National Theatre, Boston (1836)

The National Theatre (1836-1863) was a theatre in the West End of Boston, Massachusetts, in the mid-19th century.[1][2] William Pelby established the enterprise in 1836, and presented productions of "original pieces, and the efforts of a well selected stock company, which, with few exceptions, have been American. The scenery is of the highest order, and the business of the stage well directed. Mr C.A. Eaton made his debut at this theatre, and here Mr. F.S. Hill's early labors were eminently successful. Mr. J.S. Jones has written and produced on this stage thirty pieces, embracing every department except tragedy."[3] William Washburn designed the building, erected on the site of the former Warren Theatre. Performers at the National included Edwin Adams, Marietta Zanfretta, Jean Margaret Davenport,[4] Julia Dean, Jonathan Harrington, W.H. Smith,[5] Mary Ann Vincent, and Billy Whitlock. In 1852 the theatre burnt down, and was rebuilt.[6] In 1863 the building was again destroyed by fire.[7]

Not to be confused with National Theatre, Boston (1911).
The National Theatre, corner Portland and Traverse Street, West End, Boston, ca.1860

Architecture

In 1836:

"this theatre, planned and erected by Mr William Washburn, is 120 by 76 feet (23 m), exclusive of the saloons, refreshment rooms, &c., which are contained in an adjoining building, 20 by 60 feet (18 m), fronting on Traverse Street, and communicating with the lobbies. The leading architectural features are Doric presenting brood pilasters with slight projections on the front which support an.unbroken entablature and a pediment, 18 feet (5.5 m) high at each end. The roof is covered with slate and zinc, and is surmounted by an octagonal lantern, 12 feet (3.7 m) in diameter and 18 feet (5.5 m) high, having a window on each of its sides. The structure is covered on the exterior walls with cement, in imitation' of granite, which gives a uniform and beautiful appearance. The interior comprises a pit, with 600 seats, three tiers of boxes, with 336 seats each, and a gallery with 200 seats. The saloons, lobbies, refreshment rooms, &c. are spacious, convenient and well ventilated by large windows on the two streets and in rear. The boxes have five rows of seats each, and are accessible from both streets, affording, in case of fire or other cause of alarm, ready egress from the house. The main roof is supported by 18 hard pine pillars, 36 feet (11 m) high and 10 inches square, which also support a portion of the boxes, and divide them from the lobbies. The remaining boxes are supported by 2 octagonal pillars of the same material, 9 inches in diameter. The main ceiling is a single arch, of 55 feet (17 m) span, rising within 9 feet (2.7 m) of the ridge. The gallery is entirely above the level cornice of the building, having an arched ceiling which rises five feet higher than the main ceiling, and is ventilated by a large round window placed in the centre of the tympanum. The proscenium presents an opening 40 feet (12 m) wide and 33 feet (10 m) high. It is composed of pilasters, having ornamented capitals and bases, which support a beautifully enriched arch, crowned with the American eagle. The depth of the stage is 61 feet (19 m). The circle of boxes is so arranged, that in every part of the house a full view is had of the stage. The decorations are in good taste. The lower tier of boxes is adorned with paintings of the battles of the United States Navy; the second tier bears the arms of the States, and the upper parts have appropriate scenes from the Iliads."[3]

Performances
Performances
Year Play Author
1837Carpenter of Rouen! or The confrerie of St. BartholomewJ.S. Jones[8]
18383 degrees of BankingJ.S. Jones[8]
1838Surgeon of Paris; or, The Mask of the HuguenotsJoseph Stevens Jones
1838Hamlet[9]
1838Valet de ShamCharles Selby[8]
1839
1839Moll Pitcher; or, The Fortune Teller of Lynn
1839Solon Shingle; or, The People's LawyerJoseph Stevens Jones
1842Ivanhoe[10]
1844Jack SheppardJ.B. Buckstone[8]
1844Nervous ManWilliam Bayle Bernard[8]
1846Wizard of the wave! or—The ship of the avenger!John Thomas Haines[8]
1848
1848Jonathan Harrington (ventriloquist)[11]
1849Serpent of the Nile[8]
1849Ben the BoatswainThomas Egerton Wilks[12]
1849Mazeppa or The wild horse of Tartary[8]
1849Ivanhoe! or—The knights templars[8]
1851Stranger or,--Misanthropy & repentanceKotzebue[8]
1851Honey moon or, how to rule a wifeJohn Tobin[8]
1852Philip Augustus of FranceJ. Westland Marston[13]
1852I've Swallowed a Policeman[8]
1852Heir-at-Law
1853Pet of the petticoatsJohn Baldwin Buckstone[8]
1853Fortunio and his seven gifted servantsMadame d'Aulnoy/James Planché[8]
1853Madelaine, The Belle of the FaubourgVirginia Cunningham[14][15]
1853Faint heart never won fair ladyJ.R. Planche[8]
1853Wept of the Wish-ton-WishWm. Bayle Bernard[8]
1853Tower of Nesle! or The chamber of deathGeorge Almar, adapted from Dumas and Gaillardet's La tour de Nesle.[8]
1853Six degrees of crimeFrederic Stanhope Hill[8][16][17]
1853Gale Breezely! or, The tale of a tarJ.B. Johnstone[8][18]
1853Ernest Maltravers: or, The robber father and maniac daughterBulwer-Lytton[8]
1853Lady of LyonsBulwer[8]
1854Egyptian Prince, "the very popular Ethiopian farce"[8]
1854Othello[8]
1854That Good for Nothing[8]
1854Faustus[8]
1854Monte Cristo[8]
1854Sledge DriverPlanche[8]
1854Much Ado About Nothing[8]
1854Mary Tudor or, The artisan and the Jew[8]
1854Fallen angel or Faust and MargaretDion Boucicault[8]
1854Devil's in it[8]
1854Invisible prince! or, The island of tranquil delightsPlanche[8]
1856Cushing's New York Circus[19]
1858Three fast men Or, The female Robinson Crusoes[8]
1858Linda, the Cigar Girl[8]
1858O'Flanagan and the fairies[8]
1858Buck bison: or, Baby Blanche, the child of the prairie[8]
1858Woman's love Or, The secrets of the heart[8]
1858Farmer's son Or, The golden axe[8]
1859Inez, the poisonerFrederic S. Hill[8]
1859Flowers of the Forest, A gipsey storyJ.B. Buckstone[8]
1859Cross of gold, or Theresa's vow[8]
1859Three guardsmen or, The seige [sic?] of Rochelle[8]
1859Magic pills! Or, The conjuror's gift, "a grand Christmas pantomime"[8]

