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Boston coffee-house, led to the passing by the Great and General Court of Massachusetts of an act "To Prevent Stage-Plays and other Theatrical Entertainments." Thus in one sense Philadelphia seems to have the best claim to be considered as the nursery of the American theater. There is also some reason to believe that before any of the performances we have noted-perhaps as early as 1745— an English company left for America and presented plays in the island of Jamaica, where they made their fortunes and returned. Their supposed leader was John Moody, who acquired some fame as an Irish comedian at Drury Lane.

HALLAM'S TROUPE.

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But it matters little what was the order of precedence of these spasmodic attempts to arouse an interest in the theater. With the appearance of Hallam's troupe in 1753 begins the real history of our stage. Notwithstanding their success in Virginia and at Annapolis, it was with direful forebodings, and in a tone of the humblest deprecation, that the company announced the presentation on September 17, 1753, at the "New Nassau Theater," New York, of Sir Richard Steele's Conscious Lover. It may be amusing and instructive to see from their announcement the spirit of prejudice against which they were to contend. leave," say they, "humbly to lay a true state of our case before the worthy inhabitants of this city; if possible endeavour to remove those great obstacles which at present lie before us, and give very sufficient reasons for our appearance in this part of the world where we all had the most sanguine hopes of meeting a very different reception; little imagining that in a City-to all appearance so polite as this, the Muses would be banished, the works of the immortal Shakespeare and others, the greatest geniuses England ever produced, denied admittance among them, and the instructive and elegant entertainment of the Stage utterly protested against, when without boasting we may venture to affirm that we are capable of supporting its dignity with proper decorum and regularity." The company consisted of twelve adults and three children. The "stars" were Mr. Rigby, Mr. Lewis Hallam, Mrs. Clarkeson, and Mrs. Hallam. From an old play-bill we learn that the curtain rose at six o'clock, and the audience are

requested to come early, "as it would be a great inconvenience to them to be kept out late and a means to prevent disappointment." The success of the undertaking seems to have been fair, and the season closed in March, 1754, with a performance of the Beggars' Opera and The Devil to Pay. Meanwhile a generous rivalry had incited the citizens of Philadelphia to agitate the subject of a theater, and notwithstanding many petitions for the prohibition of "profane stage-plays," the inevitable hostility of the Quaker element, and the distribution of tracts showing the sinfulness of play-going, and abusing the actors roundly, Hallam found on his arrival from New York that a company was already thriving in the Quaker City. Shortly after, Lewis Hallam purchased the stock of the company from his brother William, and transported it to Jamaica, where he died.

THE FIRST AMERICAN THEATERS.

For a few years after this there seems to have been little or no activity in theatrical matters, but in 1758 one David Douglass erected a new theater in New York in anticipation of the return of the Hallam company from the West Indies. It stood between what were called later Old Slip and Coffee-house Slip. The spite of the magistrates, whose dignity. was offended by the fact that Douglass had begun to build before he had supplicated their permission to present plays, refused for some time to allow an opening; but in December an enthusiastic audience greeted their old friends in Jane Shore. The next year saw the second Philadelphia theater opened in the face of bitter opposition. To petitioners for an injunction, Judge Watson declared that he "had learned more moral virtue from plays than from sermons." "What," says an old writer, consequence? The theater was opened, and Judge Watson's wife fell sick and died." About the same time we first hear of dramatic performances in other places-Albany, Newport, Williamsburgh, Providence, Baltimore, and smaller towns; and in 1760 Douglass, after having given a benefit-oddly enough, under the circumstances-for "improving youth in the divine art of psalmody and church music," erected in Philadelphia a really handsome theater in Southwark, the scene of the histrionic triumphs of the next thirty years. To this succeeded the Old Chestnut Street Theater, still remembered by

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old residents. In New York, the Chapel Theater had a short and stormy life, and in 1767 was built the John Street Theater, near Broadway, an old wood-cut of the interior of which is in existence. It would hold perhaps four or five hundred, and, though rough and plain, was considered a fine place in its day. The fact that the wardrobes cost a thousand dollars was paraded as an instance of extravagant expenditure by the manager. Already the popular excitement which led to the Revolution had begun, and the English actors were often hissed, stormed at, and even pelted, as Tories.

