A HISTORICAL TOUR OF THE GREATEST STREET IN THE WORLD.......BROADWAY
AMUSEMENT PLACES BELOW UNION SQUARE.. Pre 1911
To give a list of the theatres, of the plays, and of the people that
appeared in them would be to write a history of the New York Stage; the
writer can only lightly touch upon the many that have filled so large a part
of New York life. In the preparation of this information, the writer
acknowledges his indebtness to "The History of the New York Stage, by Thomas
Allston Brown, published in three volumes by Dodd, Mead & Co. in 1903.
1. MISCELLANEOUS INFORMATION
The first theatre of any consequence to open after the Revolution was
the Park Theatre, opposite City Hall Park in Park Row in 1798. As Broadway
grew, the theatres grew with it; but there is not now a theatre on Broadway
below Twenty-eighth Street. The circus seems to have been more popular
before 1860 than at present, for there are records of several occupying the
vacant lots of the thoroughfare before that time; some of these developed
later into theatres, as in the case of Niblo's Garden. The same degree of
popularity also extended to the negro minstrels; for while today there is
not a permanent minstrel show on Broadway, if in the city, in those earlier
days there were several companies occupying Broadway houses at the same
time___Christy, Dan Bryant, Kelly and Leon, Campbell, Wood, Pell and
Trowbridge, Morris Brothers, and many more.
Barnum did not rebuild at Ann Street after the fire, but moved
up-town. The site was taken by James Gordon Bennett, Senior, April 19, 1867,
and the New York Herald was published here until August, 1893, when it
removed to Thirty-fifth Street. Then the towering St. Paul Building was
erected on the vacated site at Ann Street.
2. THE GARDENS
The New Yorker of the earlier day was fond of taking his amusements in
gardens: and of these we find records of a great many, not only on Broadway,
but elsewhere. Here concerts of music were given, exhibitions on the tight
and slack ropes, displays of magic, and light plays. Besides these, there
were the natural and artificial beauties of trees, plants, and flowers, and
the enticements of shady nooks in which were served ices and other light
refreshments. These gardens were eminently respectable and were visited by
the best people. Many a gentle flirtation was carried on in these delightful
places, and many a wedding ensued in consequence; nor were they ignorant of
settlements in accordance with the code of honor which led to the duel in
the early morning,___a relic of barbarism now happily gone forever. Many of
the taverns had gardens attached which served as extra inducements to the
guests of those days, when there were no palatial hotels of fifteen or more
stories with electric lights, express elevators, and all the conveniences,
and expense, of our own time. But there were compensations in the fact that
the proprietor knew his guests and cared personally for their comfort, and
that a stranger need not long remain without companionship of the best sort
if he had anything to commend him.
On the block above Warren Street, a garden was maintained by a Mr.
Cox. Contoit conducted his garden as above until 1805, when he moved to the
block below near Park Place; four years later he removed to 365 Broadway,
between Leonard and Franklin Streets, where his New York Garden became the
most fashionable resort of its kind in the city, and where it remained for
about forty years.
Close by at Thomas Street was the house of Anthony Rutgers who died in
1750; after his death it became a public house and with the surrounding
grounds was called Ranelagh Garden, a popular place in its time.
3. MR. MONTAGNIE'S INN AND GARDEN
Just above Murray Street, stood the inn and gardens of Mr. Montagnie,
of which mention has already been made as the headquarters of the Sons of
Liberty. Montagnie appears to have been here after the Revolution, his place
then being called the United States Garden. John H. Contoit conducted the
place from 1802 until 1805 when he was succeeded by Augustus Parise. Later a
building called the Parthenon was erected on the site; and in 1825, Reuben
Peale occupied the building as the American Museum, which was bought out
several years later by P.T. Barnum and moved to the corner of Ann Street.
Peale enjoyed a well-deserved patronage for fifteen years, the Museum being
a place to which children could be taken with safety.
4. THE MOUNT VERNON GARDEN
The Mount Vernon Garden at the northwest corner of Leonard Street was
opened July 19, 1800, by Joseph Corrie, who had been French cook to an
English officer, and who made the cuisine of his place famous. At its
opening, performances were given by the company from the Park Theatre, which
house was closed for the summer.
