Adventures in Theater History: Philadelphia
Peter Schmitz
Bringing you the best stories from the deep and fascinating history of theater in the city of Philadelphia.
This is the podcast for all lovers of theater, students of history - or anyone who enjoys great stories with lots of drama!
All episodes
Best episodes
Seasons
Top 10 Adventures in Theater History: Philadelphia Episodes
Goodpods has curated a list of the 10 best Adventures in Theater History: Philadelphia episodes, ranked by the number of listens and likes each episode have garnered from our listeners. If you are listening to Adventures in Theater History: Philadelphia for the first time, there's no better place to start than with one of these standout episodes. If you are a fan of the show, vote for your favorite Adventures in Theater History: Philadelphia episode by adding your comments to the episode page.
Philadelphia Vaudeville!
Adventures in Theater History: Philadelphia
11/24/23 • 36 min
Philadelphia, like all American cities of the day, was home to the exciting energy and show-biz hustle of vaudeville theaters in the first decades of the 20th Century.
On our website, there's a blog post with a Bibliography of the sources for this episode, plus lots of images of the many Philly vaudeville theaters we discuss on it - "The Exciting New Vaudeville Theaters of Sleepy Old Philadelphia":
https://www.aithpodcast.com/blog/the-exciting-new-vaudeville-theaters-of-sleepy-old-philadelphia/
If you liked the show, leave a Review on Apple Podcasts! https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/adventures-in-theater-history-philadelphia/id1562046673
On Sunday, June 29th, the author and podcaster Peter Schmitz will be appearing at the Brookline Books stall at the 2025 American Library Association annual conference and exhibition at the Philadelphia Convention Center.
If you’re a librarian - or a fan of libraries - and are coming to the ALA in Philly this year, please be sure to stop by and say hello!
"Adventures in Theater History: Philadelphia" the BOOK can be ordered from independent bookstores and at all online book retailers now!
To order our book via Bookshop.org - GO HERE
Our website: www.aithpodcast.com
Our email address: [email protected]
Bluesky: @aithpodcast.bsky.social
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AITHpodcast
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aithpodcast/
Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/AITHpodcast© Podcast text copyright, Peter Schmitz. All rights reserved.
℗ All original voice recordings copyright Peter Schmitz.
℗ All original music copyright Christopher Mark Colucci. Used by permission.
Philadelphia's 'Negro Unit' of the Federal Theatre Project: A Conversation
Adventures in Theater History: Philadelphia
06/03/22 • 65 min
An interview/conversation with Jonathan Shandell, the author of a January 2022 article in the journal Theater History Studies entitled "Caricatured, Marginalized, Betrayed". The article examines the history of the Philadelphia "Negro Unit" of the Federal Theatre Project in the 1930s - specifically the history of three plays produced by the FTP at the Walnut Street Theatre.
You can read more about Jonathan on his website: https://jonathan.shandell.us/home
Also in the conversation in Jerrell Henderson, a theater director, puppeteer and teacher currently living in Chicago. A native Philadelphian, he has devoted much time to studying and writing about musical theater, especially Black musical theater. He is the curator and creator of black_theatre-vinyl_archive on Instagram. https://www.jerrell-henderson.com/
For a blog post on our website, with images from the productions we discuss in the episode:
https://www.aithpodcast.com/blog/jericho-one-third-of-a-nation-and-prelude-to-swing/
On Sunday, June 29th, the author and podcaster Peter Schmitz will be appearing at the Brookline Books stall at the 2025 American Library Association annual conference and exhibition at the Philadelphia Convention Center.
If you’re a librarian - or a fan of libraries - and are coming to the ALA in Philly this year, please be sure to stop by and say hello!
"Adventures in Theater History: Philadelphia" the BOOK can be ordered from independent bookstores and at all online book retailers now!
To order our book via Bookshop.org - GO HERE
Our website: www.aithpodcast.com
Our email address: [email protected]
Bluesky: @aithpodcast.bsky.social
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AITHpodcast
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aithpodcast/
Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/AITHpodcast© Podcast text copyright, Peter Schmitz. All rights reserved.
℗ All original voice recordings copyright Peter Schmitz.
℗ All original music copyright Christopher Mark Colucci. Used by permission.
Theater of Cruelty
Adventures in Theater History: Philadelphia
12/03/21 • 33 min
Bad behavior, bigotry and boorishness were often on display in many early 19th Century theater audiences. Philadelphia's New Theatre, on Chestnut Street, as well as being the premiere home for drama in America, could also be the site of riots, uproar - and cruelty. Three stories, all found in the published memoirs of manager and actor William H. Wood, serve to illustrate what a rough experience a night in the theater could be during this era.
