Imagine, if you will, a performance venue in Old Town, situated just steps from Market Square on Cameron Street. Made of brick, the three-story building spans an impressive 54 by 88 feet and holds room for about 800 persons. On the first floor is retail. On the second floor lies the seats and the stage, with a third floor for dressing rooms.
From 1799 to 1872, such a place existed in Alexandria. Liberty Hall was located near the northwest corner of Cameron and N. Royal (current day 409-411 Cameron). In her research paper, “Theatre in Alexandria, 1768-1810,” Katherine Thompson Beede tells us Liberty Hall was “the first theatre in Alexandria and the District of Columbia and one patronized by the best actors in the country.”
Image. Liberty Hall. Market Square, 1817. With permission. Special Collections, Alexandria Library. Liberty Hall had a cupola and is seen on the upper right.
Thomas Wade West (1745-1799), an actor and one of the most successful theatrical entrepreneurs of his day, built theaters in Alexandria, Charleston, Fredericksburg, Norfolk, and Petersburg. West arrived in the US in 1790. His timing in Alexandria was good. Between the wars, the town was at the height of what Smith and Miller (“A Seaport Saga”) called “The Golden Epoch.” The population would jump from 2,746 in 1790 to 4,971 in 1800. Taverns and handsome houses dotted the town.
Image
Thomas Wade West (1745-1799), 1795, By Lawrence Sully (American, 1769-1803), Watercolor on ivory, Gift of Mr. James Sellers in memory of Emmett and Patricia Robinson, Courtesy of the Gibbes Museum of Art/ Carolina Art Association.
From Baltimore to Savannah, the South was the place to be for actors. Susanne K. Sherman ("Thomas Wade West, Theatrical Impressario," William and Mary Quarterly, January 1952) writes that, “from 1665 to well into the eighteenth century, southern audiences continued to demonstrate their desire for and delight in the theatre.” She adds that West “gathered together a company of actors who were superior to any in the country.”
His Liberty Hall opened in Alexandria in May, 1799. As Beede points out, the opening program, “O’Keefe’s Celebrated Opera of the Highland Reel” was appropriate for a town founded by Scots. The 106th Regimental Band of Alexandria, led by George Deneale, played in the first year.
Alexandrians had seen plays before, but perhaps not on this professional scale. Beede notes that “spectacular displays,” “theatrical effects,” and “trap doors” impressed audiences.
It’s hard to know if George Washington sat down at Liberty Hall. We know from reading his diary, he certainly enjoyed the staging of plays. His first in Alexandria might have been on September 20th, 1768 when he watched "The Inconstant, Or The Way to Win Him," put on by the Virginia Company of Comedians.
Performances at Liberty Hall drew the top notch acts and the crowds. As Harold Hurst points out (“Alexandria On the Potomac”):
“Since Washington City had as yet no real playhouse, the Alexandria Theatre was filled with Senators, Congressmen, and the socially prominent citizens of the Capital City.”
After a meal and some imbibing at Gadsby’s Tavern, patrons merely stepped across Cameron Street to the new theatre. The George tavern stood on the corner of Cameron and N. Royal. Liberty Hall stood next door. Cameron Street, the middle axis of the seaport, held John Carlyle’s large Georgian mansion, the north side of City Hall, a number of taverns, and looming to the west stood Christ Church.
Image: Photo by author. Cameron and N. Royal. Gadsby's Tavern is off to left. Red brick building (offices) is on the site of George's Tavern. White facade building is 409-411 Cameron. Smith and Miller point out that some of the surviving walls of Liberty Hall may be incorporated into 409-411 Cameron.
In 1796, tavern keeper John Gadsby had opened his tavern and turned it into a premier destination. Other taverns nearby no doubt benefited from the moneyed theatre-goers.
Actor and author Geddeth Smith (“The Brief Life of Eliza Poe”) described Liberty Hall as “an attractive house decorated with handsome pediments and deep cornices.” The window frames, trusses, and rustic work were all of stone. Shops were located on the ground floor, theatre on the second, and dressing rooms second and third floors. Captain Stephenson, an architect in Washington, designed it.
