Sources
Whenever possible, we identified the main source of information contained in the database. The abbreviations we used are explained in the Sources group on the Search page. Credits for photographs and other images are usually also found under "Sources" for each theatre and circuit.
Additional Information
There are a few books that can provide additional information about early theatre circuits and related topics. This list is by no means exhaustive, but you may find many of them helpful and informative.
There are only a handful of relevant websites, but you may want to visit them as well.
Official Theatrical Guides: (see previous page)
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Jno. B. Jeffery's Guide and Directory to the Opera Houses, Theatres, Public Halls, Bill Posters, etc. of the Cities and Towns of America, 1882-1883.
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Harry Miner's American Dramatic Directory for the Season of 1884-85.
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Julius Cahn Official Theatrical Guide was published most years between 1896 and 1921.
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Henry's Official Western Theatrical Guide, 1907-1908 - Primary Source Edition. This was the only year this work was published.
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See also Vaudeville Trails Thru the West, below.
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The history of Circuits in general, and other theatre history:
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Websites:
League of Historic American Theatres
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The seminal book on theatrical circuits is:
The Business of the Theatre: An Economic History of the American Theatre 1750-1932, by Alfred L. Bernheim (for Actors Equity: Benjamin Blom, New York, 1932)
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Forty Years Observation of Music and the Drama by Robert Grau (Broadway Publishing Co., New York, 1909; reprinted by Scholar Select)
The Business Man in the Amusement World: A Volume of Progress in the Field of the Theatre, by Robert Grau (Broadway Publishing Co., New York, 1910; reprinted by Scholar Select)
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​Fifty Years in Theatrical Management by Michael Bennett Leavitt (Broadway Publishing Co., New York, 1912; reprinted by Forgotten Books, Inc.)
Trouping: How the Show Came to Town by Philip C. Lewis (Harper & Row, Publishers, New York, 1973)
Directory of Historic American Theatres, Edited by John W. Frick and Carlton Ward (for the League of Historic American Theatres, Greenwood Press, New York, 1987)
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Theatre in the United States: A Documentary History: Vol. I: 1750-1915, Cambridge University Press, 1996)
African American Theater Buildings: An Illustrated Historical Directory, 1900-1955 (Eric Ledell Smith, McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers, Jefferson, NC and London, 2003)
Theatre Management: Producing and Managing the Performing Arts, by David M. Conte and Stephen Langley (Entertainment Pro, Hollywood, California, 2007)
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Major Periodicals
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The New York Dramatic News
The New York Dramatic Mirror
Variety
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The Syndicate:
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Websites:
Theatrical Syndicate (Encyclopedia Britannica)
Theatrical Syndicate (Wikipedia)
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See also all the Shubert books.
The Shuberts:
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Websites:
The Brothers Shubert, by Jerry Stagg (Random House, New York, 1968)
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The Shuberts of Broadway: A History Drawn from the Collection of the Shubert Archive by Brooks McNamara (Oxford University Press, 1990)
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The Boys from Syracuse: The Shuberts’ Theatrical Empire by Foster Hirsch (Southern Illinois University Press, 1998)
The Shuberts Present: 100 Years of American Theatre, from The Shubert Archive (Harry N. Abrams, Inc., New York, 2001)
Mr. Broadway, by Gerald Schoenfeld (Applause Theatre & Cinema Books, 2012)
Vaudeville:
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Websites:
Vaudeville Wars: How the Keith-Albee and Orpheum Circuits Controlled the Big-Time and its Performers, by Arthur Frank Wertheim (Palgrave MacMillan, New York, 2006)
Vaudeville Trails Thru the West by Herbert Lloyd (1919, reprinted by Forgotten Books, Inc.)
The Vaudeville Theatre: Building, Operation, Management, by Edward Renton (Gotham Press, Inc., New York, 1918; reprinted by Scholar Select)