Images
  • Advertisement for "3 Degrees of Banking," 1838
  • The National, designed by William Washburn, as it appeared ca.1838
  • Detail of 1846 map of Boston, showing National Theatre at corner of Portland St. and Traverse St.
  • The National on fire, 1852[20]
  • Advertisement for "Much Ado About Nothing," 1854
  • Cushing's New York Circus, 1856

Managers/Proprietors

Managers and proprietors included: William Pelby (1836-1850),[21] William B. English (ca.1857-1863), Thomas Barry, Rosalie Pelby, John B. Wright, Henry W. Fenno,[22] George Bird, Joseph Leonard, W.M. Fleming, Joseph Cushing, G.H. Griffiths, James Pilgrim, Henry Willard, Charles R. Thome, Sr., John Moran, Walter Gay, Henry Willard, F.B. Conway, E.B. Williams, Thomas Hampton, J. C. Myers, C.J. Boniface.[23]

Variant names
  • Willard's National Theatre, 1856
  • People's National Theatre, 1856, 1859
  • Union Concert Hall, 1862

References
  1. Boston Almanac. 1841.
  2. Boston Directory. 1862.
  3. Abel Bowen (1838), Bowen's Picture of Boston (3rd ed.), Boston: Otis, Broaders and Company
  4. Samuel Adams Drake (1873), Old landmarks and historic personages of Boston, Boston: James R. Osgood and Co., OCLC 3012180, OL 6905745M
  5. John W. Frick (2003), Theatre, culture and temperance reform in nineteenth-century America, Cambridge, U.K: Cambridge University Press, ISBN 0521817781
  6. On April 22, 1852, the National was "entirely destroyed by fire." cf. Boston Almanac. 1853.
  7. The National burned down on March 24, 1863. Its remaining "stage fixtures, to a considerable extent, had been removed to the new Tremont Theatre upon the opening of that house in the early part of 1863." cf. Winsor. 1886
  8. American Broadsides and Ephemera, Series 1
  9. American Broadsides and Ephemera, Series 1, no. 5347. Title: "National. Hamlet! Mr. Pelby as Hamlet. ... On Friday evening, September 7, 1838, will be acted Shakspeare's [sic] celebrated tragedy in 5 acts, called Hamlet Prince of Denmark! ... To conclude with, the new comedietta, by Charles Selby, Esq, called The valet de Sham." 1838
  10. American Broadsides and Ephemera, Series 1, no. 14230. Title:" National Theatre. Stage manager Mr. Murdoch ... On Tuesday evening, April 12th. 1842. Will be performed ... the drama, in three acts, founded upon incidents in Sir Walter Scott's novel of Ivanhoe--entitled Ivanhoe! or--The Knight Templars. ... To conclude with the grand spectacle, in three parts, entitled The Naiad queen!" 1842
  11. Boston Daily Atlas, May 26, 1848
  12. Wilks. Ben the Boatswain. French's Standard Drama no.149
  13. American Broadsides and Ephemera, Series 1, no. 8202. Title: "March 3d, 1852, will be performed, (first time in America,) a new tragedy in 5 acts, written by J. Westland Marston, Esq. ... entitled Philip Augustus of France! ... To conclude with the new and successful farce, I've swallowed a policeman" 1852
  14. Cunnigham. Madelaine, The Belle of the Faubourg. NY: Samuel French, ca.1855
  15. WorldCat. Virginia Juhan Cunningham
  16. WorldCat. F.S. Hill (1805-1852)
  17. Frederic Stanhope Hill. The six degrees of crime, or, Wine, women, gambling, theft, murder and the scaffold: a melo drama in six parts. Boston: W.V. Spencer, 1856
  18. WorldCat. Johnstone, J. B. (John Beer) 1803-1891
  19. Ballou's Pictorial, 1856
  20. "Burning of the National Theatre". Gleason's Pictorial. Boston, Mass. 2. 1852.
  21. Richard Butsch (2000), The making of American audiences: From Stage to Television, 1750-1990, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, ISBN 0521662532
  22. Henry W. Fenno died in 1862; cf. Daily Picayune (New Orleans); Date: 08-14-1862
  23. Justin Winsor, ed. (1880–1881), "Warren Theatre", Memorial History of Boston, 4, Boston: James R. Osgood and Company, hdl:2027/uc2.ark:/13960/t1bk1nn56, OCLC 4953409

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