THE JOHN STREET THEATER.

The period of highest prosperity of the John Street Theater was when the British held the city. At this time the ill-fated Major André painted many of the scenes, and the British officers and their fair sympathizers found here one of their few distractions. Here, too, after the evacuation, Washington might often be seen, and here, on the tenth anniversary of the evacuation, a spirited and patriotic commemoration and fraternizing with French naval officers preceded the presentation of The Grecian Daughter. At the John Street Theater, too, was given a representation of Richard III. in the presence of a delegation of Cherokee chiefs. Still another claim of this old playhouse to affectionate remembrance is the fact that here was produced the first drama by an American author. Its title was Tammany, and its author Mrs. Hatton, a member of the company and a sister of the great tragedienne Mrs. Siddons.

Among the most notable appearances on this stage were those of Mr. and Mrs. Hodgkinson, long favorites with the public; M. and Mme. Placide, the tight-rope performers; Mme. Garcia, the danseuse, afterward murdered by her jealous husband; Joseph Jefferson, a fine comedian and the grandfather of the creator of Rip Van Winkle; and Mrs. Hallam. A good illustration of the manners of the day is seen in the jealousy between Hodgkinson and Mrs. Hallam. The latter saw fit to take the audience into her confidence as to her supposed wrongs, one evening, and, to her surprise, was roundly hissed. Next night, however, she returned to the charge, and having taken the precaution to pack the house, drove her enemy from the stage for the night and the season.

NEW YORK THEATERS.

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The successor to the John Street Theater was the old Park Theater, built across the street from St. Paul's Church, and opposite the City Hall Park. Its general appearance was massive and somber. There was a pit, reached by a dark passage, a gallery, attained by, narrow stairs of the corkscrew style, two tiers of boxes and a refreshment-room. doors were opened at half-past five; there were no reserved seats, and smoking was remonstrated against, but not forbidden. Oil lamps, imperfect heat, and lack of ventilation added to the discomforts of the place. Still it was the largest and most elegant place of amusement in the country, cost $125,000-much more than it was worth-and answered its purpose fairly well. The managers were Hodgkinson and Dunlap-the latter the first historian of the American Stage. The "New Theater" opened its doors on January 29, 1798, with As You Like It and The Purse on the bill. The receipts for the first night were over $1,200. Though in this season appeared the popular light comedian, who became the people's favorite as Gentleman George," Mr. George Barrett, yet the general result of the season was bad. Those who approved of and loved the stage were intensely enthusiastic, but, alas! comparatively few. The horror of the pious and the rivalry of one or two smaller places drove Dunlap into bankruptcy, and proved almost as disastrous to his successors, Messrs. Johnson and Tyler. But, in 1806, the tragedian Cooper entirely refitted the theater, and it entered upon a career of prosperity, lasting until its destruction in 1820, caused by fire, the wad from a gun discharged in Major Noah's Siege of Tripoli having lodged in the scenery. The universal demand for a new theater led to the erection of "The New Park Theater" on Park Row, having a seating capacity of 2,500, and a stage seventy feet deep. The lessees were Messrs. Price and Simpson. The building of the New Park Theater marks an era in the history of the American Drama. Here took place the great artistic triumphs of which we shall presently speak. Here James Wallack, Junius Brutus, Booth, J. H. Hackett, Edwin Forrest, W. C. Macready, and the Kembles made their first appearance. The greatest name connected with the old house was that of George Frederick Cooke. Edmund Kean made his first appearance at a little

house in Anthony Street, opened by the managers of the Park while the new theater was being built.

