The New York herald., 1921-07-24
Our First Rialto.

The sale of piece of Fourteenth
street real estate last week trans
ferred into other hands property long
famous because it faced New York's
first Rialto. The part of Fourteenth
street running east from Broadway
to Fourth avenue was an important
theatrical locality Of the past. 1t
was the first stretch Of sidewalk on
which the people of the theatre gath
cred in such numbers that any one
of them could truthfully have called
it the Rialto where their kind most
did congregate.
The old Union Square Theatre,
which still is In use, played its
part in giving the street its char
acter. Only a block down Broadway
stood Wallack's. These two play
houses were dominant in the theatre
life of the time. On this block the
managers and agents who sent the
actors or later the plays through the
country had their offices. Naturally
the visiting impresarios sought out
this stretch of pavement ON their ar
rival. Here on the sidewalk man
ayers transacted their business just
as in other sidewalk markets to-day
there is barter and sale. Only here
they were merchants Of smiles
TAYLoR's famous agency stood
here; it eventually became the great
booking agency Of Klaw & Erlanger
of our own day. A little remote,
since it was in the old Union Square
Hotel at Fifteenth street and Fourth
avenue, was the office of T. ALLsToN
BROWN, who has left great memo
rial of his labors in his history Of
the New York stage. ALI the build
ings about the Union Square Theatre
were honeycombed with Offices Of
managers. Here naturally settled
what might be called In these union
lied days the associated trades. The
most famous of theatre costumers
long had his headquarters on the
Square, with wigmakers and shoe
makers to keep him company. There
never was such busy hive OF thea
tre bees before or since, never was
the zone of Punch and Judy so con-
tracted as here.
Nearer Fourth avenue the profes-
sional character Of the Offices changed.
The variety stage had its represen-
tation at this end of the Rialto. It's
demands grew so exigent that the
now vanished house of call on the
corner was kind of open exchange
for artists of this school.
This was of course the day OF
Shook G. Palmer, managers Of the
Union Square Theatre; LESTER WAL
LACK and THEODORE Moss, Tony PAS
TOR at the head Of the vaudeville in
terests, HENRY e. ABBEY, D1oN BoU-
cIcAULT, SAM CoLvILLE, AUGUsTIN
DAILY, HARRIGAN and HART, WILLIAM
HENDERSON, the meteoric Colonel
JACK HAvERLY, JOHN STETsoN Of
Boston, who always hankered to be
a metropolitan manager in spite of
his great success at home, and BART
LEY CAMPBELL, who aspired like
BoUcIcAULr to be manager and play
wright. The days of the Hacketts,
Burtons and Keenes had passed. The
syndicate had not been thought Of.
Yet CHARLES FRoHMAN worked in his
early days for the Taylor agency.
There were no luxurious clubs for
actors or managers in those days.
Fourteenth streets pavement served
well enough with it's adjacent places
Of refreshment. 1t took also in a
way the place OF the Offices of the
day. There were other privations
for the theatre world of that period.
Among them was the necessity of
getting along without the strikes and
the unions and other economic ele-
ments that complicate the business
Of art now.