Thursday, November 8, 2018

A Yankee Circus on Mars Opens the Hippodrome


Hippodrome Theatre

1120 6th Avenue,
 New York, NY


Built and operated by Fred Thompson & Skip Dundy, the Hippodrome opened on April 12, 1905 with “A Yankee Circus on Mars”.

Theatre Magazine, June 1905:




"The Hippodrome stage is the largest in the world, and only a faint idea of its real size is conveyed by these pictures. It is 110 feet deep and 200 feet wide, and 500 actors can appear on it with ease. The massive scenery, some of which weighs as much as 10 tons, is picked up bodily by a system of electric cranes which convey the pieces to and fro with no apparent effort."

"After the spectacular piece 'A Yankee Circus on Mars' comes an aquatic performance. The platform sinks in and the stage is transformed into a vast tank filled with water through which 'The Raiders' make their sensational plunge. The reservoir is 12 feet deep, and presents a realistic picture of a mountain torrent."

Hippodrome Theatre

The Lost 1905 New York Hippodrome



Since 1997 theatre historian,  Cezar Del Valle, has conducted a popular series of  theatre talks and walks, available for  historical societies, libraries, senior centers, etc.
Del Valle is the author of the Brooklyn Theatre Index, a three-volume history of borough theatres.
The first two chosen 2010 OUTSTANDING BOOK OF THE YEAR by the Theatre Historical Society. Final volume published in September 2014.
Editing and updating the third edition of the Brooklyn Theatre Index.

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