The successors to and rivals of the New Park we can do little more than name, before proceeding to examine more closely the history of the great actors who have succeeded one another in the love of the play-going American public. First in order was the Chatham, in which Wallack and Booth both played. In 1826 the New York Theater was opened with the Road to Ruin on the bill. The auditorium seated 3,000 people. This is the house better known to this generation as the Old Bowery, and which has now become the Thalia. Here appeared Forrest, Mme. Malibran, and Mme. Celeste. The Bowery was twice burnt and rebuilt-in 1826 and 1848. In 1831 the Richmond Hill Theater was opened at Varick and Charlton Streets, once the country seat of Aaron Burr, soon to become the Tivoli Gardens. More successful was the Olympic, on Broadway, and Palmer's Opera House in Chambers Street, which with Mr. W. E. Burton as manager, and Mr. John Brougham as dramatist, won a notable victory over the Park. The Broadway Theater, between Pearl and Worth, was always a weakling, and after ten or twelve years' life was torn down. Castle Garden, the scene of Jenny Lind's triumph, became a theater in 1847. Barnum's "lecture-room" furnished the highly moral and instructive drama; the National produced, in 1853, Uncle Tom's Cabin, which had the unprecedented run of two hundred nights; Chanfrau, as Mose, convulsed the town; and the reign of the Wallacks began when "Brougham's Lyceum" (forever memorable as the scene of The Row at the Lyceum, the best stage hoax ever planned) fell under the management of Mr. James W. Wallack. Laura Keene's new theater opened on Broadway in 1856, and there Our American Cousins was produced two years later, with Joseph Jefferson as Asa Trenchard and Mr. E. A. Sothern as Lord Dundreary. The Winter Garden, Burton's second venture, saw in later days a fine series of Shakespearean revivals by Mr. Edwin Booth.

TRAVELING COMPANIES.

Meanwhile other parts of the country were rapidly developing a taste for the Drama. Every town of moderate size now had its theater, where stock companies of greater or less merit played for short sea

sons. Traveling companies furnished amusement to the smaller places, and many are the amusing stories of makeshifts, stage accidents, queer adventures with the unsophisticated rustics, and narrow escapes from creditors told by the veterans of the old days. The treatment received was often harsh, at times uproarious in its enthusiasm. Sol Smith, in his delightful reminiscences, tells of one town where he caused a negro lad to be arrested on the charge of having stolen his watch. In giving his testimony, Sol remarked that he was, at the time of the theft, officiating as High Priest of the Sun. "How's this? How's this?" interrupted the country justice. "High Priest of the Sun? Pray, where did all this happen?" "At the theater, sir. I was officiating as High Priest, and-" "At the THEATER!" screamed the justice; "served you right, then ; served you right! Boy, you may go-I dismiss the case." One of the first of American actors, Mr. Henry, was obliged, through lameness, to go to and from the theater in a coach, and to prevent public outcry at the enormity of an actor keeping a carriage, hit on the device of painting upon the door, in the manner of a coat-of-arms, two crutches crossed, with the motto: This or These." But if the social position of the old-time actors was precarious, and the prejudice against them strong, they at all events had the pleasure of being on the most intimate terms with their audiences. The theater-going people of fifty years ago took a decidedly warmer personal interest in the career of their favorites than is at all common at the present time. The disgraceful scenes of the Astor Place riot were but the culmination of the intense partisanship which marked the early days of the American stage.

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BOSTON AND PHILADELPHIA THEATERS.

Of the early days of theaters in Philadelphia, we have already spoken. From the time of the founding of the old house in Southwark to this day, it has been one of the most devoted and intelligent homes of the Drama. From it came not a few of the great artists whose fame became national. In Boston the opposition was stronger. Gen. Burgoyne wrote, and produced in Faneuil Hall, in 1775, The Blockade of Boston; and it is said that one of the last performances was interrupted by a soldier, who rushed upon the stage, shouting, "The rebels! the rebels! they're

streets in 1841, by Mr. Moses Kimball and associates. Here Miss Adelaide Phillips made her first appearance, at the early age of ten, as Little Phoebe. A moral play, The Drunkard, was the first purely dramatic piece put on the stage at the Museum. The Adelphi Theater was opened by Mr. Brougham in 1847. At this time the Drama had obtained such a secure footing that it justified the noble words of Mr. Thomas Barry: "The Drama is firmly planted in New England for good or evil; you cannot crush it by prejudice, or destroy it by misplaced religious enthusiasm. The public can make the theater a blessing or a curse. In all ages and in all lands history fully proves that the stage has flourished most, and been most generally upheld, where taste is most refined and manners softened by the influence of civilization."

