Custer weekly chronicle. [volume] (Custer City, S.D.) 1890-1931, 1908-04-25
FAMOUS THEATER
CLOSES FOREVER
Madison Square, Scene Of Noted
Histrionic Triumphs, Gives
Way to Business.

Woman" at the Madison Square the
ater, the playhouse which for genera
ton helped to make New York history
and which has sturdily stood through
the stress Of nearly half century as
one of the firm foundation stones OF
the American drama passed out of ex-
istence.
So matter OF fact is the routine of
city life that none of its old friends
came to give Il a friendly benediction.
The ls't audience gathered its
wrans and filed indifferently out, A,av-
ing the janitor to extinguish its his,oric
lights and turn its rusty key in the
door.
A victim of to the northward march
of business life. the old structure, In
which hundreds OF famous actors have
played before brilliant audiences, Will
be pulled down and an Office building
will take its place. Such were the
fates OF the old Park, the olympic. the
Star, Nibo's Garden, Booths and so
many other theaters.
A good many among the piaygoers Of
TO-DAY will still be able to recall the be-
ginning of the Madison Squares career.
First opened I'm 1895, II was known as
Christy's opera house and for four
years II was the home of the famous
Christy minstrels. Then II marked the
upper limit of New York's night life.
Jim Fisk became the next lessee early
In 1869. and with his control of the prop
erty John Brougham, one of the actors
in Lester Wallacks famous company,
began and ended his short career as a
manager all within ten weeks or
Brougham's unsuccessful reign nothing
remains but few tattered playbills of
"PoCahontas."
Then came the change OF name 10 the
Fifth Avenue theater with Thaddeus
Glover, long since dead. in command,
and finally in the autumn of 1869 Au-
gistn DAILY became its guiding head.
Ii was under the DAILY management
that the thcater first began to assert
its influence over the dramatic art of
the day. Around him he gathered such
notable players AS Agnes Ethel, Charles
Fisher Ida Vernon. Mrs. G. II. Gilbert,
George Clarke and later Clara Morris
and Fannie Davenport. But although
fine acting was better appreciated then
than now. DAILY found that he had
chosen an uphill road. The public re-
fused to come and in despair the man
ager finally drifted back upon produC-
tion of "Frou-Frou," with Agnes Ethel
in the title role.
That night marked the turning point
of AuguStm Daly'S career. So disCour-
aged was he that he dared not sit IN
the audience and witness the progress
of what he feared was to he another
failure. Worn out with worry and de-
Spar he remained locked in his little
office until the sounds of applause and
| cries Of mis- name reached his ears.
| That night Agnes Ethel made the
| greatest hit of her early career and the
| Daiy fortunes We're restored.
II was about this time. too, that clara
Morris won her first great success as
an emotional actress I'm Man and
Wife" on tire Fifth Avenues stage.
! Mrs 6. II. Gilbert, also came into gen
| erdl public esteem through her acting
| THE False Shame" on New Year,
| night. 1873. when the playhouse was
| burned TO the ground. Clarke. DaNidge,
| Fawcett. Fannie Davenport and Nellie
| Mortimer were members of the same
| company. Where are such casts to-
/ day?
From Augustin Daly's hands the the
: ater, rebuilt and beaViified was passed
| into the control Of Steel Mackaye. who
! rechristened il the Madison Square, the
! same II has since retained. MaCkaye,
who was associated with the Mallory
! Brothers. was one of the genuises OF the
| theater of his day.
| 1t was he who invented the double
stage. which was then expected to work
| revolution i'm theatrical productions
! He devised the folding orchestra chair
| He placed the musicians I'm balcony
above the proscenium opening. In
| many other ways he emerged as a the.
! atrical inconoClast.
He also understood the art OF the
drama as well as its mechanics. MAY
Blossom and "Esmeralda." famous
| successes in their day. are Celebra tee
| among his achievements. He lifted the
drama in New York from its conserva
tive groove and introduced innovation,
which have endured TO the present
hn nll
brought into prominence were GeorR,
Cayvan. Herbert Keicey, Charles w
Couldock and others who are still I,
be seen on the Broadway stages.
After Steele Mackaye came A. NJ
Palmer. Splendid were the perform
ances which he instituted. Then il wa
that William Gillette in THE Privat,
Secretary" Maurice Barrymore il
Captain Swift" and Agnes Booth il
Jim the Penman" brilliantly held tn
attention of audiences
It was on the Madison Squares stag
large in its day. but tiny now-tha
Mr.. Palmer set alabama" an idylIi
Southern drama by an unknown writer
1t won "A great success on its frs
night, and Augustus Thomas then be
gan his career AS dramatist, whicl
has eliminated with "'The WitChini
Hour" Of the present year
When A. M. Palmer gave up tn
Madison Square, Charles II. Hoyt too
its managerial chair. The successio
Of his amusing farce comedies throug
the early 90s forms comparatively re
cent history. "A Black Sheep" 81
Brass Monkey" "A Bunch OF Keys,
"'The Midnight Bell" "A Temperate
Town" "A Contented Woman" g.
Trip to Chinatown"-whic ran thre
years-were a few of the production
which made him "A millionaire, an
finally landed him in n madhouse.
In still more recent years, and unde
various managers. the Madiso
Squares fortunes have wavereC
Charles Frohman used IL successful
for time and produced farcical piece:
attempting to revive the old glories {
Palmer's Madison Square Stock cor
pany. Then the house fell to the Shu
berts, who however. soon transferre
It to Walter n. Lawrence. who contir
ued to be it's manager until last Satul
day night.
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