of the melodrama, a prisoner of the bad guys, is tied to a stake, his head directly facing a captive snake, and a storm brewing. The villain waits for the snake to lash out and bite, the victim to be writhing in agony. As thunder rumbles and the suspense thickens, the snake darts its head toward the man’s face as he makes a desperate attempt to get free. At the moment the snake’s fangs are going to sink into flesh, lightning flashes and a rifle shot shatters the silence as the victim’s faithful friend shoots off the reptile’s head!

The principal theatre news of the month was the ever more contentious conflict between a fiery clergyman, the Rev. Canon William Sheafe Chase, and the theatrical managements over the performance of shows and moving pictures at Sunday “concerts,” still sometimes called “sacred,” when there was nothing of the sort about them. Thus far, all of Chase’s efforts had failed. The manager and another employee, given variously as either the ticket taker or advertising agent, of the recently closed Shubert had been accused of breaking the law, but it seemed the case would not be called until “the robins nest again,” but it was believed there was little chance the charges would stick. Meanwhile, several theatres continued to offer Sunday evening shows to full houses, albeit while waiting for the reverend to attack them, insisting that they are not breaking the law nor did they wish to.

The situation grew tenser when, after Supreme Court Judge Kelly a challenge to the law reached the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court this month. Managerial anger flared against those few who would dictate for the masses how they should spend their leisure hours on Sundays. One manager insisted his Sunday earnings allowed him to do shows because the proceeds went into a “benefit fund.”

Then, on October 19, a Saturday, Marc Klaw, leading syndicate manager, and co-owner, with Abe Erlanger, his partner in the United States Amusement Company, of the Shubert Theatre, appeared in response to the summons issued when the Shubert gave a Sunday performance on September 8. That performance had led to the arrest of the theatre’s manager and another employee, leading, it was claimed, to the theatre’s closing.

Klaw, who appeared quite “chummy” with Chase, according to the Eagle (October 19), came with three high-powered lawyers who said nothing as he monopolized attention. The Eagle reporter was stunned by how “nice” both sides were to one another. But, it being Saturday with no stenographer to be found, the hearing was adjourned to November 7. Still, Klaw was permitted to deliver his lengthy prepared remarks, which he did from memory with the document kept in his pocket, the effect seeming to be extemporaneous. It was reprinted in full in the Eagle.

Klaw, himself an attorney, argued that, while he personally saw no harm in Sunday entertainments, and believed that they did not harm the morals of the community, he thought it would be best to submit the issue to the population at large, although he did not use the word referendum. His point, however, was that Sunday shows were either breaking the law or not breaking the law, and that the law covered all, not selected, theatres. He dismissed the notion that a performance would be acceptable if done without costumes, makeup, or scenery as “puerile.” You must do it as at other paid performances, not issue “counterfeits.”

Either all theatres should be open on Sunday or all should be closed. At present, the situation“is simply a cloak for official favoritism, judicial complications and an invitation for graft.” Therefore, until a law that doesn’t allow for interference is passed, all Sunday shows should be closed. Klaw said he spoke as an individual citizen, not as part of a corporation, but that the corporation would nevertheless mount a defense, which was its right. He said he’d seen no evidence that the current prosecutions were sincere. He took issue with a certain minister’s accusation that the syndicate was responsible for the Sunday shows, explaining how the one Broadway theatre giving such shows in which the syndicate had an interest ended its Sunday performances at the syndicate’s request and did not reopen them all year. Meanwhile, no other theatre was prevented from doing such shows during the same period. He insisted, “We do not propose to be made the goat while all others are browsing in the green pastures of Sunday night performances.”

To which the Magistrate Dooley said, with “official gravity,” that his job was only to determine if “the law in this case” had been violated, which would be dealt with in November. Canon Chase said he agreed with Klaw’s personal opinion and that it would be a good idea to gather the other managers and learn their reactions to Klaw’s speech, an unlikely proposition, but one that didn’t prevent those assembled from shaking hands warmly before departing.

The details are too complex to go into here, but, by and large, the blue laws in New York City, which also allowed professional sports matches on Sundays, had to wait until 1919, when Sunday movie performances were legalized. (The first legal professional baseball games on Sunday were held at Ebbets Field in Brooklyn and the Polo Grounds in the Bronx.) Such blue laws exist but are rare today. In Massachusetts, for example, you cannot offer paid entertainments on Sunday without a license; thus performance is regulated, not forbidden. But blue laws preventing certain activities, such as retail sales of certain types of items in Bergen County, New Jersey, continue to exist, even if spottily, or with lax enforcement.