5. THE VAUXHALL GARDEN
The Bayard east farm above Canal Street was laid out by a Frenchman
named Delacroix, in 1798, as the Vauxhall Garden, and was for some years a
popular resort with its mead booths, flying horses, fireworks, concerts,
etc. The proprietor was obliged to move in 1806 as population came up-town
and crowded him out, and he located himself on Broadway, south of Astor
Place, the Vauxhall extending east to the Bowery (Fourth Avenue). A ball was
given once a week, and it became a place of great resort. Barnum hired it
for a while in 1840, and it was afterwards used for public meetings. The
garden was much curtailed about 1827, when Lafayette Place was cut through
the property; the buildings were demolished in 1855.
6. THE ASTOR PLACE RIOT
It was in Astor Place that there occurred a riot on the tenth of May,
1849, which is sometimes spoken of as the "Macready riot," the enmity of the
rioters being directed against the famous English actor of that name who was
appearing at the Opera House, whose site is now occupied by the Mercantile
Library. The trouble grew out of the rivalry of Forrest and Macready, and
the friends of the former aroused the passions of the multitude by making it
a dispute between American and Englishman. The Seventh Regiment fired upon
the mob, thirty-four of whom were killed and many wounded. The regiment
itself had one hundred and forty-one of its members hurt, some seriously.
7. THE AMERICAN MUSEUM
Up to the year 1824, the only marble building in the city was the City
Hall; and so strong was the prejudice of workmen against the use of the
stone for building purposes, that when John Scudder wished to erect the
American Museum on the site of Hampden Hall at the corner of Ann Street and
Broadway in the above year, not a workman could be persuaded to undertake
the work, and, as a last resource, a convict was pardoned out of Greenwich
prison on condition that he would do it. After the Revolution, Hampden Hall
was the town residence of Andrew Hopper. In 1840 the museum came into the
hands of Phineas T. Barnum, " The Great American Showman," who united with
it the collection from Peale's New York Museum and continued his American
Museum in the building until he was burned out, July 13, 1865. Barnum used
to run what he called "a lecture room" in connection with the museum; and
here were given what he was pleased to call moral plays, so that many people
who would not go to the theatre (horrible, demoralizing place!) went to see
Barnum's show without any twinges of conscience.
8. A VERY FUNNY INCIDENT OF THE OLD VOLUNTEER FIRE DEPARTMENT IN
CONNECTION WITH BARNUM'S.
The play was "The Patriots of '76", and the manager invited the Lady
Washington Light Guards, a well-drilled target company composed of members
of Engine Company 49, to take part in the play. The men agreed to the
proposal, intending to turn over their pay to some members of their engine
company who were out of work. In due time they appeared on the stage, some
dressed as Continentals, others as Indians, and one as Moll Pitcher, the
heroine of Monmouth; but while in the midst of an exciting act, the City
Hall bell sounded an alarm of fire. "Boys," cried the foreman, who was
acting with them, "boys, there's a fire in the Seventh District!" With that,
he and his thirty comrades bolted from the stage, rushed up Broadway for
their engine, and soon returned with it____the most extraordinary looking
fire company ever seen in the streets of a civilized or uncivilized
community, Moll Pitcher at the head of the rope, and a live Indian
brandishing a foreman's trumpet. On reaching the fire, followed by a motley
and jeering crowd, they applied themselves to the brakes; while the manager
of the museum was trying to explain to the audience the sudden and
unexpected disappearance of the actors.
9. BARNUM'S
Many actors who afterwards became famous made their first appearances
at Barnum's. From the way in which he used to keep them busy, it was said
that his actors could always be known by the fact that they carried their
dinner pails with them to the theatre.
He also employed a band, which occupied a balcony above the entrance
and discoursed so-called music "from early morn to dewy eve." The story is
told that a young fellow once applied to the great showman for a position in
his band. Barnum told the applicant to go ahead. At the end of the week, the
musician, seeing no pay coming, asked for it. "Pay!" cried the showman with
a fine display of indignation; " we said nothing about pay. The honor of
playing in my band is pay enough for a youngster like you." The general
public did not esteem the music as much as Barnum did. Barnum did not
rebuild at Ann Street after the fire, but moved up-town.
