Federal Street Theatre

Federal Street Theatre, Boston

The Federal Street Theatre (1793–1852), also known as the Boston Theatre,^[1] was located at the corner of Federal and Franklin streets in Boston, Massachusetts. It was "the first building erected purposely for theatrical entertainments in the town of Boston."^[2]

History

Opening performance, February 3, 1794

The original building^[3] was designed by Charles Bulfinch. It was "the first professionally designed American theater by a native architect."^[4] It occupied land formerly owned by Thomas Brattle, Edward H. Robbins and William Tudor.^[4] In 1798 fire destroyed the theatre; it was rebuilt the same year. The second building existed through 1852.^[4]

Management included Charles S. Powell (1794–1795); John Steel Tyler (1795–1796); John Hodgkinson (1795–1796); John Brown Williamson (1796–1797); John Sollee (1797); Giles Leonard Barrett (ca.1798); Joseph Harper (ca.1798).^[4][5]

Musicians affiliated with the theatre included Trille La Barre; Peter Von Hagen Sr.; R. Leaumont; and Gottlieb Graupner.^[6] Scene painters included Christian Gullager (1793–1797).^[4]

Events

• 1794
  • Feb. 3 - "Tragedy of Gustavus Vasa"^[7]
  • Feb. - "The Child of Nature" and "The Agreeable Surprise"^[8]
  • April - "The Chapter of Accidents;" and "Midas," a burletta^[9]
• 1795 - Judith Sargent Murray's "The Medium, or Happy Tea-Party," debuts 2 March 1795.^[10] Judith Sargent Murray wrote the first two plays by an American, male or female, to be performed in Boston.
• 1796
  • March 9 - Judith Sargent Murray's "The Traveller Returned," debuts.^[11]
  • John O'Keefe's "Farmer," with Susanna Rowson^[12]
• 1802 - A young Hawaiian called "Bill" performed in the pantomime "The Death of Captain Cook."
• 1832 - Shakespeare's Richard III, with Charles Kean.^[13]
• 1834 - Jonathan Harrington (ventriloquist)
• 1846 - James Sheridan Knowles' "Hunchback," with Charles Kean and Ellen Kean.^[13]
• 1851
  • Macallister. "Soirees magiques.... Several new and attractive experiments including for the first time, the aerial handkerchiefs, and the flying watches"^[13]
  • Lucrezia Borgia^[14]

Image gallery

• 
  The Federal Street Theatre burnt in February 1798.
• 
  February 1824
• 
  Detail from 1834 broadsheet of "L-a-w," sung by Mr. Andrews
• 
  December 1846
• 
  Detail from advertisement for Macallister's performance, November 1851

References

1. Boston Directory. 1823.
2. Thomas Pemberton. "A Topographical and Historical Description of Boston, 1794." Collections of the Massachusetts Historical Society, 1st ser., III (1794, reprinted 1810), 255-56. Quoted in Stoddard. 1970; p.191.
3. "Architectural Description of the Boston Theatre." Federal Orrery (Boston) 11-10-1794
4. Stoddard. 1970
5. Elias Nason. A Memoir of Mrs. Susanna Rowson. NY: Munsell, 1870.
6. H. Earle Johnson. The Musical Von Hagens. New England Quarterly, Vol. 16, No. 1 (Mar., 1943); p.112.
7. Early American Imprints, Series 1
8. American Apollo, Feb. 27, 1794
9. American Apollo, 24 April 1794.
10. Skemp, Sheila (2009). First Lady of Letters. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press. p. 254. ISBN 978-0-8122-4140-2.
11. Skemp, Sheila (2009). First Lady of Letters. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press. p. 258. ISBN 978-0-8122-4140-2.
12. Nason. 1870.
13. American Broadsides and Ephemera, Series 1
14. "Lucrezia Borgia". Gleason's Pictorial. Boston, Mass. 1. 1851.

Further reading

• John Alden. "A Season in Federal Street: J. B. Williamson and the Boston Theatre, 1796-1797." Proceedings of the American Antiquarian Society 65 (1): 9-74. 1955.
• Martin Banham (1998). The Cambridge Guide to Theatre. New York: Cambridge University Press. Cf. especially p. 361, article on the "Federal Street Theatre".
• Frank Chouteau Brown. "The First Boston Theatre, on Federal Street: Built 1793, finally discontinued 1852. Charles Bulfinch, Architect," Old-Time New England, v.36 (1945), 1-7.
• Brooks McNamara. The American Playhouse in the Eighteenth Century (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1969), pp. 121–27.
• Douglass Shand-Tucci (1999). Built in Boston: City and Suburb, 1800-2000. Amherst: University of Massachusetts Press. Cf. p. 209
• Caleb Snow. History of Boston, 2nd ed. 1828.
• Richard Stoddard. A Reconstruction of Charles Bulfinch's First Federal Street Theatre, Boston. Winterthur Portfolio, Vol. 6 (1970), pp. 185–208.
• Richard Stoddard. "Aqueduct and Iron Curtain at the Federal Street Theatre, Boston," Theatre Survey, VIII (1967), 106-11.

External links

• Boston Public Library. Federal Street Theatre Collection
• Harvard Theatre Collection, Houghton Library, Harvard College Library. Early American playbills: Guide; includes playbills from the Federal St. Theatre
• Paul Lewis (2012). "The First Seasons of the Federal Street Theatre: 1794–1798". Forgotten Chapters of Boston's Literary History: an Exhibition at the Boston Public Library and Massachusetts Historical Society, March 28 - July 30, 2012. Boston College. Retrieved 2 April 2012.
• "Object of the Month". Massachusetts Historical Society. May 2012.

Coordinates: 42°21′19.97″N 71°3′23.48″W / 42.3555472°N 71.0565222°W