For other images and additional commentary about this topic, as well as a bibliography of our sources, see our website's blog post: https://www.aithpodcast.com/blog/the-riot-act/
On Sunday, June 29th, the author and podcaster Peter Schmitz will be appearing at the Brookline Books stall at the 2025 American Library Association annual conference and exhibition at the Philadelphia Convention Center.
If you’re a librarian - or a fan of libraries - and are coming to the ALA in Philly this year, please be sure to stop by and say hello!
"Adventures in Theater History: Philadelphia" the BOOK can be ordered from independent bookstores and at all online book retailers now!
To order our book via Bookshop.org - GO HERE
Our website: www.aithpodcast.com
Our email address: [email protected]
Bluesky: @aithpodcast.bsky.social
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AITHpodcast
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aithpodcast/
Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/AITHpodcast© Podcast text copyright, Peter Schmitz. All rights reserved.
℗ All original voice recordings copyright Peter Schmitz.
℗ All original music copyright Christopher Mark Colucci. Used by permission.
The Fight Against The Clansman, Part Three
Adventures in Theater History: Philadelphia
01/13/23 • 35 min
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/
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.
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.
On Sunday, June 29th, the author and podcaster Peter Schmitz will be appearing at the Brookline Books stall at the 2025 American Library Association annual conference and exhibition at the Philadelphia Convention Center.
If you’re a librarian - or a fan of libraries - and are coming to the ALA in Philly this year, please be sure to stop by and say hello!
"Adventures in Theater History: Philadelphia" the BOOK can be ordered from independent bookstores and at all online book retailers now!
To order our book via Bookshop.org - GO HERE
Our website: www.aithpodcast.com
Our email address: [email protected]
Bluesky: @aithpodcast.bsky.social
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AITHpodcast
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aithpodcast/
Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/AITHpodcast© Podcast text copyright, Peter Schmitz. All rights reserved.
℗ All original voice recordings copyright Peter Schmitz.
℗ All original music copyright Christopher Mark Colucci. Used by permission.
The Quaker City: The Forbidden Play of 1844, Part One
Adventures in Theater History: Philadelphia
09/30/22 • 21 min
The theater of Philadelphia was being staged during the roiling years of the 1840s. Bankruptcies, riots, labor unrest, growing religious fervor and racial tensions, rising crime (and public perception of crime due to increasing availability of journals and newspapers) were everywhere.
This is the context for the first episode of our Season Two: "Drama is Conflict," in which we set the scene for the coming battle over the play at Philadelphia's Chestnut Street Theater, entitledThe Quaker City, or the Monks of Monk Hall, by George Lippard. How and why this production came about will be the story of our next two episodes, as well.
For more about the historical context of today's episode, including images of many of the people and events we discuss, see the blog post on our website: https://www.aithpodcast.com/blog/philadelphia-in-1844/
The image used for this episode is a detail from an 1844 lithograph entitled "The Death of George Shifler." It was a bit of popular propaganda produced by the nativist "American Republican Party," and supposedly depicted the death of the 19 year-old Shifler during the Kensington Riots of May 6, 1844. It is from the collection of the Library Company of Philadelphia. Persistent link: https://digital.librarycompany.org/islandora/object/digitool%3A65090
For more information about the riots, there is an excellent article in the online Encyplopedia of Greater Philadelphia: https://philadelphiaencyclopedia.org/essays/nativist-riots-of-1844/
On Sunday, June 29th, the author and podcaster Peter Schmitz will be appearing at the Brookline Books stall at the 2025 American Library Association annual conference and exhibition at the Philadelphia Convention Center.
If you’re a librarian - or a fan of libraries - and are coming to the ALA in Philly this year, please be sure to stop by and say hello!
"Adventures in Theater History: Philadelphia" the BOOK can be ordered from independent bookstores and at all online book retailers now!
To order our book via Bookshop.org - GO HERE
Our website: www.aithpodcast.com
Our email address: [email protected]
Bluesky: @aithpodcast.bsky.social
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AITHpodcast
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aithpodcast/
Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/AITHpodcast© Podcast text copyright, Peter Schmitz. All rights reserved.
℗ All original voice recordings copyright Peter Schmitz.
℗ All original music copyright Christopher Mark Colucci. Used by permission.
