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Review & Ad of "The Black Crook" - the first full-fledged Broadway musical...
Review & Ad of "The Black Crook" - the first full-fledged Broadway musical...
Item # 711393
September 13, 1866
THE NEW YORK TIMES, Sept. 13, 1866
* "The Black Crook" opening premiere w/ review
* First musical theatre performance of the first modern-day musical!
* Niblo's Garden - Broadway - New York City
Page 4 has a review of the first performance of "The Black Crook" from the previous evening, which is quite lengthy & complimentary. Near the end it notes: "...No similar exhibition has been made in an American stage that we remember, certainly none where such a combination of youth, grace, beauty and elan was found. The curtain was rung up three times at the close of this act, in compliance with the peremptory demands of the house...It will be repeated every night, and is well worth seeing, as it is decidedly the event of this spectacular age." See the photos for the complete review. This issue also includes an advertisement for the play on page 7. Truly Historic!
An ad for P. T. Barnum's "NEW AMERICAN MUSEUM" is also on page 7, and news and ads of the day are found throughout. See photos for additional details.
A terrific and very historic trio of newspapers relating to the first theatrical musical, "The Black Crook". As Wikipedia notes: "Its significance is being considered the first piece of musical theater that conforms to the modern notion of a "book musical". The book is by Charles M. Barras, an American playwright. The music is mostly adaptations, but some new songs were composed for the piece. It opened on September 12, 1866, at Niblo's Garden on Broadway, New York City and ran for a record-breaking 474 performances. This production gave America claim to having originated the musical. The Black Crook is considered a prototype of the modern musical in that its popular songs and dances are interspersed throughout a unifying play and performed by the actors."
It's development is curious and partially accidental, for in May of 1866 a fire at the Academy of Music left a French ballet troupe without a place to perform. The company, its scenery, and its elaborate stage effects were hastily added to a production of "The Black Crook" at Niblo's Garden. The resulting bizarre combination of Faustian drama and tutu-and-tights dance routines became a major hit and is widely considered to be the first full-fledged Broadway musical.
Complete in 8 pages and in very good condition.
Category: Post-Civil War
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