10. THE OLYMPIC THEATRE
Between Howard and Grand streets, there was a building originally
designed as a circus; but which, as appears from an advertisement of 1812,
was the Olympic Theatre under the management of Dwyer and McKenzie. It was
West's Circus before 1819, in which year it opened with The Spy. It had both
a ring and a stage; and on the latter the Park Theatre Company appeared in
1822 as being at a safe distance from the city which, at that time, was
scourged with yellow fever. In 1820 it was a circus under Victor Pepin's
management, and it remained a circus as late as 1825, when it was owned by
Pierre Lorillard; it occupied the lots 442 to 448 Broadway. In 1827, the
circus was converted into a theatre called the Broadway; and at one time, it
was known as the Marine Theatre. The Olympic Theatre was, in 1837, built at
444 and the rest of the site was occupied by Tattersall's, a famous horse
and carriage mart until the fifties. The theatre was at first unsuccessful,
as it was ahead of the times in prices and quality of plays.
William Mitchell leased the house and opened it, December 9, 1839, as
a low-priced house for amusing performances; and it soon became the fashion
and the most popular place in the city. Steady prosperity followed until
1850, when Mitchell gave it up.
After Mitchell, Burton had it for a short time; and on November 6,
1850, it was opened as Fellow's Opera House and Hall of Lyrics with negro
minstrels. It was used for some years for all kinds of entertainments that
could pay the rent, and was called the American, and in 1853, Christy and
Wood's Minstrel Hall. The "Old Circus," as it was sometimes called, was
destroyed by fire, December 20, 1854; but was rebuilt and reopened. It
became the Broadway Boudoir in January, 1860, and the American again in
August, 1863. It was finally destroyed by fire on February 15, 1866, the
City Assembly Rooms, which were overhead, suffering a like fate.
11. WILLIAM MITCHELL, A GREAT MIMIC, HIS SUCCESSFUL IMITATION OF
FANNIE ELLSLER
The Olympic was a little bit of a place, with a stage not much
larger than a modern sitting-room. Though assisted by a small and very able
company, Mitchell, himself, was the mainstay of his petite theatre. He was a
great mimic and "took off" the great lights of the stage, such as the elder
Booth, Kean, and Forrest, in a manner that was excruciatingly funny. His
crowning sucess was an imitation of Fannie Ellsler, the famous danseuse, who
had won the hearts of New York by her grace and beauty. Ellsler's piece de
resistance was a ballet called La Tarantule, in which her grace and agility
were at their best and aroused the wildest enthusiasm in her audiences at
the Park. Mitchell called his caricature "The Mosquitoe" and arrayed himself
as an exact copy of the original.
He was a short, thick-set man, with heavy, bandy-legs, and red,
full-moon comical face; and he made up for the part in short lace
petticoats, his dumpy extremities encased in flesh-colored tights, white
satin slippers on his goodly sized feet, streamers of gay ribbons fluttering
from his broad shoulders, his big round head encircled by a wreath of bright
flowers; standing before you in a position of exaggerated grace, and with a
fearful assumption of modesty, tremulously bowing to a perfect storm of
cheers. Some faint conception may be formed of the nondescript apparition
advertised to personate the most accomplished dancing woman of the age.
In the item of graceful repose, Ellsler by common consent won the day;
but when the item of agility comes to be discussed, critics were divided,
for Mitchell performed wonders in the jumping line, that were instigated by
his arduous efforts to prevent his airy apparel from unduly rising and thus
possibly shocking the more sensitive of his refined audience. The closing
scene of "La Tarantule" as performed by Ellsler was pronounced the "acme" of
graceful power, for Fanny's aerial flights were stupendous; they carried
Young America to the very verge of hopeless lunacy. Mitchell's genius was,
however equal to such an emergency. He brought rope and hook to aid him in
his determined resolve not to be outdone by a woman, and the burly humorist
was through their agency hoisted high in air, where he kicked and floundered
until the spectators were worn out with laughter, when he displayed a
placard which triumphantly informed the public "that he could jump higher
and stay longer than Fanny ever could."
On being lowered from his giddy height Mitchell "pirouetted" for a
while, embowered in carrots, turnips, parsnips, and onions, and when backing
out gave vent to his overflowing feelings with the simple broken words,
"Tousand tank, me art too fool," which the arch knave had stolen bodily from
the idol of the hour. Ellsler on more than one occasion witnessed the
side-splitting contortions of Mitchell, and rewarded the incomparable mimic
with genuine marks of her appreciation.
