The Federal Street Theatre (1793–1852), also known as the Boston Theatre,Boston Directory. 1823. was located at the corner of Federal and Franklin streets in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. It was "the first building erected purposely for theatrical entertainments in the town of Boston."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.

History

The original building"Architectural Description of the Boston Theatre." Federal Orrery (Boston) 11-10-1794 was designed by Charles Bulfinch. It was "the first professionally designed American theater by a native architect."Stoddard. 1970 It occupied land formerly owned by Thomas Brattle, Edward H. Robbins and William Tudor. In 1798 fire destroyed the theatre; it was rebuilt the same year. The second building existed through 1852.

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).Elias Nason. A Memoir of Mrs. Susanna Rowson. NY: Munsell, 1870.

Musicians affiliated with the theatre included Trille La Barre; Peter Von Hagen Sr.; R. Leaumont; and Gottlieb Graupner.H. Earle Johnson. The Musical Von Hagens. New England Quarterly, Vol. 16, No. 1 (Mar., 1943); p.112. Scene painters included Christian Gullager (1793–1797).

The British actress Charlotte Wattell appeared here in about 1811.

Events 1794 Feb. 3 – "Tragedy of Gustavus Vasa""Early American Imprints, Series 1." Feb. – "The Child of Nature" and "The Agreeable Surprise"American Apollo, Feb. 27, 1794 April – "The Chapter of Accidents;" and "Midas," a burlettaAmerican Apollo, 24 April 1794. 1795 – Judith Sargent Murray's "The Medium, or Happy Tea-Party," debuts 2 March 1795. 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. John O'Keefe's "Farmer," with Susanna RowsonNason. 1870. 1802 A young Hawaiian called "Bill" performed in the pantomime "The Death of Captain Cook." March 22–29 – Deborah Sampson Gannett spoke about her time in the Continental Army and exhibited the manual exercise with her rifle that she learned during her service. Each night, before her speech and exhibition, the theatre company performed a play. They were The Will, or a School for Daughters, King Henry the IVth with the Humors of Sir John Falstaff, The Way to Get Married, and The Grand Historical Drama of Columbus; or, American Discovered. 1832 – Shakespeare's Richard III, with Charles Kean.American Broadsides and Ephemera, Series 1 1834 – Jonathan Harrington (ventriloquist) 1845 – Alonzo Potter gave his first series of twelve Lowell Lectures. The Theater was "filled to overflowing." His topic was on the "Psychological argument to illustrate the being and character of God." Mark Antony De Wolfe Howe, Memoirs of the Life and Services of the Rt. Rev. Alonzo Potter, D.D., LL.D.,: Bishop of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the Diocese of Pennsylvania (J.B. Lippincott Company, 1871), 121. and William Bacon Stevens, A Discourse Commemorative of the Rt. Rev. Alonzo Potter, D.D., LL.D., Late Bishop of the Diocese of Pennsylvania (October 19, 1865), 56-57. 1846 – James Sheridan Knowles' "Hunchback," with Charles Kean and Ellen Kean. 1847 – Alonzo Potter gave his second series of twelve "Lowell Lectures on the "philosophy of man," again to a full house. Mark Antony De Wolfe Howe, Memoirs of the Life and Services of the Rt. Rev. Alonzo Potter, D.D., LL.D.,: Bishop of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the Diocese of Pennsylvania (J.B. Lippincott Company, 1871), 121. and William Bacon Stevens, A Discourse Commemorative of the Rt. Rev. Alonzo Potter, D.D., LL.D., Late Bishop of the Diocese of Pennsylvania (October 19, 1865), 56-57. 1848 – Alonzo Potter gave his third series of twelve "Lowell Lectures to a packed auditorium. Mark Antony De Wolfe Howe, Memoirs of the Life and Services of the Rt. Rev. Alonzo Potter, D.D., LL.D.,: Bishop of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the Diocese of Pennsylvania (J.B. Lippincott Company, 1871), 121. and William Bacon Stevens, A Discourse Commemorative of the Rt. Rev. Alonzo Potter, D.D., LL.D., Late Bishop of the Diocese of Pennsylvania (October 19, 1865), 56-57. 1849 – Alonzo Potter gave his fourth series of twelve "Lowell Lectures to an "admiring throng." Mark Antony De Wolfe Howe, Memoirs of the Life and Services of the Rt. Rev. Alonzo Potter, D.D., LL.D.,: Bishop of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the Diocese of Pennsylvania (J.B. Lippincott Company, 1871), 121. and William Bacon Stevens, A Discourse Commemorative of the Rt. Rev. Alonzo Potter, D.D., LL.D., Late Bishop of the Diocese of Pennsylvania (October 19, 1865), 56-57. 1851 Macallister. "Soirees magiques.... Several new and attractive experiments including for the first time, the aerial handkerchiefs, and the flying watches" Lucrezia Borgia 1853 – Alonzo Potter gave his fifth (and final) series of twelve "Lowell Lectures on "The Bible as the refining, elevating and improving instrument of humanity." Mark Antony De Wolfe Howe, Memoirs of the Life and Services of the Rt. Rev. Alonzo Potter, D.D., LL.D.,: Bishop of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the Diocese of Pennsylvania (J.B. Lippincott Company, 1871), 121. and William Bacon Stevens, A Discourse Commemorative of the Rt. Rev. Alonzo Potter, D.D., LL.D., Late Bishop of the Diocese of Pennsylvania (October 19, 1865), 56-57.

Image gallery

References

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