The Chatham Theatre or Chatham Street Theatre was a playhouse on the southeast side of Chatham Street (now Park Row) in New York City. It was located at numbers 143-9, between Roosevelt and James streets, a few blocks south of the Bowery.[1] At its opening in 1839, the Chatham was a neighborhood establishment, which featured big-name actors and drama. By the mid-1840s, it had become primarily a venue for blackface minstrel shows. Frank S. Chanfrau restored some of its grandeur in 1848.
The playhouse's most successful period was under the management of A. H. Purdy. He staged productions of Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin beginning in 1852, the success of which prompted him to advertise heavily and to create a special section where African American patrons could sit. Following Purdy's departure in 1857, the theatre entered its final decline. It flip-flopped many times between a standard melodrama house and a concert saloon before finally being demolished in 1862.
- ^ Perris