Theatre History Geeks Alert!

Tomorrow morning there's a special guest at the Church of Monika at Open Source Gallery.  Cezar Del Valle is coming at 11AM to talk about his new book, "Brooklyn Theatre Index, Volume III," about the history of theatre in Coney Island.  I am a total theatre history geek in general, but I'm particularly interested in Coney Island because of Eddie Cantor, Chico Marx and Louis Roth.  Roth was married to (and trained) Mabel Stark-  they're both in my play "The Tiger Play."  He learned to train big cats while working for a wild animal show in Coney Island, ca. 1900. 

Open Source Gallery is at 306 17th Street, near the corner of Sixth Avenue.

Dreamland

I recently finished reading Kevin Baker's Dreamland.  I was hoping it had some information on Jack Bostock's Coney Island circus.  One of the characters in my play, The Tiger Play, apprenticed as an animal trainer with Bostock.  It had a few pages on Bostock, with the attitude that he was crazy to tame lions and tigers at all, once a lion had lost him his hand.  

The novel was okay, though I had a hard time getting into it at first (the Yiddish seemed really forced to me-  I can't actually describe why).  I haven't read the other two novels in this trilogy-  Paradise Alley (about the Draft Riots) and Strivers Row (about a young Malcolm X). 

My favorite part of the book was his historical notes at the end-  where things I've read about actually were in Coney island.  The house in Annie Hall, built under the rollercoaster? That was actually the Kensington Hotel, and the Thunderbolt roller coaster was built over it in 1926.  The roller coaster and house were demolished in 1983, and they stood on the empty lot next to the Cyclones' stadium.

Those incubator babies on the boardwalk in Atlantic City on Boardwalk Empire?  That practice originated at Coney Island-  showing the babies in the incubators for a small fee.  That way the parents didn't have to pay for the babies' care.  Supposedly, Cary Grant (back when he was still Archie Leach) was one of the Infantorium's barkers.

The "first enclosed amusement park" in the US was Sea Lion Park, on 12th Street (now apartment buildings).  Next to that was the wooden hotel built in the shape of a 150 foot high elephant.   

Luna Park (which even impressed Maxim Gorky)was where Astroland and Deno's Wonder Wheel are now.  Dreamland itself was where the Aquarium is now.  The Aquarium used to be in Castle Clinton in lower Manhattan, until Robert Moses shut it down and moved it to Brooklyn after World War II. 

More Ruby's

If you're on Facebook, click on the link above and sign the petition to save Ruby's. It also includes a list of other people to contact. They have over 2,000 signatures now, but are going for 10,000.

A Sad Day for Coney

Many of my favorite Coney Island businesses got eviction notices this week. They need to vacate their premises by November 15th. Shoot the Freak!? Gone. Rudy's Old Thyme Bar (best bar on the boardwalk) and Beer Island (home of the Friday night fireworks)? Also gone. Developer Joe Stitt (supply your own hissing) is looking for new tenants, more in line with his "vision" of Coney Island. So far as I can tell, this vision resembles the Staten Island Mall. I blame Mayor Bloomberg; this is what happens when the richest guy in town is elected mayor three times. And the Democratic Party, for not being able to come up with better candidates (Mark Green? C'mon!).
Ruby's is open today, I fear for the last time, and they're planning a rally (link above).
Here's a link to the Times' article, from Tuesday's paper: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/02/nyregion/02coney.html?emc=eta1. And the Daily News', from Monday: http://news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_localnyc/iconic-coney-island-disappears-new-landlord-boots-shoot-the-freak-courts-chain-joint-atomic-wings



Photo credit: Squid Ink's Flickr, via Gothamist

One More Season!

The Associated Press reported today that Astroland at Coney Island has gotten a one-year reprieve. Link above.

Sodom by the Sea, Part Deux

So my friend Mark, my boyfriend and I made the pilgrimage to Coney Island on Friday afternoon. The breeze made it a little cool, so there were no old, roly-poly Russian guys wearing Speedos smaller than a dinner napkin, marinating on the sand. There were people fishing from the pier; several crabbers with traps baited with fair-sized chunks of raw chicken; and lots, lots of little kids with their parents. The seagulls were competing with the crabbers- they'd swoop down to the water, catch a crab in the beaks, and then fly back to the paved parts of land to smash the shells and feast on the meat.
I tried to envision it all gone- the food places (there's a great place called Ruby's with amazing fried clams), the bars (there aren't many other places in NYC where you can drink a margarita and walk at the same time without risking arrest), the Hit the Freak game (the freaks never seem too freakish- I look at least that bad awoken from a deep sleep), the bumper cars, Nathan's Famous. I couldn't do it. Those pieces of Coney Island seem inextricably linked to the land they're on. My understanding is the Cyclone is landmarked (I don't think anyone builds wooden rollercoasters anymore), but that's the only piece that is.
There was an article in the "Times" this week, and another in "The Brooklyn Paper" about the developer's new plan. He won't build condos, since there was widespread criticism of the condo idea. He'll build ... three luxury hotels! Three? I'd have thought one was a dicey idea. Unless he can build them as luxury hotels, and then convert them to luxury condos once he can't fill the hotel rooms. Pretty clever, eh?
Won't the Mermaid Parade have lost something if they promenade in front of luxury condos? Hardly seems an inspiring setting for live theatre, does it? Because I think that's what really gets me about Coney Island. You got the ocean, the boardwalk, the little businesses, the rides, the games, and then all of these people, as different as you can imagine, interacting in this setting that isn't like anywhere else. And for the most part, everybody gets along.
It's pretty miraculous, if you think about it like that.