Lyceum Theatre (Boston)
[7] The actor Horace Lewis (1854–1905) made his professional debut at the Boylston Museum during its first year of operation, starring as Mr. Primrose in an 1875 production of A Tight Place.
[8] Singer Maggie Cline was also an early performer at the theatre who began her career on the Boylston stage.
A. Teeling painted several murals in the building, J. Kelley & Co. made stained-glass windows, Gill & Higgins provided French colored glass, and much of the interior design work was done by The Boston Wall Paper Co.[20] The much enlarged and essentially new facility reopened as the World's Museum, Menagerie, and Aquarium on Monday October 5, 1885.
[21][22] A variety program was presented in the theatre on opening day that featured African-American comedian Tom McIntosh, mentalist Madame Lee, singer Georgia Marsh, and many other performers of varying talents.
[23] Extending an entire city block, the World's Museum consisted of four floors and could accommodate 7,000 people.
The first floor of the building contained a vestibule with a large fountain, a theatre that could seat 1,000 people, and an aquarium.
[22] Animals on display in the menagerie included sea lions, a leopard, sea turtles, a tapir, six flying foxes, monkeys, tigers, a lion, bears, alligators, parrots and other tropical birds, song birds from around the world, and several deer among other animals.
The giantess Lottie Grant and the conjoined twins Millie and Christine McKoy, billed as "The Two-Headed Nightingale", joined the roster of performers in November 1885.
[31] Other performers that worked in the hall of curiosities included tattooed lady Lillian Marco,[32] tiny people Jennie Quigley[29] and Major Tot,[33] giant Colonel Routh Goshen,[29] Captain Harry Decoursey, "The Tattooed Man",[33] Krao, "The Greatest of Living Curiousities",[34] albino sisters Florence and Mary Martin,[35] the singing Seven Sutherland Sisters who all had very long hair,[36] Belle Moody, "the Human Billiard Ball",[37] and the bearded lady Annie Jones.
[28][30] Some notable performers who appeared at the World's Museum included comedian Sam Lucas,[28] song and dance comedians Sheridan & Flynn,[38] the multi-instrumentalist and singer Lillie Western,[39] Grace Courtland, "The Witch of Wall Street",[31] actors Palmer and Hayden,[40] actress Ada Melrose,[41] and the contortionist and clown Harry Wentworth.
[29] The museum would also sometimes offer burlesque parodies of popular stage works of the period, such as Gilbert and Sullivan's The Mikado in December 1885.
They performed Edmond Audran's La mascotte with Corelli in the title role to large crowds.
Some notable vaudeville entertainers to appear at the theatre included the comedy duo Flynn and Sheridan.
In its first year of operation it was used by the Boston Comic Opera for its 1892–1893 season,[52] and presented Native-American actress and playwright Gowongo Mohawk in her play Wep-ton-no-mah;[53] In early 1907 the Lyceum Theatre was occupied by the Rice & Barton's Gaiety Company.
