Postcard Thursday: The Black Crook

courtesy of the New York Public Library

Last night, we saw a terrific production of The Black Crook at the Abrons Arts Center on the Lower East Side.

First performed in 1866 at Niblo's Garden on Broadway in what is today Soho, The Black Crook is considered by many to be the first modern musical comedy, where drama, dance, and song combine to tell a story. The story is a fantastical tale of a young woman, Amina, who is betrothed against her wishes to an evil count, who in turn imprisons her beloved, a peniless painter named Rudolphe.

Rather than play it entirely straight, this modern production intersperses the Black Crook story with the tale of how the musical came about. After a fire at the Academy of Music on 14th Street, a troupe of dancers from Paris and a theatrical producer were forced to team up to merge their two forms. The original production ran for over 400 performances (then a record) and one song from the production, "You Naughty, Naughty Men," quickly became a standard.

We don't want to give too much away, but the musical is by turns funny and moving, and everyone in the cast -- most playing two or three roles and a musical instrument -- is excellent.

If you go, stop in the lobby for a homebrewed 19th-century beer made from water, yeast, and molasses. It's a bit strange for modern palates, but will definitely help you transport back to the period.

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THE BLACK CROOK
Abrons Arts Center at Henry Street Settlement
through October 7
TICKETS are $25 at http://www.abronsartscenter.org/on-stage/shows/joshua-william-gelb-black-crook-1866-world-premiere/

Postcard Thursday: The Fire of 1776

courtesy of the Colonial Williamsburg Museum

This past week marked the anniversary of the Great Fire of 1776, which broke out sometime after midnight September 20-21.

As we write in Inside the Apple:

The fire started on the evening of September 21, 1776—perhaps in the Fighting Cocks Tavern on the wharf, though that has never been substantiated—and quickly engulfed the city west of Broadway. The churchyard surrounding Trinity Church kept the fire from heading south, but neither Trinity was spared, nor anything between it and St. Paul’s Chapel. St. Paul’s, itself only ten years old, had a bucket brigade manning its roof and was saved. In all, over 400 buildings were gone—nearly twenty-five percent of the city’s structures. 

The British immediately blamed the Americans. (One American blamed by the British was Nathan Hale, who was arrested for spying that same day. Hale, however, had nothing to do with the fire.) General Howe called it a “horrid attempt” by a “number of wretches to burn the town….” As most of the damage happened on “Holy Ground” and other Trinity Church property, some saw it as an explicit attack on the Church of England’s power and influence. In truth, the Americans had contemplated the idea of torching the city if it fell into British hands. One of Washington’s generals, Nathaniel Greene (the “Fighting Quaker”), had pressed Washington in that direction. However, when Washington floated the idea by John Hancock, the Continental Congress immediately nixed it and it is unlikely that either Washington or Greene disobeyed Congress.

The image displayed here, Représentation du feu terrible à Nouvelle Yorck, ca. 1776, is in the collection of the Colonial Williamsburg Museum, and is actually what's called a "cut-out optique view." The print, which was engraved by Francois Xavier Habermann in Germany and is attributed to French artist André Basset, was designed to be displayed in front of a candle.

As the museum's text panel explains, "windows, door, and the flames have been cut out using a knife and decorative punches. The colored paper pasted to the back of the print was thin enough to allow light to pass through the holes. The flicker of the a candle made the blaze come to life for the viewer."

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REMINDER

Our next public walking is Sunday, October 9, at 10:00 a.m. Join us as we explore Central Park and its many representations of Christopher Columbus. Click the link for details: http://blog.insidetheapple.net/2016/09/postcard-thursday-upcoming-walking-tour.html

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Read more about NYC history in

 

Footprints in New York: Tracing the Lives of Four Centuries of New Yorkers

Inside the Apple: A Streetwise History of New York City

Postcard Thursday: Upcoming Walking Tour -- Christopher Columbus: Hero or Villain?

On Sunday, October 9, at 10:00 a.m. join us for a walk in and around Central Park as we celebrate Columbus Day and ask the question: Who was Christopher Columbus and Why does he deserve a holiday? As we look at the creation of Columbus Day back in 1892 and the explorer's controversial popularity, we'll talk about the importance of Italian-Americans to the history of New York City as well as looking at how Central Park was created as a social experiment to help the city's immigrants. The tour will last between 90 minutes and 2 hours.