12. NIBLO'S GARDEN
In early years, a circus called the Stadium was established on the
northeast corner of Prince Street. Shortly after the War of 1812, it was
used as a place for drilling officers of the militia; later, two brick
buildings were erected on the site, in one of which the novelist Cooper
lived for some time. The place was known as the Columbia Gardens in 1823
when William Niblo leased it, opening it as a restaurant and garden. In the
garden was the old circus building, which Niblo converted into a fully
equipped theatre in fifteen days after the burning of the Broadway Theatre,
opening it July 4, 1827. A larger and better theatre building was erected
and opened in 1829, which was known until its last performance on March 23,
1895, as Niblo's Garden. Niblo retired from the management in May, 1861, and
the owner, A.T. STewart, greatly improved the house.
13. THE METROPOLITAN HOTEL
In 1852, the Metropolitan Hotel was erected between the theatre and
Broadway, but the entrance to the theatre was always from Broadway. In the
same building as the theatre was Niblo's Saloon, given over to concerts,
spiritualistic meetings, etc., until May 9, 1865, when it was converted into
the dining-room of the hotel. While many famous actors appeared at Niblo's,
it is probably best remembered by the performances of "The Black Crook"
under the management of Jarrett and Palmer, whose ballet and spectacular
effects, not to mention the undressiness of the women performers, shocked
the sense of propriety of the people of that era. The play had a great run,
opening September 12, 1866, and closing January 4, 1868, after four hundred
and seventy-five performances; it was revived two years later. The hotel and
theatre were both demolished in 1895 to make way for a large office
building.
14. TRIPLER'S HALL
Tripler's Hall was opened at 677 Broadway near Bond Street in 1850.
Jenny Lind was to have opened the house, but it was not ready upon her
arrival early in September of that year and so she appeared under the
management of Barnum at Castle Garden; she sang at Tripler's in October. On
the twenty-seventh of September, the hall, which was known both as Tripler's
and as the Metropolitan, was opened by Henrietta Sontag in concert,
repeating here her European successes. On the twenty-fourth of February,
1852, a memorial service, presided over by Daniel Webster and addressed by
Washington Irving and William Cullen Bryant, was held in honor of the
novelist Cooper, who had died in the preceding September. On September 22,
1853, Adelina Patti, then a child ten years old, appeared in concert, and
gave promise of the wonderful voice which was later to enthrall the world.
On January 8, 1854, Metropolitan Hall and the adjoining La Farge House were
destroyed by fire; but the hall was rebuilt and opened in the following
September, under the name of the New York Theatre and Metropolitan Opera
House. The great French actress Rachel appeared here in 1855 and during her
engagement contracted a severe cold which resulted in her death.
Towards the close of the same year the house was remodelled and called
Laura Keene's Varieties; and in the following year, it became Burton's
Theatre. In 1859 it became the Winter Garden and Conservatory of the Arts,
the first part of the title being that by which it is best known and which
it retained until its total destruction by fire, March 23, 1867.
15. THE LA FARGE HOUSE
The La Farge House was destroyed at the same time, but was rebuilt
with a mansard roof and called the Grand Central Hotel. As the Winter
Garden, the theatre was the scene of many notable performances; among
others, those of Edwin Booth.
When the fire occurred in the La Farge House, G.P.Putnam was located
at 661, adjoining the Winter Garden Theatre. The fire threatened 661, and
the books and stationery of Putnam were carried across the way into Charles
Scribner's store. The present firm of Charles Scribner's Sons is the direct
descendant of Baker & Scribner, established in 1846. The publishers and
booksellers could afford to locate on Broadway. With the exception of
Cooper, who was a rich man and independent of literature, I can find no
other literary man who had a house on Broadway___as given elsewhere, there
were several who boarded or lodged on the street. Probably in those days, as
in these, the charge was made that it was the publisher who became rich.
16. WALLACK'S THEATRE
At 485 Broadway, near Broome Street, John Brougham built and opened
the Lyceum in 1850; the performances were principally burlesques and farces.
James W. Wallack secured the house and opened it on September 8, 1852, with
his sons, Lester and Charles, as stage-manager and treasurer. It was the
successor of the old Park Theatre in the selection and presentation of its
plays, and was steadily successful for nearly ten years until the playgoers
and moved up-town. The prices of admission were fifty and twenty-five cents.
