New-York tribune., 1911-11-29
THEATRE IN 70 YEARS
Continued from seventh page.


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-ith. 90 as 10 keep themselves in action.
astead Of, as was the custom previously,
Ding nothing not directly indicated by
heir lines.
DAILY and Wallack stood for good English
nd correct dction on the stage. A word
Fas pronounced as it should he. There was
o need to look II up in dictionary after
on had heard it there.
Jefferson's Annual Engagement.
Another phase Of play life IN New York
nown until few years ago, and now
ractically obsolete. was the annual :
hat is. the return OF some one person once
year in the same play. Chief among these
vas Joseph jefferson, IN rip Van Win
lie" There was always large public for
hese plays. They were composed OF those
sho had seen the play many times, Of
Youngsters for whom the year Just passed
iad opened the golden doors OF the theatre.
nd Of strangers here from other coun-
ries and small places. Well remembered
ANNALS" were Edwin Adams, Frank
,hanfrau, Isotta Crabtree, Maggie Mitchell
Ir. and Mrs. Barney Williams. and among
he recent ones, Denman Thompson in The
Did Homestead" James O'Neil In Monte
rristo" and James Herne in Shore Acres.
AS an example Of the passion for change
ghich has been fully as typical OF theat-
ical activity as Of every other Kind OF
interest here, the old theatre which for
many years stood at No. 72S Broadway and
Vas for that reason known familiarly as
Prs" and celebrated by DAILY play OF
That name, IS worth recalling.
This building was originally Unitarian
thurch O39. And as a place OF worship II
held its own until about 1865. In its early
History as a church there was curious
prophecy made from It's pulpit by A. oak
tey Hall. once Mayor Of New York. 1t was
IN the occasion Of a school festival held
here that Mr.. Hall recited poem In
which occurred these lines;
Fen fin some future age
This pulpit may be q stage
10 which startling announcement DR.. Pen
sington. then pastor Of the church, immedi-
tely answered:
III your prophecy about this church
Mould ever come true ] pray that the
rouse Will be cursed
When the congregation abandoned it the
church was turned into an auction room
ana called The Dusseldorf Gallery. a
tr Stewart bought It in 1864, remodelled
rs, as theatre and named it The
Atbeneum. I'm January, 1866, James H..
Iackett took the building under his man
,eement The old building after that en-
cred on the widest. career of name
hanging that can be recorded for any
heatre in the world. IL almost seemed
as though the curse that old Or. Penning-
on mad invoked had actually taken ell
sect Although many successful plays
we're produced there nothing was ever
permanent. Sometimes the house changed
management ss often as four times
ear
This is the list Of it's names given IN
consecutive order: Athen9um, Lucy
Rushton's. New York Theatre, the Noi-
-eu Sisters Theatre. the Globe. Nixon
Amphitheatre, the Broadway, DAILY. fllIu
Avenue. Days Broadway. FoX's Broad
+ nav. the Globe. Heller's Wonder Theatre
Neu Brvant's opera House. National
Theatre. the Globe. the New York circus
he Broadway Novelty and the New The
,tre Comioue OHarrigan & Hart, man
,gers) The building was destroyed by
ire December %. 1884 For seven years
n its existence as theatre the old
structure stiu carried on its roof the stone
tower that had been steeple FOR the
hurch.
ON the site of the theatre building
WAS erected for amusement purposes ana
was called ola London Street. But the
curse of change still clung to the pio''
In 1SN. il became BunnelIs Museum IN
lNSS q retail clothing store, in 1896 d
gymnasium. ana the last event or note
was prize fight, which took place there
III, November C. 1896 The building was
demolished iu 1870 This brief outline OF
tpld 72s.- career gives nothing but faint
reflected suggestion of its detailed MS
A,orv. leaving out altogether the plays anu
Wlayers who were seen there.
IAveraoe Of One Hundred Plays Year
4, would be impossible in less space
sham three large volumes TO give even a
ketchv summary Of the theatrical eNeh''
which have taken place in this drama
having city since 1S41. This fact Will
he better realized by a glance at two
of tho many series Of statistical ngureS
concerning New York's theatres. In the
last seventy years there have BEEN az
nearly as can be ascertained. 1000 dlr-
ferent plavs performed on the stages OF
This city. and about $500 actors and
actresses are recorded as worthy Of mem
ton mot 10 include the many thousand
others whose names have fallen into COM
plete oblivion.
Another striking record is that Ne"
York has had between $50 and 400 'he-
atres in seventy years. thirty-one oi
which have been destroyed by fire. none
of these fires having occurred since the
use of electricity for lighting. As there
are between thirty-fve and forty hrst-
class theatres to-day, some 800 OF them
have perished I'm various ways. either IN
heing completely remodened, or. as was
the case with the great majority, torn
down 10 make way for the business build
,ngs of the present There is hardly a
block Of Broadway, from Battery Pace
10 4sth street, that either is not or mas
not been the site Of at least one theaue
some time during the brief history OF tne
city
At present there are eighty-two thea
tres i'm Manhattan and the Bronx alone
counting all grades, with a seating ca
nacity OF 135.O0O. a number equivalent
10 one-haIf the population OF the city
seventy years ago.
Another interesting contrast between
iSil and the present is, that whereas IN
those early days at least nine-tenths Oh
the plays produced were Of foreign origin
and nearly 80 per cent Of the actors came
from the other side, in 1910 Of the loz
new plays produced, sixty-three were Dy
native authors and thirty-nine by foreign
playwrights; Of the twenty-siX new mu'
.slcal comedies produced in that year