4. 1900: SEPTEMBER THROUGH OCTOBER
Novelty
Theatre, Williamsburg
For further
background on Brooklyn’s 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.
For previous entries,
click on:
Note: henceforth, because of technical issues related to the many images used, these entries will be limited to two months each.
The last four months of 1900 continued the trends we’ve already seen—an emphasis
on the lighter forms of drama, and lots of nonlegitimate entertainment at both
the dedicated vaudeville and burlesque houses, as well as sometimes on the
legit stages. Many plays, like the farce called A Hot Old Time, starring
the Rays, had been seen locally on multiple occasions; had their frequent visits all been part of an open run they would have come to hefty totals.
However, these were all touring plays, and one-week visits were most common, two
becoming more so, and three rare. Some of these shows had been on the road for
several years, and their casts had changed considerably.
The emphasis on familiar shows—even warhorses like The Old Homestead,
with which Denman Thompson had been almost perpetually touring—meant that
Brooklyn was not getting as many novelties (as shows not previously seen there
before were called) as it deserved. While the biggest hits usually managed to
arrive in Brooklyn at some point, many more—given the enormous amount of theatrical
activity on the other side of the bridge—never made the trip. The local press,
however, usually commented on them, and Brooklynites, with the improved
transportation facilities coming into use, were visiting them more than ever.
The Park Theatre remained out of commission, depriving the Western District of that
venerable playhouse’s services; on the other hand, Corse Payton’s Stock Company,
which had begun life with surprising success in the Western District in the Spring,
now brought back to life the Lee Avenue Academy of Music, supplementing the
Eastern District’s team of the Amphion and the Gayety. Payton is said to have
spent a fortune renovating the place, which had been closed for several years,
after a distinguished history; Payton’s Theatre was practically a new theatre. On
the other hand, the Brooklyn Academy of Music, while contributing a few shows
to the Spring season, offered nothing to theatre lovers in the fall, other than
opera and concerts.
As for the several visiting star actors brightening Brooklyn’s firmament,
the brightest of those not yet very familiar locally was Otis Skinner in the
hit play, Prince Otto. Of course, there were other famous actors seen
locally, like Julia Marlowe, but most notable was William Gillette in Sherlock
Holmes, his hugely successful adaptation of material created by Sir Arthur
Conan Doyle. In 1900, the tall, slender, handsome Gillette was America’s most
distinguished actor, his position further amplified by his playwriting prowess.
1. August
27-September 1, 1900
Bijou: The Bowery After Dark (opens Saturday, September
1)
Gayety: The Telephone Girl (opens Saturday,
September 1)
Grand Opera House: The Heart of Maryland (opens
Saturday, September 1)
Payton’s: (formerly Lee Avenue Academy of Music; stock;
opens Saturday, September 1), The Girl I Left Behind Me
Vaudeville and burlesque: Hyde & Behman’s, Al
Reeves’ Music Hall (formerly the Criterion), Brooklyn Music Hall, Empire, Star
(opened August 20)
2. September
10-15, 1900
Bijou: Shenandoah
Gayety: The Heart of Maryland
Grand Opera House: The Telephone Girl
Payton’s: The Prodigal Daughter
Vaudeville and burlesque: Hyde & Behman’s, Al Reeves’
Music Hall, Brooklyn Music Hall, Empire, Star, Novelty
3. September
17-22, 1900
Bijou: M’Liss
Gayety: Shenandoah
Grand Opera House: Mrs. B. Shaughnessy,
with George W. Monroe
Payton’s: (stock) Quo Vadis
Vaudeville and burlesque: Hyde & Behman’s, Al Reeves’
Music Hall, Brooklyn Music Hall, Empire, Star, Novelty
4. September
24-29, 1900
Bijou: The Angel of the Alley
Columbia: Woman and Wine
Gayety: Mrs. B. O’Shaughnessy
Grand Opera House: A Hole in the Ground
Montauk: Naughty Anthony, “Madame Butterfly,”
with Charles E. Evans
Payton’s: (stock) The Private Secretary
Vaudeville and burlesque: Hyde & Behman’s, Al Reeves’
Music Hall, Brooklyn Music Hall, Empire, Star, Novelty
5. October
1-6, 1900
Amphion: On the Quiet, with Willie Collier
Bijou: The Gunner’s Mate
Columbia: The Viceroy, The Serenade, Robin
Hood, with the Bostonians
Gayety: A Hole in the Ground
Grand Opera House: The Girl from Maxim’s
Montauk: Barbara Frietchie, with Julia Marlowe
Payton’s: (stock) The Parisian Princess, Drifted
Apart
6. October
8-13, 1900
Amphion: The Pride of Jennico, with James K.
Hackett
Bijou: Sons of Ham, with Bert Williams and
George Walker
Columbia: Hearts Are Trumps
Gayety: Dairy Farm
Grand Opera House: The Slaves of the Orient
Montauk: Sherlock Holmes, with Wiliam Gillette
Payton’s: (stock) Aristocracy
Vaudeville and burlesque: Hyde & Behman’s, Al
Reeves’ Music Hall, Brooklyn Music Hall, Empire, Star, Novelty
7. October
15-20, 1900
Amphion: Woman and Wine
Bijou: Two Little Vagrants
Columbia: Hearts Are Trumps
Gayety: A Man from the West, with James J. Jeffries
(boxing champion)
Grand Opera House: A Hot Old Time, with Johnny
and Emma Ray
Montauk: Sherlock Holmes, with William Gillette
Payton’s: (stock) East Lynne, The Plunger
8. October
22-27, 1900
Amphion: Prince Otto, with Otis Skinner
Bijou: King of the Opium Ring
Columbia: The Old Homestead, with Denman Thompson
Gayety: A Hot Old Time, Johnny and Emma Ray
Grand Opera House: The Rounders, with Thomas Q.
Seabrooke
Montauk: The Monks of Malabar, with Francis
Wilson
Payton’s: Jim, the Penman
Vaudeville and burlesque: Hyde & Behman’s, Al
Reeves’ Music Hall, Brooklyn Music Hall, Empire, Star, Novelty
9. October
29-November 3, 1900
Amphion: Theodora
Bijou: Man’s Enemy, with Dorothy Rossmore
Columbia: All on Account of Eliza, with Louis
Mann, Clara Lipman
Gayety: Siberia
Grand Opera House: Le Voyage en Suisse
Montauk: My Daughter-in-Law, with Herbert
Kelcey, Effie Shannon
Payton’s: (stock) A Gilded Fool
Vaudeville and burlesque: Hyde & Behman’s, Al
Reeves’ Music Hall, Brooklyn Music Hall, Empire, Star, Novelty
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