attacking the Neck!" which the audience taking for a piece of very natural acting, loudly applauded. In a few moments the roll of drums outside broke the illusion. Prohibitory laws prevented any dramatic performances from 1784 to 1792, when, after much solemn debate, the law was renewed. To avoid its force a "New Exhibition Room" with a seating capacity of 500, was opened in August, 1792, by Mr. J. Harper. The tragedy of Othello was presented under the guise of "a series of moral dialogues in five parts," and George Barnwell was given as a "Moral Lecture" also in five parts. A prosecution instituted by the enemies of the play-house fell to the ground, and thereafter the stage flourished wonderfully in the staid New England city. The Board Alley Theater was succeeded by the Boston Theater, opened in Federal Street, February 3, 1794, under the management of Messrs. Charles Stuart Powell and Baker. Mr. Snelling Powell, and Miss Harrison, who soon became his wife, were among the stars. In 1796, the Hallam troupe of New York appeared here. The succeeding year saw the opening of the Haymarket. The Shakespeare Jubilee, in 1823, was a memorable event in the dramatic history of Boston. About the same date was opened the City Theater. In 1827, was laid the corner stone of the Tremont Theater, the origin of which illustrates again the animated fashion in which the public took part in the petty quarrels of actors and managers. The whole project of the Tremont took its rise in a disagreement between the managers of the Old City or Washington Theater and one William Pelby, who became manager of the Tremont. J. B. Booth was soon made acting manager, and under his direction John Gilbert made his début and Forrest his first appearance in Boston. Here also appeared Charles Kean, Master Burke, John Howard Payne, Mr. Anderson, the Kembles, J. Sheridan Knowles, and Miss Charlotte Cushman. In 1843 the theater was changed into the Tremont Temple, and in March, 1852, was destroyed by fire. In 1846, the Boston Theater was reopened. Another of the old Boston theaters, the National, dates from 1836. The Howard Athenæum took the place of a Tabernacle used by the half-crazed Millerites, who had expected to make their ascension to heaven from it in 1845. The Boston Museum, still one of the most popular places of amusement in the city, was opened at the corner of Tremont and Bromfield

ALBANY THEATERS.

Albany was one of the cities which first gave a welcome to the Drama. Here, too, the amateur performances of British officers were among the first recorded attempts at acting, and a much aggrieved dominie found it necessary to preach against the young officers "familiar with every vice and disguise, who had not only spent a whole evening in telling a gigantic lie, but they were themselves the lie! they had violated the express commands of Scripture by appearing in women's clothes, and, above all things, they had actually painted their faces!" But the good man found at his door one morning a club, a pair of old shoes, a crust of black bread and a dollar, which he interpreted as a symbolic message that his services were no longer wanted, and in high dudgeon departed. The first professional performance in Albany was by the Hallams, in 1769. In 1785 a theater was opened in an old hospital by a small company headed by a Mr. and Mrs. Allen, supposed to have been the parents of the eccentric Andrew Jackson Allen, Mr. Forrest's dresser. The next attempt was in 1803, by the Hallams, Joseph Jefferson appearing with them. The Thespian Hotel was the scene of the attempt, and it was afterward fitted up into a very respectable theater. Here appeared John Howard Payne, then called "The young American Roscius." The Albany Theater was opened, under the management of Mr. Bernard, in 1813, but after five years of varying

fortune was turned into a church, and for twelve years little was done in the theatrical line. In 1825, a large and handsome theater, the South Pearl Street Theater, was opened by Charles Gilfert, and under his direction many stars appeared, including "a Mr. Forrest, of whom reports speak highly," who came from New Orleans, and of whom very little was known at that time. From this era the career of the Drama was most successful, and some of the greatest triumphs of the old-time actors were gained on the Albany stage.

