Formation Through The Minstrel Craze
A group of New York businessmen known as the Zoological Institute or the Flatfoots built the structure in 1833 as the site for a menagerie and circus performances. In 1835, the site was converted into an amphitheatre with a stage and a circus ring, and the name changed to the Bowery Amphitheatre. June, Titus, Angevine & Co. took up residence with their equestrian show.
The owners changed the name again in November 1842 to the Amphitheatre of the Republic. John Tryon leased the building the following year, remaining its operator until 1848. Following a performance by the Virginia Minstrels on 6 February 1843, Tryon gave the structure over largely to minstrel shows, renaming it the New Knickerbocker Theatre in 1844.
Read more about this topic: Bowery Amphitheatre
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