The Quaker City: The Forbidden Play of 1844, Part Two
Adventures in Theater History: Philadelphia
10/14/22 • 34 min
George Lippard's novel "The Quaker City, or the Monk's of Monk Hall" is made into a new play. The excitement about it builds in Philadelphia, just as the national election of 1844 roils the city.
We learn more about the young Philadelphia writer, and how he was recruited by theater manager Francis Wemyss to provide a script for his Chestnut Street Theatre. Meanwhile, one of Philadelphia's most prominent citizens is headed for the Vice Presidency, while others of the city's elite look with alarm at what Lippard and Wemyss' play might do to their reputations. Some of Philadelphia's theatergoers even have their reasons to threaten riots and bloodshed. The supposedly peaceable 'Quaker City' is not looking very peaceable at all.
Part Two of our three-part series about the threat of violence in the streets and theaters of Philadelphia in 1844, as we continue theme of Season Two of our podcast: "Drama is Conflict."
For images and more information about this topic, see the blog post on our website:
https://www.aithpodcast.com/blog/george-lippard-and-the-election-of-1844/
On Sunday, June 29th, the author and podcaster Peter Schmitz will be appearing at the Brookline Books stall at the 2025 American Library Association annual conference and exhibition at the Philadelphia Convention Center.
If you’re a librarian - or a fan of libraries - and are coming to the ALA in Philly this year, please be sure to stop by and say hello!
"Adventures in Theater History: Philadelphia" the BOOK can be ordered from independent bookstores and at all online book retailers now!
To order our book via Bookshop.org - GO HERE
Our website: www.aithpodcast.com
Our email address: [email protected]
Bluesky: @aithpodcast.bsky.social
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AITHpodcast
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aithpodcast/
Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/AITHpodcast© Podcast text copyright, Peter Schmitz. All rights reserved.
℗ All original voice recordings copyright Peter Schmitz.
℗ All original music copyright Christopher Mark Colucci. Used by permission.
The Best of Times
Adventures in Theater History: Philadelphia
04/18/22 • 59 min
From the 1876 Centennial Exposition to the end of the 19th Century, Philadelphia's experienced a boom in theater construction. New plays, musicals, operettas and vaudeville shows constantly cycled in and out of the city to fill these theaters. By the 1890s, one newspaperman estimated that on average each of Philadelphia's one million people saw five shows a year! It was the best of times.
In this episode we do our best to describe this productive and significant, but mostly forgotten era of Philadelphia theater history.
Music in the episode is mostly from Evangeline; or, The Belle of Acadia an 1874 musical by Edward Rice.
To see and hear more of this show, as it was recently played and produced in Portland, Maine, see this playlist on YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLzxddX3RlZft3pSnqdMzU43l4emFzE6TR
A heartfelt thanks to Mr. Charles Kaufmann and the singers and orchestra of the Longfellow Chorus of Portland Maine, as well as the Charlotte Cushman Foundation of Philadelphia for their generous help, cooperation and support.
For images relating to the episode, and additional information see our website's blog post and bibliography, go here.
On Sunday, June 29th, the author and podcaster Peter Schmitz will be appearing at the Brookline Books stall at the 2025 American Library Association annual conference and exhibition at the Philadelphia Convention Center.
If you’re a librarian - or a fan of libraries - and are coming to the ALA in Philly this year, please be sure to stop by and say hello!
"Adventures in Theater History: Philadelphia" the BOOK can be ordered from independent bookstores and at all online book retailers now!
To order our book via Bookshop.org - GO HERE
Our website: www.aithpodcast.com
Our email address: [email protected]
Bluesky: @aithpodcast.bsky.social
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AITHpodcast
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aithpodcast/
Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/AITHpodcast© Podcast text copyright, Peter Schmitz. All rights reserved.
℗ All original voice recordings copyright Peter Schmitz.
℗ All original music copyright Christopher Mark Colucci. Used by permission.
The Crash
Adventures in Theater History: Philadelphia
04/05/24 • 46 min
Philadelphia enters the Great Depression. Although a few shows were still having their Broadway tryouts in Philly, it wasn't enough to keep the wrecking crews from tearing down many of the city's grand old theaters.
To see images and to find more information about this episode, go to: https://www.aithpodcast.com/blog/the-wrecking-ball/
On Sunday, June 29th, the author and podcaster Peter Schmitz will be appearing at the Brookline Books stall at the 2025 American Library Association annual conference and exhibition at the Philadelphia Convention Center.
If you’re a librarian - or a fan of libraries - and are coming to the ALA in Philly this year, please be sure to stop by and say hello!