EARLY-BIRD SPECIAL

Reserve your place on on before Wednesday, September 28, and the walk is just $20 per person. (Reservations received September 29 and later are $25 each.)

How to book:

Send an email with your name, the number in your party, and a contact cell phone number to

walknyc@gmail.com

We will get back to you with the starting place within 24 hours.

Hope to see you on October 9!

James & Michelle Nevius

www.walknyc.com

www.insidetheapple.net

www.footprintsinny.com

Postcard Thursday: Henry Hudson's 1609 arrival

As we've noted on this blog before, there is a disagreement among historians about when Henry Hudson arrived in New York Harbor and first spied Manhattan island and the river that would eventually bear his name.

September 13th is the day traditionally held to be New York's anniversary and back in 2009, it was on that date that the city celebrated its 400th birthday, complete with a royal visit from the Prince of Orange (now the King of Netherlands) and Princess Maxima.

In fact, Hudson was already in and around New York days earlier.

For the record, this probably isn't Henry Hudson

We have a detailed description of Hudson's voyage thanks to the journal of his first mate, Robert Juet. Here's Juet's entry for September 13:

The thirteenth, fair weather, the wind northerly. At seven of the clock in the morning, as the flood came we weighed, and turned four miles into the river. The tide being done we anchored. Then there came four canoes aboard: but we suffered none of them to come into our ship. . . .

So, yes it appears that on September 13, the Halve Maen sailed four miles into the river. (A river which would only come to be known as the Hudson many years later; for a great portion of New York's history it was called the North River.)

The day before (Sept. 12), Juet notes:

Very fair and hot....we turned into the river two leagues and anchored.

And here is Juet's entry for September 11:

The eleventh was fair and very hot weather. At one of the clock in the afternoon we weighed and went into the river, the wind at south south-west, little wind. Our soundings were seven, six, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, twelve, thirteen, and fourteen fathoms. Then it shoaled again, and came to five fathoms. Then we anchored, and saw that it was a very good harbor for all winds, and rode all night.

Thus, it would appear that on September 11, Hudson "went into the river" and anchored in the "very good harbor," which means that on September 11, 1609, the Halve Maen was at anchor somewhere in New York harbor. Today, of course, we cannot think of September 11 without turning to more recent New York City events, but there's still no reason not to commemorate Hudson on the day he actually sailed into the harbor.

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Read more about NYC history in

Footprints in New York: Tracing the Lives of Four Centuries of New Yorkers

Inside the Apple: A Streetwise History of New York City

Postcard Thursday: Labor Day

If you've ever taken our tour of Union Square and environs, you may be familiar with the above picture. It depicts the very first Labor Day parade on September 5, 1882. Though the parade wended its way from City Hall to Union Square and finally up to 42nd Street, it's Union Square that is most associated with the events of that day, perhaps because of this image. (Union Square became so connected to the American labor movement that you will sometimes hear that the "union" the square is named after is a labor union. That's not true: the small square marked the place where Broadway and the Bowery met on the original 1811 grid plan of the city.)

The history of Labor Day in America is muddled. Many -- including the AFLCIO -- claim the holiday was the brainchild of Peter J. McGuire, the founder of the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America. Others claim Matthew Maguire of Paterson, New Jersey, was instrumental in getting the holiday adopted. Certainly Maguire led the parade in 1822, sitting beside noted abolitionist preacher Henry Ward Beecher of Brooklyn in the lead carriage.

By 1894, Labor Day was a national holiday, despite the fact that May Day was associated with labor in many parts of the world. Eight years earlier, on May 4, 1886, in Chicago, a rally to support striking workers turned into a riot when someone threw dynamite at the police. Quickly dubbed the "Haymarket Affair," the events became the catalyst for turning May 1 into an International Workers' Day -- a day often marked by protest. To distinguish the new Labor Day holiday from the violence of Haymarket -- and divorce it from any questions of labor unrest -- the Cleveland administration instead picked the early September date of New York's commemoration. Within a few decades, it would come to signal the unofficial end of summer.

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AND NOW THAT FALL IS HERE,

it's the perfect time for a walking tour!

Check out our full menu of options at www.walknyc.com.

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Footprints in New York: Tracing the Lives of Four Centuries of New Yorkers

Inside the Apple: A Streetwise History of New York City