THE PROVIDENCE STAGE.

Another city in which the stage early gained a foothold was Providence, Rhode Island, to this day considered one of the best towns for appreciating dramatic ability. Here, despite a vote of the town council, Douglass, the coadjutor of the Hallams, opened an "Histrionic Academy" in 1762, soon closed by an Act of the Legislature. After the Revolution, Joseph Harper visited Providence and found the sentiment favorable, the authorities even allowing him to give representations in the town hall. The Coffee House was opened by Mr. Harper in 1794, with The Foundling; or, Virtue Rewarded. Mrs. Whitlock, sister of Mrs. Siddons, Mr. Bates the comedian, Hodgkinson, and Thomas Cooper were among the greatest artists that appeared. The house was refitted and reopened in 1807. The burning of the Richmond Theater, in 1811, caused great excitement in Providence as well as other cities, and strenuous efforts were made, but without success, to suppress the Drama. From the appearance of George Frederick Cooke in 1812, until the demolition of the building in 1832, it witnessed a continual succession of important dramatic events. Its successor, the Lion Theater, was burned in 1844. The Providence Museum, built in 1846, met the same fate, as did also the Forbes Theater. The Pine Street Theater was erected in 1859.

Such were the humble beginnings of the theater in some of our principal cities. What it has grown to since is well known to all. With its scores of companies, traveling combinations beyond compute, hundreds of elegant theaters, thousands of miles of routes, hundreds of thousands of dollars in capital, and millions of spectators yearly entertained, it is indeed a mighty force for good and for evil, and one

of the most potent levers of our modern civiliza. tion.

OLD-TIME ACTORS.

Let us turn now from the record of the material growth of the theater in this country to consider the merits and achievements of the chief of the great personages who have played their parts before the footlights and have amused and thrilled American audiences. Those who desire further information on this subject are referred to Col. T. Allston Brown's biographical "History of the American Stage," which claims to contain sketches of nearly every member of the "profession" that has appeared on the American stage, from 1733 to 1870.

THE HALLAMS.

LEWIS HALLAM, the second of the three who bore that name, was born in London, 1740, and died in poverty at Philadelphia, 1808. At his first appearance at Williamsburg, Va., in 1752, as the Servant of Portia, he found himself panicstricken, burst into tears, and rushed from the stage. His first appearance in New York was September 17, 1753, as Daniel in The Conscious Lovers. Like all actors of his day, he was of necessity very versatile, playing everything, from high tragedy to broad farce. Perhaps his best parts were in genteel comedy. Mrs. Hallam, his mother, who also made her first appearance at Williamsburg in 1752, as Portia in The Merchant of Venice, was the first actress in this country that can be said to have attained fame. She retired in 1769. The still more famous Mrs. Hallam, who appeared at that same notable performance as Jessica, made her début in New York in 1753, as Lucinda in The Conscious Lovers. Several other members of this theatrical family gained the respect and admiration of the play-going public of their day.

THOMAS A. COOPER.

THOMAS A. COOPER (born in London, 1776) was one of the first stars of the American stage. He came to this country, as a writer on the subject remarks, "before he had acquired any reputation in England," the plain fact being that at his first appearance in London he was hissed off the stage, an experience which was repeated when he visited his native land in 1828. Mr. Cooper made his debut in Baltimore, played a successful engagement at Philadelphia in 1796, and in August of the following year appeared at the Greenwich Street Theater in New York, as Pierre in Venice Preserved, one of his finest parts. He was wonderfully well endowed by nature with pleasing qualities. To a fine manly figure and noble bearing, an imposing manner and an easy style of acting, he added a well modulated and resonant voice. In certain mannerisms he resembled both Cooke and Kemble, but was not without originality. He was at home both in tragedy and the higher grades of comedy. Such roles as Damon, Virginius,

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