by Louie Fleck
Imagine if you will, the entertainment options in 1904: no internet, no video games, no YouTube or TV… in fact practically no movies! Oh yes, and no radio. If you wanted to be entertained, you had to go somewhere.
Imagine Fulton Street, Brooklyn in 1904… No sneakers or cell phone stores or discount closeout shops! But there were a lot of theaters. Only six years after consolidation to become part of the City of New York, Brooklyn had its own “Broadway” district on Fulton Street. The newest jewel in this Brooklyn theater row was designed by J. B. McElfatrick at 651 Fulton Street. Meanwhile, just a block away, construction was about to begin on the brand new Brooklyn Academy of Music.
The Majestic opened up with a production of
The Wizard of Oz (yes, 33 years before the Judy Garland film). Here at the BAM Hamm Archives, we’re still looking for a program, but it was most likely a road version of the hit that was running at the Manhattan Majestic at the same time. For this production, Toto was played by a cow. Can you imagine the flying monkeys carrying Toto away?
According to the August 24, 1904
Brooklyn Daily Eagle, when it opened, “Brooklyn’s Perfect Theater” had a seating capacity of “over 2300, as follows: lower floor 724, balcony 564, and gallery about 1,000.” Add 12 boxes, each with a capacity of six people, and you have a total of about 2360, making it larger than the Brooklyn Academy of Music’s Opera House at 2100 seats!
From 1904 through the late 1930s, Broadway shows regularly transferred to the Brooklyn Majestic. There were notable appearances by Al Jolson, Bert Lahr, Milton Berle, and the Earl Carroll Vanities.