Brooklyn theater collection
Call Number
Dates
Creator
Extent
Language of Materials
Abstract
The Brooklyn theater collection consists of playscripts, playbills, programs, and other ephemera from various theater venues in Brooklyn and Manhattan, dating from the early 18th century to the 1930s. In addition to playbills, there are some programs relating to concerts, musical comedies, and musical revues, as well as ephemera.
Historical Note
Brooklyn has had a lively history as an entertainment outlet, particularly through its active theater scene during the gas-light days of the 18th and 19th centuries. Audiences were enthralled by the performances of such actors and actresses as Maude Adams, the first actress to portray Peter Pan, in The Pretty Sister of Jose, and Sir Henry Irving, the first noted English actor to have been granted knighthood in 1895, in The Amber Heart. These materials document the dynamic venues that working-class and middle class Brooklynites alike attended on a weekly basis, from the Manhattan Beach Amusement Park in Coney Island for musical comedies to the infamous Conway's Brooklyn Theater, which, on December 5 of 1876, went down in flames due to the dangers posed by overcrowding, combustible materials, raucous audiences, and inadequate escape exits. This event later spurred local legislation to regulate theater design, incorporating it into city building codes in 1885.
Many of these playbills and programs were kept by patrons as theater souvenirs and cover a variety of genres, including early musicals, traditional vaudeville shows, comedies, revues, and English dramas.
Sources:
- Brooklyn Genealogy. "1876 Brooklyn Theatre Fire." Accessed February 28, 2008. http://www.bklyn-genealogy-info.com/Newspaper/BSU/1876.Bklyn.Theatre.Fire.html
- The Irving Society. "The Irving Society." Accessed February 28, 2008. http://www.theirvingsociety.org.uk/
Arrangement
The collection is organized into two series:
Series 1: Playscripts and printed plays
Series 2: Playbills, programs, and ephemera
Scope and Contents
The Brooklyn theater collection is comprised of playscripts, playbills, programs, and other ephemera from various theater venues in Brooklyn and Manhattan. Although some material dates from the early 18th century to as late as the 1930s, most of the material focuses on the years 1823 to 1911. Programs relating to concerts, musical comedies, and musical revues are also included. In addition, the collection has some early rare examples of handwritten director's promptbooks dating back to 1733. Some examples of ephemeral material contained in the collection are an invitation to a ball sponsored by the Academy of Brooklyn to the Prince of Wales, Brooklyn Academy ticket statements, and clippings.
The majority of the collection centers on Brooklyn and Manhattan theater venues. Such well-known establishments as the Brooklyn Academy of Music, Montauk Theatre, Orpheum Theatre, Payton's Lee Avenue Theatre, the Lyceum Hall, the Astor Place Opera House, Barnum's American Museum, Franklin Theatre, and Laura Keen's Theatre are included in this collection.
For an index of individual performers and plays listed, see Box 1, Folder 1: Playbills and Programs Finding Aid (1968). Please note that this list is no longer representative of the entire collection.
Subjects
Organizations
Genres
People
Topics
Conditions Governing Access
Open to users without restriction.
Preferred Citation
Identification of item, date (if known); Brooklyn theater collection, 1977.041, Box and Folder number; Brooklyn Historical Society.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Portions of the collection were the gifts of Miss G.M. Fitzpatrick, 1949; Henry S. Gorman, 1940; Gabriel Harrison, 1941; and Betsy B. Sand, date unknown. Sources and dates of acquisition for remaining items in the collection are unknown. The collection was formally accessioned in 1977.
Other Finding Aids
A preliminary inventory of the collection and an earlier finding aid containing a complete container list are available in paper form at the Othmer Library. Please consult library staff for more information.
About this Guide
Processing Information
Minimally processed to the series level. Finding aid entered into Archivists' Toolkit and the issue of "The Theatre Goer" added to the collection by Nicholas Pavlik in September 2011. Additional material relating to the Brooklyn Park Theater, Columbia Theater, Montauk Theatre, New Montauk Theatre, and The Orpheum and the finding aid updated by John Zarrillo in March 2017.
Sponsor Note
Repository
Container
Series 1: Playscripts and printed plays, 1733-1896, inclusive
Extent
Scope and Contents
The playscripts and plays in this series are arranged alphabetically by production location. This series comprises 22 play titles, some incomplete, covering comedies, farces, and drama scripts. Included are some handwritten directors' and prompters' scripts, actors' sides (sheets, usually a half page, containing lines and cues for a single role), varying versions of entire scripts or single acts, and printed plays. All items are written in English.
Series 2: Playbills, programs and ephemera, 1796-1939, inclusive
Extent
Scope and Contents
Items in this series are organized alphabetically by venue. Included are playbills and programs from a number of Brooklyn and Manhattan theaters that seem to have been amassed by patrons as souvenirs. These programs and playbills provide information about a variety of theater productions, including names of performers, productions, the different acts that comprised an evening's entertainment, and advertisements. Also included is one copy of the April 4, 1891 issue of The Theatre Goer, a weekly news publication containing programs and listings of music and drama performances in Brooklyn and the New York City area.
