Chatham Theatre

Chatham Theatre, New York.

1. Between Duane and Pearl Streets and originally known as the Pavilion, this opened in 1823. It was built by Barrière, a pastrycook, in a pleasure resort named Chatham Gardens. It seated 1,300, was the first theatre in New York to be lit by gas, and soon proved a serious rival to the old-established Park Theatre I. The original company included the first and second Joseph Jefferson and also Henry Wallack who, with James Hackett, took over the management after Barrière died in 1826. Wallack was not successful, and relinquished the management in 1830, the theatre having been renamed the American Opera House in 1829. It was later run with a mixture of straight and equestrian drama, finally closing in 1832 and becoming a Presbyterian chapel.

2. A New Chatham Theatre, on the south-east side of Chatham Street between Roosevelt and James Streets, opened in 1839. A large house, seating 2,200, it soon found itself in financial difficulties. In 1848 Frank Chanfrau took the theatre over and it was henceforth known as the National. Edwin Booth made his first appearance in New York here on 27 Sept. 1850. One of the great successes was Aiken's dramatization of Harriet Beecher Stowe's anti-slavery novel Uncle Tom's Cabin (1853). The building was severely damaged by fire in 1860, but continued in use until it was pulled down in 1862.