philadelphiahistory

The last installment of the saga of Oscar Hammerstein in the "Opera Wars" - and the grand Philadelphia theater he left behind, when the war was over.

We also meet the New York banker Otto Kahn - the power behind the rival Metropolitan Opera - and how that name gets transferred to the Philadelphia building.

Despite many transformations, over the years it has remained a grand temple of Music, Art and Faith on North Broad Street.  We follow the musical trail from 1910 - all the way to the present day.

For more images, information and a bibliography of our sources, see the blog entry "Exit Hammerstein" on our website:
https://www.aithpodcast.com/blog/exit-hammerstein/

If you enjoyed the show, PLEASE LEAVE US A REVIEW! You can do it easily, right here - especially if you listen to us ON APPLE PODCASTS! We need some more reviews there:
https://www.aithpodcast.com/reviews/

If you have any questions, inquiries or additional comments, you can write us at our email address: AITHpodcast@gmail.com

Check out all our recent episodes! For an exciting season about Philadelphia's "Theatre History" or its "Theater History" - however you spell it, this is the podcast for you.

Please follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aithpodcast/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AITHpodcast
To become a Patron of the podcast: https://www.patreon.com/AITHpodcast

© Podcast text copyright, Peter Schmitz. All rights reserved.

℗ All voice recordings copyright Peter Schmitz.

℗ All original music and compositions within the episodes copyright Christopher Mark Colucci. Used by permission.

February 1909: The opera "Salome" at Oscar Hammerstein's new Philadelphia Opera House needed to be stopped, as a matter of public decency, declared hundreds of clergymen and civic leaders.

Meanwhile, the impresario himself was threatening to take his newly-founded opera company back to New York, and set up the enormous theater as a vaudeville house instead! What was going on?

This is the second part of three-part series on the impresario Oscar Hammerstein and his venture into the Philadelphia theater world.  For additional images and information, see the blog post on our website: https://www.aithpodcast.com/blog/salome-was-a-dancer/

While you're looking at our website, check out all our recent episodes! For an exciting season about Philadelphia's "Theatre History" or its "Theater History" - however you spell it, this is the podcast for you.  https://www.aithpodcast.com/

If you enjoyed the show, PLEASE LEAVE US A REVIEW! You can do it easily, right here - especially if you listen to us ON APPLE PODCASTS! We need some more reviews there:
https://www.aithpodcast.com/reviews/

If you have any questions, inquiries or additional comments, you can write us at our email address: AITHpodcast@gmail.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aithpodcast/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AITHpodcast

Mastodon: https://historians.social/@schmeterpitz

To become a Patron of the podcast: https://www.patreon.com/AITHpodcast

© Podcast text copyright, Peter Schmitz. All rights reserved.

℗ All voice recordings copyright Peter Schmitz.

℗ All original music and compositions within the episodes copyright Christopher Mark Colucci. Used by permission.

November 17, 1908 : The magnificent new theater in North Philadelphia was ready for its first opera! It was "as if some master magician's wand had called it into being," wrote one admiring journalist.

Everyone in the city, especially its most wealthy and socially prominent citizens, could hardly wait to get inside to see the show. But first they had to make their way through the crowd of ten thousand people out on the streets gathered just to see them all dressed up in their finest!

This is the story of the Manhattan opera impresario Oscar Hammerstein, and how the "Opera War" with his rival, the Metropolitan Opera Company, spread all the way to Philadelphia. What remains behind of that war today is not only an amazing theater, but a great story!

After you've listened to the show, for additional images and information, see the blog post on our website: https://www.aithpodcast.com/blog/the-beauties-of-society/

If you enjoyed the show, PLEASE LEAVE US A REVIEW! You can do it easily, right here - especially if you listen to us ON APPLE PODCASTS! We need some more reviews there:
https://www.aithpodcast.com/reviews/

Check out all our recent episodes! For an exciting season about Philadelphia's "Theatre History" or its "Theater History" - however you spell it, this is the podcast for you.

If you have any questions, inquiries or additional comments, you can write us at our email address: AITHpodcast@gmail.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aithpodcast/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AITHpodcast

Mastodon: https://historians.social/@schmeterpitz

To become a Patron of the podcast: https://www.patreon.com/AITHpodcast

© Podcast text copyright, Peter Schmitz. All rights reserved.

