Brougham’s Theatre

“Mr. Brougham’s new theatre is announced to open, positively, on the 25th.  The opening performance consists of two new pieces from Mr. Brougham’s own fertile fancy—a comedy called “Better Late than Never” and an extravaganza modeled after the Parisian New-Year revue, that French equivalent of the English pantomime, which is to be called “The Dramatic Review for 1868.”  An auction of the choice places for the opening night is to be held this morning at Messrs. Leeds & Miner’s, Liberty-street.”

Detailed table of contents.

Reopening of the theater, with detailed description. 

Description of the new theatre.

Opening of the theatre; includes Brougham’s short speech.

“John Brougham is one of the most sparkling and most literary of the American comedians. He is also a highly capable manager, who knows his audiences by heart, and who owns them: no actor has the gift of enslaving the audience than he does. He has introduced, for his opening, a novelty in American theater: it is a survey in motion of the acts and gestures of the past year, in the genre of the end-of-year reviews in our Parisian theaters. He brought on the stage, by turns or together, the principal dramatic works which ran in 1868, The Emerald Ring, Barbe Bleue, After Dark, Humpty Dumpty, which is nearly at its four-hundredth performance, the Opéra-Bouffe where Ristori is found enshrined, Ixion and La Grance Duchesse. You can see that our theater has a big part—almost half the space, and the acknowledgment is yet more sincere…” [rest is missing!]

Detailed description of the theater, with a complete list of performers.

“Had more attention been paid to the extravaganza as a literary work, and had all the parodies been simple tableaux vivants, like the one on “After Dark,’ the result might have been more satisfactory to the author and more entertaining to the audience; but to introduce (for example) as a burlesque on the LYDIA THOMPSON Troupe four people who cannot sing as well as the originals, nor act as well, nor burlesque at all, and who don’t resemble them in any sense, was a failure of no common kind. . . . It must be added that the orchestral department is under very poor management, and so far the singers and the musicians do not seem to harmonize at all.”

“Brougham’s Opening.—Monday evening, Jan. 25, was the opening night of Brougham’s new theatre, which, as a matter of course, was densely crowded. That it is one of the handsomest theatres in this city was the verdict of evey one present. The beauty of the design of the house was the theme of general comment. The opening has been attended by a complete success. This is remarkable, when it is known that the company did not begin to have as many rehearsals as is necessary for a new company, and more particularly in two new pieces, and one of them a burlesque, the latter being more difficult to make run smoothly on a first night than any other kind of a dramatic production. However, barring a few minutes wait for Mr. Brougham to make an entire change, there was not a hitch of any kind. Every one was thoroughly posted in the business of the scene, and every one appeared to be letter perfect in the text, a very rare thing now-a-days, particularly on the first night of a new piece. Everything was in order and no signs of apparent haste. There is not a seat in the house but what the occupant can distinctly see and hear everything going on. Two pieces were presented, the first a two act comedy by Mr. Brougham, entitled ‘Never Too Late to Mend,’ [sic] which was capitally played and magnificently costumed. John Brougham had the leading rôle, which he rattled through with in his usual pleasing style. Eliza Newton played the next best character, to which she did ample justice. She dressed magnificently and looked and acted better than we have seen her in a long time. Miss Newton as an old favorite in this city, and the hearty reception that greeted her on her first appearance proved that she had not been forgotten. Mrs. Willliam Winter gave a pleasing rendition of the rôle of Lady Nell. This lady is making rapid progress in her profession, and gives promise of still further improvement. Messrs. Lamb, Hale and Edmonds were also excellent in their respective rôles. At the close of the comedy Mr. Brougham made a facetious attempt to give a speech, but declined it until some future occasion. Then followed Brougham’s satirical composition called ‘Dramatic Review of 1868.’ The prelude consists of an allegorical group of persons representing Manhattan, Anna Firman; Brooklyn, Miss E. Lyle; New Jersey, Miss L. Mahon; North River, Mr. Hurley; East River, C. Hillyard; Public Opinion, Eliza Newton; Aelpomene, Mrs. J. F. Prior; and Mad. Fashion, Effie German, who also appears dressed as a young officer and sings ‘Captain Jinks.’ After the introduction, in which considerable wit is indulged in by all hands, the burlesque on the different pieces that have been produced this season follow. First we are shown the scene where Ded Light ties Maggie to a rock in the ‘Emerald Ring;’ then we have a scene from ‘Barbe Blue,’ terminating with a female drawn up in the air, representing the suicide in ‘After Dark.’ A little pantomime scene between Clown and Harlequin presents ‘Humpty Dumpty,’ which is followed by Mrs. Prior as Queen Elizabeth, in which scene the two gens d’armes from ‘Genevieve de Brabant’ appear; also two ladies and gentlemen in a Tyrolean song, which was deservedly encored. The next scene is from ‘Lancashire Lass,’ which is followed by a scene from ‘Ixion,’ in which ‘Taffy was a Welshman’ was sung. The seventh illustration is one of Fritz and two Grand Duchesses from the ‘Grand Duchess,’ in which Fritz sings Captain Macheath’s song of ‘How Happy Could I be with Either were t’other Charmer away.’ The finale is a transformation scene. As a burlesque it is clever, but not as good as many of Mr. Brougham’s previous efforts, it having less ingenuity of language and polish of versification. It compensates, however, for the absence of these qualities by the possession of great merit of construction, and increased effectiveness of stage management. It is full of clever and amusing stage business, but its literary merits are small. Still, so ingeniously are the situations aarranged that it goes successfully to a termination. It is capitally acted by such a company as few theatres possess. Effie Germon, a sprightly, agile actress, full of dash, acted and sang well, and was enthusiastically encored several times, and terribly pelted with bouquets. She made a palpable hit the first night. Eliza Newton, who has the leading part, came in for her share of the applause. She looked charming in her suit of armor, and sang and danced to the satisfaction of all. As a burlesque actress Miss Newton is one of the best at present on the American stage, native or exotic. Miss Firmin possesses a good face and future, and will no doubt become a favorite. Mrs. J. J. Prior, one of the most reliable and painstaking actresses known to the metropolitan stage, acted well her part, and therein all the honor lies. The theatre was full every night during the past week, and the same bill holds the boards for the current week.”