The elder Wallack ended his career here as an actor, but not as a manager;
as in 1861 he removed to the northeast corner of Thirteenth Street. After
Wallack left Number 485, the theatre was continued under various managers
and names and underwent various vicissitudes___German opera, melodrama, the
legitimate, concerts, Lent's Circus____until 1864, when it came under Wood's
management for several years, being torn down in 1869 to make place for
dry-goods stores.
James W. Wallack's last appearance on the stage was at the close of
the season of 1862, when he made his farewell speech; he died two years
later.
17. THE THIRTEENTH STREET THEATRE
The Thirteenth Street theatre was continued by his more famous son
Lester; and Wallack's Theatre and its stock company became synonymous with
all that is best in dramatic art___in acting, in scenery, in stage
management and presentation, and in the play itself. The fact that an actor
had been a member of Wallack's company was sufficient recommendation as to
ability and training to secure him admission into almost any theatre company
in the land; although Thomas Allston Brown says that Wallack never made a
good actor, but only engaged those who already had reputations. Some of the
many plays at Wallack's were "The Clandestine Marriage", "The School for
Scandal" with John Gilbert, John Brougham, Charles Coghlan, Charles
Rockwell, E.M. Holland, and Harry Becket, Madam Ponisi, Effie Germon, Stella
Boniface, and Rose Coghlan. In 1881, Wallack's was about the only theatre on
Broadway below Twenty-third Street, as the theatre-going public had deserted
lower Broadway; so a new theatre was built at Thirtieth Street which Wallack
managed almost up to the time of his death.
After Lester Wallack retired from the management of the Thirteenth
Street House, it became for a time the German Theatre, passing later into
the management of Henry E. Abbey, who presented grand opera. Wallack resumed
possession January 10, 1883, and the house was reopened as the Star, March
twenty-sixth. Then followed such a galaxy of actors as Modjeska, Lawrence
Barrett, Booth, McCullough, Wilson Barrett, Boucicault, Florence, Irving,
Hermann, Robson, and Crane. But its days were numbered, and toward the last,
it was given over to melodrama. The last performance, "The Man-o-war's Man,"
was given in April, 1901. It was a very rainy night, otherwise there would
probably have been more people in the theatre to say good-bye to the old
house. At the end of the performance there was a demonstration on the part
of the audience, led by the photographer Rockwood; and those present united
in singing Auld Lang Syne before dispersing to their homes. The building was
demolished shortly afterward to make room for a great business structure.
What recollections of great acting and fine casts the very name of Wallack's
brings to many .
18. THE CHINESE ROOMS
The Chinese Rooms at 539 and 541, above Spring Street, were opened
September 1, 1851, with the Bloomer Company, all ladies, who dressed in the
bloomer costume and gave fine concerts. In February, 1852, it became the
Broadway Casino and in 1853, Buckley's Minstrel Hall. As the Melodeon
Concert Hall (1858-61) it became notorious and one of the sights of New
York, as in that neighborhood was the "Tenderloin" of the day, with many
gambling saloons and worse places.
After the fire of July, 1865, which burned out his Ann Street place,
Barnum rebuilt the Melodeon Hall and opened it September 6, 1865, as
Barnum's New Museum. Fire broke out in the part of the building occupied by
Van Amburgh's Menagerie on March 3, 1868, and the place was destroyed. It
was very cold weather, and the front of the house and the fire ladders were
encased in ice, while the firemen looked like walking icicles.
19. THE APOLLO BALL-ROOM
A second Broadway Theatre was opened in August, 1837, on the east side
of Broadway near Walker Street in a building formerly known as Euterpean
Hall and the Apollo Saloon; but the enterprise was soon abandoned. Across
the street, at Number 412, was the Apollo Ball-Room, a very popular resort
for politicians opposed to Tammany Hall. In May, 1844, the Congo Minstrels,
later called the Negro Minstrels, appeared at Apollo Hall. During the time
of Fernando Wood, the building became the headquarters of the Apollo Hall,
or Wood, democracy.
During the vogue of the Apollo Ball-Room, it was the resort of many of
the younger set, who here found a freedom of action and dancing which they
were denied in the sedate affairs of society. In fact, patronizing the
Apollo became a mild kind of dissipation among the society youths.
