This post was written by library volunteer Gail Denisoff.
A new theater joined the many entertainment venues in Schenectady in 1904. Originally built for musical theater and vaudeville productions, the Mohawk Theatre was built next to the Fire Department at 10-14 South College Street (now a parking lot between Burger King and Clinton's Ditch). The Mohawk Theatre Hotel and Rathskeller situated in front section of the theater and sharing the same address, housed many employees of the theatre and rathskeller. Described as a typical "Gay Nineties" theater house, it had "decorated ceilings, rococo moldings, gold leaf, crystal chandeliers and rich textured drapes. There were two boxes on either side of the big stage, an orchestra pit, balcony and a wide center aisle with narrow side aisles on the main floor." The theater had a capacity of 900 on the main floor and 1350 seats if the upper gallery was open.
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| 1914 Sanborn Insurance map depicting Mohawk Theater and Hotel building at 10-12-14 S. College St. |
By the summer of 1909, vaudeville gave way to burlesque, and the Mohawk billed its acts as "musical extravaganzas" to distinguish themselves from the bawdier and more risqué acts that could get a theater shut down. The theater added income when rented out for other uses. One such rental was by Reverend George Lunn, who would later become Schenectady's first socialist mayor. After resigning as the pastor of the First Reformed Church, he began his own non-denominational church called the People's Church. In 1910, he rented space at the Mohawk Theatre for Sunday night services, which he continued even after his election in 1912.
The theater changed managers frequently and continued to rotate between vaudeville, burlesque and stock theater companies. By 1916, the name of the theater changed to the Hudson Theatre thanks to an actor in one of the traveling stock companies who convinced the management at the time that the Hudson was a larger river so would be a more prestigious name. It continued as mainly a burlesque house until 1923 when A. Vedder Magee and some local backers bought the theater at foreclosure. In the fall of 1924, they decided take a chance and offer a season of "decent family entertainment" even though "girlie shows" were the most successful productions at the time. Magee brought The Harry Bond Players stock company to Schenectady after their successful run in Pittsfield, MA. The Bond Players reopened the Hudson Theatre on November 17, 1924, with a week's run of the successful New York City play, "Thank-U". The entire proceeds of the first two performances went to the Schenectady Crippled Children's Fund.
The lighted sign marking the Hudson Theater sits directly below the original Mohawk Theater sign at the top of the building.
The new direction of the theater proved successful and soon the theater
was showing a profit. Audiences flocked to the Hudson for a variety of plays
that changed each week. A favorite was "The Night of January 16th"
by Ayn Rand. Whenever it was performed, a new jury was chosen from the audience
to sit in the jury box on stage and render a verdict. A popular thriller was
"The Cat and the Canary" and the comedy "The Easy Mark" was
also well received. When "Ming Toy" starring Harry Bond as an Asian
merchant was performed, the usherettes dressed in Chinese costume and incense
permeated the theater for effect.
The Hudson become popular not only with the more affluent members of the community but also with people from all walks of life. Faithful patrons would wait at the stage door after a show for autographs or to congratulate their favorite performers. The audiences felt a bond with the actors, enthusiastically applauding when each entered the stage for the first time during a performance and shows ended with multiple curtain calls. Harry Bond would often appear to thank the audiences and invite them to return for the next production.
The thirteen actors in the stock company worked hard. They learned lines and rehearsed daily from 10AM until noon, always a week ahead of the production in progress. The pit orchestra of about eight musicians practiced cue-ins and any background music. Some of the pit-men preferred dramas so they could play poker in the downstairs dressing rooms between acts. Harry Bond, well liked by his stock company, was encouraging and kind to his actors. One member he brought from Pittsfield as a character actress was Richie Clark Russell. She told Bond that she had misgivings about coming to Schenectady and doubted she would last more than one season. She ended up loving the area, married A. Vedder Magee and stayed until her death in 1971.
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| Mrs. Richie Magee, actress and wife of A. Vedder Magee, at her Schenectady home in 1960. Photo from the Larry Hart Collection. |
On Saturday night, May 22, 1926, the Bond Players performed "In Love with Love", which was the second to the last production of their second season. Harry Bond came out to thank the audience for their response to the show as well as the whole season and invite them to "Ice Bound" to be performed the following week. The audience was delighted when he announced the company would be back in September for a third season.
Tragedy struck the next afternoon. Harry Bond and Tedd Brackett, one of the actors in the company, were out for Sunday dinner with their wives. They dropped the women off at the Maywood Hotel before dinner at about 1:30 while the men drove off to try out Tedd's new Buick Brougham. Harry was driving when the car stalled on the tracks of the Schenectady Railroad Company at stop 15½ on Schenectady-Albany Road. He was trying to back the car off the tracks when the oncoming trolley crashed into them at approximately 50 miles per hour. Killed instantly, both men were thrown from the vehicle, parts of which were scattered 500 feet down the tracks. It was reported more than 10,000 people flocked to the crash site before the day was out. Tributes poured in from devastated theater patrons as well as public and civic leaders.
Hundreds gathered along the streets as services for Bond, 41, and Brackett, 45, took place two days later at Timeson & Fronk Funeral Chapel near the theater at 15 South Church Street. Tedd Brackett was later buried in his hometown of Cortland, NY, and Harry Bond was cremated. Harry's family sued The Schenectady Railway Company and won, but the decision was overturned on appeal.
While the crash marked the end of the Harry Bond Players, it did not end performances at the Hudson Theatre. A. Vedder Magee asked actress Richie Clark Russell if she would organize a stock company to produce a 1926-27 season. She agreed and her contract stated she had sole charge of the production and would appear in at least three plays a month. Audiences continued to flock to the theater and were treated to shows such as "The Gorilla", a thriller in which a man dressed in a gorilla costume ran up and down the aisles frightening patrons, "Seventh Heaven", "Charlie's Aunt", and Richie Clark Russell's personal favorite, "Smiling Through", a heartwarming story of a civil war veteran. A few of the Harry Bond Players remained with the new company.
Although Richie Clark Russell's company had two successful seasons at the Hudson Theatre, rising production costs forced the company to end its run. The Wilcox Players performed there for part of a season and The Abbey Theatre Irish Players also played briefly but economic uncertainty following the crash of 1929 closed the theater to stage shows for good. In 1934, the theater was leased to the Farash Theater Corporation. The interior was remodeled into a night club with the stage used as a dance floor. A fire of undetermined origin destroyed the theater on December 18, 1934 and it was torn down shortly thereafter.
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| Private party held at the remodeled Hudson Theater, Feb. 16, 1934. Photo from the Larry Hart Collection. |
