Life and Times of William Christopher O'Hare

  • Home
  • Washington, D.C.
    • Formative Years
    • DC Family >
      • Early Ancestors
      • Paternal Grandparents
      • Ancestral Home: Linden Grove
      • Parents
      • Siblings
  • Shreveport
    • City Background & O'Hare Activities
    • Music Director >
      • Grand Opera House
      • Choral Societies
      • Community Productions
      • Churches
    • Music Teacher
    • Composer--Before Levee Revels
    • Composer-- Levee Revels and after
    • Changes & Problems at the Opera House
  • Marriage & Sons
    • Lottie Slater
    • Wm. Crockett O'Hare
    • Vincent Slater O'Hare
  • NYC
    • Arrival & Background
    • Arranger >
      • Rags & Other Instrumentals
      • Pop/Patriotic Songs 1901-1908
      • Pop/Patriotic Songs, 1909-1931
      • Medleys
      • Misc. Shows, 1902-1905
      • Misc. Shows, 1906-1909
      • Misc. Shows, 1910-1914
      • Hippodrome Background & O'Hare's First Tunes
      • Hippodrome Shows
      • Vocal Arrangements, Secular and Sacred
      • Misc. Arrangements
      • An Orchestrator's Prank
    • Composer >
      • Instrumentals, 1901-1902
      • Instrumentals, 1903-1909
      • Early NY Songs
      • Sacred Music/Organist
      • Silent Films
      • Misc Compositions, 1905-1914
      • Misc Compositions, 1917-1934
    • Letter to the Editor
  • Death
  • Blog
  • Contact Me
  • Home
  • Washington, D.C.
    • Formative Years
    • DC Family >
      • Early Ancestors
      • Paternal Grandparents
      • Ancestral Home: Linden Grove
      • Parents
      • Siblings
  • Shreveport
    • City Background & O'Hare Activities
    • Music Director >
      • Grand Opera House
      • Choral Societies
      • Community Productions
      • Churches
    • Music Teacher
    • Composer--Before Levee Revels
    • Composer-- Levee Revels and after
    • Changes & Problems at the Opera House
  • Marriage & Sons
    • Lottie Slater
    • Wm. Crockett O'Hare
    • Vincent Slater O'Hare
  • NYC
    • Arrival & Background
    • Arranger >
      • Rags & Other Instrumentals
      • Pop/Patriotic Songs 1901-1908
      • Pop/Patriotic Songs, 1909-1931
      • Medleys
      • Misc. Shows, 1902-1905
      • Misc. Shows, 1906-1909
      • Misc. Shows, 1910-1914
      • Hippodrome Background & O'Hare's First Tunes
      • Hippodrome Shows
      • Vocal Arrangements, Secular and Sacred
      • Misc. Arrangements
      • An Orchestrator's Prank
    • Composer >
      • Instrumentals, 1901-1902
      • Instrumentals, 1903-1909
      • Early NY Songs
      • Sacred Music/Organist
      • Silent Films
      • Misc Compositions, 1905-1914
      • Misc Compositions, 1917-1934
    • Letter to the Editor
  • Death
  • Blog
  • Contact Me

This and That:
A Cultural Blog

Mystery Solved:  How the Hippodrome Mermaids Survived Under Water

12/24/2017

 
Almost immediately after the show's debut, the New York Times observed, "No spectacular invention or innovation of recent years has aroused such popular curiosity as the mermaid scene in Neptune's Daughter at the Hippodrome.  The mermaids, who are only mortal actresses and by no means amphibious, first rise to view in the very midst of the tank, which is supposed to represent the briny deep."

Mystery and curiosity, the producers believed, would draw crowds:
The rehearsals, when there was any danger that the scheme might be revealed, were conducted with the utmost secrecy.  Every attache of the Hippodrome who had an opportunity to discover the truth was solemnly pledged to tell nothing.  The mermaids 'hoped they might die' if they told, and knew they would lose their positions in case they had the hardihood to break faith with the management.  The projectors of the enterprise believed that the greatest advertisement that they could have would be the greatest mystery they could muster.  For business purposes, they protected themselves with patents.  For box office purposes, they determined to mystify the City of New York.
Where there is a mystery to solve, someone will solve it.  Where there is a story to leak, someone will leak it.  

Read More

Comments on a New York Hippodrome Rehearsal

12/21/2017

 
Three days before the November 28, 1906 opening of the New York Hippodrome's  Neptune's Daughter, the New York Times published a review written by a critic who had attended rehearsal. He opened with a paragraph guaranteed to entice readers to line up for tickets:
Picture

Read More

    Author

    I am a retired community college professor and the great-granddaughter of composer, orchestrator,  arranger, organist, and teacher William Christopher O'Hare.

    Click the "Read More" link to see each full blog entry.

    Archives

    November 2020
    October 2020
    June 2019
    April 2019
    October 2018
    June 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017

    Categories

    All
    Cultural History
    Misc. Composers
    Misc. Performers
    New York Hippodrome
    Scott Joplin
    W. C. O'Hare Life/Work

    RSS Feed

                                                                    2018  copyright on research content,  Sue Attalla