20. THE OLD BROADWAY THEATRE
The Old Broadway Theatre was located on the east side of the street,
between Pearl and Worth Streets, and was opened, on September 27, 1847, with
"The School for Scandal" and "Used Up", in the latter of which Mr. John
Lester (Wallack) made his first appearance on the American stage. The house
had been projected by "Tom" Hamblin; but he was not able to carry the
enterprise through, so that the first manager was Alvah Mann, who later took
Ethelbert A. Marshall into partnership. The firm lasted until October 25,
1848, when Marshall became sole manager and remained so until May 1, 1858.
By this time, the theatre had become too far down-town, the houses were
declining, and Marshall was losing money. Many famous actors appeared upon
the boards of the Broadway; and it was here that Forrest and Macready earned
their greatest laurels. The theatre closed on April 2, 1859, and shortly
afterward, it was torn down.
21. CHANGES IN THEATER NAMES AND MANAGEMENT WERE NUMEROUS
A) LAURA KEENE'S VARIETIES
Laura Keene's Varieties at 624, above Houston Street, was opened November
18, 1856, and remained under her management until May 8, 1863. The theatre
was remarkable for presenting all sorts of plays and for the ability of the
actors who appeared; among these we find the elder Sothern, Jefferson, Mrs.
D.P. Bowers, Matilda Heron, and Laura Keene herself. For a period of six
months, it became Jane English's Theatre; and then, on October 8, 1863, it
became Mrs. John Wood's Olympic until June 30, 1866, and was as famous as
under the management of Laura Keene. It then passed under new management;
and on March 10, 1868, there was produced the great pantomime of Humpty
Dumpty with George L. and Charles K. Fox as clown and pantaloon. The play
was performed four hundred and eighty-three times to box-office receipts of
$1, 406,000 before it was withdrawn on May 15, 1869. Humpty Dumpty was
revived August 31, 1873, for a run of three hundred and thirty-three
performances, and again on February 17, 1875, for a run of one hundred and
twenty-seven more. Augustin Daly was one of the last managers of this
theatre. The final performance was given in the house on April 17, 1880,
shortly after which the building was torn down. The last performances of
George L. Fox were attended with a strong element of pathos. It is stated
that the powder he used for whitening his face and head____bismuth, I
believe___had penetrated to his brain and produced insanity. He would be
brought to the theatre, made up, and set upon the stage; and so much had the
character of the clown become a part of his very nature that he would go
through his part and be as excruciatingly funny as in his best days.
B) BUCKLEY'S HALL
Buckley's Hall at 585, opposite the Metropolitan Hotel, was opened with
Buckley's Minstrels, August 25, 1856. Ill luck seemed to be the fate of the
house; for until May 8, 1865, it changed its name a dozen times at least and
was under numerous managers. On this latter date its luck changed, for the
San Francisco Minstrels took possession and remained until 1870. During the
next five years, the theatre changed its name three times, the last time
becoming the Metropolitan under Tony Pastor, until April 1, 1881. Many
actors and actresses, as Lillian Russell and the Irwin Sisters, who later
became famous, began their careers in this house under Tony Pastor.
C) WOOD'S MINSTREL HALL
Wood's Minstrel Hall at 514, below Spring Street, was opened July 7, 1862.
It became Wood's Theatre on June 15, 1866, with performances of the
legitimate drama; but changed its character in September of the same year
when it became the German Thalia Theatre Comique. Harrigan and Hart appeared
here December 2, 1872; and after it had been in the hands of other managers
with variety performances, they obtained possession again on August 7, 1876,
and kept it until April 30, 1881, when the building was torn down and
converted into stores. It was during this time that they produced "The
Mulligan Guard" series. A visitor remarks: "I remember dropping into the
theatre one afternoon in 1877 and seeing the play of 'Old Lavender'. The
audience was small, the house was dirty and dingy, and the curtain did not
reach the stage when lowered; yet I felt like a discoverer as I remarked to
my companion about the excellence of the acting in such inharmonious
surroundings and prophesied a career for the protagonist of the play."
