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Theater in the United States. Theater in the United States is part of the old European theatrical tradition and has been heavily influenced by the British theater. The central hub of the American theater scene is Manhattan, with its divisions of Broadway, Off-Broadway, and Off-Off-Broadway. Many movie and television stars have gotten their big ...
- Overview
- Theatre and stage design in America
The first recorded performance of a play written by an American was in 1690 at Harvard College. The first permanent American theatre was built in Philadelphia in 1766; it was made of brick and imitated English buildings in arrangement and general architecture. In 1752 Lewis Hallam, a member of a distinguished theatrical family, arrived with a troupe from England, thus marking the beginning of professional theatre in America. The theatre in America for the next 40 years was similar to British provincial theatre, with simple sets for easy traveling; few cities could yet afford theatre buildings. By the 1790s, however, troupes were based in Boston, New York City, Philadelphia, and Charleston, South Carolina, and many permanent theatres were being erected.
The first decades of the 19th century brought not only multiplication of playhouses in the larger Eastern cities but also the extension of theatre to interior regions. The frontier spirit was embodied by Samuel Drake, who took the first company west (to Kentucky) in 1815. Drake designed an adjustable proscenium that could be set up in any large room. The front curtain was a roll drop (lowered from behind the proscenium arch), and three sets of wings (one each for exteriors, ornate interiors, and simple interiors) and six roll drops (including a garden, a street, and a wood) completed his scenic repertoire.
After 1825, New York City had higher standards of theatrical production and more theatre buildings than any other city in America. Although decoration and furnishings created an impression of luxury, the early urban theatres were in fact filthy and rat-infested. They had little or no fire protection, and between 1820 and 1845, no fewer than 25 theatre buildings burned down. Although most productions used stock sets and props, occasionally an elaborate or specific set was added. Interest in historical accuracy was not a major production concern until 1830, when Charles Kean visited with his Shakespeare troupe from England.
During the latter third of the 19th century, the general scenic trend was toward greater naturalism, with particular emphasis on local colour. The major design innovations came from the managers of troupes permanently based at a theatre. One such manager was Edwin Booth, whose new theatre, opened in 1869, introduced several new concepts in the United States. The most important innovation was that the stage floor was flat and had no grooves; elevators raised set pieces from the 50 feet of working space below the stage, and flying machines moved other pieces into the 76 feet of overhead space. In Booth’s new theatre he abandoned the apron and used box sets almost exclusively.
Another important manager was Augustin Daly, who furthered the trend of realism. While the members of his troupe changed considerably during its three-decade history, it was the best example of the permanent stock company in the history of the American theatre. Daly stressed the unity of every production and controlled each element himself. His first success, Saratoga, by Bronson Howard, in 1870, was the first play to give a realistic picture of American life of the day.
Steele MacKaye, also active during this period, holds a unique place in theatre as an actor, manager, playwright, inventor, and designer. In an age of mechanical inventions, producers were seeking a means of effecting scene changes that would not require an intermission. In 1879, MacKaye filed a patent for a “double stage,” a feature he subsequently introduced in the Madison Square Theatre in New York City. He built an elevator platform on which one scene might be set while an earlier scene was being played below. The new scene was then merely lowered, with its own stage floor, to the appropriate level, while the previous scene rolled back behind it.
The first recorded performance of a play written by an American was in 1690 at Harvard College. The first permanent American theatre was built in Philadelphia in 1766; it was made of brick and imitated English buildings in arrangement and general architecture. In 1752 Lewis Hallam, a member of a distinguished theatrical family, arrived with a troupe from England, thus marking the beginning of professional theatre in America. The theatre in America for the next 40 years was similar to British provincial theatre, with simple sets for easy traveling; few cities could yet afford theatre buildings. By the 1790s, however, troupes were based in Boston, New York City, Philadelphia, and Charleston, South Carolina, and many permanent theatres were being erected.
The first decades of the 19th century brought not only multiplication of playhouses in the larger Eastern cities but also the extension of theatre to interior regions. The frontier spirit was embodied by Samuel Drake, who took the first company west (to Kentucky) in 1815. Drake designed an adjustable proscenium that could be set up in any large room. The front curtain was a roll drop (lowered from behind the proscenium arch), and three sets of wings (one each for exteriors, ornate interiors, and simple interiors) and six roll drops (including a garden, a street, and a wood) completed his scenic repertoire.
After 1825, New York City had higher standards of theatrical production and more theatre buildings than any other city in America. Although decoration and furnishings created an impression of luxury, the early urban theatres were in fact filthy and rat-infested. They had little or no fire protection, and between 1820 and 1845, no fewer than 25 theatre buildings burned down. Although most productions used stock sets and props, occasionally an elaborate or specific set was added. Interest in historical accuracy was not a major production concern until 1830, when Charles Kean visited with his Shakespeare troupe from England.
During the latter third of the 19th century, the general scenic trend was toward greater naturalism, with particular emphasis on local colour. The major design innovations came from the managers of troupes permanently based at a theatre. One such manager was Edwin Booth, whose new theatre, opened in 1869, introduced several new concepts in the United States. The most important innovation was that the stage floor was flat and had no grooves; elevators raised set pieces from the 50 feet of working space below the stage, and flying machines moved other pieces into the 76 feet of overhead space. In Booth’s new theatre he abandoned the apron and used box sets almost exclusively.
Another important manager was Augustin Daly, who furthered the trend of realism. While the members of his troupe changed considerably during its three-decade history, it was the best example of the permanent stock company in the history of the American theatre. Daly stressed the unity of every production and controlled each element himself. His first success, Saratoga, by Bronson Howard, in 1870, was the first play to give a realistic picture of American life of the day.
Steele MacKaye, also active during this period, holds a unique place in theatre as an actor, manager, playwright, inventor, and designer. In an age of mechanical inventions, producers were seeking a means of effecting scene changes that would not require an intermission. In 1879, MacKaye filed a patent for a “double stage,” a feature he subsequently introduced in the Madison Square Theatre in New York City. He built an elevator platform on which one scene might be set while an earlier scene was being played below. The new scene was then merely lowered, with its own stage floor, to the appropriate level, while the previous scene rolled back behind it.
The first is rooted in local theatre where African Americans performed in cabins and parks. Their performances (folk tales, songs, music, and dance) were rooted in the African culture before being influenced by the American environment. African Grove Theatre was the first African-American theatre established in 1821 by William Henry Brown. [141]
1800-1900 – Post-independence, popularity with theater grew (slowly) as questions surrounding its morality declined. It wasn’t until the mid-1850s where actors finally gained a foothold in the public’s eye. Some of the key actors were Wiliam Charles Macready, Edwin Forrest and Edwin Booth (older brother of John Wilkes Booth).
Theatre - Evolution, Production, Design: Underlying the theatrical developments of the 19th century, and in many cases inspiring them, were the social upheavals that followed the French Revolution. Throughout Europe the middle class took over the theatres and effected changes in repertoire, style, and decorum. In those countries that experienced revolutionary change or failure, national ...
Sep 25, 2020 · The first documented example of a theatrical performance in Colonial America occurred August 27, 1665 on the eastern shore of Virginia. A play, known as Ye Bare and ye Cubb, was acted at Fowkes Tavern by “three citizens of Accomack”: Cornelius Watkinson, Philip Howard, and William Darby.
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Theatre - American, Design, Architecture: The currents of innovative stagecraft eventually reached the United States. The first migration was represented by the Viennese Joseph Urban, who when he went to the Boston Opera before World War I took with him an entire atelier of draftsmen and scenic artists. Urban moved into musical comedy and eliminated the acreage of painted vistas and box sets ...
