Jesus's Response to "The Lights"
February 13, 2018, by Jesús
Manhattan, claims Luc Sante, like all fortress cities, represents a model of the theatre. As the waterfront became undesirable, it began to represent the galleries. The question arises: what represents the stage? It would be non-other than Broadway and the “anti-Broadway,” most commonly known as the Bowery (72).
Last week’s class discussion revolved around cultural associations the names “Broadway” and “Bowery” conjure. Many agreed Broadway is often the epitome of New York: glamorous, busy, the epicenter of plays and musicals. The Bowery has not received as much (usually tourist) love as Broadway. In class, people agreed that the Bowery was known as an alternative scene. This was a stronghold for the edgy, the rebellious, the punk…the “not as glitzy as Broadway.” And yet, I could not think of why this association came to be. Sure, I had heard a few name droppings of the Bowery in songs by Blondie, Sonic Youth, or Beck but the extent of my knowledge ended there.
Luckily, Sante discusses the Bowery’s history and emergence as the anti-Broadway, showcasing how these associations came to be and have stuck in the collective mind of New Yorkers. Broadway was originally home to the circus while the Bowery was host to the Park Theatre, built on the model of the London stage (73). While it catered to the elite with (expensive at the time) prices, cheaper gallery seats filled up with the families of “mechanics,” or working men.
By the 1830s, the middle class had crept up along Manhattan. Bowery Theatre was soon “a working-class entertainment,” where the shows on stage often took a backseat to the commotion in the audience. The theatre became a place of socialization where men “would chew tobacco and eat peanuts and throw the shells at each other” and were not shy to show dissatisfaction with the play either. Asides proliferated and audiences became interactive (calls to mind a showing The Rocky Horror Picture Show). The nature of the Bowery changed.
In the 1940s theatre managers recognized that the elite and educated had left, thus they freely pursued cheap and vulgar entertainment, focusing on shock and awe rather than substantial plot. The Bowery was an Irish stronghold, epitomized by the character of Moses Humphreys, once a member of a fire company. The reality of Moses is beside the point. It’s his myth, legacy, and most importantly, his portrayal by Frank Chanfrau in the drama A Glance of New York that has resounding impact. The Moses dramas and stories focused on the proletariat rather than the heroic (80). Moses was a representation of the Bowery audience.
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Broadway proliferated the musical with The Black Crook, and soon every theatre was cranking out musicals. As Broadway moved northward it became the “territory of a newly organized motley public” (89). Broadway festered with “playboys, reporters, gamblers, bohemians…” (89). The Bowery’s knack at producing huge budget spectacles now were dwarfed by “what the vast spaces of Madison Square Garden could offer,” like more elaborate sets, battles, and replications (90).
These associations have stood the test of time. Just the name the Bowery usually implies lowbrow or now more so “anti-Broadway.” Perhaps the grime and dirt the Bowery once represented is now synonymous with a “real New York.”