A description of Liberty Hall appeared in the May 17, 1798 issue of Times and Alexandria Advertiser:
“The pedestals on the south front (facing Cameron) are designed for the Statue of Shakespeare, with the tragic and Comic Muse at the West and East Corners.”
In his book, “The American Playhouse in the Eighteenth Century” (1969), Brooks McNamara tells us more about Liberty Hall.
It was “inferior to few in the country for convenience, simple elegance, and situation.” He adds it was also the last significant American playhouse of the eighteenth century, the only new one of “any real architectural importance,” and “may well have been the last permanent eighteenth century theater in existence when it was destroyed.”
What smaller stages in Alexandria came before Liberty Hall is covered by Beede. She tells us plays were given in the long rooms of taverns or elsewhere. One such place was Fullmore’s Long Room. It started around 1783 and was “probably located on the west side of S. St. Asaph between Prince and Duke.”
“The History of the American Theatre” points out that “as early as 1783, one of the London newspapers said that a taste for theatricals was beginning to prevail in America.”
Eleanor “Nelly” Parke Custis described Fullmore's in March 1798 as a “long work shop, very roughly done, wooden and small.”
Author Oscar George Sonneck (“Early Opera in America”) tells us about Fullmore’s. “Poor Soldier” was played there in November, 1793. This was part of the hey day of Christopher Charles McGrath, who was “king of the American strollers.” Benjamin McArthur (“Actors and American Culture”) described strollers as barnstorming acting troupes who “remained on the economic fringes of the dramatic world.”
In 1795, a Mr. and Mrs. Henderson from the Charleston Theatre played at Fullmore’s. In 1798, a series of operas had a run there from February to April. Sonneck suggests that the success of the performances at Fullmore’s led to the “desire for a real theatre in Alexandria.”
Beede writes that in the 1790s, “a national spirit was rising.” On July 4, 1796, Alexandria celebrated the 20th anniversary of Independence Day by staging an address, singing songs, and performing a comic opera titled “Paddy’s Politics.” McGrath had returned to Alexandria to lead the patriotic effort at Fullmore’s.
A month later in August of 1796 things got more serious when the British troupe staged a drama that addressed the issue of slavery. It was titled, “An Address to the Humane Lover of Universal Liberty as peculiarly written for the occasion by a citizen of Alexandria.”
In 1799, Thomas Wade West, who built Liberty Hall, moved his family into the still-unfinished theatre. Tragically, he fell from its painting gallery and died. His obituary gave his age as 54. West was buried with Masonic honors at Christ Church. Reverend Dr. Davis made remarks and Elisha Cullen Dick represented the Alexandria Lodge. Pall bearers were Charles Simms, Benjamin Dulany, and James Miller. A number of actors and citizens paid their respects.
A stone was placed to mark his final resting place.
To the Memory of T.W. West Who Departed This Life July 28th, 1799
Famous Actors
Eliza Arnold Poe
Image: Wikipedia, Public Domain.
Among the famous actors who graced the stage at Liberty Hall was Eliza Arnold Poe (1787-1811). She had “dark curls, blue eyes and round rose face."
Smith writes about her in his book:
Poe (1787-1811) would become the mother of Edgar Allen Poe (1809-1849) and was noted for her “beauty, singing voice, and theatrical talent.”
At age sixteen, (1803) Eliza she married Charles D. Hopkins, a comedic actor. In August 1802, they settled in Alexandria and joined Mr. Green’s Virginia Company for six weeks. They performed operas, ballets, melodramas, and pantomimes. Eliza also performed at Gadsby’s Tavern.
Ann Brunton Merry Wignell Warren
Image: Wikipedia. Public Domain.
Another famous actor who came to Alexandria was Anne Brunton Merry Wignell Warren (1769-1808). William Dunlap called her “the most perfect actress America has even seen.”
Biographer Gresdna Doty points out:
“No other actor previously appearing in the United States had ever held a position at a first line performer at either of London’s two patent theaters.”
“A Biography of Actors” also tells us about her life. Born in Bristol, she was the daughter of actor-manager John Brunton (1741-1822). In 1806, Ann married her manager and former actor William Warren (1767-1832) in Baltimore.