℗ All voice recordings copyright Peter Schmitz.

℗ All original music and compositions within the episodes copyright Christopher Mark Colucci. Used by permission.

1906: A coalition of African American men attempt to stop Thomas Dixon Jr.'s play The Clansman from being performed in Philadelphia. After leading a public protest in front of the Walnut Street Theatre, the whole matter ends up in City Hall, at a hearing before Mayor John Weaver.

There is a blog post on our website, which has additional information and images about the historical characters in this episode! See: "The Learned Professions": https://www.aithpodcast.com/blog/the-learned-professions/

Want to know even more about this story? For instance, about what happened in 1915, when The Clansman came back to Philadelphia as the infamous D.W. Griffith movie The Birth of a Nation?  We recorded a special Bonus Episode about this topic, called "The Birthplace of the Nation Meets 'The Birth of a Nation', " - but it's only available on Patreon. Become a supporter of the show, and you can hear it, too! The link is HERE.

For a copy of the Kelly Miller pamphlet "As To the Leopard's Spots," there is a online facsimile copy at the Internet Archive: https://archive.org/details/astoleopardsspot00mill

Music in the episode is by Chris Colucci, except for the underscoring late in the episode, which from the second movement of the Symphony No. 1 in E minor by the composer Florence Price.  Performance by the New Black Repertory Ensemble, Leslie B. Dunner, conductor: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9s4yY_A2A2k

Please Note: There is no historical connection or relationship between the management of the Walnut Street Theatre, as it stood in 1906, and the current management of the modern Walnut Street Theatre at the same location.

If you enjoyed the show, PLEASE LEAVE US A REVIEW! You can do it easily, right here - especially if you listen to us ON APPLE PODCASTS! We need some more reviews there:
https://www.aithpodcast.com/reviews/

If you have any questions, inquiries or additional comments, you can write us at our email address: AITHpodcast@gmail.com

Check out all our recent episodes! For an exciting season about Philadelphia's "Theatre History" or its "Theater History" - however you spell it, this is the podcast for you.

Please follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aithpodcast/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AITHpodcast
To become a Patron of the podcast: https://www.patreon.com/AITHpodcast

© Podcast text copyright, Peter Schmitz. All rights reserved.

℗ All voice recordings copyright Peter Schmitz.

℗ All original music and compositions within the episodes copyright Christopher Mark Colucci. Used by permission.

The famous 19th Century American tragic actress - and the 2Oth Century Philadelphia women who founded an organization in her honor.

Check out all our recent episodes  about Philadelphia's "Theatre History" or its "Theater History" - however, you spell it, this is the podcast for you!

For a blog post on our website about this episode, go to:
https://www.aithpodcast.com/blog/charlotte-cushman-and-the-cushman-club/

If you liked the show, leave a Review on Apple Podcasts! https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/adventures-in-theater-history-philadelphia/id1562046673

Follow us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AITHpodcast

Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aithpodcast/

Our website: https://www.aithpodcast.com/

To become a supporter the show, go to: AITHpodcast@patreon.com

© Podcast text copyright, Peter Schmitz. All rights reserved.

℗ All voice recordings copyright Peter Schmitz.

℗ All original music and compositions within the episodes copyright Christopher Mark Colucci. Used by permission.

Why we're here, and what we're trying to do with our podcast.  Peter tells the story of his own personal history, and how he started on the task of researching, exploring, and teaching the history of the theater in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.  The matter of spelling the word "theater" (as opposed to "theatre") is explained, and the complexities and attractions and challenges of the Philadelphia's history is addressed.

For a blog post about this episode,  visit: https://www.aithpodcast.com/blog/introductory-episode-notes-and-commentary/

To contact us via email: AITHpodcast@gmail.com

Follow us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AITHpodcast

Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aithpodcast/

Thinking of starting your own podcast? Use Buzzsprout as your host! It's what we use, and we highly recommend it. Use this link: https://www.buzzsprout.com/?referrer_id=1699353

© Podcast text copyright, Peter Schmitz. All rights reserved.

℗ All voice recordings copyright Peter Schmitz.

℗ All original music and compositions within the episodes copyright Christopher Mark Colucci. Used by permission.