By
Samuel L. Leiter
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.
1901: OCTOBER
1901: NOVEMBER
1901: DECEMBER
The big Brooklyn theatre news in the
month was the opening, on October 14, of yet another vaudeville house, the
Folly, pictured above. Located at the corner of Graham Avenue and Debevoise
Street (near Broadway) in the Eastern District, it was owned by Richard Hyde of
the long-successful Brooklyn vaudeville/variety entrepreneurs Hyde & Behman’s.
Much was made of its being in strict compliance with all the new building laws,
which meant a greater expense to get it built. Its stage was 36X80 feet, large
enough for the most elaborate of sets. Its orchestra held 850 seats, its
balcony 600, and its gallery nearly the same number. Those interested in more
detail, including its decorative, artistic, lighting, plumbing, exterior, and
fire safety features, can find it under “New Folly Theater Is to Be Opened October
14,” Brooklyn Eagle, October 6, 1901.
In 2025, remnants of its exterior seem
to be incorporated in the façade of a T-Mobile store. It was intended as a “music
hall,” and announced, as per Brooklyn Life, that it would be “variety
and not vaudeville. As vaudeville is never in an American ‘vaudeville house,’
but variety,” wrote a reporter, “the distinction hardly distinguishes.” Seats
were at popular prices, with the best going for $.50. It claimed to be the borough’s
“handsomest” venue.
Regardless of the semantics of its theatrical
goals, it took little time before they were altered, when Mr. Hyde leased the
place to the Hyde & Behman corporation in preparation of revising its
policy from vaudeville/variety to legitimate, while another Williamsburg
enterprise run by the same company, the Gayety—primarily a legit house—flipped to
vaudeville. The managers claimed this was their original intent in building the
Folly as a place that could stage even Ben Hur. Its first straight play,
if you could call it that, was the farce titled Mrs. B. O’Shaugnessy (Wash
Lady), starring comic female impersonator George W. Monroe.
Also talked about this month was how
the local high-priced theatres found musical comedy so profitable, having a
monopoly on it in a town where so many theatres had gone over to stock
companies, which were ill-equipped to compete in this field. People who
preferred the “10, 20, 30 cent” ticket costs at these cheap houses made them
more competitive when dramas were involved, since they could sit much closer
than they when visiting the pricier theatres. However, the costs of doing
musicals, from orchestras to choruses to elaborate sets and costumes to
versatile singer-actor-dancers, made it impossible for the stock theatres to get
traction in this field, where expenses ran from $3,000 or $4,000 on up a week.
Thus, the Montauk and the Amphion monopolized such entertainments. Even so, Corse
Payton’s company would occasionally venture to do a quasi-musical Charles Hoyt
satire like A Contented Woman, or the mid-price range theatres—the so-called
“dollar houses,” like the Gayety or Grand Opera House, would do a farce
supported by musical entertainment. Still, any of the more expensive kinds of
musical comedies were way out of their reach.
As to memorable stage events this
month, we can point to the performance of Ethel Barrymore of the great
Barrymore clan of actors making her a noteworthy star in Clyde Fitch’s Captain
Jinks of the Horse Marines, which visited the Montauk. Other theatrical greats
also appeared on local stages, among them the Four Cohans (George M.’s family,
of course), Francis Wilson, and the leading Black entertainers of the day,
Williams and Walker, but their vehicles were already familiar, while Ethel
Barrymore’s was a “novelty” for Brooklynites.
1.
September
30-October 5, 1901
Bijou: Sons
of Ham, with Bert Williams, George Walker
Brooklyn
Academy of Music: Humpty Dumpty and the Black Dwarf
Columbia:
(Greenwall Stock Company) Fanchon, the Cricket
Criterion:
(Baker Stock Company) Captain Swift
Gayety: The
Dairy Farm
Gotham: (Gotham
Stock Company) Wife for Wife
Grand
Opera House: The Girl from Maxim’s
Montauk: The
Brixton Burglary
Park:
(Spooner Stock Company) The Butterflies
Payton’s:
(Payton Theatre Company) The Banker’s Daughter
Vaudeville
and burlesque: Hyde & Behman’s, Novelty, Star, Orpheum, Theatre Unique
2.
October
7-12, 1901
Amphion: The
Strollers, with Francis Wilson
Bijou: Lost
in the Desert
Columbia:
(Greenwall Stock Company) Northern Lights
Criterion (Baker
Stock Company) What Happened to Jones
Gayety: Two
Little Vagrants
Grand
Opera House: The Governor’s Son, with the Four Cohans
Gotham: Lynwood
Montauk: Captain
Jinks of the Horse Marines, with Ethel Barrymore
Park:
(Spooner Stock Company) Madame Sans Gene
Payton’s:
(Payton Theatre Company) Peaceful Valley
Phillips’
Lyceum: (Lyceum Stock Company) Hoodman Blind
Vaudeville
and burlesque: Hyde & Behman’s, Novelty, Star, Orpheum, Theatre Unique
3.
October
14-19, 1901
Amphion:
The Christian
Bijou:
In Australia
Columbia:
(Greenwall Stock Company) Siberia
Criterion:
(Baker Stock Company) Nell Gwynne
Gayety:
Happy Hooligan
Grand
Opera House: The Heart of Maryland, with Amelia Bingham Company
Gotham:
(Gotham Stock Company) East Lynne
Montauk:
The King’s Carnival
Park: (Spooner Stock Company) The
Jilt
Payton’s:
(Payton Theatre Company) Darkest Russia
Phillips’s
Lyceum: (Lyceum Stock Company) The Moonshiners
Vaudeville
and burlesque: Hyde & Behman’s, Novelty, Star, Theatre Unique, Folly (opens
for vaudeville)
4.
October
21-26, 1901
Amphion: The
Brixton Burglary
Bijou: Happy
Hooligan
Columbia:
(Greenwall Stock Company) La Tosca
Criterion:
(Baker Stock Company) Because I Love You, “Betsy”
Gayety: The
Heart of Maryland, with Helene Wintner
Grand
Opera House: Winchester
Gotham:
(Gotham Stock Company) The Octoroon
Montauk: The
Rogers Brothers in Washington, with the Rogers Brothers
Park: (Spooner
Stock Company) On the Wabash
Payton’s:
(Payton Theatre Company) A Contented Woman
Phillips’
Lyceum: (Lyceum Stock Company) The Strategists
Vaudeville
and burlesque: Hyde & Behman’s, Star, Novelty, Orpheum, Unique, Folly
5.
October
28-November 2, 1901
Amphion: Up
York State, with David Higgins
Bijou: Home
Sweet Home
Columbia:
(Greenwall Stock Company) My Partner
Criterion:
(Baker Stock Company) Dr. Bill
Gayety: Sons
of Ham, with Bert Williams, George Walker
Grand
Opera House: Mrs. B. O’Shaugnessy (Wash Lady), with George W. Monroe
Gotham:
(Gotham Stock Company) Ten Nights in a Barroom
Montauk: The
Climbers, with Amelia Bingham Company
Park:
(Spooner Stock Company) The Adventures of Lady Ursula
Payton’s:
(Payton Theatre Company) Held by the Enemy
Phillips’
Lyceum: (Lyceum Stock Company) Passion’s Slave
Vaudeville
and burlesque: Hyde & Behman’s, Star, Novelty, Orpheum, Folly
No comments:
Post a Comment