In May, 1808, they came to Alexandria. In mid-June, Anne became violently ill. Her stillborn son was delivered June 24. Four days later she passed away. Like Thomas Wade West, she was laid to rest at Christ Church. Her sarcophagus can be seen under the large tree between the historic church and the parish building.
Image: Photo by author.
Beneath this stone
Are Deposited
the remains of
Mrs. Anne Warren
Daughter of John Brunton, Esq
One of the managers of the Philadelphia
and Baltimore Theaters
By her loss
the American stage
has been deprived of one of its
BRIGHTEST ORNAMENTS.
The unrivaled excellence of her theatrical talents
was only surpassed by the many virtues and
accomplishments, which adored her private life.
In her were combined the affectionate wife,
the tender mother, and the sincere friend.
She died at Alexandria
June 28, 1808
Aged 39 years.
Thomas Abthorpe Cooper
Image: Wikipedia. Public Domain.
Another notable actor who stepped on a stage in Alexandria was Thomas Abthorpe Cooper (1776-1842). After earning some praise in London, he arrived in Philadelphia in 1796. In his biography of Cooper, Smith tells us he arrived in Alexandria in August 1800. At Gadsby’s he played in “The Theatre Displayed, Or Nature’s Mirror.” Perhaps Cooper gazed at Liberty Hall and endeavored to play in such a place of prestige. Afterward, he played a four-week stand in Washington at the Lottery Hotel. This was “the first theatrical season in the nation’s capital.”
Other Uses
Liberty Hall also served as a civic center/public hall. The Whig party in particular used the building in their hey days in the 1840s. The Alexandria Gazette reported that in November 1851, “One of largest and most resectable audiences we ever saw assembled in Alexandria to hear from George W. Summers, Whig candidate for Governor of State" (lost to Democrat Joseph Johnson).
Other events included balls, concerts, dinners, fairs, and music festivals. In 1853, Liberty Hall hosted events for George Washington’s Birthday. They included prayers, orations, and a reading of his Farewell Address.
One of the most remarkable nights at Liberty Hall took place on March 23, 1864. With the Civil War dragging on, weary patrons were soothed by the famous pianist and composer Louise Moreau Gottschalk (1829-1869). A large playbill testified to his greatness.
Born in New Orleans, Gottschalk was:
“the first American pianist to achieve international recognition” and “a piano virtuoso who composed works which combine European-style music with Cuban, Creole, and popular melodies and rhythms of the Americas, expressing much vitality and eclectic, multi-cultural energy.”
For March 23, Gottschalk wrote in his diary (L.M. Gottschalk, Notes of a pianist. Philadelphia, 1881).
”Been by carriage to Alexandria. Roads cut up. Desolation everywhere. ... Concert at Alexandria; quieter than the last; many sentinels have mounted guard in the passages, and have even sat down with the audience, to suppress the noise should there be any. We set out again immediately after the concert.”
The next night Gottschalk played in Washington with President and Mrs. Lincoln in attendance, as well as Secretary Seward. The Washington Daily Morning Chronicle wrote the audience was large and comprised of the elite of the city. “He never was more brilliant.”
Conclusion
On June 23, 1872, fire consumed Liberty Hall. The Gazette lamented its loss. The fire brigades responded speedily, but combustibles on the first floor feed store and the “strong draught” were too much. All that remained were the “charred and blackened walls.” The Virginia Sentinel newspaper building was damaged, but would reopen.
The Gazette report noted that the second floor, American Hall, had been used as the Mayor’s office, police headquarters, and City Council. City Hall and Market Square had also been destroyed by fire the year before.
The article also noted that the last dramatic performance was “The Stranger.” Former members of the Thespian Society acted the parts. Newspaper in Richmond, Washington, and Philadelphia also filed reports.
Memories of performance venues in Alexandria include Lannon’s Opera House, which was located on King Street and torn down in the 1960s. Lovers of plays were pleased in 1961 when the Little Theatre of Alexandria opened with a capacity of about 150.
Despite this rich history, no historical markers touch on theaters or plays in Alexandria. That is a shame because as we have seen, there are some great stories to tell, especially those made at Liberty Hall.
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