|
| |
“Castle
Garden from the Battery”
NYPL Digital Gallery, The New
York Public Library |
The
Theatre Museum kicked off its inaugural collaboration with Federal Hall with a
lecture and walking tour through the fabled Financial District.Entitled
An Evening on the Town With George,
and led by historian Craig Morrison, participants were treated to an eye-opening
look at familiar sights from Fraunces Tavern, where Washington bid farewell to
the troops, to Battery Park, where the fabled Castle Garden became the site of
many a theatrical milestone, from Jenny Lind to P.T. Barnum.
Mr.
Morrison explained that early entertainments consisted of bawdy songs and raucous
carryings-on. Around 1750, however, they evolved into more refined attempts to
present Shakespeare, melodrama and the classics.
“Interior
of the Park Theatre”
NYPL Digital Gallery, The New York
Public Library |
Our
earliest Americans loved theatre as we do today, and despite repeated attempts
to eliminate it, theatre survived and evolved into the treasured jewel of
Broadway. An enlightening and enjoyable time was had by all. |
| |
|
| |
|