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Opened: August 6, 1888 as the Bijou Theatre by William Emerson. It was on the south side of the street between 3rd and 4th. It was opposite Grant Ave., then called Dupont St. It's listed as the Bijou Theater in the 1889 Langley's city directory. In this c.1890 view it's been rebranded as the Bijou Opera House. The photo from the Golden Gate National Recreation Area's Martin Behrman Negatives Collection appears on the Open SF History Project website. Thanks to Jack Tillmany for spotting it in the collection.
A construction item appearing in the December 29, 1887 issue of the Daily Alta California:
"The New Theatre. A conference took place yesterday afternoon between ex-Surveyor-General W. H. Brown, the owner of the new theatre building on Market street, next to Bancroft's History building, and Dennis Sullivan, district engineer of the fire department, and Dennis Jordan, the contractor for the building, brought about by the arrest of Jordan for violating the fire ordinance. At the meeting Jordan stated that he was putting up the building according to the plans and specifications as he was in duty bound.
"Mr. Brown expressed his willingness and desire to make the building first-class and fire-proof as far as possible. The trouble arose partly from the use of the wooden skylights taken from the Starr King church, whereas an amended ordinance requires all skylights within the fire limit, over a certain size, to be made of iron. The building has been lathed throughout with iron lathes and every precaution taken to make the theatre a safe one."
"Bancroft's History Building, just to the east of the Bijou, had just been built in 1887, and was destroyed in 1906. Starr King's Church (First Unitarian Church) was on Geary, east of Stockton, and was demolished in 1887. Cool that they salvaged the skylights. It then moved to its present location on Cathedral Hill, along with Starr King's sarcophagus (outside the church in both locations). I guess they were the skylights seen in this
c.1865 photo and also in this
1867 photo that shows the church in the distance."
Female impersonator The Only Leon, mentioned in the review above as having "no singing voice to speak of." Thanks to Mark Reed for locating the photo.
Mark notes that another member of Emerson's company at the opening was the female impersonator Everett Stuart. See Mark's post about Stuart on the
San Francisco History to the 1920s Facebook page. His comments about the Bijou:
"Imagine a young teenage boy in 1887 sorting mail at the post office in Wichita, Kansas, still in raptures over the previous night's performance by McIntyre & Heath's Minstrels, a traveling minstrel show then in town, headed by nationally known performers James McIntyre and Tom Heath. And while the teenager is daydreaming, in walks Tom Heath, who steps up to the counter asking for important letters. Gleefully the mail clerk responds, 'Yes, indeed, there's lots of letters for the minstrel boys.' So the story is told in LeRoy Rice's 'Monarchs of Minstrelsy' (1911).
"Wichita, Kansas, might well have been Hollywood & Vine. The teenager's name was Everett Stewart, who himself became a nationally known performer in the 1890s, adopting the stage name 'Stuart' or 'The Male Patti' (after a female opera singer of the same name). Stuart joined McIntyre & Heath's company and in 1888 they signed up with Emerson's Minstrels to perform at the opening of San Francisco's Bijou Theatre."
The Daily Dramatic Chronicle also reviewed the opening show, calling the venue the Bijou Opera-house. Their August 7 issue noted:
"The Bijou Opera-house was dedicated to the public last light. The place was packed, and they closed the box office just as the curtain went up, not having even standing room to dispose of... The audience represented all classes, and the three divisions of the new theater accorded equally animated applause..."
A grand opening flyer with an August 13 date. Art Siegel suggests that perhaps they were having having a sort of "grand opening week." Mr. Emerson stressed the safety of his new playhouse, equipped with fire hoses and an asbestos curtain. It was illuminated by electricity. The program is on
Calisphere from the Museum of Performance and Design Performing Arts Library.
This
cryptic program information was located by Mark Reed in a column of
theatre listings that appeared in the September 20, 1888 issue of the
Daily Alta California:
"THE BIJOU - The 'She-noir'
of the only Leon will disappear after this week and the public is
notified that the 'Jessie-street Coons' will appear in full force. There
will be other changes in the programme."
A little problem with unpaid wages and rent was discussed in the
November 23, 1888 Daily Alta California. Thanks to Art Siegel for locating the article via the CNDC. R.P. Thomas, H.R. Houghton and Isaac Trumbo were the landlords.
"The Prettiest and Cosiest Theatre in the City" says this ad from the
February 11, 1889 Daily Alta California that was located by Art Siegel. But we get no mention of who is operating the theatre at this point.
Mr. White, "a well-known Eastern man," was the new manager for a season that was announced in the
June 9, 1889 Daily Alta California. He was "neither sparing time nor expense to place this theatre on a firm footing..." Thanks to Art Siegel for locating the article.