"Adventures in Theater History: Philadelphia" the BOOK can be ordered from independent bookstores and at all online book retailers now!
To order our book via Bookshop.org - GO HERE
Our website: www.aithpodcast.com
Our email address: [email protected]
Bluesky: @aithpodcast.bsky.social
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AITHpodcast
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aithpodcast/
Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/AITHpodcast© Podcast text copyright, Peter Schmitz. All rights reserved.
℗ All original voice recordings copyright Peter Schmitz.
℗ All original music copyright Christopher Mark Colucci. Used by permission.
Season Three: The Tryout Town
Adventures in Theater History: Philadelphia
10/20/23 • 40 min
We begin our third season of adventures! Here we learn about the historical originas of the "Tryout Town" in American showbiz of the early 20th Century.
We discuss the movie 42nd Street and discuss many touring shows that came through Philly on their way to and from Broadway - including George M. Cohan's Little Johnny Jones, which introduced the song "Give My Regards To Broadway" at the Walnut Street Theatre in 1904.
But we also learn that the real place that Philadelphians needed to travel, in order to catch tryout shows, was not the theaters of Broad Street but along the Boardwalk in Atlantic City, New Jersey while they took their summer vacations!
A blog post about the excursions and theaters in Atlantic City can be found on our website: https://www.aithpodcast.com/blog/but-i-dont-want-to-go-to-philadelphia-theaters-of-atlantic-city/
If you liked the show, leave a Review on Apple Podcasts! https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/adventures-in-theater-history-philadelphia/id1562046673
On Sunday, June 29th, the author and podcaster Peter Schmitz will be appearing at the Brookline Books stall at the 2025 American Library Association annual conference and exhibition at the Philadelphia Convention Center.
If you’re a librarian - or a fan of libraries - and are coming to the ALA in Philly this year, please be sure to stop by and say hello!
"Adventures in Theater History: Philadelphia" the BOOK can be ordered from independent bookstores and at all online book retailers now!
To order our book via Bookshop.org - GO HERE
Our website: www.aithpodcast.com
Our email address: [email protected]
Bluesky: @aithpodcast.bsky.social
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AITHpodcast
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aithpodcast/
Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/AITHpodcast© Podcast text copyright, Peter Schmitz. All rights reserved.
℗ All original voice recordings copyright Peter Schmitz.
℗ All original music copyright Christopher Mark Colucci. Used by permission.
42nd Street
Adventures in Theater History: Philadelphia
03/15/24 • 34 min
The fictional musical "Pretty Lady" has its opening night in Philadelphia!
Another dramatic reading from the archives of Philadelphia theater history, underscored with evocative musical accompaniment.
There is a blog post about this episode on our website: HERE
On Sunday, June 29th, the author and podcaster Peter Schmitz will be appearing at the Brookline Books stall at the 2025 American Library Association annual conference and exhibition at the Philadelphia Convention Center.
If you’re a librarian - or a fan of libraries - and are coming to the ALA in Philly this year, please be sure to stop by and say hello!
"Adventures in Theater History: Philadelphia" the BOOK can be ordered from independent bookstores and at all online book retailers now!
To order our book via Bookshop.org - GO HERE
Our website: www.aithpodcast.com
Our email address: [email protected]
Bluesky: @aithpodcast.bsky.social
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AITHpodcast
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aithpodcast/
Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/AITHpodcast© Podcast text copyright, Peter Schmitz. All rights reserved.
℗ All original voice recordings copyright Peter Schmitz.
℗ All original music copyright Christopher Mark Colucci. Used by permission.
Show more best episodes
Show more best episodes
FAQ
How many episodes does Adventures in Theater History: Philadelphia have?
Adventures in Theater History: Philadelphia currently has 99 episodes available.
What topics does Adventures in Theater History: Philadelphia cover?
The podcast is about Society & Culture, History, Philadelphia, Theater, Documentary, Podcasts, Arts, Theatre and Performing Arts.
What is the most popular episode on Adventures in Theater History: Philadelphia?
The episode title 'The Boom' is the most popular.
What is the average episode length on Adventures in Theater History: Philadelphia?
The average episode length on Adventures in Theater History: Philadelphia is 43 minutes.
How often are episodes of Adventures in Theater History: Philadelphia released?
Episodes of Adventures in Theater History: Philadelphia are typically released every 14 days.
When was the first episode of Adventures in Theater History: Philadelphia?
The first episode of Adventures in Theater History: Philadelphia was released on Mar 22, 2021.
Show more FAQ
Show more FAQ