Also newsworthy was the near completion of the great engineering feat of moving the old Montauk Theatre, month by month, inch by inch, west along the south side of Fulton Street from its site halfway down the block from Flatbush (where the Mays Department store later stood), across Flatbush Avenue Extension, where it turned left, to its new site across the extension, midway up the block between Fulton and DeKalb, its rear to face Hudson Street, around the block. This new thoroughfare, reaching from Fulton to the eventual Manhattan Bridge (opened in 1910), was considered a major development in downtown Brooklyn, and the Eagle (October 13) ran a detailed story about its scope and meaning, including an illustration of what the section with the theatre would look like when finished. 

In 1908, when the transported theatre reopened, the location did not end up looking quite as planned, however. Still, the location was a junction where numerous surface transportation lines converged, a situation to be supplemented by the forthcoming subway lines running down Flatbush and Fulton. This surely helped the theatre—originally to be called the Sagamore Theatre, but named the Crescent instead—survive until 1940. We will revisit it, of course, when it finally reaches its destination, is fully renovated (most of its interior having been emptied for the move), and opens in September, 

September 30-October 5, 1907

Bijou: Dublin Dan, the Irish Detective, with Barney Gilmore

Blaney’s Amphion: Jessie Left the Village

Broadway: Brown of Harvard, with Henry Woodruff

Columbia: It’s Never Too Late to Mend; or, the Wanderer’s Return

Folly: Gambler of the West

Majestic: A Lucky Dog, with Nat M. Wills

Montauk: Fascinating Flora, with Adele Ritchie

Payton’s Lee Avenue: (Payton Lee Avenue Stock Company) Old Orchard

Phillips’ Lyceum: (Lyceum Stock Company) A Man’s Broken Promise

Royal Italian Theatre: War in the Time of Peace (Guerro in Tempo di Pace), Hamlet

Vaudeville and burlesque: Keeney’s, Olympic, Novelty, Orpheum, Star, Gayety, Grand Opera House, Gotham

October 7-12, 1907

Bijou: Bertha, the Sewing Machine Girl

Blaney’s Amphion: A Fugitive from Justice

Broadway: The Boys of Company B, with John Barrymore

Columbia: Wild Nell, A Child of the Regiment, with Vivian Prescott

Folly: The Burglar and the Lady, with James J. Corbett

Majestic: Shore Acres, with Digby Bell

Montauk: The Parisian Model, with Anna Held

Payton’s Lee Avenue: (Payton Lee Avenue Stock Company) Leah, the Forsaken

Phillips’ Lyceum: (Lyceum Stock Company) Her Only Crime

Royal Italian Theatre: Hamlet, The Merchant of Venice

Vaudeville and burlesque: Keeney’s, Olympic, Novelty, Orpheum, Star, Gayety, Grand Opera House, Gotham

October 14-19, 1907

Bijou: Through Death Valley

Blaney’s Amphion: Kidnapped for Revenge, with Will H. Vedder

Broadway: The Tattooed Man, with Frank Daniels

Columbia: The Way of the Transgressor

Folly: Fallen By the Wayside

Majestic: The Spoilers

Montauk: The Follies of 1907 (a.k.a. The Ziegfeld Follies)

Payton’s Lee Avenue: (Payton Lee Avenue Stock Company) Men and Women

Phillips’ Lyceum: (Lyceum Stock Company) A Man of Mystery

Royal Italian Theatre: The Merchant of Venice, A Celebrated Case

Vaudeville and burlesque: Keeney’s, Olympic, Novelty, Orpheum, Star, Gayety, Grand Opera House, Gotham

October 21-26, 1907

Bijou: The Banker, the Thief and the Girl, with Joseph Morris

Blaney’s Amphion: Through Death Valley

Broadway: Divorcons, with Grace George

Columbia: Bunco in Arizona, with Lillian Mortimer

Folly: Edna, the Pretty Typewriter, with Edith Browning

Majestic: At Yale

Montauk: Lola, from Berlin, with Lulu Glaser

Payton’s Lee Avenue: (Payton Lee Avenue Stock Company) Janice Meredith

Phillips’ Lyceum: (Lyceum Stock Company) A Crown of Thorns

Royal Italian Theatre: The Lamplighter (L’Ampionaro dil Porto), Othello

Vaudeville and burlesque: Keeney’s, Olympic, Novelty, Orpheum, Star, Gayety, Grand Opera House, Gotham

October 28-November 2, 1907

Bijou: The Little Organ Grinder

Blaney’s Amphion: Dublin Dan, the Irish Detective, with Barney Gilmore

Broadway: The Follies of 1907

Columbia: The Convict and the Girl

Folly: A Lucky Dog, with Nat M. Wills

Majestic: The Earl and the Girl

Montauk: The Rich Mr. Hoggenheimer, with Sam Bernard

Payton’s Lee Avenue: (Payton Lee Avenue Stock Company) The Undertow

Phillips’ Lyceum: (Lyceum Stock Company) Woman Against Woman

Royal Italian Theatre: ?

Vaudeville and burlesque: Keeney’s, Olympic, Novelty, Orpheum, Star, Gayety, Grand Opera House, Gotham