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
1902: DECEMBER
In November 1892, it seemed that all anybody in Brooklyn
theatre circles could talk of was Eleanora Duse, the great Italian actress who
was then making her third US tour, opening on Broadway on November 10. However,
never during the four tours she made to this country (1893-94; 1896; 1902; and
1923-24) did she play in Brooklyn. The Brooklyn critics filled their columns
with detailed and often passionate examinations of her talent, comparing her to
the foremost American leading ladies then visible on Broadway, like Mrs. Fiske
and Viola Allen, who were to visit Brooklyn soon. Otherwise, November 1902 saw a
procession of mostly familiar melodramas, farces, and musicals, some revisiting
the borough after multiple earlier bookings. Even old Joe Jefferson was still
snoring through Rip Van Winkle on his annual visit. Among the few works
with fresh titles, if not contents were The Honor of the Humble, with
James O’Neill trying once again to cast off the cloak of Monte Cristo,
and A Gentleman of France, with British star Kyrle Bellew, in its second
Brooklyn week (at a different venue).
The O’Neill play was a revised version of a play adapted
from the French of Pierre Newsky and Alexandre Dumas fils, originally produced
at New York’s Union Square Theatre in 1877. It dealt with Russian serfs in 1800,
with the star—usually in more dashing raiment—playing a serf in love with
another of that class, and having to contend with a master who also loves the
girl. O’Neill had played the role in that first version, and was now, 25 years longer
in the tooth, trying to work up renewed interest in it, but it never did make
it across the river. The Eagle was enthralled by O’Neill’s “virile,
skillful acting.” “He is of the fine old school, where actors know how to produce
large effects without violence, and when it was a part of the trade to speak
the English language with elegance and distinction as well as feeling.”
Of anecdotal interest this month is what happened during
the third act of Blood Atonement at the Gotham Theatre. The Eagle described
it:
During the duel on the bridge in which the hero, Romoa,
defends the honor and safety of the heroine, to an accompaniment of thunder and
lightning, the bridge broke squarely in the middle, and David Conger, who plays
the hero’s part, fell four or five feet.
Conger, who is more or less of a matinee idol, struck
heavily on his side and was so badly shaken up that the curtain had to be wrung
down at once. The most amusing part . . . was that the audience thought it was
all a part of the play and applauded most vigorously.
Conger thought at first that he was badly injured, but the
physician who was called in looked him over and pronounced him perfectly sound.
His nerves were so badly shattered, however, that he could not take his part in
the next act. . . . It was when the stage manager made this announcement that the
audience first became aware of the accident. Conger was all right last night
and took his regular part.
1.
November 3-8, 1902
Amphion: Tom Moore, with Andrew Mack
Bijou: (Spooner Stock Company) The Jilt
Blaney’s: (Blaney’s All-Star Stock Company) The
Stranglers of Paris
Columbia: (Greenwall Stock Company) Mr. Barnes of New
York
Folly: The White Slave
Gotham: (Gotham Stock Company) The Face at the Window
Grand Opera House: The Chaperons
Montauk: The Toreador, with Francis Wilson
Park: Searchlights of a Great City
Payton’s: (Payton Theatre Company) Josephine, Empress of
the French
Phillips’ Lyceum: (Lyceum Stock Company) The Lion’s Heart
Vaudeville and burlesque: Hyde & Behman’s, Star,
Orpheum, Gayety, Unique
2.
November 10-15, 1902
Amphion: The Honor of the Humble, with James O’Neill
Bijou: (Spooner Stock Company) The Cherry Pickers
Blaney’s: (Blaney’s All-Star Stock Company) The World
Against Her
Columbia: (Greenwall Stock Company) Camille
Folly: For Her Children’s Sake
Gotham: (Gotham Stock Company) Blood Atonement
Grand Opera House: The Governor’s Son, with the Four
Cohans
Montauk: The Rogers Brothers at Harvard, with the Rogers
Brothers
Park: The Bandit King
Payton’s: (Payton Theatre Company) The Guilty Mother
Phillips’ Lyceum: (Lyceum Stock Company) A Bowery Girl
Vaudeville and burlesque: Hyde & Behman’s, Star,
Orpheum, Gayety, Unique
3.
November 17-22, 1902
Amphion: Foxy Grandpa, with Joseph Hart, Carrie DeMar
Bijou: (Spooner Stock Company) Caprice
Blaney’s: (Blaney’s All-Star Stock Company) The Woman in
Black
Columbia: (Greenwall Stock Company) Hoodman Blind
Folly: A Ragged Hero
Gotham: (Gotham Stock Company) Man’s Enemy
Grand Opera House: For Her Children’s Sake
Montauk: Rip Van Winkle, The Rivals, with
Joseph Jefferson
Park: The Counterfeiters
Payton’s: (Payton Theatre Company) Peaceful Valley
Phillips’ Lyceum: (Lyceum Stock Company) A Runaway Wife
Vaudeville and burlesque: Hyde & Behman’s, Star,
Orpheum, Gayety, Unique
4.
November 24-29, 1902
Amphion: A Gentleman of France, with Kyrle Bellew
Bijou: (Spooner Stock Company) The New South
Blaney’s: (Blaney’s All-Star Stock Company) My Lady Nell
Brooklyn Academy of Music: ‘Way Down East
Columbia: (Greenwall Stock Company) Under the Red Robe
Folly: The Chaperons
Gotham: (Gotham Stock Company) For Fair Virginia
Grand Opera House: Sky Farm
Montauk: The Mummy and the Hummingbird, with John Drew
Park: A Ragged Hero
Payton’s: (Payton Theatre Company) The Two Orphans
Phillips’ Lyceum: (Lyceum Stock Company) Under Sealed Orders
Vaudeville and burlesque: Hyde & Behman’s, Star,
Orpheum, Gayety, Unique
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