The June 22 "Grand Re-Opening" was advertised in this two column ad appearing in the
June 16, 1889 Daily Alta California. It's an ad located by Art Siegel. He notes that a review of the re-opening describing the theatre as "this cozy, comfortable little theatre."
The new management of John T. White didn't last long. This article in the
November 24, 1889 Daily Alta California notes that the theatre "has not been rented for a long time." R.P. Thomas and Isaac Trumbo were the gentlemen who had leased the land and erected the theatre. They had sold part of their interest to the plaintiff in the suit, Herbert R. Houghton, who's suing because the theatre cost more to build that he was told it would and he's lost money because of the mis-management of the property.
A
December 15, 1889 Daily Alta California ad giving us a couple of names on the management team. Enrico Campobello was lessee and Frank L. Hoogs was business manager. This was another item located by Art Siegel.
The theatre, here called the Bijou Opera House, was noted as the venue for an opera performance in the
July 7, 1890 San Francisco Morning Call. Thanks to Art Siegel for locating the item via the CDNC. It was one of many listings in a "Parties to Take Place" column. Art notes that this was the first mention of the theatre he found in the Call.
"...blackmailing, $500." The partners who owned the building were still squabbling in 1890 about who would pay what share of the losses. This item appeared in the
November 23, 1890 Daily Alta California. Thanks to Art Siegel for locating it.
Souvenirs on opening night! It's called the
New Bijou Theatre in this
December 9, 1890 Daily Alta California ad. R.L. Knapp, "late of New York," was the latest in a string of operators to rent the theatre. Art Siegel found the ad via the CDNC.
This reopening review, noting that it was then to be called the
Bijou Opera House, appeared in the
December 15, 1890 Daily Alta California. Art Siegel located the article and comments that the Chronicle was calling it the Bijou Opera House from the beginning in 1888. He adds that "Manager Knapp" was Ralph D. Knapp.
Samuel Johnstone was "lessee and manager" of the renovated New Bijou Opera House for at least part of 1891. Thanks to Art Siegel for locating this ad in the February 12, 1891 San Francisco Morning Call. In competition with this show it was advertised on the same page that the Grand Opera House was presenting "Wm. Fleron's Version of The Clemenceau Case - As originally produced at the Standard Theater, New York."
Jack Tillmany comments that he he found no ads after February 1891 and that later it was referred to again as the Bijou Theatre. In October 1892, a local costumer was selling off costumes there, apparently from their inventory. After that it seemed to be used primarily for lectures by political activists, etc. In the 1892 city directory it's listed as the Bijou Theatre, 721-731 Market St.
Closing: The Bijou only existed as a theatre space until sometime in 1892.
The January 17, 1893 issue of the San Francisco Examiner notes that it was taken over by the Christian Mission Union, and "...has undergone a complete transformation to meet the requirements of feeding many people & giving lodgings to at least 100 every night." Extensive details in the article described how "the stage has disappeared" and the former theatre was converted into this new use. They noted that "....beds are quoted at ten cents & there is no rule compelling the lodgers to bathe..." The Union moved out to quarters on Mason Street in September 1893. In the 1893 city directory it's still listed as the Bijou Theatre, 721-731 Market St.
In November 1893, having had what was described as a "checkered career," the Bijou was leased out to an A.F. Turpin with the idea of turning it into "a facsimile of the Eden Musée of New York City." Jack reports that apparently this enterprise failed and in July 1895 the property was put up for sale by the executors of the estate of the late Mrs. Cynthia Hoff Shillaber, the owner of the site. By May 1896 the property had been purchased by Claus Spreckles who planned to tear it down to "make room for a more substantial and more practical building."
This was the "more practical building" constructed on the site for the
Spreckels Market. Thanks to Mark Reed for researching the market for a
post on the San Francisco History to the 1920s Facebook page. The illustration accompanied the story headlined "A Handsome New Building... The Old Bijou Theater Gives Place To a Large and Costly Structure" in the December 11, 1896 S.F. Call. The link is to a clip of the story on Newspapers.com.
Mark notes: "The building housed independent food merchants, including vendors of
meats, fruits and produce, poultry, game, butter, eggs, provisions,
fish, coffee. Plus there was a cafe and oyster parlor." The Call predicted: "All of these enterprising firms are well-known leaders in their respective lines, and will no doubt make the Spreckels market at once universally popular and successful."
The market building over on the left, on fire in 1906. Thanks to Nick Wright for locating this photo by Whigham to add as a comment to the
San Francisco History to the 1920s Facebook post about the building. He notes that the Stanford Studio was on the third floor.
More information: Thanks to Jack Tillmany for his research. His Arcadia Publishing book "Theatres of San Francisco" can be previewed on Google Books. It's available from Amazon or your local bookseller.
We also had a Bijou Theatre on Mason St. that was running before the 1906 earthquake.
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