American Theatre

Event Information

Venue(s):
Butler's American Theatre [444 Bdway--before 3/66]

Proprietor / Lessee:
Robert W. [manager] Butler

Ballet Director / Choreographer:
Antonio Grossi

Price: $.30 parquet; $.50 orchestra; $.15 , gallery; $5 private boxes

Record Information

Status:
Published

Last Updated:
28 April 2023

Citations

1)
Advertisement: New York Clipper, 22 April 1865, 16.
2)
Advertisement: New York Herald, 23 April 1865.
3)
Announcement: New York Clipper, 29 April 1865, 22.
4)
Review: New York Clipper, 06 May 1865, 30.

     “The People’s favorite place of amusement, ‘444,’ reopened on the 25th inst., one day earlier than the theatres. It being the only place of amusement open on Broadway, the throng that crowded the doors to gain admittance was immense. In fifteen minutes after the doors opened the house was as crowded as a box of sardines. When the curtain went up the sign ‘house full’ was hung on the outside of the door, and hundreds were turned away. The performances were very good in the Ethiopian as well as the ballet department. . . . Mr. Collins appeared in his great act of ‘The Cure,’ and as Shakespeare’s ‘Seven Ages,’ both of which took hugely. Denny Gallagher makes a valuable addition to the burnt-cork fraternity of 444. He appeared in the act of the ‘Black Academy,’ and created considerable laughter. In the ‘Influence of Music,’ in company with Charley White and James Wambold, he kept the audience in continual roar of laughter. Senorita Jovetta, the Spanish danseuse, is ‘the very poetry of motion’ . . . The ballet divertissements, led off by the charming Lizzie Schultze and Mille Flora, under the direction of the maitre de ballet, Mons. Grossi, continues to be one of the attractive features of this establishment. ‘La Bayadere’ and ‘Fleur de Lis,’ were the ballets given last week, and they were well executed. . . . Master Tommy divides the song and dance business with James Guinn. The comic singing is in the hands of J. P. Johnson, who is becoming a favorite with the boys. The comic pantomime of ‘Simon’s Mishaps’ was the afterpiece, with J. S. Maffitt, W. H. Bartholomew and Lizzie Schultze in the principal rôles. Manager Butler knows how to cater for his audiences, and he is rewarded by a succession of crowded houses, and 444 is one of the fixed institutions of this great city.”