D) WOOD'S MARBLE HALL
Wood's Marble Hall at 561 and 563, on the west side near Prince Street, was
famous for minstrels fifty or sixty years ago. George Holland became a
member of Wood and Christy's Minstrels on October 15, 1857. That was the
time of the panic, and Holland felt impelled to offer a semi-apology to the
public in leaving the legitimate drama. He stated that times were so bad
that the managers of the regular theatres could not pay salaries, and as he
had a family to support it was necessary for him to earn money. As soon as
times became better he would return to his usual roles; in the meantime he
would play his regular parts of low comedy, the only difference being that
whereas he usually put red paint on his face, now he was going to put black.
The house was torn down in July, 1877.
E) THE ALTHENEUM
The Church of the Messiah, Unitarian, had been at 724 (later, 728) Broadway,
near Waverly Place, from 1839 to 1864, when the congregation moved to other
quarters. The church edifice took on a deserted and dilapidated appearance
and was bought by A.T. Stewart, who renovated it and opened it as the
Broadway Atheneum on January 23, 1865. Eleven months later, after being
completely transformed architecturally, it became Lucy Rushton's Theatre,
and the house was dedicated to the legitimate drama; but the lessee failed
to pay the government revenue tax and so had to give it up. From this time
until 1881, its names and managers were numerous, and the performances ran
the whole range from opera to variety. "The Streets of New York" was
performed here in 1869 when it was called the Worrell Sisters' New York
Theatre. Mrs. Scott-Siddons, with whose husband Sothern, Nelse Seymour, Dan
Bryant, and other jokers of the stage had had so much fun, made her American
debut here in Shakespearian roles. At one time it was Daly's Fifth Avenue
Theatre after that manager's Twenty-fourth Street house had been burned on
January 1, 1873; but he had the good taste to see the incongruity of the
name and changed it the second year of his management to Daly's Broadway
Theatre. It also bore the name of Globe Theatre three several times; but its
name was changed for the last time when Harrigan and Hart opened it as the
New Theatre Comique on October 29, 1881. The new lessees had made it one of
the handsomest theatres in the city; and it became immensely popular with
the presentation of Harrigan's various plays with his stock company, which
changed very little from year to year, so that every member was well-known
to and beloved by the public. The house was destroyed by fire December 23,
1884, and the ground remained idle for a long time; then it became the Old
London Street, February 26, 1887, and after a period of vacancy a gymnasium
for sporting and sparring exhibitions in 1896. This last building was
demolished in September, 1902; and at this date (February, 1911) the lots
from 724 to 732 are unbuilt upon.
F) HOPE CHAPEL
Hope Chapel, formerly a church on the east side of Broadway below Eighth
Street, was opened as a place of amusement on March 28, 1853, for lectures,
spiritualists, etc. The Davenport Brothers exhibited here their spirit
cabinet and mystified their audiences. It became the Broadway Academy of
Music in 1864, and a year later, Blitz's New Hall, given over to concerts,
etc.Kelley and Leon ran it as a minstrel hall from 1866 to 1870. In 1870,
the house became Lina Edward's Theatre for two years, when Kelly and Leon
took it once more on November 25, 1872; three days afterwards the building
was destroyed by fire.
22. OTHER MINOR PLACES OF AMUSEMENT ON BROADWAY BELOW UNION SQUARE
Minerva Rooms at 460, where light entertainments, concerts, and
lectures were given between 1847 and 1853; the Old Stuyvesant at 663,
opposite Bond Street (1852), later, Academy Hall, Donaldson's Opera House.,
The Canterbury, and Mozart Hall until 1862; Empire Hall, later the Santa
Claus, at 596, next to the Metropolitan Hotel, between February, 1853, and
January, 1859; the Broadway Museum and Menagerie at 337, between November,
1853, and April, 1854, during which time Chang and Eng, the Siamese Twins,
were on exhibition; the Broadway Atheneum at 654, between Bleecker and Bond
Streets, on the site of the Astor mansion, where light drama was given,
making it one of the most popular places in New York sixty years ago; World
Hall at 337 and 339, corner of White Street, devoted to panoramas in 1854;
Bunnell's Museum, corner of Ninth Street, west side, 1880 to 1883;
Washington Hall at 598 in 1851; and the Art Union Rooms and Concert Hall at
495 and 497, from 1852 to 1860.
Source: The Greatest Street in the World (The story of Broadway, old and
New, from the Bowling Green to Albany)
Author: Stephen Jenkins
Publisher: G.P. Putnam's Sons-New York and London
The Knickerbocker Press
Copyright: 1911
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Researched and Transcribed by Miriam Medina
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